Tag: dining

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Park City Valentine’s Dining

Planning to impress the Mr. or Mrs (hopefully belonging to you) for Valentine’s in Park City? Check out the info below. The Kumamoto’s from High West sound particularly delicious.

Cuisine Unlimited
$35, $40 or $55 per person catered dinner, minimum 10 people
For those celebrating Valentine’s Day with friends and loved ones at home, Cuisine Unlimited is your one and only. The gourmet caterers are offering a choice of three delicious dinners: Forget Me Not ($35), Hearts & Roses ($40) or Cupid’s ($55). Each comes with a starter, like red-and-white beet salad with Cara Cara oranges and Burrata cheese, or wild berry and flowered salad. Entrees include chicken wellington, rack of lamb, pepper-encrusted beef tenderloin and Portobello mushroom torte. Desserts feature raspberry torte layered with French butter cream, tiramisu with long stemmed chocolate-dipped strawberries and chocolate diva cake.

Deer Valley Grocery~Café and Snow Park Bakery
Place dessert orders for Deer Valley Grocery~Café (435-615-2400) or Snow Park Bakery (435-645-6623) by 5 p.m. Wednesday, February 11 for items to be picked up Saturday, February 14 by 5 p.m.
Heart Shaped Chocolate Decadence, 5” (serves 2): $7.00 each
Chocolate Pot De Crème with whipped cream and raspberries: $7.00
Chocolate Dipped Long Stem Strawberries (½ dozen): $16.50
Red Velvet Cake, 6” (includes a special Valentine’s Day note): $25.00
Passion Fruit Gelèe Hearts (½ dozen): $5.25
Sweetheart Shortbread Cookies: $4.00 each

Eating Establishment
$59.95 per couple prix fixe
Park City’s longest-running full-service restaurant is serving a very special dinner for two. The evening opens with an appetizer to share, followed by a choice of filet topped with green peppercorn and red wine sauce, or salmon with champagne sauce. Each is served with roasted red potatoes and asparagus. For dessert, share chocolate cake or cheesecake.

Empire Canyon Lodge (daytime)
Deer Valley’s Empire Canyon Lodge will feature Sweetheart Cookies with Valentine’s Day sayings for $3.00 during the daytime.

Fox School of Wine
$25 per person wine tasting
The school’s Weekend Wine Series continues with “Romantic Wines to Share,” where guests will be lighting candles and pouring wines sure to light their fire. Register at www.foxschoolofwine.com.

Good Karma
$34.99 per person two-course prix fixe, or $49.99 per person five-course prix fixe
Park City’s favorite destination for Indo-Persian delicacies is serving a pair of Valentine’s Day specials. Choose between two- or five-course dinners for two. The restaurant’s popular regular menu will also be on offer.

Grub Steak
$51.75 per couple prix fixe
For those in love with a meat-lover, there’s no better place than Grub Steak, a true Park City institution. For Valentine’s Day, enjoy a three-course prix fixe menu opening with a choice of Caesar salad, mushroom soup, or Grub Steak’s famed 45-item salad bar. Then enjoy tenderloin of certified Angus beef stuffed with king crab meat, wrapped in apple-wood-smoked bacon and a choice of side. Dessert is a decadent chocolate lava cake with fresh raspberries and Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream.

High West Distillery
High West Distillery will be running a small plate special for Valentine’s Day.  The special includes Kumamoto Oysters on the half-shell with Yuzu and Rose Water Mignonette “cocktail” sauce mad with High West Vodka 7000’.  The Oysters will be a sous vide preparation and then chilled.  $12 for 4 Oysters.

Powder at The Waldorf Astoria
$139 per couple prix fixe, $199 with wine pairing
Powder is pulling out all the stops this Valentine’s Day. Its four-course prix fixe menu opens with lobster bisque with tarragon, fennel and espelette, followed by a salad of baby gem lettuce with smoked pancetta, anchovies and fine herb vinaigrette. Then feast on a “surf n’ turf” of grilled wagyu bavette and spot prawns with butternut squash, bacon and leeks, before finishing the evening with raspberry “muelle feuille” chocolate and rose sorbeto. A wine pairing is also available.

Royal Street Café, Deer Valley Resort
Featuring Chocolate Raspberry Hearts; a flourless chocolate torte, chocolate mousse and raspberry sauce as a special Valentine’s Day dessert for $8.00

The Brass Tag
The Lodges at Deer Valley
Enjoy a unique Valentine’s Day special at The Brass Tag located inside the The Lodges at Deer Valley.  Guests can savor brick-oven roasted Scottish salmon with sautéed baby kale and roasted red peppers, wrapped in Idaho potato strings, topped with lump crab salad, tarragon butter and warm saffron lemon cream for $30.

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Suggestions for Alton Brown’s Road Tour

As part of Alton Brown’s 2015 Road Tour, he will be passing through Salt Lake City, and has asked for suggestions as to which local food places he should visit, using the hashtag #ABRoadEatsSLC. After throwing some suggestions out on twitter, I thought it might be useful to compile what I consider some of Salt Lake’s best food offerings at the moment.

In no particular order:

1. Red Iguana. Of course. Arguably the most famous restaurant in the state, with good reason. Go there and get whatever you want, but make sure it has mole on it.

2. Banbury Cross Donuts. Easily the best donuts in Utah, I have no idea what Banbury does to make their donuts so special, but whatever it is, I hope they keep on doing it. A few of my favorites: the cinnamon sugar donut, the white cake with sprinkles, and the cinnamon rolls.

3. R&R BBQ. These guys are doing BBQ right, and it’s obvious judging by the lines that form every day in twin brother Rod and Roger’s meat shop. Get the brisket and ribs.

4. Penny Ann’s. Family-owned and -run, my favorite stop for breakfast in the valley. Get the hotcakes for breakfast, then stay a few hours and grab a reuben for lunch.

5. Feldman’s Deli. New Jersey natives move to Salt Lake and discover our selection of Jewish foods is a bit, well, lacking. So they open up their own shop and begin importing pastrami and corned beef from one of the most famous delis in New York (I’ve been sworn to secrecy which one). The sloppy joe is the real deal here.

6. The Annex by Epic Brewing. Local brewmaster opens up a restaurant and brings in top cooking talent. Go with the mussels, which are FedEx’d in from the East coast. 

7. Alamexo. We have a lot of Mexican food in Salt Lake, but not a lot of what I consider creative or refined Mexican. Chef Matt Lake continues to crank out some incredible dishes each day. Get the conchinita pibil.

8. Les Madeleines. This patisserie produces some of the best pastries in the city. Of course, their signature pastry is the Kouing Aman, which I would choose as my last meal on earth.

9. Lucky 13 Bar. Famous for their “Breath Enhancer” garlic burger, but you’ll be more than satisfied with anything on the menu. Grab a side of rosemary garlic fries while you’re at it.

10. Chowtruck. Salt Lake’s first (non-roach coach) food truck, Chowtruck brought a new era of dining to the city, with innovative asian cuisine. Chile Verde quesadillas and the elk sliders are ridiculously delicious.

11. Taqueria 27 ushered in the era of $4 tacos to Salt Lake, and they’re worth every penny. Daily specials of various tacos and guacamoles makes this place a fresh adventure every time I go.

12. Hector’s. My favorite carne asada burrito in the valley. The fish tacos are also delicious.

13. Bruges. Pierre got his start slinging Liege waffles at the downtown farmers market, and now has a couple shops throughout the valley. Get the waffles, of course, some fries, and if you’re really wanting a gut bomb, get the Machine Gun sandwich.

14. Eva’s Bakery. Delicious scratch-made bread using Utah’s own Central Milling flours. Wonderful pastries and a beautiful little shop.

What did I miss? Add your suggestions below, or on twitter/FB using the hashtag #ABRoadEatsSLC

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50 West Café opened its doors last week for the lunch crowd. The café is part of the new Wiseguys comedy club located at–you guessed it–50 West 300 South. The menu offers plenty of choices without being overly complicated.

Service was confused. They give each customer a number to take to their tables, and it seemed that the little number tents were pretty useless since each server came out, wandering aimlessly around the café with plates of food, not sure who they actually belonged to.

Execution was less than perfect with a really tasty chicken club and chipotle chicken salad being balanced out by undercooked fries and a medium rare steak that came out basically blue on the inside. I think with a bit more time they will be cranking out consistently great food and the kinks in the service will be ironed out.

At $12 for a sandwich, fries, and drink, I won’t be eating there too frequently, but I’m sure it will make its way into my lunch rotation from time to time.

Open 11-3pm Monday through Saturday. More info at www.50westslc.com

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The Habit Opens 6th Utah Location

The Habit Burger Grill, one of my favorite quick-service restaurants, has opened its 6th location in Utah. This new location opened in November, and is located at 508 West Antelope Drive, in Layton.

If you haven’t stopped by to check out a Habit yet, you should definitely stop by and try it out. Everything they make is outstanding, and their prices are very reasonable, with burgers starting at around $3. On a recent tour of the kitchen, franchise owner Tom Hartman made sure to point out the lack of freezers in the restaurant. Nothing is brought in frozen. Everything from their tri-tip steak to their sushi-grade albacore tuna is brought in fresh.

For a location near you, check out Habit’s website.

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The Annex by Epic Brewing

Truth be told, I never managed to make my way into The Annex, Epic Brewing’s take on a gastropub, when they initially opened a year or so ago. I never heard reviews compelling enough to sway my meal choice in their direction.

However, Annex shifted gears this Fall, bringing in chef Craig Gerome, who cut his teeth cooking at Le Bec Fin in Philadelphia and Spruce in San Francisco. Chef Gerome completely revamped the menu, basically stripping everything from the old menu and starting fresh with his take. 

I was invited as a guest of Annex to try out the new menu and to meet Craig, and all I can say is that he is doing amazing things. You can tell this guy cares about his food, crowing about the fact that his mussels are FedEx’d daily from a lady named Jan in Maine, and she only sends him her very best, biggest mussels.

We tried the grilled octopus with salsa verde, lime bean and kale brodo, Bouchot mussels with Berliner weiss, poutine with braised cheek, and deviled eggs as starters. You can’t go wrong with any of them, but I’d especially steer you to the mussels. 

For the mains, we tried the herb fried chicken with fried green tomatoes and buttermilk risotto, and the stout braised pork shank. Of the two, I would definitely recommend getting the fried chicken, which was perfectly crispy, moist, and seasoned well. But other items on the menu such as the buffalo short rib pie and steak frites certainly caught my eye.

Dessert was a nice take on the traditional s’more, using house-made marshmallows and Amano chocolate, giving it extra depth and richness.

Sugarhouse continues to evolve, and the recent development occurring on and near the sugarhole continues to impress with new fantastic eateries popping up. There is a fun, electric vibe happening in this area that has been missing for quite some time.

I’m glad that Annex chose to locate here, and can’t wait to come back.

Disclaimer: I was an invited guest for dinner at The Annex by Epic Brewing.

Kale Brodo. Yes, I ate kale. And it was amazing.

Grilled octopus with salsa verde

Steamed Bouchot mussels

Poutine with braised cheek

Herb fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, buttermilk risotto

Stout braised pork shank

S’mores with Amano

Chef Craig Gerome

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Spitz, a new restaurant specializing in the Döner Kebab, opened this week in the former Lenny’s Sub Shop space at 35 East Broadway.

The interior is everything you’d expect from their interior designer, CityHome Collective. Clean, welcoming, warm, and funky.

Döner meat is roasted on a spit similar to tacos al pastor, or the pastrami at Crown Burger. Surprisingly, Spitz doesn’t have their centerpiece attraction on display, instead relegated to hiding behind closed doors in the back.

Admittedly, I am a neophyte in all things Döner, so I naturally associate the Döner Kebab to something of a mishmash between a wrap and a Greek gyro. I tried the Street Cart Döner, which is a traditional sandwich or wrap with a zesty garlic aioli and fried lavash chips added. It had the right amount of meat, sauce, and lettuce, and is a generous portion. I quite liked it.

Sweet potato fries are good, but are like every other sweet potato fry you’ve had elsewhere. Don’t expect anything groundbreaking, although the aioli the fries were served with was especially delicious. The fried pita strips served with hummus are great, and I’m curious to try the crispy garbanzo beans with olives on my next visit.

Service is a bit unusual for the downtown lunch crowd. You order up front, they bring out your food and bus tables, but drink refills are also handled by the staff, which seems to be a bit clunky when they get overwhelmed with the lunch rush. But I’m sure they’ll work these glitches out over time.

Spitz adds some lunchtime diversity to a city brimming with traditional sandwich shops. And judging by the big crowd they had on day one, I think a lot of people are excited to see this new place open up.

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Bambara Now Offers Brunch

One of my favorite downtown restaurants, Bambara, is now offering brunch on Sundays beginning at 8am. The restaurants will feature classic dishes such as Bambara Benedict and their classic Caesar salad, alongside new offerings like their new Chef’s Breakfast Burrito (eggs, carnitas, avocado, cheddar, tomatillo salsa, and chipotle creme fraiche), or the Grilled Chicken Club (smoky bacon, roasted tomatoes, romaine lettuce and aged white cheddar). 

Alcohol service begins at 11:30am. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling the restaurant at (801) 363-5454.

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Wasatch Mountain Table Series

The Wasatch Mountain Table Series at Solitude Mountain Resort is back for its second year. I was invited to check out their inaugural dinner of the season and wanted to share some photos. Before I do, let me give you some details about the series. The Mountain Table is just that–a table set up creekside at the Solitude Mountain resort. 

The Mountain Table seeks to emphasize locally grown and sustainable ingredients. For anyone who knows the chef behind the series, Michael Richey (formerly of Pago), this will come as no surprise. Local farmers, ranchers, and winemakers are present to tell you about their wonderful products. For example, we had Evan Lewandowski, proprietor of local winemaker Ruth Lewandowski, present to tell us all about the exciting (and challenging) things happening in the Utah winemaking scene.

Bruschetta of truffled fava beans, oyster mushrooms, and promontory cheddar

Tempura squash blossoms with housemade ricotta, spearmint, and preserved lemon


Purple mizuna with toasted almonds, Slide Ridge honey, Timpanogos Peak (this cheese is incredible), white peaches, and creamy roasted garlic vinaigrette


Hand cut pasta with hen egg, english peas, beech mushrooms, pancetta, and charred onion butter


Wild sockeye with purple top turnip, new wasatch potato, sugar snap peas, heirloom tomato, white wine and sweet basil

Bing cherry tart with buttermilk ice cream and Bourye caramel

The series runs four more dinners for 2013:
July 13th
August 3rd
August 17th
September 7th

Cost is $75 per person/$110 per person with optional wine pairings. To make reservations, call (801) 536-5722 or email dstevenson@skisolitude.com

Be sure to bring a jacket. It goes from very warm to quite chilly in a matter of minutes once the sun sets.

Disclosure: I was an invited guest of Solitude Resort and did not pay for this meal

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Mountain West Burrito: A Lesson in Blandness

I’ve wanted to check out Mountain West Burrito ever since they were acquired by the Heirloom Restaurant Group, who also own Communal and Pizzeria 712. Heirloom is doing such great things in the Utah dining scene, I was excited to have a little piece of Heirloom closer to home.

I was thrilled to hear that they opened a new Mountain West location near Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, which is a short 10 minute drive from my home. Draper isn’t exactly what you call a food mecca, and choices for quality Mexican-American is limited.

So is Mountain West my new go-to for a tasty burrito? In short, no. In fact, my trip to Mountain West this week was a lesson in blandness. Everything throughout my experience was the epitome of bland.

The location is tucked in next to a Firehouse Subs. The interior space is completely unremarkable. The space is filled with long, communal tables as well as a windowside bar with stools, little to no decor, and no personality. I’m no fan of Cafe Rio’s ridiculous over-the-top decor, either, but putting a little effort into creating a more welcoming environment wouldn’t be a bad idea. 

If you’ve ever been to a Chipotle, Barbacoa, Cafe Rio, or the like you’ll be familiar with Mountain West’s menu. The restaurant offers a variety of burritos, tacos, nachos, and salads. The $14 price for a burrito shocked me, until I realized how large the “giant” size is. Stick with the $7 “regular” size and you’ll have plenty to eat. So, while it offers a solid selection, the menu is rather, well, bland.

Service was vanilla as well. While I appreciated not being constantly yelled at military-style, which is my typical experience at places like Cafe Rio, the person working the counter didn’t seem particularly happy to see us or engage us about the food. We had numerous employees walk past us as we ate, and a little check in (“How is your food?” “Can I get you anything else?”) would have gone the extra mile and would have been appreciated.

Although I certainly appreciate Mountain West’s focus on local, organic, fresh (did I miss any buzzwords?) ingredients, those things are all good as long as the food tastes good. We started with an order of chips and guacamole. The chips were fresh, crunchy, made in-house, and perfectly salted. I ate more than my fair share of these. The guacamole was a disappointment. I would have appreciated some more zip and personality. Maybe some lime juice to add some acidity and offset the creamy avocado. Or perhaps some chopped onions to add some brightness. Cilantro, cumin, cayenne…anything to add some more dimensions other than just avocado.

I tried the half and half burrito. Half steak and half carnitas. The burrito come wrapped in foil and is a bit smaller (although still plenty big) than competitors’ similarly-priced burritos. They steam their tortillas, which adds a certain gumminess to the texture. The meat was tender and perfectly cooked. I had a few crunchy bits of undercooked rice, and the unremarkable guacamole made another appearance. And that’s about it for burrito fillings. In fact, I scanned the dining room looking for a fixings bar, desperate for some onions, cilantro, lime, or even some hot sauce. Nothing was in sight. I asked a dining buddy what flavors he was picking up on with his burrito. “Salt,” was his reply. I couldn’t agree more.

So, all in all not a very good experience at Mountain West. I plan on visiting again and will update this post when I do. But at this point I don’t think I would recommend Mountain West.

What do you think? Have you been to Mountain West? Did I just catch them on a bad day? Let me know!