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I was invited to try out the “new” restaurant at the Hyatt Escala at The Canyons resort, Escala Provisions Company, or EPC. I put new in quotes because technically the restaurant’s been around for a year, but went through a major overhaul and rebranding a few months ago. The interior was completely redone, and the AAA Four Diamond Hyatt brought in one of their chefs from Atlanta to reinvigorate the menu and start a new, exciting chapter at the hotel.

The design of the restaurant seems to be classy and refined, yet down to earth. Granite tables, fancy fireplace, and heavy silverware are complemented with servers in casual jeans and shirts, and a friendly, welcoming attitude. I felt really comfortable dining here.

Chef Jesse McDannell grew up in New York, and has spent time cooking at various restaurants inside and outside the Hyatt brand. As we talked throughout the evening, he mentioned that up until a year or so ago, Hyatt corporate had fairly tight control on the menu offerings at all of their restaurants, but then decided to allow the chefs to run their own restaurants and choose what goes on the menu. This shift has allowed Chef McDannell the opportunity to focus on what is important to him: high-quality ingredients sourced as locally as possible. Provo River trout, Cox honey, Pierre Country Bread and local vegetables are some of the local ingredients used throughout the menu.

Please click the photos to see the accompanying captions to get an idea of our meal. But let me just say: I was so impressed with everything that came out of the kitchen. My favorites from the evening: jumbo lump crab cakes, chicken and pancetta mac and cheese, pan seared scallops, short rib ravioli, and the Willis Farm braised lamb shank were incredible. For dessert, if you’re looking to hit your sweet tooth (or really terrify your doctor at your next blood sugar test) go with the s’more cake or the cranberry brioche bread pudding.

Portions are very generous. My wife and I could have easily shared a couple appetizers and left feeling satisfied. 

You can check out my full set of photos on my Flickr page.

EPC is open for breakfast and dinner. Don’t forget the crab cakes.

Breakfast: Wednesday – Sunday 7am-11am
Dinner: Tuesday – Saturday 5pm – 10pm

3551 Escala Court, Park City, Utah
(435) 940-1234 

Escala Provisions Company Restaurant & Bar on Urbanspoon

Disclosure: I was treated to this meal by the restaurant

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Winter Menu at Pallet

On the western end of Pierpont Avenue, at 237 South 400 West, sits an old building which was built in the early 1900’s and used as a loading dock for a creamery. The owners of Pallet, Drew Eastman and Rocky Derrick, worked tirelessly to preserve as much of the original building as possible, and they did a fantastic job. Drew told me of the many days it took to painstakingly strip the paint off the ceiling of the restaurant in order to bring it back to original condition.

Quite simply, this restaurant is designed like no other restaurant in Salt Lake City, and you owe it to yourself to check it out and get a unique perspective on refreshingly bold restaurant design. Old-time lightbulbs, rough-hewn wood floors, exposed brick, and original doors preserve the charm. I was especially excited to learn that the majority of the design work was done by one of my favorite people in Salt Lake – Cody Derrick of City Home Collective. Cody has an eye for style and design that is becoming more and more rare in a world of beige walls and white vinyl fences.

Pallet invited some local food bloggers to stop in and try out their new Winter menu. There were some definite hits and one unfortunate miss.

The seared scallops dish was very well done. The (huge!) scallops were perfectly cooked and served on top of delicious lentils (the new farro?) and the thick cut, house-smoked bacon was the cherry on top of this dish, so to speak as the savoriness of the bacon acted as a perfect counterpoint to the sweet scallops.

I was able to grab a bite from my dining companion’s plate to try the “Ocean Pasta” dish. Squid ink pasta was accompanied by a menagerie of seafood and rounded out with a lovely curry sauce that really added a unique aspect to this dish. Most people agreed that this was the favorite plate of the night.

The bison osso bucco was the dish I was most excited about. Bison is such a lean meat that I figured that preparing it as osso bucco would help boost the moisture and tenderness that is naturally lacking in this meat. But, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. I wrote it off as “first night of the new menu” jitters in the kitchen, but I’ve recently heard reports from others that they also found it a bit dry. Perhaps cooking too long at too high of a heat? I hope they can dial this one in because the flavors of the dish, and the polenta it was served on, were spot-on.

We were able to try quite a few of their desserts, and I was very impressed with their warm oatmeal almond shortbread, which was rich and full of chocolate. Our server mentioned that it is their best-selling dessert, and I’m not surprised why. It was fantastic.

Eastman mentioned to me that in a prior life, he traveled extensively for work, and loved it when he found a unique space offering exceptional food in whatever city he happened to be in. When the opportunity presented itself to Eastman to make something similar in Salt Lake City, he jumped at the chance. I admire his passion, and can’t wait for my next opportunity to spend more time in this lovely space.

Disclosure: I was treated to this meal by the restaurant

Pallet on Urbanspoon

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Per Noi Trattoria

Italian dining in SLC seems to only have two gears: cheap, low-end chains, and ultra-expensive, yet tasty establishments. There aren’t too many Italian restaurants in SLC that serve high quality food at the lower price point. Then I heard about a new trattoria that opened in the old Z Pizzeria space on Stratford Avenue in Sugarhouse, and that the prices were very reasonable. It’s been on my “need to try” list for a while now.

Per Noi is located in an older building with a few other businesses next to it. Parking is limited (look in the back for some additional spaces), but this corner oozes character. More than likely, when you enter the restaurant you’ll be greeted by the ever-ebullient owner of Per Noi, Francesco Montino. Francesco is very proud of his little space, and it shows. White tablecloths top the limited number of tables in the trattoria. The space is small, but doesn’t feel cramped. Servers are decked out in all black, and are very professional, milling about as Francesco greets every guest that walks through the door. 

After being seated, we were given a basket of delicious house-made bread, which was light and had a nutty, perfect crust. The balsamic was nice and fruity, and the olive oil had a strong peppery taste. We started our meal with the Arancini – a ball of rice, peas, and mozzarella perfectly fried and served along with a lovely tomato sauce. About $6. Don’t let this picture fool you–it’s about the size of a baseball. For the entree I chose the Spaghetti Pescatore (Francesco later told me it is his favorite dish), and true to his word, it was fantastic. Spaghetti is cooked with a deliciously complex, nutty tomato sauce, mussels, scallops, calamari, and shrimp. The shrimp were a tad overcooked and a bit on the rubbery side, but it wasn’t a deal breaker due to the exceptional flavors. This is one of those dishes that will make it difficult to order any other entree during future visits, because I’m confident it will be hard to beat. The dish was around $13. Melissa went with the Pollo Marsala, which is chicken served in a marsala wine sauce and topped with mushrooms. I wouldn’t get this dish again. The chicken was a bit on the tough and dry side, and the sauce wasn’t anything that I would order again. The dish was beautifully presented, but it just didn’t get along with my taste buds.

I’m not sure what their corkage fee is, but we did see a couple bring in their own wine. It seems they’ve raised their prices about 20% since they opened, but it is still very reasonable.

I remarked to Mel during our meal that this place reminds me of a small neighborhood trattoria that you would find in NYC or Italy. Small, family-run, with an owner who is extremely proud of the food coming out of his kitchen. And he has good reason to be proud of Per Noi.  Per Noi Trattoria on Urbanspoon

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R&R Headed to Bentonville

R&R BBQ, who recently won the Reserve Champion award at the Dana Point Barbeque contest in California, are headed to Bentonville, Arkansas, to compete in the Sam’s Club National BBQ Contest. The total purse is $50,000, and each team competing in the national contest had to win a Sam’s Club regional cookoff in order to qualify to attend the national event. Needless to say, the country’s best BBQers are going to be in Bentonville this weekend.

R&R is based out of Alpine, Utah, and brothers Rod and Roger Livingston are cooking up what I think is the best BBQ in the State. Best of luck to R&R! We know you’ll do Utah proud.

To stay updated on the contest, you can follow R&R’s twitter account.

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Dinner at ZY

Well, I didn’t get around to many restaurants for the Dine O Round, but I knew there was one I couldn’t miss: ZY. ZY serves upscale, yet approachable modern American cuisine. Luckily they extended their Dine O Round deal an additional week, which gave me time to wrangle a group of buddies together to check it out.

They changed the interior around slightly, mainly by adding some walls made out of wood slats. Miles, the general manager, explained that the redesign was partially due to the Zion Curtain laws, and partially because they were ready to change things up. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the new walls–I’ve always though of ZY as having a modern, hip atmosphere, and adding walls made out of rough-hewn timber didn’t exactly fit, in my opinion. 

On to the food. Chef Lake treated us to an amuse-bouche that was really fun. He wouldn’t reveal much about the dish, so when we all dug in and half of us said “pear” and the other half said “potato,” we began to seriously doubt each others’ sanity. Turn out this dish had two potato balls and two pear balls sitting atop a delicious pumpkin sauce. It was a really nice, well-executed dish.

For the appetizer, I went with the buttermilk fried oysters. After trying oysters on the half-shell in the Ferry Building, I swore them off for good (gotta try things at least once, right?). However, the allure of cooked oysters was too much to resist. These oysters were indeed tasty, with just a hint of spice and a nice crunchy texture on the outside. I was really pleased with this dish.

On to the main course. Beef short ribs served with grits and collared greens. One thing that’s always impressed me about ZY is that Chef Lake understands the value of presentation. The short ribs were presented in a very fun, if not a bit over-the-top manner, with the servers carrying the dish out, topped with a glass container. As they lift the container off the dish, you immediately smell the beautiful scent of smoked wood, which lightly carries through the dining room.

The short ribs were cooked to perfection, fork tender and deliciously moist. The sauce which topped the ribs is a sweet and tangy BBQ sauce that brings the whole dish together. This one is a winner. I asked Chef Lake if he’d be willing to share the recipe, and he said “of course.”

I went with the lemon cake and huckleberries for dessert. The cake had a lovely consistency, almost shortcake-like, and the tart berries were a nice counter to the sweet cake and sauce.

Chef Lake surprised us with a fun drink at the end of the meal. It was simply hot apple juice with a bit of honey, grilled grape, and rosemary. Four things I would never think of to make a drink out of. But it really worked well. The rosemary would waft into your nostrils as you sipped the drink, creating a sweet, yet savory experience. 

Service was excellent as usual. Brady, our server, was very knowledgeable about the menu. The pace of the meal was steady, and it seemed he always stepped in at just the right time throughout the evening.

ZY Restaurant on Urbanspoon

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Yelp’s Thirst Quencher

Yelp is at it again, coordinating what sounds like another fun event the week of October 15th-20th.

This event is all about the beverages, with various local businesses hosting the events. CO2 Cafe, Tea Grotto, Squatters, and Rubio’s are all participating. I’m hoping to go to the CO2 event.

You need to RSVP for the event by going here. If you don’t have a Yelp account set up, you’ll need to do that prior to RSVP’ing.

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Penny Ann’s Café

Penny Ann’s makes me happy. I won’t lie–I’m a sucker for any business that remembers my name. And Penny and her family have remembered me from day one. I walked in for lunch today, and Penny immediately says hi, followed with “I was thinking about you today!” Welcome home.

I love that their restaurant is a family business. Penny can be found up front serving guests, and her brother, Warren, is the chef. Sisters, brothers, and parents are all present, clearing tables and prepping food. 

They have a large selection of items on their menu. You’re not going to see Korean tacos, lavender-infused pork belly, or anything that could be described by the word fusion. Penny Ann’s offers the epitome of comfort food. You’ll find chicken parmesan, turkey melts, meatball subs, fish and chips, and Philly cheese steaks gracing their menu.

Nine times out of ten, however, I go with the Reuben. They make their corned beef in-house, and it shows. Ever since I had a Reuben in New York (thank you Katz!), I regularly crave it. And I go to Penny Ann’s to satiate the craving, because it is a near-perfect rendition. Tender, peppery corned beef is sliced thin and partnered with sauerkraut and just the right amount of Thousand Island dressing. The bread is crisped to perfection. One of my favorite dishes in SLC. 

Their fries are delicious as well, but if you’re an onion ring fan, I’d highly recommend you swap the fries for onion rings. You won’t be disappointed. They have just the right amount of breading, and they serve it along with their tasty version of fry sauce. 

And don’t think you can leave Penny Ann’s without ordering a piece of pie. The pies are made by Penny’s mother, I believe. They have banana cream, coconut cream, key lime, and lemon raspberry cream in their regular rotation, among many others. My wife particularly loves a special pie they make from time to time with blueberries. I believe it’s called blueberry paradise. I never dare leave Penny Ann’s without a slice of blueberry paradise in a to-go container. A portion of their peanut butter chocolate pie usually comes home with me as well. It’s such a rich affair that even this sugar junkie can only eat about half before throwing in the towel.

I’m just going to say it: their prices are ridiculously low. I know–that makes me the kid who would remind your teacher about the assignment due that day. But it has to be said. Their reuben is $6.99, and for an additional $2.50 you can add fries or salad and a soda. I’m pretty sure they don’t have anything on their menu over $10. 

They are located in a bit of a culinary No Man’s Land, with Pho Tay Ho one block north and Grove Market one block south, but not much else. Look for a big, cream-colored apartment building–their restaurant is attached to this building. They used to offer dinner service but have since changed their hours (probably so their family can get some much-deserved sleep). They are now open from 7am to 4pm, Monday through Saturday.

These guys deserve your business. Not just because they’re local or family-owned. Penny Ann’s deserves your business because their food is outstanding, their prices are exceptional, and their service is excellent. And I can guarantee you won’t leave hungry. 

1810 S Main St

Salt Lake City

(801) 935-4760

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Penny Ann's Cafe on Urbanspoon

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Food Demo at Home Show

 
(Photo courtesy Les Madeleines)

Romina Rasmussen, of Les Madeleines downtown, will be doing a live cooking demonstration at the Utah Home Show on October 13th.

She will demonstrate how to make pumpkin spice syrup, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin creme brûlée. And the best part is that you’ll be able to sample her creations at the end of the demo.

The demo is free, but keep in mind you’ll need to buy tickets to the Home Show. 

More info here.