In Salt Lake City we have dozens of Thai food restaurants. But most of their dishes taste like they came out of a single commissary. I always envision a warehouse space in South Salt Lake churning out the full spectrum of curries with Thai restaurant people stopping by with their big pickle buckets to pick up their share. Restaurateur Anny Sooksri wants to share a very different idea of Thai.

Growing up in Thailand, Sooksri learned to love all kinds of Thai food and her Salt Lake restaurant group including Tea Rose Diner, FAV Bistro, Chabaan and Siam Noodle Bar reflect different facets of Thai cooking. Visit each one for some of the best Thai food in Salt Lake City to understand the breadth of this crave-worthy cuisine.

1. Tea Rose Diner, 65 E. 5th Ave, Murray, 801-685-6111 Formerly a hot dog joint, Tea Rose’s interior reflects its humble all-American origins and there are still American dishes on the menu. The usual red, green, yellow, Panang and Massaman curries are excellent. But we chose the more unusual dishes and we loved the Jungle Curry—your choice of meat with krachai—a tuber sometimes called, inaccurately, little ginger and a bunch of different vegetables: bamboo shoots, bell pepper, carrot, bell pepper, baby corn, zucchini and mushrooms. (This veg load gives you permission to eat beef tomorrow.) And we’d never seen anything like the pad Thai loosely rolled into a thin egg omelette. Which was great—we love surprises.
2. Fav Bistro, 1984 E Murray Holladay Rd, Holladay, 801- 676-9300 Thai breakfast. Not the first thing we think of in the morning, but a great alternative to the usual ham & eggs repast. Several of Sooksri’s restaurants serve breakfast—Thai fried eggs, for instance, eggs mixed with vegetables and served over rice. Or an omelet made with coconut milk and turmeric. You can also order vegan versions of these and, yes, for the timid, American breakfasts are also on the menu. But why?
3. Chabaar Beyond Thai, 87 W. 7200 South, Midvale, 801-566-5100 Curry Pot Pie is a genius cross-cuisine hybrid that’s becoming a fixture on Thai menus in California but I’ve never seen it here: the idea is obvious, so why doesn’t every place do it? Just choose your favorite red, yellow, green or massaman curry with pork or tofu. It comes baked under a pastry crust over the top.
4. Siam Noodle Bar, 5171 Cottonwood St. #160, SLC, 801-262-1888 (Intermountain Medical Center) Many think chicken soup is the panacea for all ills. Clearly they haven’t tried the gluten-free broth and noodle soups at Siam Noodle Bar—the best hospital food ever because it would be delicious in any setting.

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This Hori Hori garden knife ($30) from Barebones Living makes transplanting tomato starts a snap.

For the love of a homegrown tomato, really, nothing should ever stop you from growing at least one plant yourself. Unlike many things you can fail at, organic gardening, is worth the attempt, simply because the victory of the tasting is so very sweet.

I grew up in the midwest, and from a small town in Southern Indiana where pretty much everything grows easily, including the weeds. Utah gardening offers different challenges, our soil tends to be salty and lacking organic matter, our weeds are sticky and prickly, pests like snails and slugs, potato bugs (my fellow Hoosiers call them roly-pollies) and earwigs can take down a plant in seconds, and our precipitation is generally scarce, although this spring has been, unquestionably wet. Being an active gardener brings you a heightened awareness of the weather and surroundings like nothing else can.

With gardening, there are always exceptions and things you need to anticipate. One that you’ll face when planting tomatoes is to avoid transplanting them into the garden too early. Unless they are under a garden row cover, blanket or other fancy tomato-saving contraption to insulate them, tomatoes (and several other summertime veggies) will croak if the temperatures dip under 42 degrees. When in doubt, wait a week to transplant, or cover them. And honestly, getting them in early doesn’t bring a ripe tomato to you any sooner. The ripening process is a natural phenomenon, especially those big ones, they know when it’s time, and that is generally in late July/ early August.

I’ll walk you through a few early steps in soil prep and transplanting tips to help get those tomato starts well on their way.

1. Plant stalks are hearty, leaves are green (not spotted) and check for aphids.
2. Soil preparation is possibly the most important consideration. When soil is described as loamy, it’s got a nice “feel good” mix of organic and inorganic matter (compost, clay, sand/silt). This is important for water retention, drainage and of course, providing nutrients to the plant.
3. On planting day, you may want to amend your planting area or each hole with crushed eggshells or organic tomato fertilizer. Follow instructions.
4. After gently removing tomato plant from its container, sprinkle mycorrhizae (we call it “mike”) fungi to stimulate root development before placement.
5. Gently surround the plant with soil, pack lightly and up to its true first leaves.
6. Watering is a daily practice with new transplants, just around the base (not the leaves) although that’s just a good thing until roots get established. I like the thumb in the soil method, nothing is better than feeling the ground to find out how deep the moisture is. surface soil may appear dry when under the surface is just fine.
7. Mulch it. To cut down on weeds, aid in moisture retention and protect the plants from disease.

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