One of my favorite events of the year is the Downtown Alliance’s annual Dine O’Round. There are so many incredible restaurants in Salt Lake, and this event gives me an excuse to get out and try some places I haven’t tried yet as well as revisit some of my favorites. And at a really good price.
This year, over 40 restaurants are participating in the event. Some offer lunches for $5 or $10. Many others are offering dinner for either $15 or $30.
Some new restaurants I’d like to try this year are: CO2, Pallet, and Nordstrom’s Sixth & Pine. I’m sure I won’t get to all of these, but I’m going to make a valiant effort. Other tried-and-true restaurants that I would encourage you to check out are Stoneground, Copper Onion, Plum Alley, Bambara, Dojo, Fleming’s, Martine, Takashi and the Naked Fish. Phew.
One that I definitely won’t miss is ZY. While many of these restaurants trim down their menu or offer a special Dine o’Round menu, Chef Matt Lake opens up his entire menu for the event. His approach is that he wants people to have the full ZY experience, and if it costs him a bit more, it’s worth it because it’ll give customers a memorable introduction to his restaurant. Last year I had the scallops appetizer (one of my favorite dishes in the city), flatiron steak, and dessert for $30. The fact that I still remember what I had a year ago should be a positive sign.
If you are planning to visit one restaurant during the event, I’d highly suggest ZY. Chef Lake is doing some great things in the SLC culinary scene, and you should check out his innovative approach to American cuisine.
You don’t need to buy passes or pre-register to participate in the event. Merely show up at a participating restaurant between September 14th and September 30th, and tell them you’re there for the Dine o’Round. They’ll take good care of you.
You can find the full list of participating restaurants here. Also, like the Downtown Alliance Facebook page and enter in their contest to win dinner for a year.
Solitude has re-envisioned what outdoor dining should be with the introduction of their 
Forty guests are seated at a long communal table, which provides ample opportunity to get to know new people and better get to know old friends. To my right sat an auto parts salesman who also happened to be a CIA graduate from New York. Across from me was one of Salt Lake’s leading interior designers. Needless to say, while our conversation bounced around from hospitals to car parts to motorcycles and cooking, there was never a lack of interesting topics.
Anyone familiar with Chef Michael Richey’s style knows that he focuses on sourcing as many of his ingredients as close to the kitchen as possible. Many of the ingredients from tonight’s dinner, such as honey vinegar, tomatoes, eggs, and apricots, are sourced along the Wasatch Front. For other ingredients where sourcing locally isn’t an option (i.e. wild King salmon), ingredients are sourced regionally. Tonight’s dinner featured products from M&M Farm (in Richey’s opinion the best produce in Salt Lake City), 
The first were the M&M Farm Yukon Gold potato pillows topped with American Sturgeon Caviar. For those of you who may be caviar novices (like me), let me calm your fears: If you’ve ever had tobiko at a sushi place, you pretty much know what you’re getting into with caviar. This was my second favorite dish of the evening.
The next dish was a bruschetta topped with 
Next up were the Utah pork rillettes with grilled bread. Think chicken or tuna salad, except taken to the next level with pork as the protein.
Our final appetizer was deviled Clifford Farms eggs topped with icicle radish, black truffles, and chives.
Arugula salad with cherries, roasted yellow beets, and the most deliciously smooth house-made ricotta cheese that I’ve ever had. The salad was dressed with a Slide Ridge Honey vinaigrette. 
Maple Torta with braising greens, chevre, caramelized onions, and a balsamic reduction.
Wild King Salmon with snap peas, roasted eggplant, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, basil nage, and corn pone. This dish stole the show with an absolutely killer variety of flavors and textures. Everything about this dish was perfection, from the deeply roasted eggplant to the wonderfully herby nage to the amazingly deep and rich corn pone. And of course don’t forget the tastiest piece of salmon I’ve ever had. Somebody get cracking on legalizing marrying food, because I just found my soulmate. Definitely my favorite dish of the evening.
Stone fruit tart with apricot ice cream and bourbon caramel. Anybody who knows me knows I’m not much of a cooked fruit guy, especially in desserts. Something about the texture that gets me. But I put that aside and I’m glad I did because the tart was wonderful. The tart featured a nice crust and a delicious house-made apricot ice cream.
Chef Michael Richey
