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Mary Brown Malouf

Mary Brown Malouf is the late Executive Editor of Salt Lake magazine and Utah's expert on local food and dining. She still does not, however, know how to make a decent cup of coffee.

Nov 25
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Be of Good Cheer: A Letter From the Editor

By Community

It’s the season for celebration. And let’s face it—it was a bad year for cheer. Nevertheless, though masked and socially distanced, we will join together again this year in love and joy for one another. We will clink glasses, feast, toast to a better future and enjoy what we have, taking care to live in the moment. That’s what our cover story is about: remembering the good times in the midst of the not-so-good and pledging to support one another.

This year, Salt Lake magazine’s November Cocktail Contest (p. 63) is all about fun. We don’t think that’s frivolous, we think it’s important. Take all precautions, support our hard-working hospitality community. But remember to smile.

After all, we humans are ridiculously resilient. When we’re oppressed or treated unjustly, we push back. Read the sad story of Lauren McCluskey and the protests, outcry and, finally, change that her unnecessary death inspired. It all ties in with the consciousness-raising that have been 2020’s answer to injustice.

Political upheaval and bitter divisions have marked this year as much as the scars of forest fires, hurricanes, drought, windstorms and out-of-control disease. Lack of social contact, economic hardship and uncertainty have damaged our psyche. 

Humans aren’t meant to be alone. We’re tribal creatures.

But we find relief—in raising our voices in protest and encouragement, in solo hiking, workaround ski vacations and, slightly absurdly, in playing games. (p. 78)

Because that’s what humans do: Make do in the hard times, keep hope for the future and—don’t forget this part!—laugh in the present.

Cheers!

Read more.

Nov 17
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Trees: Celebrate the Forest this Holiday

By Community

It’s been a grievous year for trees. The Big Wind of 2020 destroyed more than 1,000 trees in Salt Lake City, leaving Mayor Erin Mendenhall with a deficit—her campaign promise was to plant 4,000 trees in Rose Park. Of course, the West altogether was deforested by fire this year. And trees are life for humans—they hold the earth together and create the air we breathe. This year, instead of buying a dead tree in honor of the holidays, buy a live one. Let it live in your home for a few weeks, then make it a gift, to the earth and to all of us.

If you don’t think buying a live tree is in your cards this holiday season, there’s still ways you can help support the trees. Tree Utah plants large trees in public spaces such as city parks and play grounds. You can help Tree Utah by volunteering to plant even more trees in communities across Utah.

Fun fact: Quaking Aspen is Utah’s state tree. Pando, an aspen grove in Sevier County, is the largest living thing on Earth—a metaphor for our time, because aspens grow in colonies, all connected by their root systems. But Pando is possibly dying from mule deer predation. Many landscape designers warn homeowners not to plant aspen because “they’ll take over” your yard. We can think of many worse fates than being surrounded by aspen trees.

For more city life, click here.

Nov 10
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Woodhouse Day Spa: It’s time to leave tension behind

By Lifestyle

All the tension of the election was being seriously kneaded out of my shoulders. Today I did what you all should find the time for: I got a massage at Woodhouse Day Spa.

2020 has become a number synonymous with stress and anxiety, so much so that if I get a hangnail, I’m likely to say (or shout) “That’s so 2020!!!

An invitation to the new Woodhouse Day Spa in Holladay provided just the respite required.

I left my phone in the car, was greeted at the door by masked manager and operator Elizabeth Leh and ushered into the dressing room to don the softest robe ever. Honestly, I’d pay just to cuddle up in my robe and sip chamomile in the quiet room where I waited for my masseuse.

Take your time, I thought.

I’ll just take a sentence or so to confess that until COVID hit, I was a Kura Door irregular. It’s close to home, draws on a thousand years of a disciplined quest for serenity and a Japanese culture of calm. As it happens, Ryan Patano, the owner of the new Woodhouse, was a regular at Kura Door too and wanted to imbue his own spa (part of a group of spas out of Texas) with the same sense of relaxation and natural mindfulness.

Woodhouse Day SpaBetween hot stones and strong hands, the mental and emotional tension I’d been storing in my body melted. Because of COVID, the steam room wasn’t open. I peered into a treatment room with a giant tub that I would like to rent by the month and I didn’t try the spiced mud wrap with hot and cold alternating Vichy sprays. But I’m looking forward to trying it all and I am seriously wondering if the highly touted mascara at $150 a tube would do the trick. It’s part of just one of several skin care lines available at Woodhouse and I was becoming a believer.

If I hadn’t been technically working, I’d have stopped by Copper Kitchen down the block for a glass of wine to finish the relaxation experience, but you know. I’m conscientious. You do it for me.

For more information about Woodhouse Day Spa, click here.

For more on health and wellness, click here.

Oct 28
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Salt Lake Mag’s Cocktail Contest Starts November 1

By Eat & Drink

It’s time once again for Salt Lake mag’s annual Cocktail Contest. Eight of the city’s best bartenders have created special celebratory cocktails in honor of the season. Your job: Taste and vote. The contest runs through the month of November.

Salt Lake magazine has altered its annual cocktail contest to suit the times. All of these bars are doing their utmost to keep you safe and stay in business.

So taste all the cocktails, tip big and vote on your favorite. Part of the money goes to Be One Small Miracle, a charity that benefits those in the service industry. 

If you’re not going out, make the drinks at home. You can still vote on your favorite. And you can still donate. In either case, the contest winner gets a big prize, you’ll be doing several good deeds at once—contributing to a worthy cause and helping keep our artisanal cocktail bars in business—and having fun into the bargain.

Yes, it’s a win-win-win situation. Go to saltlakemagazine.com for details.

And be of good cheer.

For more Bar Fly, click here.

Oct 14
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Five Great Grilled Cheese Sandos

By Eat & Drink

Melted cheese is the ultimate comfort food and the American grilled cheese sandwich reigns supreme. Most of us grew up with pre-cut American cheese on spongy American white bread, but local chefs have taken it a few steps further—including the ultra-old school Alta Club, which serves a different grilled cheese sandwich every day.

  1. Oasis Cafe — Brie on toasted cranberry walnut bread or grilled white Vermont cheddar and orange cheddar with roasted tomato fennel soup. 151 S. 500 East, SLC, 801-322-0404, oasiscafeslc.com

2. Lucky 13 — Loaded Grilled Cheese: Tomato, onion, lettuce—I know, sounds a little salad-heavy for a sandwich normally relying on butterfat for flavor, but the rabbit food does add nice juicy crunch. 135 W. 1300 South, 801-487-4418, lucky13slc.com

3. Roots Cafe (Pictured above) — Grilled Cheese of the Day. You never know. 3474 S. 2300 East , Mlillcreek, 801-277-6499 rootscafeslc.com

4. Good Grammar — Toasted Cheese & Artichokes. Provolone, white cheddar, artichokes, pepperoncini melted together on sourdough with a pesto spread. Again, you can add chicken or bacon if you must have animal protein. 69 E. Gallivan Ave., SLC, 385-415-5002, goodgrammar.bar

5. Les Madeleines — Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup. Grilled Beehive Promontory Cheddar and fresh curd cheese sandwich with a cup of house-made tomato soup. 216 E. 500 South, SLC, 801- 355-2294, lesmadeleines.com

Words from the Cheese Whiz

Andy Fitzgerrell is a Certified Cheese Expert who works with Kehe Distributors, a national fine food distributor. He has some advice about what to put in a grilled cheese sandwich.

“First of all, there are real non-processed American cheeses that will melt well. There are certain factors that mean a cheese won’t melt well—aged cheeses, low Ph, and therefore high acidity, for example. And by-and-large, artisanal cheeses don’t melt well.” The Swiss are known for melty cheese, says Fitzgerrell—“think Gruyere, Appenzeller and other alpine cheeses.” Other choices are Monterey Jack, provolone and young cheddar. “It’s the elasticity—the amount of water helps in meltability,” he says. He also encourages people to think outside the wheel when making a grilled cheese sandwich. “I still dream about one made with Camembert and fresh Palisade peaches.”

Grilled Cheese, hold the bread.

Juustoleipä, Finnish Farmstead Bread Cheese is made by Heber Valley Artisan Cheese. Grill it directly in the pan or put it in the oven. 920 River Rd., Midway, 435-654-0291, hebervalleyartisancheese.com

Oct 13
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Tattoo artists! Show us your love!

By Lifestyle

For an article in Salt Lake magazine, we’re looking for the most gorgeous love tattoos in town. Who do you love? Your mom? Your partner? Your friends? Your dog? We just want to see the art that proves it.

Get your skills some publicity and send your flash to editor@saltlakemagazine.com!

Oct 05
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Vice Presidential Debate: Pence vs. Harris

By City Watch

UPDATE: I guess it’s all part of the debacle that is 2020: I just learned that because of a paperwork SNAFU, I won’t be able to attend the VP debates after all. I have heard other local media have encountered problems as well, but that is just hearsay.

I’m once again feeling the futile, helpless anger that has been the main emotion of this awful year. 

 

I’ve never attended or covered a vice-presidential debate before. Have you? Honestly, I’ve not usually even watched them on TV and when asked this weekend who Hillary Clinton’s running mate was, I didn’t remember. (It was Tim Kaine)

(I can’t imagine a more boring political event than Tim Kaine debating Mike Pence.)

Anyway, I’m attending the 2020 Vice Presidential debate tomorrow evening at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus.

And tomorrow night’s event promises to keep me awake.

I’m not expecting another cluster, like the chaotic yelling match many of us watched nearly a week ago, when President Trump and Joe Biden made a mess out of the very idea of debate. Really, no one but Trump could instigate that kind of debacle.

But the Veep contest is, more than the usual political debate, inherently interesting. Because Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris personify the split in American society, the culture canyon that is dividing us so deeply and violently.

Pence is the classic American politician—an old, white, male conservative who is determined to keep his kind in power. He doesn’t shout out his positions on women’s rights, gay marriage, racial equality, income equality or universal healthcare but they’re there, a fundamental part of him and his history. A history Harris and others are trying to change. Harris’ parents are Black and Indian, she’s a woman—that goes without saying—and she comes from a state that, despite internal conflict, has the most progressive culture in the country. Her attitude is fierce; his is staid. He is protecting his kind’s hegemony; Harris’ life has been a series of “firsts.”

It’s almost ridiculous to sum up the attitudes of these two into simple “right” and “left,” Republican and Democrat.

Just like it’s ridiculous to sum up this country’s division so simply.

I’ll be interested to see how this pair characterize their positions, their beliefs, their hopes and plans for our future.

I’ll be trying to report the whole scene as it happens and I’ll certainly post my not-necessarily-unbiased observations on Thursday.

7pm-8:30 MDT (Salt Lake City, Utah)

9pm EST to 10:30 EST (New York, New York)

6pm-7:30 PDT (LA California)

All the major news channels, including NBC, ABC, C-SPAN, CBS and Fox News will show the debate without commercial interruption. YouTube, Apple TV and Amazon Prime are among the online services expected to stream the debate.

Sep 23
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The Bartenders Box: Drinks Delivered to Your Door

By Eat & Drink

Craft cocktails had become a signature drink in Utah—we all knew what orgeat was, expected fresh-squeezed juice, learned to love obscure and local liquors. Even a two-ingredient classic—like gin and tonic—required artisanal tonic and locally made gin. No more Gordon’s and Canada Dry. Speaking of dry, that’s what happened when COVID hit. Except for a few of us who know someone (and here I should give a shoutout to my nephew Adrian Duran) we were back to the basics. Craft cocktails involve a lot of work that goes on before the bartender starts slinging your drink together. So as COVID convinced more people to stay at home and entertain less, locally-lauded barmaster and owner of Top Shelf bartending services Casey Metzger came up with a better idea: The Bartenders Box.

Delivered to your door, the box holds everything you need for a true craft cocktail: fresh-squeezed juices, specially made elixirs, infusions and garnishes (all protected by insulation and a coldpack), a recipe card and even a little easel to put it on while you shake it up so you can hold forth like a real pro. Scan the QR code and watch the video to learn how to get that wrist-snap just right. Each kit is based on a specific liquor—gin, rum, tequila, etc.—and makes at least eight cocktails. Obviously—this is Utah—you provide the booze. A great gift, a great party for two or four, and a great tasting cocktail (cheap at the price) in the comfort of your own home.

Lear more about The Bartenders Box here: thebartendersbox.com

Sep 23
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Movie Night at Redman: Play it Again, Please!

By Arts & Culture

What a glorious thing is a full-size movie screen! I’ve become so accustomed to TV- and computer-sized viewing, the sight of those giant images kind of took my breath away. I’m not kidding.

We were the guests of City Home Collective (and thank you) last night at Redman Studio Motor Cinema. A few containers arranged around Redman’s back lot accommodate a full-size movie screen to create a semi-permanent pop-up cinema as part of Salt Lake Film Society‘s efforts to keep movie-going alive in the time of Covid.

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We watched Casablanca. Yes, again. This is a movie that never ages, the problems of three little people amounting to more than a hill of beans in a world of crazy. Every line has become a meme. And in a drive-in nobody minds if you recite the lines right along with Ingrid and Humphrey and the always-delightful fat man or cry when the French strumpet sings La Marseillaise.

There is a slight dissonance watching Casablanca during these Covid-warped times—everyone in the movie except Rick is longing to get to America, land of the free. You might find yourself thinking, “What?? I think you might head for Canada, instead.”

For more local A&E, click here.

For more information on Movie Night at Redman, click here.

Sep 15
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Like to eat out? Do it now or forever shut your mouth.

By Eat & Drink

THE POINT: If the independent restaurant you love is open—for take-out, for patio dining, for socially distanced indoor dining—support it. Go eat there. It’s fine that we all have a renewed interest in cooking at home, but great restaurants are an essential part of life in a great city. Go. Eat. Tip.

This report came today from National Restaurant Association:

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“Six months following the first shutdown of restaurants for the coronavirus pandemic, the restaurant industry is in limbo. According to a new survey released today by the National Restaurant Association, nearly 1 in 6 restaurants (representing nearly 100,000 restaurants) is closed either permanently or long-term; nearly 3 million employees are still out of work; and the industry is on track to lose $240 billion in sales by the end of the year.

The survey, which asked restaurant operators about the six-month impact of the pandemic on their businesses, found that overwhelmingly, most restaurants are still struggling to survive and don’t expect their position to improve over the next six months. The findings include:

  • Consumer spending in restaurants remained well below normal levels in August. Overall, sales were down 34% on average.
  • Association analysis shows that the foodservice industry has lost $165 billion in revenue March–July and is on track to lose $240 billion this year.
  • Our research estimates that for 2020, at least 100,000 restaurants will close, but the initial scope of closures won’t be known until government statistics are released in the months ahead.
  • 60% of operators say their restaurant’s total operational costs (as a percent of sales) are higher than they were prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • On average, restaurant operators say their current staffing levels are only 71% of what they would typically be in the absence of COVID-19.”

This is dire news for all of us—most acutely for restaurant employees, but also for diners. Remember, you’re actually helping people when you go out to eat.