Wielding a razor-sharp carving knife tableside, chef Eduardo Valle Lobo expertly shaves off paper-thin pieces of meat from a leg of jamón ibérico. As he delicately places each marbled piece on the plate, he tells us about the pig’s journey. “These animals are descended from wild boars and live in the South of Spain, not far from where I grew up,” he says. Raised by Cinco Jotas, Spain’s oldest Ibérico ham producer, each animal is allotted two full acres to roam. “From October to February, these guys are eating 20 pounds of acorns a day,” he says. “The acorns impart a special flavor.” We can taste it.
Valle Lobo and Kelly Jeun, a fellow Frasca alum, made their solo restaurant debut with Casa Juani (casajuaniboulder.com) on the corner of Ninth and Pearl in Boulder. The 120-seat restaurant is named for his mother, Juani. “My north star,” he says. Valle Lobo’s Spanish heritage unfolds across the menu, with Iberian coastal specialties and in-house dry-aged meats. The couple works with purveyors in Spain to source authentic, seasonal and sustainable ingredients.
The Casa Juani team, from left: Daniel Dirth, Sonny Viggiano, Eduardo Valle Lobo and Kelly Jeun.
Jeun, who grew up in Bayside, Queens, met Valle Lobo at Lidia and Joe Bastianich’s Del Posto in New York. Jeun was a line cook; Valle Lobo, a sous chef. They moved to Friuli- Venezia Giulia in Italy to help the Bastianiches run a new restaurant, Orsone. Along the way, they married. In 2017, the couple transitioned to Frasca, a Michelin-starred restaurant inspired by the Friuli region.
At Casa Juani, the trimmings from the jamón ibérico are reincarnated in the croquetas de jamón, a delightful dish with a rich béchamel sauce. “Nothing goes to waste,” Jeun says. “It’s about respecting the animal.” The mejillones y patatas (marinated mussels served with a row of freshly made potato chips) are sublime. We follow them with arroz con txuleta, a Catalan-style crispy-bottom rice dish with rib-eye and bone marrow inspired by Juani’s home cooking.
The drink menu features inventive cocktails inspired by Spain.
The couple renovated the space to embrace Mediterranean simplicity, with white walls, light oak finishes and pops of color from blue and burnt-orange tile. We sit inside, but a wall of retractable windows opens onto a heated patio, infusing the space with Pearl Street energy.
Jeun brings out our dessert, tarta de queso, a traditional Basque cheesecake with a Maria cookie crust and Valdeón, a rich blue cheese from Spain. “It gives it a little umami savoriness,” she says. We pair the cake with a small dish of Harry’s Berries, so perfect they need little enhancement—just a dollop of vanilla bean Chantilly cream.
