Salt Lake Magazine

It is that time of year when we get together and clink glasses with family and friends and cheers to the holidays. Our schedules get a little busier with the plethora of gatherings during these months where food and drinks are always the center of attention. Whether preparing dishes for hosting folks or needing to bring something for everyone to share at a party, this festive appetizer is sure to be a crowd-pleaser! The saying, “We eat with our eyes first,” definitely holds merit. We go all out for decorating our homes with holiday cheer, so why not our dishes? Turn an easy caprese salad into a gorgeous holiday “wreath” to brighten up any table. Fresh green herbs, such as basil, completely “pop” on top of red tomatoes that lie on a bed of fresh and creamy mozzarella slices. Buon appetito e salute!

Caprese Salad ‘Wreath’ 

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into ¼ inch slices 

4 medium tomatoes, cut into ¼ inch slices

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup loosely packed fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Balsamic Reduction

1 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. To assemble, arrange the mozzarella on the bottom of a serving platter in a circular form (like a wreath). Top the mozzarella with tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

2. To make the balsamic reduction, add the vinegar to a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often, until thick and reduced by half. About 15 minutes depending on your desired thickness. The balsamic will also thicken as it cools. (Note: It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.)

2. Drizzle the mozzarella and tomatoes with your desired amount of balsamic reduction and olive oil. Decorate the Caprese “wreath” with the basil leaves on the bottom and/or over the top. 

@jbcookinghost / hostjenniferburns.com

We have all been there. Standing at a picked-over rack of neckties in a crowded mall department store, debating over navy with a red pattern or red with a navy pattern, we start to wonder, “Wait. Did I get Dad a tie for Christmas last year? Or was it socks?” Regardless, he has more socks and ties than anyone who works from home could ever need. In fact, maybe we all have too much stuff. But what do you give for the holidays without adding to the clutter? Something that shows you actually love—and maybe even like—these people? 

As kids, whenever we asked our moms what they wanted for Christmas she would always say, “Time together with my beautiful children.” We would always roll our eyes. How do you gift-wrap “time together” and put it under a Christmas tree, anyhow? Nowadays, we’re starting to think she was on to something. You might have to get creative with how you wrap up these presents to open up on Christmas morning, but they give the opportunity for something truly priceless: quality time together and memories to last a lifetime.

Singular Dining Experiences

A romantic dinner for two after a snowy, moonlit forest hike or a warm gathering with friends to share good food and warm conversation, either way it’s hard to go wrong with gifting one of these unique dining experiences to someone you love this holiday season. 

A romantic dinner ‘yurt’ sure to remember 

The stretch of canvas above and a roaring fire keep the elements at bay as groups of friends or, perhaps, a private party of two get lost in the aromas of a hot meal. It’s intimate and romantic and there are multiple ways to experience the gift of dining in a yurt in Utah. The mountainside Yurt at Solitude Mountain Resort is home to the highly sought-after evening experience that begins with a guided snowshoe tour through a snow-capped forest and ends with a multi-course dinner in the warm and cozy comfort of The Yurt. The Wilderness Access Outfitters’ Nordic Yurt Dinner experience likewise takes diners on a half-mile, guided evening snowshoeing tour through Soldier Hollow in Midway. Then, they receive a private fine dining experience with a four-course meal. Before the night is over, guests are invited to make s’mores by the fire. The Viking Yurt at Park City Mountain Resort melds rustic sensibilities and fine dining. The four-hour dining experience is exclusive and meticulously paced. The preamble is a moonlit sleigh ride to the on-mountain yurt. Gift cards are available for the Nordic Yurt Dinner.
solitudemountain.com, waoutah.com, thevikingyurt.com

Snowglobe-trotting 

For the people who love the idea of dining in a yurt, but would rather skip the snowshoeing and possible strangers, there’s the picturesque Alpenglobe. This European trend became all the rage in Utah during the social distancing of the pandemic, but they have shown some staying power. After all, who doesn’t want to dine outdoors, enjoying the beauty of winter, while staying toasty warm? These in-demand dining experiences can be found at Franck’s Restaurant in Holladay, Westgate Resort in Park City, Butcher’s Chop House & Bar in Park City and Stein Eriksen Lodge In Deer Valley.
francksfood.com, steinlodge.com

A spirit guide 

Imagine gifting your group of discerning booze-hound friends with a customized van tour of their favorite Utah distilleries. You can do just that with Utah Spirit Trail, which provides a knowledgeable guide to lead guests on their spirit journey. If wine is more their speed, the Utah Wine Trail awaits. Road trip through Southern Utah with a Trail Pass to tastings at five local wineries. (There’s a prize at the end after you visit all five locations.) For those lovers of beers and brews, Visit Salt Lake offers a Brewery Pass that grants a $5 credit that can be used toward any drink, food or merch at each of the 15 breweries on the pass.
offutahspirittrail.com, utahwinetrail.com, visitsaltlake.com

Knowledge to Last a Lifetime

Taking a class or workshop to gain a new skill or improve an existing one is a worthwhile endeavor—especially for the people in our lives who never want to stop learning. Not to mention, taking a class together can be an intimate and fun bonding activity for friends, couples parents and their adult children. 

Foodie Fun + Chocolate 

While Caputo’s offers classes ranging from cocktail making to cooking an entire Italian Christmas dinner, what this stalwart Italian market and deli is best known for, in terms of its education offerings, is its craft chocolate tasting classes where participants learn what separates good chocolate from mind-blowing chocolate. caputos.com  —Mellissa Fields

Lessons to impress 

If your friends are the types who hungrily devour knowledge about their favorite topics to later captivate and impress groups at parties or work functions (and one of those favorite topics also happens to be wine or cocktails) this is for them. Sommelier and educator James Santangelo of the Wine Academy of Utah is an animated repository of knowledge about wine, spirits and many adjacent subjects. Gift your friends a class on wine pairings or rum and chocolate or whiskey and cigars. In-home tasting events are also available.
wineacademyofutah.com, continue.utah.edu

Dancing the night away 

The HERC at 1520 Arts in South Salt Lake has excellent programming for people who are still kids at heart…and like to groove. Their Adult Hiphop Dance Class is perfect for complete beginners and for people who are looking to boogie. They also offer art and DJ courses.
slcherc.com.

A green thumb 

Cactus and Tropicals is already one of our favorite places to buy plants and plant supplies for the “plant parents” in our lives. They are also a home for customers to learn what they should do with all of those plants and supplies. Check out their website for upcoming classes.
cactusandtropicals.com

Going full hog 

Full disclosure, this class is for people who like to learn hands-on (and aren’t too squeamish). In Beltex’s Whole Hog butchery class, students learn how to cut, saw, snap and chop a whole hog into cuts for a variety of cooking methods. Yes. Learn how to butcher a whole hog.
beltexmeats.com

Flying High 

The closest some of us are going to get to being Brad Pitt or Robert Redford is reenacting scenes from A River Runs Through It. In the novella and film, fly fishing bridges the relationship between the two brothers. Of course, Montana isn’t the only place to fly fish. There are excellent places to develop the skill all over Utah. Western Rivers Fly Fishing offers a range of classes for all levels, as well as Private Fly Casting Lessons.
Gift Cards are available at westernriversflyfishing.com

Still looking for a gift? Check out our list of staycations and outdoor adventures!

Praise be, a local favorite fine dining spot is flourishing after a flooding disaster last year

“It’s raining inside the restaurant.” 

No business owner wants to get that phone call. Especially not at 7 a.m., on the day before New Year’s Eve, during the salt lake city restaurant’s busiest time of year. “It was just pouring,” Manoli Katsanevas remembers he and his co-owner/pastry chef Katrina Cutrubus arriving at his eponymous restaurant, Manoli’s, just a few minutes after the frantic call from a prep cook. “Water was gushing out of the ceilings. The drywall looked like it was bubbling.” 

Fortunately, their plumber and landlord quickly shut off the water, discovering that a pipe in the business upstairs had burst overnight. Unfortunately, the damage to both the restaurant’s signature open kitchen, as well as the prep galley in the basement, rang in at a cool $250K. 

To add even more pressure to the aftermath of this disaster, they were recognized in January with a coveted James Beard Foundation award semifinalist nomination in the national category of “Outstanding Hospitality,” but without a restaurant open to promote that well-deserved point of pride. And, they were already slated to host onsite events and provide catering for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game in February. 

“So, yeah, that was pretty nuts,” says Katsanevas with Oscar-worthy understatement. “But we have an amazing landlord, had really good insurance and a contractor who got us on the schedule right away.”

Even with these odds in their favor, Katsanevas and Cutrubus pulled a massive pivot to their plans in the interim. “Obviously, we couldn’t do any of the NBA events at the restaurant, so we rented out the Greek Church and catered out of there,” he says of their temporary base at the historic downtown Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. Between catering jobs and reupping some pandemic-era favorites like take-and-bake meals and gyros to-go, they were able to keep all of their staff through the July 2023 reopening.

And optimistically, they decided that when life gives you lemons, why not make ouzo-spiked lemonade? Along with designer Rachel Hodson, they made some strategic design choices to the ground-up remodel that kept the feel of that quintessentially Manoli’s hospitable and elegantly warm welcome, with just a little bit more of it.  

More seating in the now-enclosed patio creates year-round usable space and a perfect place for hosting private events. (Don’t worry, the massive slider windows still make you feel like you’re sitting outside during a sunny Saturday or Sunday brunch.) More full-bar swagger, with expanded storage for their fabulous all-Greek natural wine selection taking center stage. And overall, about 40% more seating capacity in the still airy-feeling restaurant.

Aiding and abetting the much-lauded expansion, the Manoli’s team recently purchased a spot six doors west of the restaurant, which they’re calling Parea (Greek for “in good company”). Serving as both as the dairy and a supplemental kitchen for Manoli’s, Parea will also house a neighborhood market—specializing in their heavenly house-made Greek yogurt and cheeses, along with gyros and popular take-and-bake items like spanakopita—slated to open later in 2024. 

All of which gives us, the very happy diners of SLC, even more reason to be glad that the consistently superlative dining experience of Manoli’s is back. And it’s better than ever.   

Manoli’s

402 East Harvey Milk Blvd (900 South) #2, Salt Lake City
(801) 532-3760, Manolis9th.com

Looking for more foodie inspiration? Discover food traditions from the families behind some of our favorite Salt Lake City restaurants, here!

The restaurant business is notoriously volatile, as anyone who’s worked in food service or caught the first two seasons of “The Bear” can attest. That’s especially true in a mountain community like Park City where businesses are subject to feast and famine economics and the oscillating whims of tourist spending habits. In such an environment, the success of restaurants under the Bill White Enterprises umbrella is nothing short of remarkable. The first restaurant in the portfolio, Grappa, opened more than three decades ago in 1992. The team behind the latest addition, Pine Cone Ridge, aims to add to the successful lineage that’s come to define Park City’s fine dining identity. 

Chef Gudrun Thorne-Thomsen has curated a contemporary American concept fusing local cuisine concepts with influences from her past and the culture of her colleagues. Thorne-Thomsen is a veteran of Park City restaurants, having worked with Bill White restaurants for 15 years. During that time she served as the executive chef at Ghidotti’s in Kimball Junction for five years and frequently developed menus and cooked for the restaurant group’s extracurricular and special events. Now she’s channeling that creativity into Pine Cone Ridge. 

“When they asked if I was interested in starting a new restaurant on Main Street with the support of the biggest, most successful restaurant group in town, I jumped at the chance,” says Thorne-Thomsen. “This is the first restaurant opening I’ve been part of. Working with so many skilled people who have different strengths has allowed us to focus intently on the menu concept knowing all the details are getting proper attention.” 

The cuisine at Pine Cone Ridge is a reflection of Park City’s restaurant community. “We worked from a starting point of classic American cuisine and included local ingredients, regional comfort food components and a lot of Mexican-American influences. We’re really proud of that because of how influential the Mexican community has been to Park City’s identity,” Thorne-Thomsen says. “I’ve been able to bring some of my perspective coming from New England as well with unique proteins and a lot of seafood. The Miso Chilean Sea Bass is a dish I just love. We overnight live lobster from Gloucester, Mass., which isn’t something you see a lot in mountain towns.”

The menu rotates seasonally to highlight as many local ingredients as possible, as one of Thorne-Thomsen’s aims is to feature the freshest, most local produce from the Wasatch Back. Come to Pine Cone Ridge to taste the flavors of Utah as reimagined by Chef Gudrun and some of the finest, most experienced cooks in Park City. 577 Main St., 435-615-0300, pineconeridgepc.com.

Local Name, Local Game

The restaurant’s name is inspired by the eponymous two-mile ridge at Park City Mountain running from Scott’s Bowl off the Jupiter Chairlift to the mid-station of the Quicksilver Gondola. Just as Pinecone Ridge serves up some of the area’s best long, steep powder runs, Pine Cone Ridge dishes out some of the area’s finest ingredients like the local lamb T-bone chops and the seasonally rotating selection of produce.