Eat & Drink

Breaking bread with another human being is the most basic act of communion at the most basic level. In other words, restaurants are about community. Each year we award our Blue Plate Specials to honor restaurateurs who make more than just great food, they help make a great community.

Lavanya Mahate Owner of the Saffron Valley group of restaurants
Lavanya was an immigrant herself when she came to Utah in 2001. Now, her aim is to give back and help the folks who are going through the same difficulties she did as a newcomer. So working with the Utah Refugee Training and Education, she has opened a culinary kitchen to train refugees and immigrants in culinary arts and food business. Beyond hands-on cooking, students receive access to internships and help with job placement.

Ryan Lowder Owner of Copper Onion, Copper Common, Copper Kitchen and The Daily
When Taste of the Wasatch announced it was going to renege on its pledge to fund Utahns Against Hunger, leaving the non-profit short of the money it needs to accomplish its mission, Chef Ryan Lowder stepped up to fill in the gap, donating a portion of proceeds to the cause. Not only that, but he rallied other chefs to do the same.

Earl Fredrich Moessinger Owner of Caffe Molise and BTG
Earl was told by the city he had to move his popular restaurant and wine bar for new construction. Instead of moving to Cottonwood Heights or Holladay, Chef Moessinger looked inside the city and made the bold decision to renovate and rehab the old Eagle building, an architectural beauty that seemed destined for demolition. Preserving old places is part of what gives a city true character; we thank Moessinger for giving us this piece of the past.

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People, prices and politics all play a role in the differences diners are seeing in old favorites and new entries. Remember, “This is a bar, not a restaurant; This is a restaurant, not a bar?” Remember “Where’s the beef?” Remember the buzzword “fusion?” Now many restaurants do double duty as restaurant and bar. Now restaurants must include vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free options on their menus. Most notably, chefs are using ingredients and techniques from ever-more exotic places. However, you feel about globalization, the world is now one big pantry. Salt Lake magazine Dining Award winners pull flavors, ingredients and techniques from cuisines all over the world, becoming ever more particular in the source of their ingredients. Take a peek into the pantries of Utah’s best restaurants.

2019 DINING AWARD WINNERS: UTAH’S BEST RESTAURANTS

• Himalayan Kitchen, 350 S. State St., SLC, 801-328-2077, himalayankitchen.com
• Stoneground Kitchen, 249 E. 400 South, SLC, 801-364-1368, stonegrounditalian.com
• 350 Main, 350 Main Street, Park City, 435-649-4130, 350main.com
• Table X, 1457 E. 3350 South, SLC, 385-528-3712, tablexrestaurant.com
• Veneto, 370 E. 900 South, 801- SLC, 801-359-0708, venetoslc.com
• Post Office Place, 16 W. Market Street, SLC, postofficeplace
• London Belle Supper Club, 321 Main Street, SLC, 801-363-8888, londonbelleslc.com
• Cucina, 1026 2nd Avenue, SLC, 801-322-3055, cucinaslc.com
• Avenues Bistro on Third, 564 E. Third Ave., SLC, 801-831-5409
• Silver Star, 1825 Three Kings Drive, Park City, 435-655-3456, thesilverstarcafe.com
• HSL, 418 E. 200 South, SLC, 801-539-9999, hslrestaurant.com

2019 DINING AWARD WINNERS: READERS’ CHOICE

We asked you, dear readers what you thought about where to eat around the state. Our survey got a huge response, with more than 600 of you responding. There are some old favorites and newcomers and even one tie among your choices which, thankfully, did not include any chain restaurants.

• Best Restaurant Salt Lake City — Log Haven, 6451 Millcreek Canyon Rd., SLC, (801) 272-8255
  Best Restaurant Park City — Silver Star Café, 1825 Three Kings Dr., Park City, (435) 655-3456
  Best Restaurant Red Rock— Hell’s Backbone, 20 UT-12, Boulder, (435) 335-7464
  Best Restaurant Ogden — Tona Sushi Bar & Grill, 210 25th St, Ogden, (801) 622-8662
  Best Restaurant Provo — Communal, 102 N. University Ave., Provo, (801) 373-8000
  Best Restaurant St. George  — Painted Pony, 2 W. St. George Blvd., St. George (435) 634-1700
  Best Restaurant in Utah — Plates & Palates, 390 N. 500 West #100, Bountiful, (801) 292-2425
  Best Undiscovered/Discovery — Trestle Tavern, 1513 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City (801) 532-3372
  Best Indian — Bombay House 2731 Parleys Way, Salt Lake City, (801) 581-0222
  Best Chinese — Mandarin, 348 E. 900 North, Bountiful (801) 298-2406
  Best Japanese — Takashi, 18 W. Market St., Salt Lake City, (801) 519-9595
  Best Mediterranean/Middle Eastern — Mazza, 912 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City, (801) 521-4572
  Best Mexican — Red Iguana, 736 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City, (801) 322-1489
  Best Southeast Asian — Sawadee & Somi TIE
  Sawadee, 754 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City (801) 328-8424
  Somi, 1215 E Wilmington Ave., Salt Lake City, (385) 322-1158
  Best Breakfast  — Ruth’s Diner, 4160 Emigration Canyon Rd., Salt Lake City (801) 582-5807
  Best Lunch —Plates & Palates, 390 N. 500 West, Bountiful, (801) 292-2425
  Best Quick Eats — East Liberty Tap House, 850 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City, (801) 441-2845
  Best Comfort Food — Silver Star Café, 1825 Three Kings Dr., Park City, (435) 655-3456
  Best Wine List — Pago, 878 S. 900 East, Salt Lake City, (801) 532-0777

Discover more food and dining adventures on our Eat & Drink page. And while you’re here why not subscribe and get six issues of Salt Lake magazine — your guide to the best of life in Utah.

salt Lake magazine Dining Award winners pull flavors, ingredients and techniques from cuisines all over the world, becoming ever more particular in the source of their ingredients. Take a peek into the pantries of Utah’s best restaurants.

The Secret Ingredient: Aji Amarillo Chile

“Lately, the ingredient I can’t seem to stop using is Aji Amarillo chile. Whether its fresh dried or powdered,” says Chef-owner Steve Garner. “It lends so much to anything it goes into!It gives a very fruity, floral, kinda spicy kick to everything. I put it in my sauces, soups, crackers (for our amazing tartare!), hues rancheros, etc.” With red onion and garlic, Aji Amarillo is one of the three basics of Peruvian cooking.

 

2019 Dining Award Winner Avenues Bistro on Third 

• Avenues Bistro on Third, 564 E. Third Ave., SLC, 801-831-5409

This Ultra-Charming little space has been de-cluttered; it’s now owned by Mike Richey and Steve Garner to whom we owe the delights of Fireside on Regent. The menu on Third is slightly more upscale and makes do without the imposing pizza oven but the lobster beignets and other spiffed-up down-home dishes (rabbit pot pie, duck breast in ras al hanout, chicken hash with vodka cream sauce) make this a comfort food nirvana.  

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salt Lake magazine Dining Award winners pull flavors, ingredients and techniques from cuisines all over the world, becoming ever more particular in the source of their ingredients. Take a peek into the pantries of Utah’s best restaurants.

The Secret Ingredient: Vinegar

When cooking or seasoning food, many cooks, amateur or professional, often overlook the use of vinegar or acidity as an ingredient. “The idea of using acidity in addition to salt to season food is an absolute game changer. Finding the perfect balance between salt and acidity can truly transform flavors from good to exceptional. At Table X we use acidity in one form or another to season everything that goes out of our kitchen. It could be plain old distilled white vinegar to add a kick of acid to a rich dish, red, white wine, cider vinegar to complement the use of other ingredients in cooking, lemon juice to finish a plate with a fresh zip of acidity, or a house made fermented product to add depth and tanginess. Every dish you eat at Table X will feature a balanced acidic flavor.”

 

2019 Dining Award Winner Table X

• Table X, 1457 E. 3350 South, SLC, 385-528-3712, tablexrestaurant.com

The edgiest restaurant in the state, this experimental kitchen run by three chefs—Nick Fahs, David Barboza and Mike Blocher—is also one of the most idealistic. That means it’s the strictest, preparing foods using classic techniques infused with forward-thinking imagination. The kitchen makes its own bread, its own butter, has a thriving garden out back and names the sources of all its meat—Jones Creek, Christiansen Farms, Morgan Valley. From pristine ingredients come vivid flavors: dry-aged beets with five-spice peanuts, house-made labneh and sweet and sour beet tops. Fennel-roasted heirloom carrots with white bean puree, beet molasses and fennel pollen. Vegetable “steak,” coconut curried leeks, autumn squash, spiced ghee. Still, when asked about essential ingredients, the trio of chefs agreed on a seldom-mentioned classic.

Subscribers can see more. Sign up and you’ll be included in our membership program and get access to exclusive deals, premium content and more. Get the magazine, get the deals, get the best of life in Utah! 

salt Lake magazine Dining Award winners pull flavors, ingredients and techniques from cuisines all over the world, becoming ever more particular in the source of their ingredients. Take a peek into the pantries of Utah’s best restaurants.

The Secret Ingredient: Guajillo Chile

To come up with the ingredient, Chef Ferran convened with his staff. “The consensus regarding unique items seems to be the variety of chilies we use in a restaurant not really known for spicy food. The most ubiquitous in our recipes would be the quajillo chile. It is a primary ingredient in our mole rojo, our smoked chile Rosso buck, as well as our ahi tuna poke.”

 

2019 Dining Award Winner Cucina

• Cucina, 1026 2nd Avenue, SLC, 801-322-3055, cucinawinebar.com

Working with Chef Joey Ferran, owner Dean Pierose recreated his casual Avenues deli into a bistro and wine bar where the mellow atmosphere soothes your spirit while the cuisine excites your taste buds. Pulling together a small world of flavors, Chef Ferran seasons cauliflower with red mole, sweetens a duck breast with saba, finishes a fried avocado with tamarind-coconut curry. This is by no means a Southwestern restaurant and you wouldn’t call the food spicy but Chef Ferran does rely on some of those flavors. 

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salt Lake magazine Dining Award winners pull flavors, ingredients and techniques from cuisines all over the world, becoming ever more particular in the source of their ingredients. Take a peek into the pantries of Utah’s best restaurants.

The Secret Ingredient: Harissa

The essential flavoring in Tunisian, Moroccan and much north African cuisine, the red paste has a much more complex spiciness than fresh hot peppers. you can make your own (several kinds of chilies, tomato paste, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, etc.) But its easy to find in specialty food stores and it’s so versatile you can use it on meats, vegetables, seafood…anything that needs a little extra zing.

 

2019 Dining Award Winner London Belle Supper Club 

• London Belle Supper Club, 321 Main Street, SLC, 801-363-8888, londonbelleslc.com

London Belle’s full name is London Belle Supper Club — referencing Bell London, one of Salt Lake’s most notorious madams. One in a row of this new breed of bar-cum-restaurant, London belle has the considerable advantage of Chef Matt Anderson, who has been cooking in Utah for decades and has created a menu of global snacks with a sophisticated finesse.

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salt Lake magazine Dining Award winners pull flavors, ingredients and techniques from cuisines all over the world, becoming ever more particular in the source of their ingredients. Take a peek into the pantries of Utah’s best restaurants.

The Secret Ingredient: Salt

We know now that all salts are not created equal. There are dozens of types of salt, each very distinctively different from the white processed table salt we grew up on. There’s still a place for that, but chefs like Tommy Nguyen use several sea salts, kosher salt, smoked salts and even other infused salts, “There is not one salt that works for everything,” Nguyen says.

 

2019 Dining Award Winner Post Office Place (POP)

• Post Office Place, 16 W. Market Street, SLC, postofficeplace

Conceived as a bar to complement Salt Lake magazine Hall of Fame favorite Takashi, Post Office Place (POP) has become as well known for its food as its cocktails and many are happy to skip the inevitable wait at Takashi and nosh their way through dinner at POP.

Subscribers can see more. Sign up and you’ll be included in our membership program and get access to exclusive deals, premium content and more. Get the magazine, get the deals, get the best of life in Utah! 

salt Lake magazine Dining Award winners pull flavors, ingredients and techniques from cuisines all over the world, becoming ever more particular in the source of their ingredients. Take a peek into the pantries of Utah’s best restaurants.

The Secret Ingredient: Caramel Fish Sauce

Fish sauce is an Asian cuisine basic whose intense umami has found its way into all kinds of cuisines around the world. it has ancient origins in several cultures-the Romans used a fermented fish sauce as their main condiment. The difference here is that Chef Jeff ward makes a basic caramel by cooking together sugar and water until it coats a spoon, then stirring in bottle fish sauce with other seasonings. Its gratin roasted vegetables as well as fish and shell fish and even roast duck.

 

2019 Dining Award Winner Silver Star

• Silver Star, 1825 Three Kings Drive, Park City, 435-655-3456, thesilverstarcafe.com

A Destination in the hills above the golf course, past Park City Hotel, Silver Star is everyone’s secret favoritisms. Owners Jeff and Lisa Cilva Ward created and elevated oasis-cozy when the snow falls, cool when the sun shines. The menu has changed since Jeff took over the kitchen- he uses locally- sourced ingredients like elk and elderberries in dishes that often combine fruit with meant, he seasons brussels sprouts with caramel Vietnamese fish sauce and roasted cauliflower with pickled grapes.

Subscribers can see more. Sign up and you’ll be included in our membership program and get access to exclusive deals, premium content and more. Get the magazine, get the deals, get the best of life in Utah! 

salt Lake magazine Dining Award winners pull flavors, ingredients and techniques from cuisines all over the world, becoming ever more particular in the source of their ingredients. Take a peek into the pantries of Utah’s best restaurants.

The Secret Ingredient: Lemon Vinaigrette

“When we are putting the final elements on a dish at Handle or HSL the same statement reverberates: just finish it with lemon vinaigrette and Maldon sea salt,” says Handly. “That redundant phrase has become our little ongoing joke in both restaurants. The two ingredients add balance, texture and seasoning to any dish. We use a lot of local herbs and greens to garnish everything, so the lemon vin and Maldon salt brighten those up as well. The vinaigrette has just four ingredients- fresh lemon juice, olive oil, simple syrup, and salt. We zest all our lemons prior to juicing, then blanch and dry a bit. The zest is then mixed into our version of fines herbs: includes Italian parsley, chives, chervil, and cilantro.

 

2019 Dining Award Winner HSL

• HSL, 418 E. 200 South, SLC, 801-539-9999, hslrestaurant.com

Repeatedly Named one of the finest chefs in Utah, HSL chef-owner Briar Handly can’t stop playing with his food. The menu changes frequently and Chef plays musical plates as often- the famous fried chicken may be the same but one visit it might be sided with “parsnip bacon,” (a vegetable we’re going to be seeing a lot more of); another time with butternut squash soubise.

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