Wild Standard Changes Course and Restructures Menu

Chef Bradford Heap, whose portfolio of restaurants includes Colterra and Salt, has made a big change at his youngest eatery, Wild Standard. The dim sum-style program with which the Pearl Street eatery opened last September is now gone, replaced with a new menu format, aimed at giving guests a better dining experience.

"When we opened Wild Standard, I liked the idea of a dim-sum dining option. The initial goal was to provide an interactive and fun experience for the table," explained Heap. "Guests were given a selection of small seafood bites and made-to-order items like ceviche or salmon tartar from a vintage rolling tray. In theory, this was a convenient and entertaining dining option. Operationally, it just didn't pan out. We've made the decision to change our format to something more traditional and enjoyable for our guests."

The restaurant describes its new menu as "new American cuisine that honors the honest flavors of the season's best ingredients." The kitchen uses organic produce, pasture-raised beef and pork, locally raised organic chicken, and sustainably caught seafood.

The seafood selection remains a staple at the Boulder restaurant that features Diamond Point, Damariscotta, Goosepoint, and Wild Standard oysters as well as shrimp, lobster tails, snow crab legs and king crab legs.

The summer menu's appetizers includes dishes like watermelon salad with cucumber, feta, mint and pickled onion; and a classic New England clam chowder with clams, bacon, potato and thyme. Among the entrées, guests will find 7X Wagyu beef top sirloin with roasted carrots, snap peas, asparagus, spinach and ramp butter and an oak-fired lamb burger.

Wild Standard is open daily for dinner and Wednesday through Sunday for brunch and lunch. Happy hour is offered daily from 3 to 6 p.m.