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Oct 30
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Three Desert Getaways Near SLC

By Adventures, Outdoors

The days are getting shorter, there’s a hint of snow in the forecast and ski resorts fewer 40 days away from opening. Still, the specter of shoulder season’s doldrums looms. Don’t cower under a blanket and succumb to a Netflix binge, because shoulder season just so happens to be desert season! These three desert getaways near SLC all feature the warm weather and unique geology Utah’s desert landscapes are known for but with shorter drive times and fewer crowds than the Fab Five National Parks.

Vernal

Photo Courtesy of Utah Office of Tourism

Vernal is oft overlooked as an oil and gas town with dinosaur statues along on Main Street that’s on the way to Colorado. It’s also a sneaky good desert destination for families and adventurers of all types.

Drive Time from SLC: 3 Hours

Ride: The Mountain Bike trails at McCoy Flats are right off U.S. 40 on the outskirts of Vernal. The trails there replicate the chunky, rock-strewn character of Moab’s Mag 7 trail system with punchy climbs, ledge-filled descents and Dali-esque red rock formations. Slippery When Wet is a must hit for all riders intermediate and above. There’s dispersed BLM camping in the area for those looking to slumber near the trails.

Hike: The Dinosaur Trackway hike into Red Fleet State Park is a relatively easy 1.7 mile out on back hike along slick rock and through desert washes. As the name implies, there’s numerous spots to see dinosaur tracks along the route. The turnaround point is Red Fleet Reservoir, where you can take a dip if the weather’s warm enough.

Check Out: Nearby Dinosaur National Monument straddles the Utah and Colorado border at the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers. Hike trails along exposed rock walls while searching for fossils and petroglyphs, and be sure to check out the “Wall of Bones” dinosaur quarry. Hundreds of fossils have been chipped away at and are visible embedded in the steeply-tilted quarry wall.

Photo Courtesy of Utah Office of Tourism

Eat Pizza: Antiqua Forma’s artisan, wood-fired pizzas are a delicacy you wouldn’t expect to find tucked into the same building as the Dinosaur Inn. A couple slices from here will hit the spot after a day exploring the trails around Vernal.

Cedar City

Photo Courtesy of Utah Office of Tourism

Best known as the home to Southern Utah University and the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cedar City is an underutilized recreation destination that’s an easy drive south of Salt Lake City.

Drive Time from SLC: 3.5 Hours

Ride: The Iron Hills trail system is accessible right off I-15 in Cedar City. The iron lending its name to the area is present in high quantities in the soil as well, resulting deep red colors throughout the trails. The Greens Lake Trail features berms and flow you won’t usually find in the desert.

Photo Courtesy of Utah Office of Tourism

Hike: Cedar Breaks National Monument may not be a secret, but there’s a reason it’s such an attraction. Hike out the Spectra Point Trail. The full trail is a 1.9 mile out and back with  stunning vistas from Spectra Point, but if you’re feeling a bit more leisurely you can see incredible views of the amphitheater just a few hundred yards from the parking lot at Point Supreme Overlook.

Check Out: Frontier Homestead State Park Museum features pioneer artifacts from when early Mormon settlers attempted to create an iron industry in the area. See historic cabins, horse-drawn vehicles and farm implements and the ruins of Old Iron Town.

Eat Pizza: Centro Woodfired Pizzeria uses traditional Italian methods to crank out delicious thin-crust pies along with gourmet salads and an impressive wine and beer selection.

Price

Photo Courtesy of Utah Office of Tourism

Most cars pass right by Price on the way to Moab or the San Rafael Swell, but there’s a lot to do in Price itself. It’s close enough to Salt Lake City that ambitious folks can make a day trip out of it.

Drive Time from SLC: 2 Hours

Ride: Luke’s Loop is a nice intermediate singletrack trail that starts right off 900 N in Price in the Wood Hill Mountain Bike Trail system. A few technical sections and expansive views of the surrounding Book Cliffs will keep you on your toes. Add on Allen’s Alley for a little extra distance and keep an eye out for the Tin Can Man.

Hike: Nine Mile Canyon is just a few miles from Price and is home to thousands of Native American petroglyphs. Many people take a driving tour through Nine Mile Canyon, but you can stretch your legs at sites throughout the Canyon’s fifty-plus miles and link together short hikes to see historic rock art.

Check Out: Just up the road in the nearby town of Helper—named for the helper engines formerly housed there to help get freight trains over the pass—is the world’s tallest coal miner. “Big John” is as tall as a two story building and is every bit as impressive as promised in the Jimmy Dean song.

Eat Pizza: Big Don’s Pizza is there to help you indulge your more esoteric tastes. Their extensive specialty pizza menu features enough options like Kaluan Pig and the Toninator to steer you away from the section they’ve titled “Boring Classics.”

See all our outdoors coverage here.

Oct 30
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‘Miss Saigon’ at the Eccles Packs a Powerful Punch

By Arts & Culture

What: Miss Saigon
When: October 15-20, 2019
Where: The Eccles Theatre
How: Tickets: $40 plus, here.
See more Utah theater coverage here! 

Miss Saigon is a show that is tricky to get right. Based on Puccini’s opera tale of a geisha left behind by her American lover, this Vietnam War-era story presents a delicate challenge of balance, it’s plain to see how it could be easy to err on the side of “commercial exploitation” rather than powerful performance and commentary on the tragedy of war. You must have the right actors cast in the right roles, and foresight as a director to understand how an audience will respond to every decision you make. Lighting, choreography, casting – each act as a nail to hold the integrity of this show together. Luckily for Utah theater lovers, Miss Saigon at the Eccles Theater hits each of those nails pretty much dead center.

Miss Saigon at the Eccles

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Dynamic choreography welcomes the show from first curtain, and doesn’t stop until the final bows. From bar scenes (which may have been a little over the top in the objectification department, but what can you do) to epic battle sequences, every move created a perfectly unified scene. 

Photo by Matthew Murphy and Johan Persson

Despite being on the road, this team put together an extremely detailed and intricately lit set, that set the mood from all angles. The lighting in a play is something that is rarely noticed by your average playgoer, but this technique was too striking not to make an impression. Mixing technology with physical elements, the lighting team created dusky alleys, gorgeous sunrises, a ghostly apparition and even that iconic helicopter (which transitioned from a projection to a life-size lookalike dropping from the rafters), each scene bringing more depth to the stage than the last. 

Miss Saigon at the Eccles

Photo by Matthew Murphy and Johan Persson

But the only way to really pull off Miss Saigon is with a rockstar cast, which this company delivered in full, including a long list of talented Asian actors, a welcome sight considering the white-washed history of both previous runs of Miss Saigon, as well as Utah’s casting habits. There wasn’t a single performer who was “just okay,” and made up one of the best ensembles I’ve ever seen in a show. They were constantly engaged, which brought life to every corner of the stage. 

Miss Saigon at the Eccles

Photo by Matthew Murphy and Johan Persson

Red Concepćion, who comes to us straight from the UK tour of the production, has received heaps of praise for the role of the Engineer in previous runs, played the role as marvelously as you could hope: equal parts sleazy villain and bumbling comic relief, constantly breaking the fourth wall to crack jokes a la Les Mis’ Thenardier, then turning right back into the manipulator of the century to sober you up again. He became an instant audience favorite, and was bestowed curtain call cheers second only in volume to the four year old prodigy playing Tam. 

Miss Saigon at the Eccles

Photo by Matthew Murphy

All these show-stopping elements aside, Miss Saigon is doomed to fall flat without impressive performances from star crossed lovers, 17 year old Vietnamese bar girl Kim and morally-conflicted G.I. marine Chris. 

Anthony Festa brought as much “umph” as he could to Chris’s problematic character. The writers of this show tried their best to make Chris someone to sympathize with, but that note just doesn’t strike well with me. But Festa’s vocals brought ideal harmonies to Emily Bautista’s (Kim) soaring melodies, and drove home those emotional episodes that she pours to the crowd. 

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Emily Bautista was decidedly this show’s saving grace. Reprising the role from a previous Broadway run, her voice was both pure and passionate, and her ferocity as a mother and in the face of trial throughout the plot make her anything but a victim. Bautista’s intensely powerful performance made this marvel of a production everything it was meant to be: heart wrenching, awe-inspiring and thought-provoking. I’m not usually a crier, but watching her, there were definite waterworks in the press box, on more than one occasion. 

Miss Saigon at the Eccles

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Bottom line: everyone needs to experience Miss Saigon. I haven’t been moved this much by a musical in a long time, perhaps any time during my life as a theater lover. The depictions of war, poverty and especially those of Asian women are difficult to watch at times, but it shows in scene after painful scene tragedies brought on by war, on all scales. Bring your tissues and prepare for the performance of a lifetime – This cast is only here through Oct. 20th, so don’t delay. 

NOTE: Miss Saigon, while enlightening, is decidedly not a family-friendly play. It contains scenes and language which may not be suitable for younger audience members, including scenes of a sexual nature. Recommended for ages 14+. The production also includes strobe lights, gun shots and pyrotechnic effects – keep those factors in mind when deciding whether to attend. 

Oct 30
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Warning: May Talk About Todd Snider

By Arts & Culture, Music

Last summer, I went on a river trip with a friend of mine, Travis, who should have a court-ordered tattoo that says: “Warning: I May Talk About Todd Snider.” Or at least the judge should have made him sign up for a registry that requires him inform anyone who gets on a raft for a four-day trip on the Yampa that he will, in fact, talk about Todd Snider. A lot.

Todd Snider

Photo by Cathy Mills/Courtesy Todd Snider

Who: Todd Snider withRambling Jack Elliot
Where: The Commonwealth Room
When: Monday, Oct. 19, 2019
How: Tickets and info here.

It’s because of Travis that I’m on an early morning phone call with Todd Snider. Travis’s oversharing chatter was infectious and so I was curious to talk to the man who inspires such gushing devotion. Snider is friendly and laid back when he answers his landline from his home outside of Nashville, and I start out of the gate with the tattoo bit.

“Oh yeah I get that but don’t know what that’s about. I just get up and say what I mean,” Snider says chuckling. “I’m not out to change anyone’s mind at my show. What I do feels more like a dare. A folk singer gets up and says whatever he wants and that’s a dangerous thing. You don’t know who is in the audience, the brother of the girl you’re singing about could be out there or the boss man is there and you’re singing about unions. But that’s the deal.”

Todd Snider is a Troubadour, one of the last, a roaming drifter with a pocketful of songs, stories and a guitar. It is a tradition that goes way back, Guthrie, both Arlo and Woody, Utah Phillips, Dylan, etc. And it’s a hell of a thing to roam the Earth, like Cain, stand up in front of whoever and try and say exactly what you mean and not care if people get it (or don’t). It’s a compulsion, a calling, a lifestyle, a grind and the adoration and esteem his fans hold for him, points to the increasing rarity of Snider’s breed in the world.

“It’s a way of life,” he says. “It’s not a golden ticket, you don’t get to be Bruce Springsteen but it beats work. I don’t have a lot of responsibility; I just travel along.”

Snider once said that a folk singer needs to be able to set up in 15 minutes and get off the stage in 5, it’s a practical production thing but it’s also a philosophy for life. Snider doesn’t even carry keys or a wallet, much less a cell phone.

“A lean dog runs a long race,” he says. “The less you need the better.”

No phone, no pool, no pets. King of the Road.

He has no plans to slack off his nearly constant touring. He says his father died at 54 and now at age 53, every day he gets is fine by him.

“If I dropped tomorrow, I’d be at peace with it,” he says. “I never thought I’d get this far. I did a ton of drinking and drugs; I was in a dangerous band for a long time.”

That band was The Hard Working Americans, a “supergroup” with the bassist Dave Schools from Widespread Panic, Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi on keyboards and Duane Trucks, also from Widespread Panic, younger brother to Derek, on drums. In 2019, founding guitarist Neal Casal died.

“We lived that shit, we stomped on it,” he says. “Playing rock ’n’ roll is not as easy as it sounds. We did it the old-fashioned way. No one stopped ever. It was the band the whole time. I’d take acid for huge stretches at a time. You’d get off the bus to get a fucking snow cone and some hippie would be there and hand you drugs. I think that was the last opportunity I’ll have to live like that.”

Snider put most of that down a few years back. He quit drinking and everything else but the weed he smokes daily.

“I don’t regret it or feel ashamed of it, I just knew I didn’t like it anymore.”

These days Snider is nostalgic and ruminative, his latest album, Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3 delves into mortality, unfinished songs and the like. It looks back at the way things were and things that have just disappeared. Pay phones, cigarettes on airplanes the newspaper. And, he says, wistfully, rock ’n’ roll.

“Rock ’n’ roll kind of really seems be kind of gone,” he says. “Sure, there are folks making good rock ’n’ roll, Jack White, guys like that but it’s the lifestyle I don’t see as much. It was a tribal thing and there was an intensity and seriousness to all of it. There used to be this genuine drive to make a difference, not just entertain. When the Beatles sang ‘All You Need is Love’ they had everything in the world to lose but they said it.”

“These new bands don’t seem to hardly be saying anything in their songs,” Snider continues. “They’re good songs, clever but it just feels like a word salad sometimes. I know less about that songwriter than I did when I started. The only guy that I see out there just baring it all is Kanye West. He just took his pants down and left them down, I sometimes feel sad for him and I wish the best for him, but I say don’t change it.”

See all of our music coverage here.

Oct 30
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We Can Pickle That

By Eat & Drink

The mighty pickle can stand strong in multiple seasons. Pickles are perfect for home gardeners hoping to preserve end-of-harvest leftovers or for chefs looking for an acidic counterpoint to heavier dishes. Plus, there are health benefits — fermented foods like pickles contain probiotics that promote digestive health, lower cholesterol and even fight depression. Pickling has been around for more than 4,000 years, but plenty of local Salt Lake restaurants are providing new twists on old classics.

The Salt and Vinegar Syndicate
saltandvinegar.store

Photo courtesy The Salt and Vinegar Syndicate.

Did you know you can get your pickle fix and help the community at the same time? This Salt Lake-based company hires at-risk or special needs students, providing much-needed job experience and training. Their pickles, which include spicy dill pickles, pickled carrots with jalapeño and cilantro, spicy dill beans, spicy dill asparagus, pickled onions and pickled beets, are available for purchase online, at local retailers and at farmers’ markets.

Bambara
bambara-slc.com

This innovative, upscale downtown restaurant uses pickled kind veggies in a decadent appetizer with crisped pork cheek and pork belly confit. For a sweeter surprise, the beet salad is garnished with pickled strawberries.

Bourbon House
bourbonhouseslc.com

Bourbon House has mastered the art of creative pickle garnishes, including deviled eggs with pickled mustard seeds, ahi carpaccio with soy pickled ginger and a wedge salad with pickled red onion.

East Liberty Tap House
eastlibertytaphouse.com

Pickle fans can order house made pickles on burgers or as a small plate at East Liberty Tap House, and the chicken tacos feature a south-of-the-border twist — pickled jicama and chayote pico. 

Proper Brewing Co.
properbrewingco.com 

Homemade zucchini pickles are the star of this burger joint’s menu. Their signature pickles show up in burgers, on salads and as their own side dish.

Punch Bowl Social
punchbowlsocial.com/location/salt-lake-city

This bar and entertainment venue, which opened a Salt Lake City location on Sept. 21, uses pickled chiles and jalapeños to spice up salads, appetizers and their five-layer beef brisket chili. For a milder option, try the falafel burger topped with pickled cabbage.

See all of our food and drink coverage here.

Oct 30
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Let’s Have a Grown-Up Halloween

By Arts & Culture

Even if you’re not a fan of haunted houses — or raiding the kids’ candy bowl after dark — there are still plenty of grown-up Halloween options, from parties to movies to art classes, that promise a scary good time.

The Flood: It’s Raining Men
utahpridecenter.org

Whip out your cheetah print for this Noah’s Ark-themed party, which should be an animalistic night of biblical proportions. Plus, all proceeds will go to the Utah Pride Center, which provides services for the LGBT+ community in Utah. The event, hosted at Soundwell, starts at 9 p.m. on Oct. 26.

Gods and Goddesses Halloween Party
avenuesyoga.com

Why let trick-or-treaters have all the fun with costumes? Dress to impress for this themed party, with a costume contest, specialty cocktails and tarot card readings, all inside the Avenues Yoga studio. The party starts at 8 p.m. on Oct. 26.

The Haunted Hustle
thehauntedhustle.com

If you’re like me and only run when somebody’s chasing you, this paranormal 5K is a dream come true — or a worst nightmare. With zombies, killer clowns and a “tunnel of terror,” you won’t even have time to be scared of all the jogging (*shudders*). Registration is now open for the Oct. 25 race at Sugar House Park.

Paint Nites
yaymaker.com

Unleash your tipsy Bob Ross at HandleBar, where an instructor provides a step-by-step guide to make your own creepy creation. They provide the art supplies, HandleBar provides the drinks and you provide your own (lack of?) artistic talent. Paint Nite starts at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 and 22. See yamaker.com for details and locations. 

Tower of Terror 2019
saltlakefilmsociety.org

Every October, Salt Lake’s Tower Theatre hosts this annual horror film series highlighting ridiculously entertaining cult classics. This year, they are featuring “Rabid,” a 1977 film about a botched plastic surgery that sparks a zombie infestation. (Utahns should beware.) They are also screening “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” throughout the month — plus on Nov. 2, Barry Botswick, who starred in the film, is coming for a signing and Q&A. 

Urban Lounge Punk Rock Halloween
theurbanloungeslc.com

Headlined by California pop-punk band Starcrawler, this concert also features local bands covering appealing throwbacks — 90s TV will perform The Strokes, Major Tom will perform The Ramones and Static Replica will perform The Misfits. The 21+ event starts at 8 p.m. on Oct. 21 at The Urban Lounge.

Vault of Nightmares
monaco-saltlakecity.com

Kimpton Hotel Monaco is pairing with Nightmare on 13th to create Vault of Nightmares, a unique Halloween pop-up bar with themed cocktails like “Here’s Johnny,” complete with candy glass shards, and “The Basic Witch,” which combines pumpkin puree and vodka. The bar will be open from Oct. 17-31. 

Viva La Diva’s Trick or Treat DIVA!
thevivaladivashow.com

Gaga and Dolly and Cher (oh my!) This year-round drag tribute to our most fabulous female celebrities is hosting special Halloween shows, featuring spooky twists on audience favorites and a special homage to “Hocus Pocus.” Sashay away to Metro Music Hall on weekend nights throughout October.

Read more of our arts and entertainment coverage here. And browse other events here.

Oct 30
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How to ‘Fat-wash’ Your Cocktails. And Why.

By Eat & Drink

It was a new term to me: Fat-washing. What? Water Witch’s Scott Gardner was making a cocktail to show off American bartending to a group of New Yorkers and he demonstrated fat-washing the glass. “You mix the liquid fat with the whiskey, then put it in the refrigerator or freezer until the fat solidifies. Then you can take it off in one piece and go on with your cocktail recipe.”

The technique is familiar—cooks use it to skim sauces and gravies all the time, and perfumiers use a version of fat-washing in making scents. The result is familiar—fat carries flavor and adds luxury to mouth-feel. You can use butter, sesame oil, olive oil. What about bacon, ghee, chorizo?

If you use your imagination just a tad, you can come up with fantastic variations.

  • Dark rum and melted butter
  • Bacon and bourbon
  • Chorizo and bourbon
  • Brown butter and whiskey
  • Chocolate milk and vodka

I’ll be honest. I don’t know how many of these will work. But the idea of fat washing does set off tastebud sparks.

See all of our food and drink coverage here.

HOW TO ‘FAT-WASH’ YOUR COCKTAILS

For his New York sippers, Gardner made a Fat Manhattan.

How to 'Fat-wash' Your Cocktails

1. Mix the liquid fat with the chosen liquor. Need ideas? Check the list of combinations in above.

How to 'Fat-wash' Your Cocktails

2. Chill the mixture so the fat rises and solidifies, then lift it from the top of the liquid.

How to 'Fat-wash' Your Cocktails

3. Strain the liquid to remove any remaining fat bits.

4. Measure out the amount of fat-washed liquor you’ll need.

5. Strain the fatty liquor into the glass. Proceed with making your cocktail recipe—the fat in the liquor adds extra mouth-feel and umami.

6. The Fat Manhattan: fat-washed Sugar House American Malt whiskey, Oloroso sherry, toasted buckwheat, ginger, aromatic bitters

Oct 30
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INSIDE OUTSIDE Review

By Arts & Culture

Repertory Dance Theatre the nation’s oldest and most successful modern dance repertory began their 54th season earlier this month. I attended opening night of the INSIDE OUTSIDE performance at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. This is the first show in the company’s season called HERE & NOW. For the entire 2019-2020 season, RDT will celebrate their diversity, their creativity as they explore the state of Utah’s heritage, geography and its people.

The first piece of the evening was choreographed in 1949 by Doris Humphrey, Invention. Humphrey is one of the founders of modern dance. RDT strives to keep historical pieces like Invention, in front of the public eye so they do not get lost as time marches on. This piece was danced by Dan Higgins, Elle Johnson and Ursula Perry. The movements showed great strength and control by the dancers. The movements were slow and technical. The piece showed to me how much modern dance has progressed and yet without the foundation of great pioneers like Doris Humphrey modern dance would not be where it is today.

The second piece of the night was called Something About Night, choreographed by world renowned choreographer Lar Lubovitch in 2018 to celebrate his own companies’ 50th anniversary. This piece was set to beautiful music by Schubert, pieces that are for a male chorus. Lubovitch mentioned in the short video before the piece was performed that he felt stillness and quiet were very important for us to find and that is what night can bring us. With this in mind the piece flowed beautifully to the music and at times you felt the stillness he was trying to portray. There was lots of shadow and shade throughout the piece. Dancers; Tyler Orcutt, Lauren Curley, Dan Higgins, Jonathan Kim and Jaclyn Brown performed this piece beautifully with some unique and gorgeous poses and partnering.  Jonathan Kim was a standout for me; his beautiful hands continued the movements beyond the extension of his arms.

The third piece was Filament. This was choreographed by Andy Noble former alumni of RDT who is now an Assistant Professor of Dance at Sam Houston State University. This piece included incredible lighting and technology that at some points the dancers were dancing with the digital versions of themselves. This piece also addressed our insatiable need for technology. There was a very moving part of the piece where one dancer was struggling to stand on his own. He was jittery and shaking until another dancer came along and offered him human touch and suddenly he was calm and could move forward. This spoke to me deeply, in this age of technology we forget we need each other to move forward in live and to help create a calmness that only happens when we get actual human touch, kindness and interaction. The dancers for this piece included the whole troupe with standouts Jaclyn Brown and Tyler Orcutt, their performance of the part that I mentioned earlier was spot on.  This was a stunning piece of work; my favorite of the evening.

The last piece was choreographed by Noa Zuk and Ohad Fishof artists from Israel. This is the second time Noa and Ohad have worked with RDT, the first time was in 2014 and now for the 2019-20 season. Noa and Ohad restaged a work they created in 2018. Outdoors is an excerpt from a longer piece (Shutdown) which was created for Wee Dance Company in Germany. This piece was contemporary with interesting movements, some of these movements were what my friend I was with that evening called “Bananas”. Very tribal and ritualistic, with music that repeated the first few phrases over and over again, that for me got a bit too repetitive. The dancers for this final piece were the whole troupe again with guest dancers Severn Sargent-Catterton and Laura Baumeister. The dancers performed this number well and with precision and unity.

The evening was a wonderful show of diversity and creativity through the ages to here and now. Watch for RDT’s next performance, Sounds Familiar, November 21 – 23, 2019. Tickets are available now at ArtTix.

See all of our dance coverage here.

 

 

Oct 30
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And the Best Breakfast is … Sardines? Beets?

By Eat & Drink

Breakfast either is or isn’t the most important meal of the day. It depends on who’s paying for the scientific study. Nutritionists continue to argue about that now, but I was brought up being told it was, and was served a bowl of Kellogg’s most mornings.

Even at the age of 6, I was skeptical: How could cornflakes be the most important meal of the day?

Now my breakfast is a glass of grapefruit juice, one antidepressant, one antihistamine, one giant smelly vitamin and a cup of coffee with lots of milk. I consider this a step up from my 20s when breakfast was a can of Diet Coke and three Tylenol.

Most of us start the day with coffee, which, thank God, has recently been found to have some health benefits: it increases energy, performance, alertness (duh) but it also has riboflavin, pantothenic acid, manganese, potassium and niacin.

But if you feel like you need a change for reasons of health, I did receive some information lately that suggested alternative breakfast foods: supposed superfoods, like acai, beets and sardines. (Sardines. The New Breakfast of Champions?) Alternatively, it suggests a Monster energy drink.

None of this sounds like something I could face in the morning. I will not be cooking up a mess of beets with a side of sardines while I listen to Morning Edition. But it made me wonder what our forebears broke fast with. 

  • For hundreds of years prior to the early 1800s, the English drank beer for breakfast. In fact, beer was known as the breakfast drink. This still sounds like a good idea.
  • Archaeological evidence suggests ancient Egyptians breakfasted on beer, bread and onions before heading off to build the Pyramids.
  • In classical Greece, the day began with a meal of barley bread dipped in wine with figs or olives.
  • The ancient Romans seem to have begun the day eating meats leftover from the night before (so don’t feel too bad about your cold pizza) along with olives, salad and a drink called mulsum, a mixture of honeyed wine and spices.
  • In the Middle Ages, eating breakfast was associated with the sin of gluttony so real men didn’t eat it.
  • In Japan, miso soup was/is a typical breakfast.
  • Lebanese ate raw leeks with bread. 

If I did have time or sufficient consciousness and coordination to chew in the morning:

  • I’d go to The Daily, which celebrated its one year anniversary yesterday,
  • or Publik Kitchen because they have the best toast in town that doesn’t involve (I like cinnamon or avocado on top) or Les Madeleines because they still have the best pastries
  • or Finn’s because they have the best pancakes. On the other hand, if I want a truly luxurious breakfast and have the time, I’d go to Caffe d’Bolla for a perfect cup of coffee.

But time is what I do not have in the morning. I’ll always opt for 10 more minutes of sleep instead of nourishment.

See all of our food and drink coverage here.

Oct 30
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Finding the Perfect Chef Knife

By Eat & Drink

Chefs travel with their knives rolled up in a special knife roll with pockets for their blades, large and small, maybe their filleting knife, a long slicing knife and a sharpening steel to take the tiny burrs off the edges. Home chefs usually rely on fewer special blades but nothing in any kitchen can replace a really good knife. So what’s that? Corey Milligan, owner and founder of the newly opened New West KnifeWorks in Park City, has lots of opinions about what makes a good knife.

“The toughness and the hardness of the steel are what’s important,” he says. Milligan believes he has come up with the “highest-performance kitchen knife in the world today.” (Don’t get him talking about steel, if you don’t have all day.)

While he admits there are other great knives out there, there are few as beautiful. The G-Fusion handles of many of Milligan’s knives are made of bomb-proof aerospace-grade, fiberglass epoxy composite. That’s great. But each layer is a different color and when polished, reveals a rainbow of color.  “Your tools should be beautiful,” according to Milligan. New West KnifeWorks, 675 S. Main St., Park City, 435-649-7219, newwestknifeworks.com. Learn more about New West Knifeworks here.

More Great (but not as beautiful) Knives

  • Henckels Pro S Chef Knife
  • Wusthof Classic Ikon Santoku
  • Messermeister Meridian Elite Stealth Chef Knife
  • Global Santoku (G-48)
  • Shun Classic Chef Knife

Knife Tips

  • Don’t put it in the dishwasher.
  • Wash and dry it quickly by hand.
  • Have it sharpened professionally. (Most high-end knives include lifetime sharpening service.)
  • Keep the blade covered with a leather sheath or in a knife block.
  • Don’t use your knife for anything but cutting.
  • Be careful.

See all of our food and drink coverage here