Faustina Brunch Menu

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.

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Looking to kick off 2012 with an auspicious beginning? If so, perhaps look no further than the upcoming ‘Mist Project’ which rolls into SLC on January 19th.

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

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Cafe Madrid gets new digs

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!

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SLC Greek Festival

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

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Faustina goes EPIC

Faustina in downtown Salt Lake is hosting a special evening with EPIC Brewing on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. EPIC’s brewmaster Kevin Crompton will be there to educate about EPIC Brewing fundamentals and the distinctions of each selection, along with tasting notes for beers complementing Executive Chef Billy Sotelo’s summer harvest menu. The four-course menu is $35 for dinner and $20 for the beer pairings. “We tasted each of their beers to get the right pairings,” said Billy Sotelo, executive chef. “We are excited to add new EPIC Brewing creations to our offerings. They pair very well with our local farm-fresh late summer menu.” The menu is as follows:

Antipasto
- Assorted Artisan Meats and Cheeses
- paired with Straight Up Saison

Course Four
- Lemon, Vanilla and Berry Panna Cotta
- paired with Brainless on Cherries

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

Elizabeth’s Bakery Moves to Granato’s

Elizabeth’s has moved location – sadly it is no longer a full service restaurant. The following is an excerpt from a recent email update sent out to members of the restaurants mailing list:

“The kitchen is up and running and we are ready for business and looking forward to seeing all of you again. We really appreciate your patience during this rather difficult time of relocation…let me just tell you how much we are enjoying working with the Granato’s. It is the best of two world’s …literally… England and Italy…who would have thought. I look at all of our wonderful items and then I look at all of the delicious items that are available from our new Italian family and I think I may never need to shop anywhere else. Our pies and pasties and scones and quiche and our plethora of sweet delights are right across from the most spectacular deli meats and cheeses …and you have never seen so many olive choices ( or at least I haven’t)… so you see YOU can have it all ! You must come and check us out ! One of my new finds is an extra virgin olive oil infused with orange…mmm…the scent of orange is delicate as is the taste…and bread and Baci rolls baked fresh everyday……Yes ! We are working on putting in a self serve espresso and tea bar which will compliment everything AND…my lovely window seat bench is now a window seat bench ( it is located under windows) hurray !! So all in all life is good and I can only expect it to keep getting better and better…I am an optimist after all Come and see us soon…we miss you !! and thanks for all of your love and support …it means the world to me ! Ronni & Mike”

Elizabeth’s @ Granto’s
1391 South 300 West, Salt Lake City
(801) 486-5643

Fall 2011 Dine-o-round

The Fall 2011 Dine O’ Round is right around the corner! Downtown Dine O’ Round is an ideal way to explore new restaurants or revisit old favorites with 43 restaurants participating in this annual event. Patrons will be able to choose from a three-course dinner priced at either $15 or $30 per person. Many of the restaurants also offer a special two item lunch for $5 or $10.

There are no coupons, no punch cards, and no strings attached. Just ask your server for the Dine O’ Round special and enjoy! Only. Downtown. See http://www.downtownslc.org/table/dine-o-round/ for more details on some of the participating restaurants.

Feast of the five senses

In the name of good taste and to support Slow Food Utah’s Micro-grant Fund, seven local celebrated chefs will use the bounty of Utah’s local food producers and artisans in an extraordinary evening of delicious food and conviviality to raise funds for the Slow Food Utah’s wide range of programs. The 7th Annual Feast of Five Senses will take place on Sunday, September 18, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. at Kimball Distributing Viking Showroom, 2223 South, 300 East in Salt Lake City. Feast makers for 2011 include:

David Hammel of Liberty Heights Fresh
Greg Neville of Lügano
Ryan Lowder of Copper Onion
Nathan Powers of Bambara
Michael Richey of Pago
Amber Billingsley of Vinto
Letty Flatt of Deer Valley
Uinta Beer will offer pairings
Francis Fecteau of Libation will be pairing a wine with each course

Tickets are available online at www.slowfoodutah.org or by mail to Slow Food Utah, PO Box 581213, SLC, UT 84158-1213. Cost to attend is $85 per person, with a $35 optional wine pairing.

This annual fundraiser allows Slow Food Utah to offer a wide range of programs and to fund the micro-grant program in order to fill gaps that they see in traditional funding sources for food-related projects, especially for small-scale food growers and producers, community innovators and educators. In past years, Slow Food Utah has funded schoolyard gardens, Salt Lake Community College Seeds of Hope program and has helped small farmers build greenhouses to extend the growing season and start Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs.

Kimball Distributing Viking Showroom
2223 South, 300 East, Salt Lake City

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Tasting menu review

Throughout my years of writing for Gastronomic SLC, people have always asked me why I have never written about some of my more interesting meals, outside of Salt Lake City. I’ve often shied away from such a path for fear of distracting from the focus of the website. All that said, a recent meal at SAAM in Los Angeles prompted me to rethink that. After an excellent meal I really wanted to write ‘something’ but had no outlet as such, and with so many people asking me so many questions, I decided to review the meal here. Hope you enjoy.

SAAM is the work of Jose Andres. who is probably most noted for his Washingon D.C restaurant, Minibar. Seating is notoriously hard to come by at Minibar, with only 12 diners seated per evening. For a chef who counts Ferran Adrian as his mentor you would expect to see plenty of creative twists and flair, which Andres serves up in spades. When an opportunity to dine at one of his restaurants recently came up, I jumped at the chance.

SAAM is actually a restaurant within a restaurant. Located within SLS hotel in Beverly Hills you will find ‘The Bazaar’, a mixture of tapas restaurant (Rojo Y Blanca), bar (Bar Centro), patisserie, shop and tucked out back away from chaotic crowds, the private tasting room, SAAM. The tasting room is a quiet oasis and offers up a single 22 course tasting menu, a few select nights of the week.

The following is a recap of my meal there a few weeks ago. Some of the pictures aren’t fantastic, as I was trying to avoid flash photography, in what is a fairly upscale setting.

The Golden Boy, Lotus Root Chips: The meal commenced with this house signature cocktail – a small shot of sherry, cava, bitters and gold dust. A clean, crisp, refreshing hit to the system, and really, its kinda neat when you can relay that you began your meal with gold dust. The lotus root chips were served alongside, coated with star anise – delicious.

Tuna Handroll: The first of the appetizer courses was a play on the traditional hand roll. Only enough for one bite, but what a delicious bite. Ahi tuna is encased in a crisp outer shell with a wonderfully rich avocado cream and liquified nori. The whole thing is topped with a dab of wasabi cream. The presentation and taste made this a hit of our table, we all wanted to take a bag full of these home.

(Note: our party was a group of three, hence three of the same thing in some photographs)

Oyster and Jamón: This spoon sized dish was like taking a bite straight from the ocean. It was a single bite affair, focused around a locally sourced Carlsbad oyster.

Black Olives Ferran Adria: This was the first of several dishes on the menu to utilize the infamous ‘shpherification’ process – and also an obvious nod to Andres’ early tutor, Ferran Adria. Originally pioneered at El Bulli in Barcelona, the technique involves taking a liquid and mixing with sodium alginate before dropping or dripping into a bath of calcium chloride/calcium carbonate. The resulting chemical reaction creates an encapsulation of the original liquid. The exterior is solid while the interior remains liquid. The process can be used to great effect, to re-imagine dishes and ingredients. Plus, its kinda cool.

In this dish, the essence of kalamata olives is mixed with an excellent olive oil and also squid ink for color, before undergoing spherification. Its a one time affair, you pop the olive into your mouth, bite down and keep your mouth closed. The subsequent explosion in your mouth is like tasting the most olive-y olive you ever tried. By the way, if you forgot to close your mouth, you will also be likely looking a messy table cloth right now too

Jose’s Combination: Making a complete u-turn from the laboratory, the next dish was the ultra-simple pairing of Jamón Ibérico with a dollop of caviar. Our waiter explained this to be one of Andres’ most beloved combinations and who were we to argue. It was fun to see such excellent ingredients, treated so simply, immediately after the previous wizardry.

Patatas Bravas: Back to the the world of the avant garde we have this re-interpretation of the classic tapas dish, Patatas Bravas. Where once you had fried potato rounds and a spicy sauce you now have this more elegant presentation. The outside is crispy and the inside is soft and fluffy.

Buffalo Wing: This dish was one of evenings low notes for myself personally. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted great, but I wasn’t quite sure what the point of this course was to be frank. Was it an excellent boneless buffalo wing, topped with the classic mix of celery, hot sauce and blue cheese? Yes. Did it really bring anything extra to the party? Not really. It felt out of place, like it had wandered onto the menu of its own accord, and for me the blue cheese flavor was too dominant.

Not Your Everyday Caprese: This dish was subject of much debate, but I thought it was the perfect example of what new techniques can bring to old dishes. Here, a caprese salad is given a new story with a little help from spherification. The dish contains a sphere of tomato, spheres of mozzarella, a tomato ‘heart’, air bread croutons, pesto and a dash of balsamic. This took a completely pedestrian salad, and made it into something exciting, something I was giddy to eat. It helped of course that all the ingredients were first rate too.

Crispy Nigiri: I’m ashamed to say I can’t recall too many details about this dish. Sadly that often translates to – “Um, what’s the next course?”. What I do recall is this was a micro piece of Aji balanced on puffed rice. I don’t think anything really stood out here.

Spring Foie Gras Soup: This dish was spectacular, both in terms of flavor and presentation, that I suspect it might have been partially to blame for forgetting the precise details of its predecessor.

The dish arrived as three pieces of slightly under cooked foie gras, topped with picture perfect edible flowers. Our waiter then proceeded to pour over a piping hot broth of dashi and bergamot to complete the cooking of the foie gras. Our table fell silent while we each enjoyed this one, a unanimous thumbs up all around.

Chipirones: Do you enjoy the taste and texture of squid, with some of its own ink thrown in for good measure? If so, this dish would completely rock your world. For me, I can take or leave squid no matter how well prepared (and this was good), so it didn’t leave too much of an impression for me personally.

Banh Mi: My favorite dish of the evening was this spin on the French-Vietnamese sandwich, Banh Mi. The sandwich was created with a wonderfully greasy fried brioche bun, pickled carrots, dehydrated and then re-hydrated (with dashi) tofu, wagyu beef and cilantro.

The oily bread and rich fatty beef could have all too easily overwhelmed the palate, but they were wonderfully tempered by the acidic pickled carrots and assertive cilantro. A thoroughly fabulous mini sandwich, one I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Well, apart from the fact my cholesterol would shoot through the roof and I’d last about three months.

Carrot ‘Gnocchi’: More spherification, albeit leaning more tubular than spherical. Here we have a creamy carrot ‘gnocchi’ in a lightly curried soup. An enjoyably delicate course following the richness of the preceding sandwich.

Mirugai: This was introduced to us as Geoduck (pronounced ‘gooey-duck’), I’d never realized this was the same as mirugai, seen on sushi restaurant across the land – you learn something new every day huh! Anyway, this dish was another less than memorable moment for me personally. The mild clam was dominated by the garnish (of what I think, if memory serves) of shaved radish and water cress. It didn’t leave much of an impression in my memory at any rate.

Kurobuta Pork Belly: After spotting this on the menu before our meal, I was excitedly looking forward to this dish. It came served with micro turnips and an artichoke puree. After a few bites I found myself lusting for some of chef Ryan Lowder’s pork belly creations from The Copper Onion, back here in SLC. Don’t get me wrong, SAAM’s dish was excellent, but it really does go to show how lucky we are to have such a great restaurant like The Copper Onion here in Salt Lake City.

Philly Cheesesteak: One of Andres’ signature dishes. This modernization of the East coast favorite uses ‘air’ bread. In practice this is a thin, crispy hollow tube filled with gooey, oozy, cheddar cheese. The whole thing is layered with wagyu beef. I had to skip this one, as melted cheddar really doesn’t float my boat – but my dining partners were all too eager to lay claim to my offering. They rated this dish exceptionally highly.

Japanese Baby Peaches: As we segued from savory to sweet we had this combination of Japanese baby peaches, hazelnuts, Burratta cheese and croutons. Sweet, creamy, cruncy and soft – the ingredients made for quite the unusual, but enjoyable mix.

Dragons Breath Popcorn: You might have already seen this on TV. The server brings a metal bowl to the table, filled with liquid nitrogen. Into this maelstrom bites of caramel popcorn are dropped, which ‘cook’ in the bowl. They are then served up one at a time for each diner to taste. The idea is to keep your mouth closed while chewing, this creates an explosion of smoke, which I found remarkably hard to contain truth be told. You can then breath out the smoke through your nose, to the amusement of your fellow diners, hence the dishes name. Of course it is completely gimmicky, but its also pretty fun nonetheless; although we did note we were left with slightly freeze-burnt tongues afterwards as a result of this one.

SAAM-Buca: This was the first of our two desserts proper. It comprised a very vibrant contrast of both sweet and tart using sambuca gelee, strawberry and fennel. I hope it was by design, and I will give the chefs the benefit of the doubt, but this dish was the perfect wake up call for my numbed palate after the freezing treatment from the dragon’s breath.

Chocolate Rock: The final course proper was the chocolate rock, which first started life as a chocolate foam, before meeting liquid nitrogen and creating the unique textural effect. If I recall correctly there was also a couple of excellent pralines mixed in, with a greek yogurt at the base too. I think there was also a citrusy foam to the side too, but after 20+ dishes details get a little hazy! A great dish I thought.

Sexy Little Sweets: We finished the tasting menu with a plate of petit fours to share over coffee (an additional $5 per cup). While we recounted our meal, we realized nearly three hours had passed in what seemed like only the blink of an eye. I thought that spoke volumes to the excellent pacing of the meal. We always seemed to have ample time between courses to chat and discuss the food, while never seemingly waiting at any point.

Our main server and host, Daniel, led a great service throughout the evening. While the service was continually efficient and well schooled, eager to provide more detail when asked, they were only too happy to join in with our joking and fun when the time was apt. The service team managed to deftly balance professional and accessible for the duration of our meal.

As we left the restaurant, and went back into the noisy bustle of the Bazaar, we were handed a copy of the menu rolled up in a little scroll, plus a boxed, bite size chocolate. Those of us who also selected the wine pairing received menus for that too.

The 22 course tasting menu is priced at $120 with the optional 6 drink pairing, a further $100. Gratuity is added at a mandatory 20% too. I personally felt the tasting menu represented a good value, given the ingredients, creativity and overall experience. I’d perhaps wait 6 to 12 months before visiting again, just to allow the menu to change, but I’d happily visit again.

Saam @ The Bazaar
SLS Hotel Beverly Hills
465 S La Cienega Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90048.
(310) 246-5567
www.thebazaar.com

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When I first heard the term sous-vide, I heard the French meaning: under vacuum. Sous-Vide is a way of cooking where you vacuum seal whatever food you want inside of a plastic bag and place it underwater. The water is kept at a certain temp, and circulated throughout the cooking process. This allows the food to be cooked on, or rather, cooked around a uniform, constant cooking surface and, if done correctly, results in precise, uniform, and juicy food. Kind of like deep frying, but without the fat and fire hazard and at much, much lower temps (it’s water after all). Seasonings and fats can be included inside of the plastic bag prior to cooking.

After coming to understand the actual cooking method that it is, I became intrigued, especially since I kept hearing this term, sous-vide this, sous-vide that, around the high-end restaurant circles. It seemed to be a trend. It also seemed to be something generally unattainable for the home cook. A sous-vide machine, a good one, can cost upwards of $800. Most of these myths and misconceptions of mine were dispelled last night.

T’was my honor and privilege to pay $45 to be instructed by the humble yet knowledgeable Viet Pham of Forage restaurant, and not to beat a dead horse, but he was just featured on the cover of Food and Wine magazine as one of the best new chefs in America.

There were a few mishaps like the noise level and Viet’s soft-spoken voice not mixing well, but overall, he made himself extremely accessible for any and all questions. The demonstration was slow (maybe a little too slow with the case of the carrots) but well paced. The food was fantastic. For his first time teaching the class in the Caputo kitchen, he and his lovely assistant Vanessa Chang, did an excellent job.

I hope Viet comes back to do many more classes.

A little information that I learned about sous-vide cooking.

1. There’s a big misconception that it’s only capable of one texture.

2. It’s entirely possible to successfully sous-vide with just a big pot of water, a timer, and a good thermometer.

3. It can be used in conjunction with other cooking techniques, as you’ll see with the steak

The texture of the meat was incredible. Almost filet-like. The color was marvelous and so was the taste. The fibers in the meat were barely there. It was served with an excellent, quick sauce of garlic, arugula, lemon zest, and olive oil.

We also had sous-vide salmon that I thought was cooked perfectly, but Viet thought it was slightly overdone, much to my surprise. He torched some cedar planks for addition flavor and brushed them with a Slide Ridge honey-vinegar sauce that took back seat to the salmon’s own natural flavor even though the honey-vinegar is a very assertive taste. Carrots where also on the menu, but they took longer than expected so only the hardcore folks in the crowd stuck around for a taste.

It was an awesome class, even despite the constant complaining of the people next to us that Viet was “adding too much salt” or “too much butter.” My wife even heard them say, “I know one thing this class is teaching me: too stay home and cook more.” Oh well, maybe they should lock themselves in their house and eat applesauce…wait, that probably has too much sugar, what’s something more bland than applesauce?

(This post was written by guest blogger Mike H. Mike writes for the fantastic SLC blog Foodie From Scratch on all things gustatory – from exploring local restaurants, through to delicious recipes and more).

Tony Caputo’s Market & Deli
314 W. 300 S. Salt Lake City, Utah
(801) 531-TONY
Website: www.caputosdeli.com

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Lunch review

It has been approximately three years, not to mention many a repeat visit, since we last reviewed Elizabeth’s Bakery & Tea Shop back in 2008. Recently, spurred on by some great Groupon deals for the eatery (signup if you haven’t already), I took note of the many changes since that first review. Time for an update then!

The biggest single change to occur since that initial write up is the new ownership. Originally the restaurant was the work of the adjacent London Market’s Robin and Elizabeth Grey – the restaurant changed hands and is now a completely separate business venture – owned and operated by Ronni Matthews.

With the change in ownership has come a few tweaks to the overall dining experience too. Thankfully, its more evolution than revolution, and the slight modifications are largely agreeable. On entering the restaurant you no longer need to order up at the counter. While there is no menu as such (except for a list of teas) – one is guided to browse the chiller cabinets of both the savory and sweet treats, before seating themselves.

Once sat, a waiter will quickly be table side to take your order. Brit tip #1: for the full English experience get the biggest teapot of PG tips you can muster (strong black UK tea). Also you might think me crazy for suggesting ordering tea in the heat of summer, don’t worry, the aircon at Elizabeth’s is generally at max, keeping the whole place cool as a cucumber sandwich. Indeed it gets almost too chilly for me by the windows facing Trolley Square.

If you haven’t been in a while you might also notice the space feels slightly less chintzy. A lot of the ornamental clutter seems to have been simplified. Mind you, the space is still a very feminine one, as you would expect for a tea shop; the main banquette seating being a great example, now revamped with a million pillows:

Much of the menu remains the same despite a few additions here and there. Favorites like quiche, sausage rolls, pies and pastys all remain. A specials board now adorns the wall behind the counter, so keep your eyes peeled. The Beef & Mango Chutney Pasty ($6.35) was one new item I found recently, a fun twist on the standard cornish pasty (root veggies, potato and ground beef in a flaky pastry shell):

Subtle highlights of curry powder and the sweetness of mango added an enjoyable new dimension to this traditional English snack food. Also, where once redundant parsley twigs adorned the plate, a simply dressed salad now takes its place. The salad added a welcome brightness to the dish and helped alleviate some of the dryness, inherent with a menu of baked goods. One tiny gripe was it could have been a smidgeon larger.

Brit tip #2, a sausage roll ($3.25) is probably the most quintessential of UK snack foods:

Seasoned pork sausage wrapped in flaky pastry, perfect for grabbing and eating on the go. Always a favorite of mine, and a decent rendition at Elizabeth’s – yet it did feel overpriced at three bucks.

The Cheese and Onion Pie ($6.95) is as full as goodness as ever, and a good option for vegetarians:

Thick, rich, crusty pastry is filled with gooey melted cheddar cheese, and soft onions. With the calorie overload afoot, you might want to pretend the side salad offsets the indulgence (especially with dessert looking). Much like the pasty and sausage roll, I thought the pie was markedly better than I previously remembered. The pastry had a better crunch for sure. I’m not sure precisely what has changed, maybe the baking or the recipe, but the savory goods seemed improved to me.

In the back of above the picture you will also spy a Trifle ($3.95), a dessert we order more often than not. Trifle is composed of several layers – ladyfingers, strawberry jello, custard, cream and a sprinkling of crumbled chocolate on top. It is just one of a bounty of sweet treats you can end your meal with. I could go into detail over the array of selections, but you would be best advised to simply head on down and sample a few over a pot of tea (Brit tip #3 – any opportunity for a pot of tea should be seized at once).

Three years on its great to see Elizabeth’s evolving and trying new things. I did once muse that the menu might not have sufficient depth to entice a regular following, but on every trip back, I see ladies lunching sharing sweet treats, families enjoying a meal and couples hanging out, relaxing. My only one gripe is still the price of some of the items, being marginally higher than you would encounter over the pond.

Elizabeth’s Bakery & Tea Shop
575 South 700 East Salt Lake City, UT 84102-2814
(801) 433-1170
Website: http://www.elizabethsteashop.com

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New Bar Bites menu at Bambara

Bambara recently announcing their new “Powers’ Hours” in its adjacent club, The Vault, with new half-priced Bar Bites throughout the work week from 3 – 5 p.m. Executive Chef Nathan Powers mentioned: “We’re really looking forward to getting to know our new neighbors and figured what better way to cap off the day then to enjoy a few tasty bites?”

The Powers’ Hours menu includes Morgan Valley lamb sliders with cucumber slaw, mint pesto for $5.50 with frites for an extra $1.50; crispy calamari with chipotle tartar sauce, cilantro and limes for $6 and Bambara’s signature house-cut blue cheese potato chips for $4.

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

Yelp Eats

Next week the popular user review site, Yelp,com, will be working with 8 Salt Lake City restaurants for ‘Yelp eats week’. The restaurants include: Atlantic Café & Market, Bohemian Brewery, Cucina Vanina, Faustina, Meditrina, Metropolitan, Stoneground and The Wild Grape. Each restaurant will offer a special Yelp menu with three apps, entrees and desserts priced at 50% off.

All you need to do is reserve a a table in advance and be sure to mention you’re booking for Yelp Eats. Prices are valid for dinner only and the event runs July 11-17. To get your appetites started here are a couple of the example menus:

Meditrina

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta. $3.50
Creme Brulee. $3
Stawberry Roulade. $2.50

Location: Various
Website: Yelp.com

J&G Grill Spice Market Menu

Available now through July 22nd for dinner, J&G Grill will be offering their ‘Spice Market Tasting Menu’. Located in New York’s Meatpacking district and rated among the top 1% of New York dining establishments reviewed by TripAdvisor, Spice Market is inspired by the vibrant flavors of street food from southeast Asia.

“The dishes in J&G’s Spice Market Tasting Menu have bold flavors and unique ingredients that I don’t think anyone else offers in Utah,” explained Matt Harris, Chef de Cuisine at J&G Grill. “We love to work with the freshest local ingredients, stimulating textures, and vivid flavors. For our guests, it’s like a visit to Spice Market in New York without ever having to leave Utah”.

The Spice Market Tasting Menu at J&G Grill features celebrated Chef Jean-Georges’ Spiced Chicken Samosas with Cilantro Yogurt, Black Pepper Shrimp with Sundried Pineapple, Grilled Strip Steak with Garlic, Coriander and Sesame and more. The Spice Market Tasting Menu is the first of an ongoing series of tasting menus to be featured by J&G Grill that will highlight other Jean-Georges’ restaurants worldwide.

Picture: J&G Grill ‘Communal Table’:

J&G Grill
2300 Deer Valley Drive East, Park City, UT 84060
(435) 940-5700
Website: www.jggrilldeercrest.com

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It’s funny how sometimes you forget about a restaurant. For some reason, it stops being in your “so where do you want to go tonight” list, and pretty soon it slides to the back of your consciousness. I find this to be a strange phenomenon in Salt Lake though, since not too long ago we had about four decent places to eat (yep, I remember those days). But now there are so many downright delicious restaurants here that sometimes a good one falls of my radar. Recently, I was reminded about a very good one; Faustina.

I’ve always liked Faustina, and we actually did a review in August of 2008 shortly after they opened, but for some reason I haven’t been there in quite a while. However, a couple of weeks ago GastronomicSLC was invited to a summer menu preview and I got to go see what Executive Chef Billy Sotelo and General Manager Hillary Merrill are up to. And let me just cut to the chase, they are up to YUM.

From the first bite of the Lamb Chop appetizer to the last sip of the Dow Tawny Port (served with a perfectly made Panna Cotta) my taste buds were rapidly replacing about half of the other restaurants on my “regular” list with Faustina’s name.

Served with parmesan polenta and stewed peppers, the lamb was tender and delicious (Hillary paired this with a Crios Rose of Malbec – divine!).

Next was a wonderful summer salad of watermelon, arugula, pink peppercorns, cashews, and goat cheese with a watermelon vinaigrette. So light and fresh, and the watermelon was perfectly ripe. I might have left off the cashews, but then I’m not big on cashews. Paired with a lovely Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc this lasted about two minutes.

The next course was an asiago crusted scallop dish with cappellini in a saffron broth. This has been on the menu since we reviewed Faustina last time and I can see why. Very tasty.

Next came a really interesting stuffed chicken breast (I bet you weren’t expecting interesting and chicken to be in the same breath there). Served in a chorizo broth with polenta and asparagus, that broth made the dish unique and very satisfying. p.s. they really know polenta at Faustina. Soooo good.

Finally we had that vanilla bean panna cotta I mentioned earlier. Like a dope, I ate mine before remembering to get a picture, but seriously folks, panna cotta is hard to make right. It walks the razor’s edge between scrambled eggs and a weird jell-o concoction, but this baby was perfect. Just the right amount of jiggle, and a full rich creaminess you’ll crave. Delicious with balsamic strawberries and toasted pistachios. Oh, and don’t forget that port. Just right.

Everything we were served was excellent (and all of the dishes we tried are on the menu – they range from $6.00 for the watermelon salad to $23.00 for the scallops), and the servers were friendly, efficient, and very knowledgeable. And although we didn’t sit out on the patio, I was reminded of how nice it is as we walked inside. I’m seriously annoyed with myself for letting Faustina slide off my go-to list, and after the warm reception we received (even when they didn’t know we were there for the media dinner), it’s will definitely be in heavy rotation from now on.

Disclaimer: Gastronomic SLC was invited by Faustina to sample their summer menu, and did not pay for this meal.

Website: www.faustinaslc.com

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