A Salt Lake City, Utah institution since 2003, Les Madeleines offers unique pastries with bold flavors that are both beautiful and delicious. Inspired by the world travels of Pastry Chef Romina Rasmussen, the bakery’s menu is a collection of pastries and savory breakfast and lunch items, all created from scratch and using only the finest ingredients.

Les Madeleines is perhaps best known for its Kouing Aman: a crunchy, salted caramel on the outside and gooey, flaky inside; different flavors and textures combined into one delectable pastry. Pronounced kwenn aman and also spelled Kouign Amann, this French delicacy originated from Brittany, France in 1865 and was voted the 2012 pastry of the year by Food & Wine.

Les Madeleines offers breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Saturday. Menu items include:

Viennoiseries: Croissant, Pain au Chocolat, Quick Breads, English-Style Scones, Kouing Aman

Lunch: Sesame Chicken Salad Wrap, Turkey Avocado Sandwich, Salami Sandwich

Sounds delicious right? Which is why you really won’t want to miss this opportunity to win a $40 gift card kindly donated by the good folks at Les Madeleines. To enter is as simple as ever. By way of a comment on this post simply let us know – “If you were a sweet treat what would you be and why?”. Me, I’d probably be a rum cake, mostly dense and often a tad boozy. We will pick a random winner from all the entrants on May 29th, good luck!.

Les Madeleines
216 East 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 355-2294
Website: www.les-madeleines.com/

This Thursday and Friday (5-10pm) check out Tastemakers – “a tour of Utah’s innovative culinary landscape”. This two-day tasting event allows you to sample tastings and pairings from Utah’s best chefs and most unique restaurants in both a ‘dining pavilion’ and through a ‘culinary stroll’. Tickets for the event are just $30.

Featured restaurants include: Pagoda, The Coffee Shop, Garden Cafe, Bambara, Gracies, Ichiban Sushi, Joffees Coffee, Silver, Ruby River, Caffe Niche, Benihana, Cafe Molise, J.Wongs, Naked Fish, Ruth’s Chris, Squatters/Wasatch Brewing, Market Street, New Yorker and Pallet. If you need further convincing, here is a sneak preview of just three restaurant’s offerings:

Christopher’s: Stuffed Tenderloin of Beef Portabella mushroom, caramelized onion and baby spinach stuffed USDA Prime beef tenderloin with balsamic demi glace.

Easy Street: Lobster Mac & Cheese The Easy Street classic: Lobster and penne pasta with Utah white cheddar sauce.

Gracie’s: Gracie’s Crown Ribs Tender pork ribs crowned and braised in ancho-chili BBQ sauce accompanied by cornbread, wilted spinach and pommes frites.

See The Salt Lake Magazine website for tickets.

Living traditions

Also this weekend is the 27th annual Living Traditions Festival – one of my personal favorite events of the year. As ever this fabulous celebration of Utah’s varied culture is equally resplendent with dining options.

“From Indian tacos to egg rolls, from falafel sandwiches to curries, and from Swiss tortes to tiramisu some of the cuisines you can sample include: Vietnamese, Tongan, Bosnian, Lebanese, American Indian, Nepalese, Pakistani, Basque, Thai, Sudaneese, Greek, Filipino, Swiss, Turkish, Tibetan, Salvadorian, Laotioan, Thai plus many more! Don’t forget to hit up the ATM first though, as its usually a cash only event.

Food stalls are scheduled to open Friday 5–10pm, Saturday noon–10pm and Sunday noon–7pm. See you there!

Salt Lake City & County Building
450 S 200 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Website: www.livingtraditionsfestival.com/

It’s been five years since I first reviewed Tandoor Indian Grill. In the intervening years, the options for Indian dining around SLC have grown and grown. Recently, I started to hear noises about the great food coming from Tandoor Indian Grill. It was definitely time to go back, and see what’s been keeping patrons happy for half a decade.

The restaurant still isn’t much to look at from the outside, lying as it does in a fairly basic strip mall – parking is usually decent though. On entering the restaurant I was pleasantly surprised with the change in decor. I’m not sure when the interior was reworked, but it certainly felt sleeker, lighter and less fussy than I recall from years ago. Seating is a mix of booths and tables, which are elegantly dressed and topped with fancy tableware. I might even be moved to venture that this brighter, cleaner space is now one of my favorite Indian restaurant spaces in town.

Things progressed nicely, as my staple beer Taj Mahal (22oz, $7.00) came served in an ice-cold glass. It might not sound like much, but I really appreciate such attention to the little details, it speaks volumes. Subsequent refills all came with the offer of a new frosty glass from the consistently friendly. In addition to the Taj Mahal, Tandoor Indian Grill also serves up a selection of other imported beers (King Fisher 12oz, $4.00), domestic beers and a small, albeit unremarkable, wine list. For abstainers, a creamy Masala Chai ($1.95) always hits the spot too.

The menu appeared to be largely unchanged from my previous visits – a mixture of Northern and Southern (more on that later) Indian food. On one visit Vegetable Samosa ($3.95) and Cut Mirchi ($3.95) started the meal well:

The samosa were as good as any I have sampled around SLC – a crispy fried shell with a fluffy, mildly-spiced potato filling on the inside. While the Cut Mirchi didn’t seem to be quite as described on the menu (chilli bajji refried and sprinkled with chat masala, onions), the de-seeded jalapeno wrapped in soft pastry shell was appetizing enough. On a second trip, I sampled the Assorted Appetizer Platter ($7.95):

The vegetarian platter featured Pakora (vegetable fritters dipped in garbanzo flour and fried), more Samosa, Bajji (dipped in lentil batter and fried) and Bonda (pastry balls made of lentil and rice flour, then fried). Thankfully nothing was greasy, under or overcooked, and the accompanying tamarind and mint chutneys helped offset any overt dryness, from what is effectively a big ol’ plate of fried food.

Main courses were also good, much better than I recall from years past. Kadai Lamb ($14.95) had a generous portion of meat, that was mostly well butchered (only a couple of pieces verged towards fatty). The curry had a deep, rich flavor, perfect for the gamey lamb. Paneer Makhani ($10.95) was well executed too. A vivid orange, creamy dish packed with hunks of fresh Indian cheese. As with many Indian restaurants, vegetarians are well served here, with over 20 options to choose from.

I was slightly less impressed with the Lamb Sheesh Kebab ($15.95), one of my regular choices when a tandoor oven is on the cards:

Ground lamb is seasoned with spices and then cooked up in the clay tandoor oven, coming to the table sizzling on a metal platter with seasoned vegetables. The eruption of smoke and fury certainly makes for a crowd pleaser as the server makes their way through the restaurant to your table. Sadly the kebabs were fairly bland to my tastes, very under seasoned. To compound matters, the lamb itself was gristly and chewy in parts.

Meals come with fairly basic basmati rice, and naan is served optionally ($1.95). There is no need to stop at plain naan though, Tandoor offers a selection including other unique breads such as the Onion Cheese Utappam ($6.95) – a thick, chewier bread – plenty to share amongst a table or a meal to itself.

Earlier, I mentioned the Southern Indian specialties of Tandoor Indian Grill. Ever since Tandoor opened, I recall the menu highlighted something completely new to me – Dosa. For the uninitiated, Dosa are a staple of Southern India – crepes made from rice batter and lentils. The resulting thin, cripsy pancakes are generally served rolled up and stuffed with a range of different fillings.

I have to confess that I’d never been overly compelled to try dosa in the past, but on recent trips to Tandoor Indian Grill I discovered their wonderful new Thursday night dosa special. For the paltry price of $10.95 you can sample unlimited dosa from a set menu that changes weekly. Each diner also receives a side of mild, lentil soup, and two dipping sauces: one tomato based and the other coconut. With dessert (spiced rice pudding) thrown in for free, it was hard not to try.

Dosa and sauces:

Thus far I’ve visited Tandoor twice to take advantage of the Thursday night special. Over those visits I’ve eagerly sampled a swathe of dosa, including:

Chicken dosa – filled with a handful of cooked chicken chunks
Pesarattu dosa – moong dal filling
Masala dosa – spiced potatoes and onions
Spring dosa – mixed, crunchy vegetables
Andhra Khara dosa – smeared liberally with exceptionally hot chilli paste
Mysore dosa – tons of garlic with a hint of chilli sauce
Molgapodi dosa – medium spiced dosa using a simple chilli powder throughout
Paneer dosa – fresh Indian cheese filling
Egg dosa – lightly scrambled egg
Kothmali dosa – flavored with rich cilantro sauce
Soft dosa with chicken – differing from the other selections – this came as a soft, fluffy, pancake like bread. On the side came a dipping soup of sorts loaded with chunks of chicken

By and large, I found most of the offerings great. The crispy, wafer thin dosa is delicious enough in itself, and the experience of working through varying fillings is a fun change of pace; especially when you get set in your ways, ordering the same curry or tandoor grilled meat week in week out. The only two let downs were a seriously undercooked egg (liquid almost) dosa and andhra khara dosa that was so hot, I managed to get half way through then was unable to feel my tongue, or anything else, for the rest of the evening (even spice lovers beware of this one!). Two recent menus for the dosa special evening:

Overall, I was very happy with what I discovered on my return to Tandoor Indian Grill. Unlike so many restaurant’s that sit on their laurels, the business has clearly taken steps to evolve and grow over the years. The restaurant space is relaxed, the staff are endlessly amiable and affable, and the food for the most part is good to great.

Tandoor Indian Grill
733 East 3300 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84106
(801) 486-4542
Website: www.tandoorindiangrill.com

Oasis Cafe

Oasis Cafe is celebrating Earth Day 2012 with a three-course candle light dinner menu focusing on local sustainable and organic farms and ranches. All proceeds from this special will benefit the New Roots and Global Artisan projects. The $25 three-course meal will include fresh halibut with locally grown micro-greens over soft polenta and bell pepper puree, house salad and chef’s special dessert. In the evening, all dining will be by candle light to help conserve energy.

During the day on Earth Day, Oasis Cafe will host these refugee groups for a seedling sale and craft fair from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. A variety of seedlings such as eggplant, tomatoes and mustard greens will be available for sale, including ethnic varieties. They will also have earth friendly crafts for sale which include recycled paper necklaces and coffee bag handbags. Refugee artisans will be on hand to teach Oasis’ diners how to make necklaces and bracelets out of recycled paper. Oasis Cafe will also be donating used burlap coffee bags to Global Artisans which they use to fashion hand bags.

“Oasis Café is all about supporting the neighborhood and our whole society,” said Billy Sotelo, executive chef. While everyone at Oasis Café strives to make sure the guest experience is always uplifting and inspiring, we also want to support the global community and feel the seedling sale is a good fit for us. Both groups are part of the Refugee Pathways to Self Sufficiency Model, whose mission is to empower refugees to become self sufficient through part-time entrepreneurial activities.”

Oasis Cafe
151 South 500 East Salt Lake City, UT 84102
(801) 322-0404
www.oasiscafeslc.com

Faustina

Turning out the lights for Earth Day is a natural at Faustina in downtown Salt Lake. Executive Chef Billy Sotelo will be featuring an earth friendly special for dinner on Sun., April 22. In the evening, all dining will be by candle light to help conserve energy. Chef Sotelo’s Earth Day special is a ratatouille tartlet with pulled mozzarella and eggplant caviar and costs $12.

All proceeds from this special will benefit New Roots and Global Artisan projects. Both are part of the Refugee Pathways to Self Sufficiency Model, whose mission is to empower refugees to become self sufficient through part-time entrepreneurial activities.

Faustina
454 East Broadway Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 746-4441
www.faustinaslc.com

Bambara

Bambara will team up with the adjoining Hotel Monaco on three environmentally-friendly projects as part of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants EarthCare initiatives. Celebrating the company’s long-standing commitment to environmental responsibility and care, the hotel’s and restaurant’s Green Teams will spruce up Rose Park Community Garden and will hold a “Recycle Round-Up” for e-waste. Chef Nathan Powers will donate proceeds from his Powers’ Lunch special to The Nature Conservancy.

An e-waste “Recycle Round-Up” will be held in the Lobby of the Hotel Monaco from April 18-20. The Green Teams will be on hand to accept and dispose properly of old phones, cell phones, printers, MP3 players, small electronics, desk top towers and laptops. From April 16-20, diners can enjoy Executive Chef Nathan Powers’ menus highlighting his support of local, organic farms and ranches. For each “Powers’ Lunch” sold during that time, $1 will be to The Nature Conservancy.

“Rose Park Community Gardens in northwest Salt Lake City needs a little love this spring,” said Bambara’s eco-champion, Lou Karagas. “On April 21, our Green Teams will join to clean up the community garden so vital to helping support the health of the area residents.”

Bambara, along with all Kimpton restaurants, offers sustainably produced wine selections on menus, offers in-house purified water through a national partnership with Natura® and serves sustainable seafood dishes in accordance with Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. Since partnering with Natura in 2009, Kimpton Restaurants nationally realized the following savings in one year: 1.49 tons of plastic reduced, 1,674 gallons of oil and 18.6 tons of CO2 emissions.

Bambara
202 South Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84101
(801) 363-5454
www.bambara-slc.com

Faustina in downtown Salt Lake is set to host Katrina Fetzer of Ceago Biodynamic Wines in Clear Lake, CA. The dinner will take place this Friday (February 24) at 6:30 p.m. Executive Chef Billy Sotelo has created a special four-course menu to complement wine selections. Cost is $35 per person and $20 for wine pairings. The menu runs as follows:

Course 1
Open Faced Shrimp Ravioli – paired with Ceago Chardonnay Reserve

Course 4
Roasted Apple Tart with Honey Vanilla Gelato – paired with Ceago Muscat

Faustina
454 East 300 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 746-4441
Website: www.faustinaslc.com

Meet The Producers @ Slow Food Park City

On Thursday, March 1st 7-9 pm, Slow Food ark City are throwing a free event to meet local producers. At the event you can:

* Learn how to find locally and sustainably produced food in the Park City area.

* Meet local farmers, ranchers, bakers and artisan food producers and sample their products.

* Sign up for CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) shares – many producers will be offering an early season discount.

* Opportunity drawing for great prizes you can take home, including local artisan cheeses, local beef, local jams, pickles and more.

Plus, if you bring your own mug or purchase a Slow Food Park City mug you can fill up with delicious homemade soup too!

Swaner EcoCenter
1258 Center Drive Park City, UT 84098
(435) 649-1767

James Beard Awards

News just in at the last minute regarding the ultra prestigious James Beard awards. For two years in a a row, both Viet Pham and Bowman Brown of Forage are semi-finalists in the Best Chef in the Southwest category. John Murcko, chef at Talisker on Main, also joins them this year in a group of 21 nominees.

High West Distillery & Saloon is also a semi-finalist in the Best New Restaurant category. Congrats to all three!

Fire House BBQ Grill – I first spied this new outfit when driving by on 21st South, the big red smoking rig out front catching my eye. Their menu features a few twists and turns you might not expect such as garlic rosemary brisket and basil mustard spare ribs.

Yo Mammas BBQ – Owned and operated by father and son team Rick and Justin Bylsma. In addition to the more common BBQ items, Yo Mammas serves up breakfast, burgers and sandwiches too.

Tommy’s BBQ and Grill – Smoked meat fans in Utah County need not feel left out in the cold. Tommy’s serves up all the usual suspects plus offers a set feast for 100 of your closest friends. For just under a thousand bucks you can chow down on – “20 lbs Pulled Pork, 26 Chicken Breasts, 10 Racks of Ribs, 4 Gallons of Smoked Baked Beans, 3 Gallons of sides, 100 buns & sauce“.

R and R BBQ – California natives Rod and Roger form the team behind the catering outfit R and R BBQ. They also happen to be Utah’s top rated BBQ competition team.

Terrapin Station Smokin Co. – Locally owned, and operated on Salt Lake’s East side, offering their own range of in house sauces.

No doubt I’ve missed a few off the list. Immediately springing to mind (albeit not recent openings) are names like Kaiser’s, Dickey’s, Goodwood and Sonny Bryan’s. The question I have for you, esteemed reader, what’s your pick of crop when it comes to smoked meats? Do any of these newcomers have what it takes, or are the stalwarts like Pat’s still the pick of the bunch.

Faustina chef Billy Sotelo recently realized a long time ambition for his restaurant and started to serving Brunch for the first time. Brunch will now be served each Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Highlights from the new menu include Brie stuffed brioche French toast, cinnamon swirl pancakes with cream cheese glaze; brie puff pastry with roasted red grapes and a seasonal berry compote; Faustina Benedict with polenta, local Italian sausage, grilled tomato, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, served with house made breakfast potatoes; and Sotelo’s Faustina Scramble with artisan lamb sausage, roasted pepper medley, Asiago cheese and scrambled eggs served with a French baguette.

Faustina
454 East 300 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 746-4441
Website: www.faustinaslc.com/

Celebrate Chinese New Year

Ring in the Year of the Dragon 2012 at the Mandarin restaurant in Bountiful. This two-week celebration is from Monday, January 23rd thru Saturday, February 4th. The lively and colorful traditional Lion Dance will be performed by an 8-person troop with a spectacular performance at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24th and Wednesday, February 1st. The Lion Dance is thought to ward off evil spirits and welcome the New Year with a bang.

The Lion makes its way through the Mandarin interacting with guests, eating lettuce for good luck and blessing the kitchen. Reservations are accepted for 8 or more people. Parties fewer than 8 may call ahead and have their name placed on the waiting list. In addition to the regular dinner menu, the Mandarin is offering a special Chinese New Year Menu for parties of 4 or more people. The cost is $20.00 per person and includes:

Chicken Soong Imperial Lettuce Wraps
Pork Pot Stickers
Chicken Creamed Corn Soup
Black Bean Beef
Orange Chicken Noodle
Mongolian Pork with Chinese Sausage
Kung Pao Shrimp
Brown and White Steamed Rice
Homemade Ice Cream Trio: Passion Fruit, Saigon Cinnamon and Ginger with Cookie of Good Fortune

Specialty drinks such as Gingerita and Tropicaltini will be available in addition to wine, Asian beers, ginger brew and china cola (for an additional charge).

Mandarin
348 East 900 North  Bountiful, UT 84010
(801) 298-2406
Website: www.mandarinutah.com

Mist:SaltLake changes venue

Finally, Mist:SaltLake, covered last week here on our site has recently found a new home at the old Metropolitan location:

173 West Broadway
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

This location change does not affect any current reservations and all guests will be alerted to the location change via email shortly. Guests with questions can contact (801) 410-0656 or info@themistproject.com.

Mist:SaltLake is a popup restaurant with lofty ambitions. During the travelling restaurants month long stint in Salt Lake City, it aims to serve up Michelin quality cuisine on a nightly basis. After that, the show moves on to San Francisco before other cities both nationally and internationally.

I’m normally a tad skeptical of these guerrilla operation, but with chef Gavin Baker at the helm, these folks are surely in with a shout of creating something special. Chef Baker you see just happened to be junior sous chef at the massively lauded Fat Duck (Bray, UK) for two years. It would also be amiss to not mention the fact that the Fat Duck was happily placing in the worlds top three restaurants routinely at that very time. I’d wager Chef Baker picked up more than a few tricks from molecular gastronomy stalwart Heston Blumenthal along the way. Indeed, as part of a PR pack I received, some of Chef Baker’s nightlights were items such as: “small amuses like the Crispy Pork Lollipop with Nitro ‘Dipping Dots’ and edible landscapes such as the ‘Sunrise From My Plane Window’”. Your typical meal this likely won’t be.

If that sounds fun to you, a few facts about Mist:SaltLake:

15 courses for $150 (vegetarian option available), January 19-February 19, 2012

36 seats a night

Bring your own wine – no corkage fee

Tickets available for purchase online: www.themistproject.com

The first Mist restaurant opened in Park City in 2008 for eight days

Mist:SaltLake @ Paradise Palm
307 East 300 South, Salt Lake City, Utah
Website: www.themistproject.com

The venerable Cafe Madrid is shortly set to re-open at it’s new location, 5244 S. Highland Drive, Holladay. While the new larger building (pictured left) also promises to be occupied by a new chef, the tapas style approach is expected to remain the same.

Finca

In a similar vein, Scott Evans of Pago, recently indicated to the Salt Lake Tribune, that his latest outing will be of Spanish influence:

It will be located in a new development on the northeast corner of 1300 South and 1100 East. A few weeks ago the developer tore down the old Dairy Queen to make way for the project.

Finca will seat about 75, (this includes 20 private dining seats that will be closed off most nights) with 15 bar/counter seats.

Better Burger

Food trucks in SLC go from strength to strength. The most recent one I came across is Better Burger featuring local beef and local buns: “All hamburgers are a quarter pound and come from grass-fed cows raised in Southeastern UT! All buns are by Stoneground Bakery, right here in SLC.

http://betterburgertruck.squarespace.com/menu/

New opening from Copper Onion team

Finally, GastronomicSLC contributor and fellow food blogger Ryan recently reported on a new exciting restaurant from the folks at The Copper Onion:

I spoke with Ryan Lamon, the current sous chef at the Copper Onion a few days ago. Sounds like they are making headway on opening their new restaurant just about a 1/4 block east of their current location (in the old Sicilia Pizza location).

Ryan Lamon, who has extensive experience cooking Asian dishes while in New York, has been named the executive chef of the new restaurant. He was mum on the name, but says they are on track to open mid-October.

Exciting times!

Dolmathes, Gyro, Spanakopita: just three of the fabulous items available to sample during this weekend’s Greek festival in downtown SLC. The poplar event is now in its 36th year and entry will cost you a measly $3. The event runs Thursday 8th September through Sunday 11th September 8pm.

A quick browse of www.saltlakegreekfestival.com reveals many more delicious treats than the familiar faces too – Loukaniko anyone – ‘Greek pork sausage flavored with fennel seeds and orange peel’.

SLC Greek Festival
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church‎, Salt Lake City, Utah
(801) 328-9681
Website: www.saltlakegreekfestival.com

Iron Pig Food Festival

This weekend also sees the inaugural Iron Pig Food Festival, on September 10th in conjunction with the Fizz Fest at the Day Break Community in South Jordan.

The festival mixes food, live music with other community interests. The Iron Pig is partnered with Rio Tinto and promises to highlight some of the greater Salt Lake area’s tastiest food establishments – some of the names in attendance will be The Chow Truck, The Curryer, Culvers and San Gelato Cafe. The Food Festival runs Saturday September 10th from 5 pm to 9 pm

Iron Pig Food Festival
Day Break, Utah
Website: www.daybreakutah.com