Tag: sandwich

News

Beltex Meats Closes This December: A Loss for Salt Lake City

Really, really saddened to hear this news. We have so few traditional butcher shops left in Salt Lake. And arguably the best one just announced that after ten years, it’s time to hang up the knives and close up shop, with their last day being December 23rd.

The best way to summarize Beltex Meats’ approach was that they care. They care about where they source their products. They care how those animals are treated. They care about their customers. And they care about the community.

To be clear, this level of care costs money. When you walk into Beltex you need to be prepared to acknowledge that responsibly sourced meats cost more, especially at Beltex’s relatively small scale. I suspect that, like so many other businesses in SLC (and across the country for that matter) they determined the maintaining prices at a reasonable level and still keep the lights on perhaps was no longer possible. But this is speculation on my part.

When I would stop by and buy a cut of beef (my favorite is, and always will be, the flatiron steak) they would take the time to educate me on how to cook it. Sometimes, it’s not complicated, with Phillip telling me one time: “get your grill as hot as it will go, three minutes each side, and you’re done.” Simple. But with good ingredients, most the time simple is the best.

And I would be remiss to not mention their sandwiches, which I regard as some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. The porchetta was gluttony-on-a-bun, and man was it worth it. And their Saturday special, the cuban, was the best cuban sandwich I have ever eaten. They have ruined me for life for cuban sandwiches. I went to Miami and tried various renditions and remember thinking “none of these holds a candle to what Beltex does in Salt Lake.”

Again, I’m speculating here again, but I always got the impression that Beltex’s owner Philip Grubisa didn’t particularly love the attention that the sandwiches got over their meat selection. The sandwiches were one of those things designed to get people in the door, yet, the sandwiches developed a fame of their own, and I have a hunch that perhaps the distraction they created away from their main mission of providing the best meats in the valley wasn’t always what he had envisioned.

Nevertheless, yet another departure of a storied food business is making the headlines and leaving a deficit in the SLC food scene that will be difficult to replicate. Starting a standalone butcher shop in this day and age was brave enough, and I’m not sure we’ll see anyone else willing to step up and do it again, and that makes me sad for what SLC will be missing out on going forward.

Best wishes to the entire Beltex crew, who were always top-notch. Keeping my greedy fingers crossed that this isn’t the last time Philip Grubisa and his crew make a dent in the SLC food scene.

New Restaurants, review

Village Baker Downtown

I was excited when I saw that the Village Baker was moving into the main floor of the new 111 Main building in downtown Salt Lake City. I’ve been a fan of Village Baker since I lived down in Draper and frequented their West Jordan location. The new downtown shop opened a couple months ago, and has had a brisk business ever since, without a doubt helped by the continued growth of the downtown workforce and the accompanying strain this growth has placed on downtown lunch spots. I rarely venture out for lunch past about 11:45 because lines at almost every downtown dining spot will be 10-15 people deep. Maybe I’ll develop a new measure of downtown economic growth and base it on the line length at 12pm at sandwich shops.

Breakfast sandwiches, coffee, soups, salads, pizza, sandwiches, a variety of sweets and pastries–you name it, and this place will likely have it. As opposed to Kneaders, Village Baker’s bread selection is less rustic and artisan and centers more squarely on traditional American bread pan breads: honey wheat, honey white, French, and sourdough, with other specialty breads such as sunflower whole wheat, raisin, multigrains, and cinnaburst loaves produced on a rotating weekly schedule.

One popular sandwich is the turkey cranberry ($3.74 for half, about $7 for whole). The turkey, which was somewhat clumsily and unevenly placed in the sandwich, mayonnaise and cranberry sauce were contained by two thick slices of honey wheat bread. This sandwich is one of their more popular menu items, and I can see why: it’s delicious. I wasn’t initially sold on cranberry on my sandwiches, but once I tried it, there was no going back. For an extra $2.50 you can make your sandwich a combo and get a beverage and your choice of either chips or a large cookie. Sorry Lays, but I’m going for the homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookie every time.

On another visit I tried the turkey, provolone, and avocado sandwich ($4.32 for a half sandwich and I think around $7 for the whole). This one came served with thin slices of bread despite my request for the thicker slices, and was, simply put, anemic and a little bit sad. It lacked the filling robustness I’m accustomed to at Village Baker. This sandwich was a boring dud.

The pizza is delicious, and extremely well priced at about $2 per slice. At that price I have to imagine they will give some other downtown pizza places a run for their money. The slices are generous, sauce well balanced, cheese is perfectly stretchy and gooey, and the thicker crust has the perfect chew. I’m a fan.

Their cookies are good, but sadly not as good as those that I remember from the West Jordan location. At West Jordan, the cookies are thick and chewy, whereas at the downtown spot they are much thinner. This results in a crisper, drier cookie that makes me yearn for their more robust southern brethren.

For breakfast, I was impressed by their savory breakfast roll ($3.59), which features hash browns, red and green peppers, mozzarella and bacon. The rolls are packaged for a quick to-go option, but the kitchen is more than happy to warm it up for you, which I would highly recommend if you have the time.

The space itself is bright, cheery, and well decorated. During the warmer months, patio tables are placed outside on the sidewalk, greatly expanding their capacity. During the colder times, diners are restricted to limited seating on the main floor, but Village Baker anticipated this and came up with a brilliant solution: they build a mezzanine floor above the kitchen, where I imagine 30+ hungry diners can fit at any given time.

Service is of the “order at the counter and take a number to your table” variety. I’ve always been helped by cheerful people at the order counter as well as those delivering my food. I’ve had them ask me how things are as they walk by delivering orders to other tables, which is greatly appreciated and shows me they care.

Does downtown seriously need another soup and sandwich place? Yes. While I’d love to see a bit more variety hit downtown dining spots, demand for noontime noshing continues to strain eateries, so it’s nice to have another sandwich spot to help relieve some of the lunch rush pressure. Village Baker is a top-notch addition, and I’m glad they chose to come downtown. Judging by their crowds, I think they’ll do just fine.

Uncategorized

The Holy Cow banh mi from Mai Bun Mee, located at 850 South State Street.

Mai Bun Mee is owned by the same people behind the very successful Oh Mai in South Salt Lake and Cottonwood Heights. I was expecting to walk in and see the familiar array of menu items offered at Oh Mai, like the ever-popular S8 (garlic ribeye) or my personal favorite, the S12 (pho brisket), but between the different name and varied menu, it’s obvious that the owners are trying out a different concept at this location.

Rather than being a centerpiece of the menu, Pho is relegated to being listed as a “special,” and is not even printed on their regular menu. But not to worry–the pho is just as tasty as it is at Oh Mai, however at a slightly smaller portion size (no small size option, either, just the regular large size).

The banh mi also have a bit of a twist. Similar prices to Oh Mai, higher quality meat, but don’t expect to walk in and order the S12, for example, because they don’t have it here. The sandwiches here don’t translate directly from the other locations. Anna, the owner of Bun Mee and Oh Mai, explained that their sandwiches are a bit more substantial than those found at Oh Mai, with the sandwiches at Bun Mee featuring heavier sauces and ingredients, and higher quality meat. The S8 at Oh Mai roughly translates to the “Holy Cow,” and features different ingredients (seared tenderloin, romaine lettuce, chili aioli, sautéed mushrooms, cilantro, jalapeño, and house dressing). The next time I swing by, I have my sights set on The Sinner, which features pork belly, pickled carrots, and a garlic fish lime vinaigrette. Or perhaps the the Fisherman, featuring seared tilapia, mango slaw, and garlic aioli.

I guess what I’m getting at is don’t go into Mai Bun Mee and expect it to be an Oh Mai clone. But that’s certainly not a bad thing. For some reason, prior to stopping by, I had wrongly assumed it was the same stuff, different name. While not earth-shatteringly different, it is different. Anna, the owner, said they could change the name to Oh Mai and there would immediately be a crowd, but they want to try something a bit different and see how it works. Hopefully they don’t flip the switch on a concept change, though, because I’d like to see these creative sandwiches continue to have a home.

Mai Bun Mee Sandwich Shop
850 S. State Street, Salt Lake City
(801) 575-8888

maibunmee.com
Monday – Saturday 11am – 8:30pm