I wrote a fun profile on a new growing business, Salt Egg City, over at Gastronomic SLC. Give it a look and let me know what you think!
Tag: salt lake city
South Valley residents, rejoice! A new restaurant is opening up in your neck of the woods in December. Scelto (pronounced shell-toe) is opening up soon in Aspen Plaza at 849 E 9400 S.
I, for one, am heartened that this is a non-chain restaurant opening up in South Valley. We need more of those.
Press release from Scelto below.
This December, Scelto (pronounced “Shell-toe) is opening their first flagship kitchen and restaurant to welcome friends, neighbors, locals, and visitors to their Sandy location to try their modern and unique take on Italian cuisine.
“This great opportunity of opening a restaurant was driven by my deep love of food and real estate, and the scarcity of dining options in the southeast end of the valley,” says Waleska Iglesias – Co-Owner of
Scelto. “My business partner, Scott Dilley, and I are excited to embark on this culinary enrichment and community-building journey, bringing a much-needed dining experience to Sandy. Our goal is to fill this
gap and become a great gathering place for everyone.”
The Scelto team expects to grow their business throughout the valley, and are applying for the new concept of the year award given by the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards. Scelto, recently featured in Gastronomic Salt Lake City, is excited for their official Grand Opening this December, where guests can enjoy the new Scelto atmosphere, menu, and what Waleska and Scott are bringing to the Sandy community.
About Scelto
Co-Owners and business partners Waleska Iglesias and Scott Dilley both live in the Salt Lake valley. Waleska Iglesias and Scott Dilley are both Real Estate Brokers and Real Estate investors with a combined 19 years of experience. The flagship Scelto location is currently hosted in the Aspen Plaza near Bonsai Japanese Steakhouse and La Costa Mexican Restaurant – the Scelto group looks forward to bringing their gourmet Italian servings to Sandy and beyond in years to come.
One of the things I love is the bounty of Mexican food restaurants that we have in the city. We have our 24-hour drive throughs that all end in “etos” or “bertos.” We have taco carts and birria joints. We have places to eat deep, flavorful molé. We have cheap eats and higher-end. It’s a bounty of choices.
So where does Lola, located at 9th and 9th, fit in this spectrum? Well, it might be best for me to describe the place and you can judge for yourself.
The interior is befitting of the chic exterior of the restaurant. The first thing that draws you eye upon entering is the long open kitchen that greets you right as you cross the threshold. I am, and forever will be, a sucker for open kitchens. I don’t care how “2010” of me it is to say so. As a wannabe chef, it is infinitely intriguing to me to watch them work their magic.
The dining room is noisy with excitement, but not overly so. The steady thrumming of noise adds vibrancy and energy to the room, while not being too much.
The menu is focused, though not overly simple. You’ll find two to three appetizers, a few salads, and eight or so entrees. The restaurant offers some creative drink options, including some really nice aguas frescas.
We started our meal with the queso fundido, and warm, melty cheese dish featuring Heber Valley Cheese. The dish stuck to its roots with soft corn tortillas, but I would have liked to have been given the option to get some traditional tortilla chips, which would have made scooping the gooey cheese with bits of plantain a bit easier.
For our entrees, our party chose the toasted Japanese yam with “umami sour cream,” the tinga empanada, and asada burro, and the chicken milanesa.
The yam received rave reviews from our friend, who said the mix of flavors were really nice. The yam was so light that she remarked that it was like she was eating a cloud. The tinga dish was also well received, and the carne asada burro, despite needing a bit of salt and perhaps a tangy element like some pickled onions or jalapeños, was also tasty.
The milanesa was a dud, I’m sad to say. Milanesa is traditionally prepared by slicing beef or pounding a chicken breast very thin, then lightly breading and frying. After reading the description, I was excited to give it a try, but sadly was disappointed. The dish needs to be completely reworked, or just 86’d. The chicken was tough, dry, chewy, and flavorless. I found myself wishing for a crema or sauce of some sort to help add some complexity to this dish and help add a bit of moisture, but all I had was a lemon wedge. The best part of this dish were the quick-pickled tomatoes, which I believe were seasoned with Tajin. I would have loved to have had another handful of those to help add a little excitement to this otherwise bland dish.
We had great service from who I believe is one of the owners and “sometimes chef” (in his words). Water pitchers were brought to the table promptly, silverware was replaced efficiently, and the timing of the meal was spot-on.
Should you check out Lola? I definitely think so. The restaurant adds a fun vibe to an already fun 9th and 9th. I’d say the restaurant sits between Chile Tepin and Monarca from an “upscale” perspective. You won’t be getting refried beans and rice with every entree, but you also won’t be spending $40 per plate, either. I think Lola sits in a nice spot price-wise, with entrees ranging from around $18 to $25 dollars.
So, go check it out and let me know what you think. Just don’t get the milanesa.
From my friends over at Building Salt Lake comes the news that the Hotel Monaco, as well as the hotels restaurant Bambara and bar The Vault will be closing temporarily for renovations.
The restaurant and bar will be closed for renovations beginning April 17th, with Bambara planning to re-open mid-June.
Additional details, including photos of the redesigned rooms, can be found over at Building Salt Lake.
It’s always fun to discover someone or something that does things a bit differently than the rest. Taking chances and experimentation creates excitement and vibrancy. And few SLC restaurants exhibit this better than SLC Eatery, located on 1017 South Main Street.
SLC Eatery remains one of my favorite restaurants in Salt Lake. I love the someone oddball location on Main Street around 10th South. The building is a former rock shop, sandwiched between a motel and a used car dealership. The interior decor remains current, with beautiful woodwork designed and built by Chad Parkinson at The Furniture Joint.
The wide-ranging menu is creative and daring, but keeping things within most peoples’ comfort zones. Expect to find everything from Utah scones to bulgogi to albacore tataki to swordfish.
My favorite feature of the restaurant is the dim sum cart, which is wheeled around to diners at least twice throughout the meal. The dim sum cart at State Bird in San Francisco inspired co-owner and chef Paul Chamberlain to incorporate a dim sum cart as part of SLC Eatery.
Pre-COVID, the cart was chock-full of various small plates filled with tasty bites. The plates are priced low enough to encourage diners to try a bunch of different plates and see what they like. Now, in a post-COVID world, and with food waste in mind, the cart no longer has ready-made plates ready to be picked off the cart. Rather, the cart has one prepared plate of each option, allowing diners to choose which they would like. The dishes are then prepared a la minute and brought out. I’ll admit some of the charm of the cart is gone with this change, but the idea is still fantastic and sets SLC Eatery apart from other restaurants. On a recent visit, we were able to try a bunch of different small plates, instead of committing to just one entree.
I love that the cart allows co-owners and chefs Logan Crew and Paul Chamberlain a creative outlet to experiment with different flavors and techniques. On the evening we stopped by, we were lucky that one of the dim sum items was an item that’s been with them from the start: the very lovely Tokyo Turnips, with a wonderfully sweet and bright caper date purée and a sesame garlic crunch. The Utah Scone with “everything” seasoning was wonderfully light and crunchy, and the clam dip with tobiko and house-made potato chips were a hit. My favorite small plate was the fried quail with pomegranate and an SLC Eatery take on barbecue sauce. The quail was shatteringly crisp and perfectly cooked.
A standout plate of the evening was the calamari “fried rice,” a gorgeous dish with crispy rice, a carrot ginger nage, jalapeños, olive, and cilantro. Logan and Paul really know how to balance flavors in a way that each dish is wonderfully tasty, but not overpowering.
For our main, we had the house-made orecchiette in a basque chorizo ragu and topped with buffalo mozzarella. It was outstanding.
At the end of the meal, the dim sum cart made another tempting round, this time with desserts. We chose the apple cheesecake with salted caramel and oat crumble. The crust was unique, and was more filo dough-like than a standard graham cracker crust, but it was delicious regardless.
I absolutely love and appreciate the niche that SLC Eatery has managed to carve out for itself in SLC. The food is elevated but approachable, and reasonably priced (expect to pay between $30 and $40 for most entrees). The chefs flirt with molecular gastronomy, but keep it on the conservative side of the spectrum in a way that doesn’t scare off their general audience and keeps prices reasonable.
One other side note: you know the old cliche that we eat with our eyes before we eat with our mouths? Paul and Logan get that. And it shows with their food photography, especially on their Instagram account, which routinely posts some incredibly beautiful photos of their food. They seem to be one of the few restaurants in SLC that understand that proper food photography sets restaurants apart from the rest.
Paul and Logan (and the rest of the SLC Eatery crew): keep doing your thing, man. I love the inventiveness, the willingness to stick your necks out to try a unique location and a unique service model.
If you didn’t get a chance to check out Seattle’s famous Piroshky Piroshky pop-up the last time they were in town, you get a chance at redemption. PP just announced they are returning to Salt Lake on March 3rd, and they are accepting pre-orders right now. More info from their press release below.
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Piroshky Piroshky is heading back to Utah by popular demand. This time around, we’re visiting Provo and Salt Lake City.
Starting today, you can order a taste of Seattle’s internationally renowned bakery Piroshky Piroshky for Pre-Order Pickup on the selected date.
Founded in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market, Piroshky Piroshky has offered hand-crafted Eastern European pastries to loyal fans since 1992.
Famous for its long lines out the door, Piroshky Piroshky Bakery has received widespread acclaim over the years, including a feature on Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” and voted one of “The 20 Most Iconic Food Destinations Across America” by the Smithsonian.
With free delivery from Seattle’s favorite bakery to your city, our hand-held pies are not to be missed!
If it’s your first time, we invite you to visit our website to check out our unique and delicious options, including seasonal items available for a limited time.
How it works:
1. Select our best-selling pies online at piroshkybakery.com ahead of our visit.
2. Relax, knowing your piroshky is hand-made and made to order. (Items are flash frozen delivery.)
3. Pick up your piroshky on the event day, and say “Hi”; we love making new friends! 🙂
It’s that simple, delicious & fun. Thank you for your continued support!
Salt Lake City, UT – SaltFire Brewing Company
Event Date: 03/03/23
Pick Up Time: 04:00 PM – 06:00 PM
Location: 2199 S W Temple St, South Salt Lake, UT, 84115
Order Deadline: 03/01/23 – 2:00 PM
Minimum Order: $50.00
Here’s the link to order. Orders are due by 3/1.
Great news on the heels of Forty-Three Bakery’s recent announcement that they are moving from their current shared commissary location on 1700 South to new digs on Genesee Ave, Salt Lake City recently announced that the loan fund approved a $100,000 Economic Development Loan for Forty-Three, which will enable them to make the move a reality.
As an added bonus, the move will further promote the redevelopment of the The West End project, which is an RDA-driven initiative designed to bring more businesses to the west side and to the Nine Line area in particular.
The move to the bigger space will allow owner Andrew Corrao to not only continue offering his wonderful pastries, but to also expand his product offerings to include coffee, cakes, and made-to-order sandwiches. According to Andrew, he expects that construction will take around 3 months, and is hoping for a spring opening.
In the meantime, you can continue buying his treats at his current location at 67 W 1700 S.
Big kudos to the following restaurant chefs and owners for making the semi finalist list for 2023!
- Outstanding Restaurant: Hell’s Backbone Grill & Farm
- Outstanding Bakery: Normal Ice Cream
- Outstanding Hospitality: Manoli’s
- Outstanding Bar: Post Office Place
- Best Chef Mountain Region: Paul Chamberlain and Logan Crew, SLC Eatery; Andrew Fuller, Oquirrh; Briar Handly, Handle Park City, Ali Sabbah, Mazza.
Sometimes restaurant awards miss the mark, but in this case, each one of these nominations is so very well deserved. Each of these restaurants has had an outsized influence on the Salt Lake dining scene in their own unique ways.
Congratulations to each of the nominees! The full list of nominees can be found here.
I’m way late on getting this one out, but felt it was important to share due to the sheer size of the commitment and the impact to our community. See below.
High West, the Park City-based distillery known for its meticulously sourced and innovatively blended whiskeys, announces today its Protect the West initiative, a $1 million commitment over the next three years to protect the land and its inhabitants. The announcement coincides with the national release of High West’s seasonal bottle Campfire, one of the brand’s most unique and iconic expressions. In honor of Campfire, the first donation will benefit the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the brave few who run towards the fire, including the wildfires increasingly plaguing the West.
Since opening its doors in 2007, High West has witnessed firsthand how the West has been impacted by a rapidly changing climate, resulting in higher temperatures, severe droughts, drier forests and reduced snowpack. Immediately taking note, the brand has donated more than $1M to nonprofits to date, with the majority of those funds going toward organizations protecting the West and its inhabitants. Now, High West is reaffirming and strengthening this commitment to its own backyard. As part of the Protect the West initiative, High West will partner with organizations that share High West’s passion for the West and whose conservation efforts fall into three focus areas: the fight against wildfires, protecting winters and wildland preservation.
“Now is not the time for us to sit on the sidelines. Our home in the West and everything we love about it is in more and more danger every year,” said Daniel Schear, General Manager of High West. “We’re building on our past work with this $1 million commitment to protect the West, and we are excited to work with those who are also passionate about saving this beautiful part of the world we call home.”
The $150,000 inaugural donation will be split between three organizations to support them in their crucial missions. Future donations will be announced over the course of the next three years as High West continues to identify and support organizations striving to Protect the West.
● Wildland Firefighter Foundation, dedicated to helping the families of firefighters killed in the line of duty and to assisting injured firefighters and their families.
● Protect Our Winters, a community of athletes, scientists, creatives, and business leaders advancing non-partisan policies to protect our outdoor playgrounds from climate change.
● American Prairie, creating the largest nature reserve in the contiguous United States by purchasing critical habitat that connects a vast network of existing public lands for wildlife conservation and public access.
In recognition of the Campfire release and to continue supporting the brave protectors who defend us from fires each and every day, High West is donating $50,000 to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation and matching consumer donations up to an additional $50,000. The American West is burning more quickly than it has in a decade, and over three million acres of U.S. land – almost the size of Connecticut – have burned so far this year. The donation to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation will directly benefit the families of fallen and injured firefighters, honoring those who tirelessly work to protect our lands.
The good news/bad news world of SLC dining continues. Right on the heels of the news of the closure of two Sugarhouse restaurants, Flatbread Pizza and Habit Burger, a new pizza place opens around the corner.
Pizza Volta, created by Martin Brass and Paul Cucchiarelli of Hand Fire Pizza in Jackson, recently opened on McClelland Street. The restaurant is making community involvement a pillar of their operations, by offering non-profits one night per week to fundraise based on a portion of that night’s sales. More info on the “Pizza With A Purpose” nights can be found here.
The menu appears to have some interesting options. I’m particularly intrigued by their take on a “funeral potatoes” pizza, which features cheddar cream sauce, mozzarella, roasted potato, prosciutto, red onion, and yes, corn flakes. I’m not sure how any true Utahn could resist that!
Full press release below
Pizza Volta announced today the opening of their newest location in Sugar House with a menu featuring a variety of artisan pizzas made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. From classic cheese to more creative options like beet, goat cheese and dill or the bacon and caramelized onion combo, there’s something for every pizza lover at Pizza Volta.
Pizza Volta offers an extensive beer selection and specialty cocktail menu to compliment every aroma and flavor. For kombucha lovers, try the Bad and Boochie or celebrate a special occasion with a glittery swig of Strawberry Fields. The current cocktail menu features local favorites Jack Rabbit Gin and Five Wives Vodka arranged with convivial mixers of mint, lavender and more.
Pizza Volta’s Paul Cucchiarelli and Martin Brass said, “We are thrilled to open the doors in Salt Lake City and look forward to sharing their passion for great pizza with the community. We are also excited to give back to the community through our weekly fundraisers with local nonprofits. It’s important for us to be able to make a positive and lasting impact in our new neighborhood. Supporting the community that supports us has always been one of our fundamental principles.”
Pizza Volta believes in serving more than just delicious pizza to the Salt Lake City community. On Tuesday nights proceeds from local nonprofits are given a platform at Pizza Volta to promote their cause. Portions of every pizza sold in-house or for take out go directly to that participating organization. Nonprofit organizers interested in being featured can check out the Pizza Volta ‘Pizza With a Purpose’ page for application information.
Cucchiarelli and Brass are no strangers to creating successful pizza restaurants in beautiful locales. They launched Hand Fire Pizza in Jackson, Wyoming in 2017 in a landmark, historical theater building.
Pizza Volta is now open 11:30 am – 10 pm and offers dine-in and takeout options. Parking is available along McClelland Street, in addition to street parking all around Sugar House and in the parking garage below the Pizza Volta building.
For promotions, menu changes and other delectable news, follow the Pizza Volta blog or follow Pizza Volta on Instagram and Facebook.
SLCeats: Highlighting the best restaurants in Salt Lake City and Park City 