Mary Brown Malouf

forget those pretty pastels. At Easter, their most important religious holiday, Greeks dye eggs as red as Mrs. Trump’s Christmas trees. Red eggs are called kokkina avga; and the sizeable Greek community in Utah will be dying them by the dozen on Easter. (This year on April 21.) Traditionally, they were dyed with onion skins, according to Harmons chef Leslie Nielsen, which results in a reddish-brownish egg, but as journalist Anne Wilson recalls, “my mother in law always used red food coloring to make them really dark.” Wine broker Peri Ermidis uses Ritt scarlet dye to achieve a brighter color and the color is important because, as Mary Caputo says, “the red symbolizes the blood of Christ shed for our salvation.” Despite the solemn symbolism, the eggs are used to play a game called tsoug risma—here’s how to play: 

Each player holds an egg, and one taps the end of her or his egg lightly against the end of the other player’s egg. When one egg’s end is cracked, the person with the clean egg uses the same end of the egg to try to crack the other end of the opponent’s egg. The player who successfully cracks both ends of their opponent’s egg is declared the winner and, it is said, will have good luck during the year. Good. We need it.

The Story of the Good Egg

Nicole Mouskondis recalls her first Greek Easter when she became part of the Mouskondis family (owners of Nicholas & Co.) “I can remember the first Greek Easter I spent with my soon-to-be mother and father-in-law (Elyce and Bill Mouskondis). As we were gathered around the dinner table, Bill announced it was time to play the game, and he reminded everyone that he was the champion for many years running and couldn’t be beaten. One by one, as his egg tapped someone else’s egg, he remained victorious. I watched in amazement—how could one egg be so strong and withstand tapping that many other eggs without being cracked? Later that evening, Bill had left his egg out and we all realized the reason he was the champion for so many years: He had found a marble egg, dyed perfectly to match all of the other eggs…so of course he was victorious! When he was called out, all he could do was smile with his sheepish grin, still reveling in how he got away with that trick for so many years!

OK, so you and I might have overlooked it, what with Sundance and the government shutdown and the state of the union and all. But a week ago Sunday, January 27, was National Chocolate Cake Day.

We missed it. But that raises one of those philosophical gastronomic questions: Can you ever really be too late for chocolate cake? No. It’s the obvious answer. Argue, if you’re able on our FB page.

Who knows why or how it was decided that Jan. 27 should be the day to honor chocolate cake? To my knowledge, there is no national chocolate cake organization to promote such a thing. Maybe it is a plot by Betty Crocker.

But April the fourth is International Carrot Day. Mark your calendars.

And the first Wednesday in October is National Kale Day. It’s never too early to start your Kale Day shopping.

In my mind, these are not real causes for celebration. But chocolate cake is.

To be clear, I’m not talking about molten or flourless or fallen or pound. I’m talking about a proper layer cake, one of the United States’ great contributions to gastronomy. And don’t start talking about French gateaux. We improved on that.

So here is my personal list of great chocolate cakes in Salt Lake City and beyond.

1. Tulie Bakery — This is a true American layer cake—no fruit, no melting center, just layers of moist cake and icing (pictured above).
2. Cakes de Fleur. These are some of my favorite cakes in the city‚incredible icing. There are some available in the case but it’s best to preorder.
3. Whole Foods — A controversial choice, but I have always gotten extraordinary, very traditional chocolate cakes here.
4. Tuscany — Only if you’re very brave or very large—this cake is a full 7 inches tall.
5. Red Butte Cafe — A 3-layer cake with chocolate filling and icing.

I’m open to additions, deletions and expansion of this list. Find us on Facebook.

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If I worked at Goldman Sachs, I’d be jazzed that The Daily opened right next door. In fact, the two businesses (sort of) share a lobby. Given that Goldman Sachs slaves often work 14 to 16 hours a day, having a spot right down the elevator where you can grab a complete meal off the shelf, sit down and order or call ahead and pick-up a hot meal or a sandwich is ideal. Think of the money you’ll make because you didn’t have to leave your computer for more than ten minutes!

Breakfast Bowl

The Daily is the latest project of Ryan Lowder and his all-star team—including baker Caroline Hargraves, and it’s very different from his previous popular restaurants (Copper Onion, Copper Kitchen, Copper Commons). There’s none of the Old World softness of the Coppers at The Daily—it’s as slick and clean and modern as it can be. Place your order, grab a number and your meal is delivered to your table. We ordered the simplest things on the menu: tomato soup, a grilled cheese sandwich and a chicken salad sandwich. Oh, and a chocolate chip cookie. Lowder moved his whole baking operation to this space, and he’s always been particular about what comes out of his oven. I was happy to see that in addition to the lovely, soft American sandwich loaf used with the chicken salad, the bakery turns out gorgeous crusty round loaves and tall flaky biscuits. When we ate there, the chicken salad (livened up with bits of pickle) sandwich was unabashedly American, and so was the great grilled cheese sandwich with a cup of tomato soup. Wait, you might say. This isn’t the imaginative food we’re used to from Lowder. It’s not. But it’s as flavorful as any bone marrow dish from a Copper. As always, ingredients are paramount. You get a clue about this from the Stumptown coffee on the deli shelves. Unfortunately, there are still pick-up problems. Our online order was five minutes late and there’s no place up front to park legally, and only

Chicken and Rice (Khao Man Gui)

one spot to hesitate, so that’s stressful—especially because Main Street is nearly unnavigable now. So is the online Daily menu. And back at the office, the food didn’t live up to expectation: the chicken salad was made of curried unrecognizable chicken bits, the chicken on the plate was flavorless. Only the loaded fried taters with cheese, bacon and sour cream and Asian-style pork belly sandwich were thoroughly satisfying. Oh, and the chocolate chip cookie.

Of course, if I worked at Goldman Sachs, none of this would be a problem.

We all know what to expect from a chain restaurant steakhouse, whether it’s Sizzler or Ruth’s Chris: big beef, salad, potatoes. And the assurance that all the restaurants in the chain will be similar—every Sizzler has its salad bar and every Ruth’s Chris plates its steak on butter. A steakhouse kitchen usually needs a meat technician, not a chef. Fleming’s has restaurants in 28 states. But at Fleming’s Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Gateway, Chef Jeremiah Hester is separating from the herd.

Still want a steak? Fleming’s serves a center-cut wagyu ribeye. It’s the best meat you’ll ever eat. It has all the flavor and fat of a ribeye but cuts and eats like a tender filet.

What inspired you to make changes to Fleming’s menu?

We wanted to change the typical steak and potato idea of a steakhouse by including some chef’s creativity.  More and more, guests are asking about the source of their food—they like local—and are looking for something different.

But you still have the standards on the menu?

Yes. We have a list called Chef’s Table of seven to 10 dishes that are unique to us. We wanted something unusual for a steakhouse, besides the same shrimp cocktail, mashed or baked potatoes, creamed spinach, wedge salad. So we change out the Chef’s Table menu every two months. (Ed note: Like Pepita Crusted Scallops with melted burrata, campari tomatoes and fig gastrique.)

What are some recent dishes featured on the Chef’s Table?

We have honey-garlic green beans and fried Szechuan cauliflower. Cauliflower is so great to work with because it’s neutral and marries with seasonings. We’ve done it sweet and sour style, buffalo-style—lots of ways.

How do you decide what to put on the Chef’s Table?

We try to work seasonally. This summer we made a strawberry salad, crab-corn chowder with blistered poblano salsa and peach cobbler. Now we’re serving Brussels sprouts with bacon jam. I like to go out to eat and see what other people are doing and wherever I am living I try to learn about the food.

What are some of the challenges of offering a changing, unique menu?

It’s harder to work with small and local suppliers. We’ve only been doing Chef’s Table for a few months, but we’re slowly working into that company-wide.

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Fred Moesinger and Aimee Sterling took a giant leap backward when they were forced to move their beloved Italian restaurant, Caffe Molise, and its sister bar, BTG, because of planned city construction. Instead of abandoning downtown for new construction in the burbs (and yes, I count Cottonwood and Holladay), they decided to invest in Salt Lake’s history and take over the landmark Eagle Building. That’s not the Salt Lake way—we generally prefer to tear down the old and put our money into new and shiny—and usually boring—buildings.

Polenta Con Funghi

So hurrah for Fred and Aimee and kudos to their craziness. The new old space is 15,000 square feet over three floors; the original Caffe Molise space was 9,000 square feet. BTG now has a whole floor with its own entrance, the top floor is a ballroom fit for Beauty & the Beast to waltz across.

Built in 1915-16 for the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, the building has a formality and a presence seldom seen in new architecture. The grand entryway staircase on West Temple leads into the dining room, which, because of tall ceilings and architectural detail, lending a sense of occasion to your meal.

Pesce Del Giorno (Fish of the Day)

Molise’s menu has remained the same, which seems weird, because it all tasted better in the new space. It’s been proved (as much as social science can prove anything) that where people eat affects how much they enjoy what they’re eating. Caffe Molise’s arista—spice rubbed roast pork tenderloin with fig compote—has always been one of my favorites. The moist pork and the mildly sweet fruit have a naturally beautiful relationship in the mouth, but the newly elegant setting is conducive to slowing down and relishing flavors. Eggplant polpette have all the umami of meat, enhanced by tomato cream and grilled asparagus—a humble dish elevated by its surroundings.

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Mention canned fish to Americans and they’re likely to remember Charlie, the tuna with no taste. But in Europe, canned—there it’s the very continental “tinned,” of course—has long been a delicacy and Americans are starting to catch on. Pun unintended. At super-uber hip Post Office Place, order the imported sardines and they’re presented still in the can. Er, tin (below). A big difference between American-canned and, say, Portuguese-tinned fish is that we cook the fish in the can; they cook the fish, then they can it. It makes a huge difference in flavor. Caputo’s has a good selection of imported tinned seafood.

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