A generation of Basque Idahoans sought a renewed connection with the Basque Country through the traditional recipes brought with their grandparents to America. In the Basque American hub of Boise, Idaho’s Basque cuisine fuses traditional flavors and methods with culture, ingredients and innovation picked up in the new world.

From Austin to San Francisco, and now Idaho, kava is planting its roots as a buzzworthy alcohol alternative with flavors like lavender lemonade and peanut butter. Some people call kava calming, energizing, relaxing or even euphoric—a buzz without the alcohol. It’s made from the root of a plant in the pepper family that’s found throughout the Pacific islands and Southeast Asia.

Many Boise-area families in the early to mid-1900s bought their produce from Garden City—a hub for Chinese immigrants whose gardens gave the municipality its name. Learn their stories in our Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month feature.

If you don’t like beer, the owners of Barbarian Brewing think they can change your mind.

While Barbarian specializes in sours, co-owner Bre Hovley assures that everyone can find something to like out of their diverse beer lineup, which has included 300 different varieties over the years. Enthusiasts can even sign up for a brewery membership that includes access to special barrel-aged beers released quarterly, along with a discount in their Boise and Garden City taprooms.

Looking to enjoy some great tunes with your great bites? These Boise-area spots are the place to be this summer.

When Daniel Love and his Mother Earth Brewing Company business partners decided to expand out of California six years ago, Idaho offered everything they were looking for. 

They wanted to open shop in Boise because the city is where everything was happening, Love said. In December, their dream of a downtown Boise tasting room came to fruition.

Boise has plenty of great places to eat, whether you have celiac disease or are gluten intolerant, but a few stand out from the crowd. The places mentioned here offer clear labeling that takes the guesswork out of reading a menu (a big relief to celiacs), and they don’t sacrifice taste or quality when it comes to their gluten-free offerings.

For many women like wine educator Kathryn McClaskey, innovating in food and agricultural fields where leadership and prestige tend to skew male has meant finding a voice and using it to make a path for themselves and others where few examples existed before. 

From farming to fine dining and coffee roasting to winemaking, female entrepreneurs and creatives have been part of Idaho’s thriving food scene from the beginning and are leading the way as it grows. 

Shortly after Russia began its horrific, internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine, Boise’s Mad Swede Brewing Company heard about the resistance efforts of Ukrainian brewery Pravda Brewing, who are using their equipment to manufacture molotov cocktails and have asked brewers around the world to “brew for Ukraine.”

Now in its 10th year, Boise’s annual Treefort Music Fest — like a 10-year-old kid … or, uh, a tree — is continuing its growth spurt by featuring more than 500 artists for the first time. But with bigger size comes bigger appetites.

When you think of climate change, you might first imagine the atmosphere. But the speakers at the 2022 Climate Summit in Boise want humanity to look to the ground.

The keynote speaker, Gabe Brown, is a North Dakota farmer and rancher who has transformed his land with regenerative agriculture practices, such as no-till farming, integrated grazing, crop diversity and growing cover crops.

There are nearly infinite Scotch egg origin stories, but what historians agree on is that the dish long ago hopped the pond to the United States. Although BBC once reported that “Scotch eggs bemuse many Americans” and listed them among “7 British Food Habits Americans Will Never Understand,” the humble dish is now having a moment on classy restaurant menus in Boise, Idaho. 

Written by Lex Nelson