Tag: salt lake city

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Uber Providing Food Bank Donation Pickups

Tomorrow (11/19) and Friday (11/20), Uber drivers will come by your house, work, whatever, and pick up your non perishable food donations for free, which they will then deliver to the Utah Food Bank. 

From their site:

HOW IT WORKS

This Thursday and Friday (11/19 & 11/20), slide over to the FOOD DRIVE icon on the far right (of the Uber app) and request a FREE pickup at your location between 1pm- 7pm.

Meet your driver curbside with your canned or non-perishable food items.
Your donation will be delivered to the Utah Food Bank and provided to someone in need.

With your help, we can make an impact this holiday season. Together.

For more details, check out the Uber Utah site here.

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For some reason, RYE has been on my “must try” list for a while now, but it seems like every time we tried to swing by and grab a bite, we hit the few hours of the day they are actually closed: between 2 and 6 pm. But the stars aligned a few weeks ago, and we checked out RYE for the first time. 

RYE is in a unique setting: it shares a building with the Urban Lounge, and in fact the restaurant is owned by the same owners as UL. The owners had always wanted a place where they could grab early morning bites and late night food, so when the space next to UL opened up, they snatched it up and opened their own restaurant. Another unique feature is that when you’re enjoying a concert at Urban Lounge and go next door for a drink or some grub, they have TV’s streaming the concert next door so you don’t miss a beat. Pretty great idea.

As you might expect based on the current dining trends in SLC, upon entering RYE you will be greeted by Edison bulbs and plentiful beards–during our visit, I counted 11 dudes and 10 beards. I’ll let you guess which diner can’t grow one didn’t have one. So, while the atmosphere is plentiful in hipsterness, the restaurant is also plentiful in delicious food.

A friend recommended the pickled quail eggs to start, and they were indeed unique. At $3, it’s definitely worth giving them a shot. I love pickled anything, and these were right up my alley, although my wife was not interested in them at all.

For our entrees I went with the shoyu fried chicken with fresh corn grits and pickled peaches. My wife had the RYE burger with roasted jalapeños, caramelized onions, and avocado creme, all sandwiched between a lovely Eva Bakery bun.

Flying in the face of most new restaurants, the serving sizes at RYE are plentiful. The ½ chicken meal was easily enough for two meals. And while I was a bit disappointed in the toughness of the chicken, the breading was deliciously crisp, and the fresh corn grits were perfect. And let’s not talk about the pickled peaches, because they were so good, so in-season, so perfectly balanced between sweet and tart, that I am salivating right now and may need to run down there and get an order if I keep writing about them. So let’s just move on.

The burger was also fantastic. Well cooked, with buns that are hearty enough to withstand the juicy drippings of this fabulous burger. And I loved the fries. Get the burger and you won’t be disappointed. 

Service was really good. Attentive, responsive, but not too intrusive. Exactly how it should be.

So there you have it. The kitchen is currently being run by Erik Daniels (formerly of Avenues Bistro and Copper Onion. Erik has gradually added some more American flare to the menu to complement former chef Tommy Nguyen’s emphasis on Asian flavors.

I’d also be remiss to not mention that RYE offers a very solid breakfast/brunch menu as well. I have not had the chance to try it, but look forward to being able to in the near future.

That’s it. I’d give RYE 8 pickled quail eggs out of 10, with a half egg deduction for chicken that was a bit too chewy. Definitely go check it out, and stick around for a show next door as well.

RYE Diner and Drinks
239 S 500 E, Salt Lake City
(801) 364-4655

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Culinary Crafts October Pop-Up

One of Utah’s premier caterers, Culinary Crafts, will be holding a pop-up dinner on Friday, October 23rd, from 7-10pm at The Tasting Room, 357 W 200 S, suite 100.

The dinner will feature ten (yes, ten) courses, ranging from Rocky Mountain trout and Snake River beef tenderloin to a Pot de Creme featuring Amano chocolate.

The dinner will feature fruit and vegetables from the Green Urban Lunch Boxes program, a non-profit which supports urban agriculture and hunger relief. A portion of each ticket will go towards supporting the Green Urban Lunch Box program. 

Tickets aren’t cheap–$150, plus another $50 if you would like the wine pairing supplement. But this is exactly what home equity loans are for, right?

To order tickets, call (801) 225-6567 or click here.

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El Chubasco

I won’t lie, my taste buds may have been influenced a bit by my ravenous post mountain bike situation, however, I am here to declare the following important factual information: the carne asada burrito at El Chubasco is hands down the best rendition in all of our fair state. And I don’t say that lightly, with strong competition such as Hector’s giving chase in a close 2nd.

But up here the meat still looks like meat, is crispy in all of the right places, and has a healthy dosage of melty cheese, black beans, and pico to make this food baby the top food baby around.

If you haven’t been to El Chubasco, get there. I think they have other stuff on the menu, but I haven’t really ever checked.

1890 Bonanza Drive, Park City

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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 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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Alamexo has recently opened in the space previously occupied by one of my favorites, ZY. In fact, Alamexo has the same owners, staff, and even the same chef: Matt Lake.

Matt moved to Utah a few years ago from New York, where he worked as chef for one of New York’s premier Mexican restaurants. After a few years operating the contemporary American restaurant, ZY, Chef Lake decided to go back to his culinary roots and switch to Mexican.

After an incredibly quick menu and restaurant decor switch (Lake didn’t want to close down for three months and have to lay off staff) which took only a few days, ZY has now transformed to Alamexo. And while I’m sad to see ZY go (Lake was adamant that we will see ZY once again in Salt Lake), Alamexo is a very welcome addition to SLC.

You won’t find any other Mexican food in Salt Lake in such a contemporary, modern environment. But don’t equate “contemporary” and “modern” to “expensive.” Entrées range from $13-$25 with sides and appetizers filling in the $3-$12 range.

Go with the guacamole, made tableside by your server in a molcajete. For $10, it’s a little on the pricey side for one avocado’s worth of guacamole, but worth the show.

My favorite side dish was the Mexican corn. Sweet, fresh corn accompanied by hints of chile, lime, and cotija. My mole poblano enchiladas were rich, complex, and the pork was cooked perfectly. Lake has always said the he doesn’t choose his signature dishes; his customers do. And I have a feeling that these will be on the menu for a while.

A dining companion’s steak dish was equally tasty and cooked spot-on.

As we went during their soft opening week, desserts were not on the menu, however, the kitchen brought out the best churros I’ve had. Don’t leave Alamexo without ordering some.

I’ve always viewed Matt Lake and ZY as a bit of a sleeper in the SLC dining community. I attribute part of this to Lake’s low-key demeanor. He is a guy that cooks because he loves to cook. He’s not in it for the fame. But if he keeps doing what he’s doing, he won’t remain a sleeper for long. Salt Lake’s lucky to have him.

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A new restaurant will be opening soon on Gallivan Avenue across from Bangkok Terrace.

From Scratch will focus on just that: fresh breads, pizzas, and baked goods made from scratch. So much so, that the owner has imported his own wooden flour mill from Austria to mill his own flour. Tables are made from old butcher blocks, art was commissioned from a NY artist, and lights are custom creations.

I really like the look of this place. It has a certain “San Francisco” styling that you don’t see much in SLC. As a downtown worker, I’m especially excited about the bar where single diners can plop down for a quick lunch.

From Scratch will be open for breakfast and lunch only to begin with. A special section of the restaurant will serve take-out items like espresso, in-house pastries, and house-made ice cream.

The owner hopes to open for dinner later in the year, and plans to pursue a liquor license.