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Apr 16
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Weekend Getaway: Dead Horse Point State Park

By Adventures, Travel

Clinging to a cliff edge, 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, Dead Horse Point is certainly one of the most scenic spots for a state park and for a weekend away.

Though the name may suggest otherwise, you won’t see horses dead or alive here. Big black bovines graze just outside the park, but the wild ponies are long gone. The gruesome legend behind the name holds that cowboys chased wild mustangs out to a point, across a narrow neck, corralling them on a spit of land high in the sky. Culling those they wanted, the rest were set free. One year the horses were left trapped and with no water the desert quickly claimed them. Remnants of a fence, perhaps the fence, still guard the neck of land that separates the point from the plateau.

Hiking, camping, biking, photography and stargazing are all pastimes pursued in this corner of Grand County. Six thousand feet above sea level, it is 10 degrees cooler here than the desert valley below at 4,000 feet. The lack of light pollution and the elevated nature of the park make night skies sparkle with pricks of starlight. A full moon will leave you moonstruck and a meteor shower will look like fireworks.

deadhorsepoint4

The East and West Rim trails connect to make a four-mile loop with half a dozen side viewpoints clearly marked. On the East side, stunning views of the La Sal’s appear, playing peek-a-boo behind red rock outcrops. Cairns, flat rocks stacked precariously to mark the trail, stop you from wandering off track and taking the wrong turn at a juniper bush. As you wander, a glimmer of blue catches the eye. Too geometric to be natural, potash evaporation ponds gleam in a desert of sage and dun, stone and dirt. With nearby Arches and Canyonlands National Parks having strict no-dog rules, the canine lover can rejoice in miles of pet-friendly hiking trails. Just keep your pooch leashed less this become dead dog point!

The Intrepid Bike Trail, suitable for the whole family, begins at the visitor center parking lot. Created through a public/private partnership between the park and Intrepid Potash Inc., various combinations of three loops will keep all members of the family happy for hours. Slickrock, sand and sage greet you at every turn. The views are stunning, the single track stimulating and the sensation of riding where wild horse once thundered is spectacular.

The small campsite has 18 sites that can be reserved online, all partial hookup with electricity but no water. On the weekends, join a ranger for an informative walk or attend a talk in the amphitheater. The visitor center has exhibits that explain the park’s flora and fauna, the usual kitschy souvenirs and an art gallery stocked with local photography. There is even a coffee hut to provide you with caffeine stimulation if the views don’t do the trick!

Dead Horse Point State Park is 32 miles from full service Moab, and 250 miles from Salt Lake City, off Highway 313.

Photos by Pippa Keene

Mar 01
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Utah: Land of Secrets

By City Watch

As revelation after revelation spills into the news media about the National Security Agency’s digital spying, the world’s attention can’t help but shift to Utah, home of NSA’s colossal Data Storage Center, a global vortex of phone-tapping, email eavesdropping and all manner of digital snooping.

Everyone from Germany’s Angela Merkel to Utah’s Tea Party wants to know what is going on in the 200,000-square-foot complex of Walmart-esque boxes squatting on the hillside due west of Point of the Mountain. Of course, this being the $1.5 million beating heart of a spy agency, we aren’t meant to know what’s out there—to paraphrase the Roach Motel slogan: Vast amounts of information go in, but none comes out. If it weren’t for Edward Snowden, we wouldn’t know much at all. But the tantalizing bits—including that NSA monitors terrorists’ porn browsing, Internet gamers, and a few employees’ ex-lovers—boggles the imagination.

We know this about the Utah Data Center: It’s architecturally a blot upon the landscape, uses mammoth amounts of electrical power (60 backup diesel generators just in case) and gulps water at a rate of 1.7 million gallons per day to cool the fevered brows of its computers as they snoop on 5 billion phone calls daily. It has a canine corps. (NSA won’t reveal how many dogs, but we can guess their purpose.) The Data Center’s start up last fall was plagued with electrical problems that turned sections into deadly “kill zones.” (Add that to the genetically engineered dogs and you’ve got a climactic Austin Powers scene.)

And we must admit, Utah is the perfect home for NSA’s covert operations. We have a long and celebrated history of keeping all sorts of secrets. Perhaps it’s the dominant culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has always shrouded its sacred places and rituals in secrecy, and our long relationship with the military-industrial complex. In any case, when it comes to spooky stuff in our midst, Utahns have always adopted a don’t-ask-don’t-tell philosophy (especially if there’s a little economic development involved).

What more could a spy ask for?

1. Enola Gay–Mother of Armageddon 

B-29 Enola Gay and her crew trained in total secrecy in the West Desert before kicking off the nuclear age by dropping the world’s first atom bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. Sure, the Smithsonian Institute got the Enola Gay, herself, but Utah got to keep the box she came in—a weather-beaten hangar.

2. German and Japanese Theme Parks

During World War II, the military built exact replicas of German row houses and a Japanese apartment building at Dugway to test fire bombs. It was a horrible “Three Little Pigs” experiment: “Japanesetown,” made out of wood, has long ago vanished. But the brick-and-plaster Germantown is still out there.

3. Dugway’s Bugs

The military, if they talk about it at all, explains that the labs at Rhode Island-sized Dugway Proving Ground develop “defensive measures” against potential biological attacks. The Army is fuzzy about what or how much bad juju they keep on hand. A guess: anthrax, botulism, encephalitis, typhus, Rift Valley fever and unsightly acne.

4. Indian Tomb

The remains of 84 prehistoric Indians whose bones were discovered when the Great Salt Lake receded in 1990 have been interred in a concrete vault in Emigration Canyon. “Those spirits were wandering aimlessly,” an  Indian leader explained. The exact location is kept quiet, if not secret, to prevent the tomb from being vandalized.

5. The Vault—the Roots of Everyone’s Family Tree

Near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, carved 600 feet into solid rock, is the Granite Mountain Records Vault, the nuclear blast-proof home of 3.5 billion pages of family history. Ironically, the Vault’s records are probably more secure than the NSA’s. Public access is prohibited, but the LDS church offers a video.

6. Temple Rituals—the Mormon Tradition of Secrecy

No one can argue that the culture of Utah isn’t heavily influenced by the dominant religion. Historically key to the LDS religion are blood/death oaths of secrecy. Up until recently, the secret temple ceremony included the motions of slashing one’s own throat and stomach if one were to reveal the temple’s secrets that can be googled on the Internet. In reality, most Mormons regard the temple ceremonies as not secret, but sacred, and not to be discussed with outsiders.

7. Lost Gold Mines

Legend: Under the Uinta Mountains near Moon Lake (or Utah Lake’s Pelican Point, or the Hurricane Cliffs—take your pick) lie the lost mines of Carre-Shin-Obthat worked by Indians enslaved by the Spanish. The Indians rebelled and went on to slaughter or dismember, Indiana Jones-style, anyone who attempted to enter them. Some myths say that a Ute chief revealed the location to Brigham Young lieutenant Thomas Rhoades who mined the gold for the temple’s Moroni statue.

8. Taliban HQ, 84022

The military reproduced a Taliban mountain lair on Utah Test and Training Range—basically a sophisticated shooting gallery for U.S. and NATO pilots. One of Utah’s unsung attributes is that it looks exactly like Afghanistan (not to mention parts of Iraq and Iran), making military tourism (22,000 sorties annually) to the 19,000-square-mile bombing range a lucrative economic engine. Resembling a low-budget a movie set, the “Taliban camp” includes caves, buildings and mobile launchers complete with dummy missiles.

9. Mountain Meadows Mishap 

In 1857, a group of Arkansas emigrants to California were intercepted near Cedar City by Mormon militia and Indians. The militia massacred 120 emigrants, sparing only 17 children under age 7. “The whole United States rang with its horrors,” Mark Twain wrote. Exactly why it happened and Brigham Young’s role in it was a closely guarded secret that even now is shrouded in mystery. Only one participant, John D. Lee, took the rap, some say to protect the Mormon hierarchy. He was executed.

10. Mormon Catacombs Under Main Street

Underneath downtown Salt Lake, tunnels connect the Temple with the church’s office building and, some say, the Utah Legislature. Reality? The tunnels, dating from 1889, are actually carpeted underground passages. Sorry, no piles of skulls. Golf carts whisk high church leaders about—similar to Florence’s Vasari Corridor used by the Medici, or Bruce Wayne’s Bat Cave.

11. Utah’s UFO

In the 1990s, NASA prepared an environmental impact statement for testing the mysteriously named (if you’re into ‘50s sci-fi) X-33 at Michael Army Air Field at Dugway. The X-33 would be a robot plane capable of flying at 15 times the speed of sound at altitudes of 250,000 feet. Who knows? Maybe it happened.

12. From Area 51 With Love—the Spy Plane That Wasn’t

Shortly after test pilot Ken Collins flew his super-secret A-12 out of Nevada’s Area 51 in 1963, he ran into foul weather. Before Collins knew it, he was dangling from a parachute, drifting down 20 miles south of Wendover near the smoking wreckage of his A-12. Within hours, the Air Force showed up with trucks and bulldozers to “sanitize” the crash site. Hikers in the area still find shards of titanium stamped with “Skunkworks,” the secret name for Lockheed aircraft company.

13. Poison Gas—Syria’s Got Nothing on Utah 

Two years ago, the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility finished incinerating 14,000 tons of chemical weapons that had been stored there since the 1940s. But nearby (as the mustard agent blows), Dugway Proving Groundkeeps its own stash. We know because it was locked down in 2011 when a vial of VX, the most potent of all nerve agents, went missing. Whether it was found, of course, remains a secret.

14. Little Mountain, Big Boom

Little Mountain Test Facility, a 1,000-acre laboratory for simulating nuclear hardness and survivability of defense systems, lies 15 miles west of Ogden near other facilities where munitions up to the most powerful ICBM rocket motors are tested.

15. Atomic Sheep

1953: Ranchers were moving 2,000 sheep from a winter range near the Nevada Test Site into Southern Utah when they saw the flash from a nuclear explosion—five nuclear bombs were being exploded above ground. By the time the ranchers got to Cedar City, their sheep were dropping dead and lambs were stillborn. A veterinarian found strontium radiation in the sheep’s bone marrow. The Atomic Energy Commission said the sheep died from poor range conditions.

16. Careless Sheep 

1968: 6,000 sheep gamboling in scenic Skull Valley suddenly died in unison. The Army investigated what is known as the Dead Sheep Incident and reported the animals had died from eating pesticide-sprayed vegetation. Three decades later (Utah keeps its secrets), the “pesticide” was identified as VX nerve agent that was sprayed on the sheep from an military plane. The Army paid compensation to the ranchers, but never copped to spraying the nerve gas.

17. Stoner Sheep 

1971: 1,200 sheep grazing near Garrison collapsed and died with blood pouring from their noses. A few weeks earlier, an underground nuke test in Nevada had blown through the ground, sending a radioactive cloud over Utah. Gov. Calvin Rampton argued the sheep would not have died instantly from radiation—instead he hypothesized they expired from eating addictive locoweed.

18. Wild, and dead, horses

1976: A helicopter crew spotted 50 mustangs that apparently “just fell over dead.” Suspicious types said an equine encephalitis germ-warfare agent was behind it. Government investigators concluded the horses died of thirst, even though full water troughs were only a few yards away.

Back>>>Read other stories in our March/April 2014 issue.

Feb 18
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2014 Dining Awards

By Dining Awards
Click here to see the 2015 Dining Awards winners.

The best restaurants never rest on their bay leaves. They don’t stay the same; they get better. Salt Lake magazine’s list of Dining Award winners this year includes many familiar names, but the menus have changed, the service has improved, the décor is updated. In short, they’re better than ever. Until next year. (Click here for a quicker list of the Dining Awards winners, and here for the 2014 Dining Awards Readers’ Choice winners.)

Best Restaurant: Salt Lake City
Pago
878 S. 900 East, SLC, 801-532-0777

Scott Evans’ Pago has been great from its get-go, back in 2009. But his artisanal-based, farm-to-table ethos and high standards inadvertently made the restaurant a quasi training ground for high-profile–higher, literally–resort restaurants. Phelix Gardner’s steadiness in the executive chef position for the past few years finally gave Pago the continuity that allows it to soar to the top and stay there. When it opened, Pago was cutting-edge; now it’s on its way to becoming a classic, with a menu that features tried-and-trues, like the nationally famous Pago Burger with pickled onions, to the unexpectedly edgy, including a carrot tasting which features the common vegetable five ways–raw, a confit, pickle, chips and a luxurious carrot mascarpone.

Red Carpet Interview

Best Restaurant: Park City
J&G Grill
2300 Deer Valley Dr. East, Park City, 435-940-5760

J&G Grill at the St. Regis Deer Valley has always been a top-tier restaurant–it just hadn’t seemed like part of the Utah scene. It’s named after a chef who’s rarely in the kitchen and, at first, it catered more to visitors than residents. But the restaurant’s chef de cuisine, Shane Baird, makes a point of exploring Utah foods and embracing locals. Besides the often-Asian-tinged constructs that come out of the kitchen–sautéed snapper with spaghetti squash in soy-yuzu broth–diners can choose from a simple list of deluxe proteins like Shetland salmon, Paisley Farms pork or Clark’s Farm lamb and luxurious sides. Despite its star-struck name and glam digs, J&G has become a Utahn. One of the best Utahns.

Red Carpet Interview

Best Restaurant: Northern Utah
Hearth on 25th
195 Historic 25th Street, 2nd Floor (#6), Ogden, 801-399-0088

This quirky upstairs restaurant which has been introducing Ogdenites to fine flavors for years has reinvented itself as Hearth. The centerpiece is a wood-fired oven, and lots of the menu is inspired by that–the pizzas, the flatbreads and the hearth breads. The menu also features several elk dishes, including medallions, raspberry red, the flavor deepened by a wild mushroom risotto. And locally grown yak. Even if you don’t dessert, try the “chocolate Italian souffle.” It was not, as we had feared, just another molten chocolate cake, though it wasn’t really a souffle, either. It came in a ramekin and whatever you called it, it was the essence of barely sweetened dark warm chocolate.

Red Carpet Interview

Best Restaurant: Central Utah
Black Sheep Cafe
19 N. University Ave., Provo, 801-607-2485

How cool for a restaurant to illuminate one of Utah’s native foodways. Black Sheep chef Mark Daniel Mason brings a sense of haute cuisine to the heritage flavors of Navajo, Pueblo and Hopi cooking. The result is hearty, humble food with an earthy elegance unique among local restaurants: Indian “three sisters”–beans, corn and squash-–meet Italian bruschetta. The classic wedge gets some soul from cotija cheese and chipotle. Green chili stew and posole are given serious kitchen consideration, balanced but hearty, rich but not greasy. Even fry bread becomes a star made with Blue Bird flour.

Red Carpet Interview


Pago, J&G Grill, Hearth on 25th, Black Sheep Cafe

Best Discovery
Del Mar al Lago
310 Bugatti Dr., SLC, 801-467-2890

Del Mar al Lago was everyone’s favorite secret until this year. Now it’s just everyone’s favorite. The modest restaurant has been given a boost in style and scope, making dining here a comfortably exotic experience. Our ethnic food-scape is pretty sparse so Peruvian is a fairly novel cuisine to most Utahns, but the savory and citrusy variations of cebicha, or ceviche—not to mention the pisco sours—have won the hearts and minds of Utah diners, even to the point of embracing skewered beef heart. Don’t be afraid, timid diners: Plenty of rice and pasta dishes are on the menu, along with fried foods and even a Peruvian version of paella.

Red Carpet Interview

Best Wine List
BTG Wine Bar
63 W. 100 South, SLC, 801-359-2814

BTG stands for “By the Glass” and while some may consider this restaurant a trifle young to win a big award, the tenacity with which Fred Moessinger (owner of Caffe Molise next door) pursued the audacious-in-Utah idea of a true wine bar deserves kudos. There are craft cocktails and specialty beer, and you can order food from Caffe Molise, but the pieces des resistances are the more than 50 wines by the glass. You can order a tasting portion or a full glass, allowing you to sample vintages you might not be inclined to buy by the bottle.

Red Carpet Interview

Community Service Award
Steven Rosenberg, Liberty Heights Fresh
1290 S. 1100 East, SLC, 801-583-7374

Steve Rosenberg does our city a great service just by being in business. He opened Liberty Heights Fresh 21 years ago, before there was such a thing as a Certified Cheese Expert, before local food became a buzzword. In other words, Rosenberg gambled on Salt Lakers’ sense of taste. Now, besides the stellar cheese selection and shelf goods, Liberty Heights caters, makes terrific sandwiches and offers its own CSA. Plus Rosenberg is at pretty much every food consciousness-raising event, from Feast of Five Senses to the Downtown Farmers Market. The list of local businesses he supports goes on and on.

Red Carpet Interview

Best New Restaurant
Best Mexican Restaurant
Alamexo
268 S. State Street, SLC, 801-779-4747

Matthew Lake’s four-day transformation of Zy into Alamexo was one of the neatest tricks performed this year and one of the smartest moves. Don’t be dubious about a gringo in a Mexican kitchen: Lake’s a thorough pro and his previous experience running Besito and Rosa Mexicana in New York and working with Southwest culinary legend Mark Miller has given him a golden palate and a passion for South of the Border flavors that shows on the plate at Alamexo. His salsas–the backbone of Mexican cuisine–are ever-changing and dependably addictive, as good salsa should be. Lake pulls flavors from many regions of Mexico; classics like enchiladas Suizas–roast chicken seasoned with epazote, baked in tomatillo cream and sprinkled with cilantro–and flautas are as carefully rendered as more ambitious creations like slow cooked salmon with crispy bananas, pineapple pico de gallo and Oaxacan mole manchamanteles. If you believe all Mexican food should cost less than $10 a plate, please note: twenty bucks is not too much to pay for entrees like this.

Red Carpet Interview


Del Mar al Lago, BTG Wine Bar, Steven Rosenberg of Liberty Heights Fresh, Alamexo

Best Chinese
J. Wong’s Asian Bistro
163 W. 200 South, SLC, 801-350-0888

In Utah, Chinese food, like Mexican food and many other non-white culinary traditions, suffers from a perception that it is supposed to be cheap and unlovely. The Wong family’s insistence on elegance in the dining room and on the plate flies delightfully in the face of this expectation. With a grace, serenity and eagerness to serve that many more (and less!) expensive restaurants would do well to emulate, J. Wong’s staff makes a meal the relaxing, sustaining experience it should be. Plus, the potstickers are terrific. The Wong brothers’ frequent trips to Taiwan and Hong Kong mean the menu benefits from authentic flavors married to American proportions–like the chef’s special filet mignon with Thai chili, garlic and oyster sauce. A new sommelier means the wine and beer lists are receiving the same attention as the food. And bonus: The Wongs’ twin heritage of Thai and Chinese mean that the pad Thai here might be the best in town, even though the menu stresses Chinese dishes.

Best Mediterranean
Layla
4751 S. Holladay Blvd., SLC, 801-272-9111

Confetti’s was a family-run Holladay institution for 16 years. Like most restaurants, it ran its course, but instead of closing, the Tadros family put their considerable talents together and reinvented the family business. Layla, a Mediterranean grill and mezze cafe, is based on the Tadros’ Lebanese/Egyptian heritage, and since it opened, the food at the redecorated, re-imagined restaurant has gotten better and better. Start with the merguez-style sausages. Because they’re ridiculously good and because they represent the care the Tadros family is putting into the food at Layla. The recipe and spices come from an old family recipe and the lamb comes from Morgan Valley. Layla features a variety of Middle Eastern dishes–you could call this “Mediterranean Rim” cuisine–hummus, moussaka, kabobs, shawarma. Layla is once again the heart of Holladay.

Red Carpet Interview

Best Indian
Saffron Valley East India Cafe
26 E. Street, SLC, 801-203-3325

Lavanya Mahate’s Saffron Valley edges in front because of its breadth. Sometimes it can be a mistake for one kitchen to attempt too much, and Saffron Valley touches on a whole subcontinent of cuisine, from Indian street food to southern dhosas to Chino-Indian dishes. The remarkable thing: It’s all good. Add to that Mahate’s sense of occasion, her emphasis on food as celebration—restaurant events this year included a Diwali dinner, a kebab festival, the annual Indian street food festival—and you have a star. Even the lunch buffet is special, never featuring the same lineup twice. Explore the map of food here, but if you want to stick with the familiar, this may be the best tandoor in town.

Red Carpet Interview

Best Japanese
Naked Fish
67 W. 100 South, SLC, 801-595-8888

Naked Fish has already raised the bar beyond other Japanese restaurants for kushiyaki, sushi and kobe; investing in new equipment and more chefs and painstakingly procuring absolutely pristine products. Proving the best can always get better, owner Johnny Kwon upped the standards again, introducing great ramen at lunch, inviting star chef Viet Pham to play in the Naked Kitchen and bringing in Certified Sommelier Christian Frech as well as a sake sommelier. The result is innovation within tradition, one of the hardest restaurant tricks to pull off. For example, the jidori chicken breast with roasted potatoes and a vanilla-honey teriyaki sounds like it belongs on a PF Chang menu, but its subtle balance is thoroughly Japanese and suited for the American appetite.

Red Carpet Interview


J. Wong’s Asian Bistro, Layla, Saffron Valley East India Cafe, Naked Fish

Best Italian
Fresco Italian Cafe
1513 S. 15th East, SLC, 801-486-1300

Even great restaurants wax and wane according to the energy and imagination of the chef and the interest and teamwork of the staff. Once again, Fresco is riding high. In the kitchen, Logan Crews is layering flavors, temperatures and textures, and turning out food infused with Italian soul. For example: a simple soup featuring the veg of the year comes to the table as a white bowl centered with a cauliflower floret and a scoop of cool goat cheese. Your server pours the creamy white lentil and cauliflower soup around the vegetable. The result is a white-on-white interplay of crunchy vegetable, rich broth and cool cheese, surprisingly complex and perfectly orchestrated.

Red Carpet Interview

Best Comfort Food
Silver Star Cafe
1825 Three Kings Dr., Park City, 435-655-3456

Jeff and Lisa Ward’s mountain cafe is so high you may need a blanket if you’re dining outside in the summertime. Not to worry–they’ll bring you one. These hands-on owners go to extra lengths to make sure Silver Star is welcoming and cozy and as a result, the cafe is one of the most popular spots in Park City, especially when there’s live music on the patio. Meanwhile, David Bible follows through in the kitchen with hearty pork osso buco, braised shortribs and wood-fired pizza. One of the single best dishes ever was the speck and fig pizza with Snowy Mountain Strawberry Peak cheese, a special on the menu this summer.

Red Carpet Interview

Best Breakfast
Caffe Niche
779 E. 300 South, SLC, 801-433-3380

Urban and mellow aren’t terms that usually marry happily, but Caffe Niche manages to make their bistro both. This corner cafe shines especially at breakfast, when the emphasis is on what we all know we like for breakfast, because morning is no time for experiments. So we’re not talking special-occasion strata concoctions, or ginormous brunch extravaganzas–we’re talking about eggs and bacon, toast and muffins. But chef-owner Ethan Lappe gets his eggs from Tifie Ranch, the English muffins are housemade and the salmon with the bagel is house-smoked. Everyday excellence is the rule and that’s how we should all start the day.

Red Carpet Interview

Best Lunch
Feldman’s Deli 
2005 E. 2700 South, SLC, 801-906-0369

Sandwiches are the basis of lunch, and delis are the sandwich source. Foodies have long bewailed the absence of a proper Jewish deli in SLC, but the reason there hasn’t been one is obvious: As of 2008, only about .5 percent of Utah’s population was Jewish. So Feldman’s is good news. Mike and Janet Feldman know their knish–and their matzoh ball soup. The only disappointment is the midday opening time. So, no morning bagels. That’s why it’s getting the Best Lunch award.

Red Carpet Interview


Fresco Italian Cafe, Silver Star Cafe, Caffe Niche, Feldman’s Deli

Best Bakery
Eva’s Bakery
155 S. Main St., SLC, 801-355-3942

Once again, we have a memory of a mother to thank for this bakery. In this case, Charlie Coomb’s great-grandmother, Eva, is immortalized “with love and butter.” But let’s be clear: Baking bread and making pastry are two distinctly different enterprises. Here in Utah, we’re not so picky as a rule, and the staff of life and the sweet stuff often come from the same hands. Not at Eva. The baker and the pastry chef rule their domains, one with an appropriately heavier hand than the other. Breads here, made with local flour, are crusty without, moist within and don’t last long, as befits good bread. Be prepared for French toast. Pastries, on the other hand, are light and flaky, ephemeral. Time your stop for lunchtime, so you can have a bowl of onion soup before taking your loaves and tarts.

Best Neighborhood Restaurant
Avenues Bistro on Third 
564 E. Third Avenue, SLC, 801-831-5409

A series of peripatetic chefs, a slightly bohemian staff and management, a name no one can get right and on-going zoning struggles over a patio and bar haven’t dimmed neighborhood enthusiasm for this tiny and undeniably charming cafe. Owner Kathie Chadbourne revels in the local, and approaches her businesses in an unorthodox fashion, but part of the charm at Avenues Bistro is its eccentricity. For example, the controversial postage-stamp speakeasy and the original tiles under the bar and the menu, which has changed so often since the bistro’s opening that it’s hard to go back for favorites. Never mind, you’ll find a new one.

Red Carpet Interview

Salt Lake magazine’s Dining Awards Hall of Fame

Six years ago, we instituted the Salt Lake magazine Dining Hall of Fame to honor restaurants that not only achieved excellence but maintained it. These are places that set—and then re-set—the bar for Utah cuisine. They serve as an example of the level of quality other places should strive for. This year, we asked several Hall of Fame restaurants to serve as the panel of judges for the Dining Awards. Thanks to Red Iguana, Squatters Pub Brewery, Log Haven and Aristo’s.

2008
Red Iguana
736 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City, 801-322-1489
866 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City, 801-214-6050
Red Carpet Interview

Mazza
1515 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City, 801-484-9259
912 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City, 801-521-4572
Red Carpet Interview

Cucina Toscana
300 W. Broadway, Salt Lake City, 801-328-3463

2009
Log Haven
6451 E. Millcreek Canyon Road, Salt Lake City, 801-272-8255
Red Carpet Interview

2010
Takashi
18 W. Market St., Salt Lake City, 801-519-9595

2011
Squatters
147 W. Broadway, Salt Lake City, 801-363-2739
1900 Park Avenue, Park City, 435-649-9868
Red Carpet Interview

2013
Aristo’s
224 S.1300 East, Salt Lake City, 801-581-0888

Hell’s Backbone Grill
20 N. Highway 12, Boulder, 435-335-7464
Red Carpet Interview

Photos by Adam Finkle

Feb 18
Love0

2014 Dining Awards Winners

By Dining Awards

 

Click here to see the 2015 Dining Awards winners.

Read more about our award winners in the March/April issue of Salt Lake magazine. Print this out and keep it in your wallet for future reference the old school way, or visit our online dining guide.

Click here to see the 2014 Dining Awards Readers’ Choice winners.

Click here to see the full article on 2014 Dining Awards winners running in our March/April 2014 issue.

2014 Dining Awards Winners

Best Restaurant: Salt Lake City
Pago
878 S. 900 East, SLC, 801-532-0777
Red Carpet Interview

Best Restaurant: Park City
J&G Grill
2300 Deer Valley Dr. East, Park City, 435-940-5760
Red Carpet Interview

Best Restaurant: Ogden/Northern Utah
Hearth on 25th
195 Historic 25th Street, 2nd Floor (#6), Ogden, 801-399-0088
Red Carpet Interview

Best Restaurant: Provo/Central Utah
Black Sheep
19 N. University Ave., Provo, 801-607-2485
Red Carpet Interview

Best Discovery
Del Mar al Lago
310 Bugatti Dr., SLC, 801-467-2890
Red Carpet Interview

Best Wine List
BTG
63 W. 100 South, SLC, 801-359-2814
Red Carpet Interview

Community Service Award
Steven Rosenberg, Liberty Heights Fresh
1290 S. 1100 East, SLC, 801-583-7374
Red Carpet Interview

Best New Restaurant/Best Mexican Restaurant
Alamexo
268 S. State Street, SLC, 801-779-4747
Red Carpet Interview

Best Chinese
J. Wong’s Asian Bistro
163 W. 200 South, SLC, 801-350-0888

Best Mediterranean
Layla
4751 S. Holladay Blvd., SLC, 801-272-9111
Red Carpet Interview

Best Italian
Fresco Italian Cafe
1513 S. 1500 East, SLC, 801-486-1300
Red Carpet Interview

Best Indian
Saffron Valley East India Cafe
26 E. Street, SLC, 801-203-3325
Red Carpet Interview

Best Comfort Food
Silver Star Cafe
1825 Three Kings Dr., Park City, 435-655-3456
Red Carpet Interview

Best Breakfast
Caffe Niche
779 E. 300 South, SLC, 801-433-3380
Red Carpet Interview

Best Japanese
Naked Fish Japanese Bistro
67 W. 100 South, SLC, 801-595-8888
Red Carpet Interview

Best Lunch
Feldman’s Deli
2005 E. 2700 South, SLC, 801-906-0369
Red Carpet Interview

Best Bakery
Eva’s Bakery
155 S. Main St., SLC, 801-355-3942

Best Neighborhood
Avenues Bistro on Third
564 E. Third Avenue, SLC, 801-831-5409
Red Carpet Interview

Hall of Fame

Cucina Toscana (2008)
307 W. Pierpont Ave., SLC, 801-328-3463

Mazza (2008)
1515 S. 1500 East, SLC, 801-484-9259
912 E. 900 South, SLC, 801-521-4572
Red Carpet Interview

Red Iguana (2008)
736 W. North Temple, SLC, 801-322-1489
866 W. South Temple, SLC, 801-214-6050
Red Carpet Interview

Log Haven (2009)
6451 E. Millcreek Canyon Road, SLC, 801-272-8255
Red Carpet Interview

Takashi (2010)
18 W. Market St., SLC, 801-519-9595

Squatters (2011)
147 W. Broadway, SLC, 801-363-2739
776 N. Terminal Dr., SLC, 801-328-2329
Red Carpet Interview

Aristo’s (2013)
224 S. 1300 East, SLC, 801-581-0888

Hell’s Backbone Grill (2013)
20 N. Highway 12, Boulder, 435-335-7464
Red Carpet Interview

Click here to see the 2015 Dining Awards winners.

Feb 18
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2014 Dining Awards Winners

By Dining Awards

 

Click here to see the 2015 Dining Awards winners.

Read more about our award winners in the March/April issue of Salt Lake magazine. Print this out and keep it in your wallet for future reference the old school way, or visit our online dining guide.

Click here to see the 2014 Dining Awards Readers’ Choice winners.

Click here to see the full article on 2014 Dining Awards winners running in our March/April 2014 issue.

2014 Dining Awards Winners

Best Restaurant: Salt Lake City
Pago
878 S. 900 East, SLC, 801-532-0777
Red Carpet Interview

Best Restaurant: Park City
J&G Grill
2300 Deer Valley Dr. East, Park City, 435-940-5760
Red Carpet Interview

Best Restaurant: Ogden/Northern Utah
Hearth on 25th
195 Historic 25th Street, 2nd Floor (#6), Ogden, 801-399-0088
Red Carpet Interview

Best Restaurant: Provo/Central Utah
Black Sheep
19 N. University Ave., Provo, 801-607-2485
Red Carpet Interview

Best Discovery
Del Mar al Lago
310 Bugatti Dr., SLC, 801-467-2890
Red Carpet Interview

Best Wine List
BTG
63 W. 100 South, SLC, 801-359-2814
Red Carpet Interview

Community Service Award
Steven Rosenberg, Liberty Heights Fresh
1290 S. 1100 East, SLC, 801-583-7374
Red Carpet Interview

Best New Restaurant/Best Mexican Restaurant
Alamexo
268 S. State Street, SLC, 801-779-4747
Red Carpet Interview

Best Chinese
J. Wong’s Asian Bistro
163 W. 200 South, SLC, 801-350-0888

Best Mediterranean
Layla
4751 S. Holladay Blvd., SLC, 801-272-9111
Red Carpet Interview

Best Italian
Fresco Italian Cafe
1513 S. 1500 East, SLC, 801-486-1300
Red Carpet Interview

Best Indian
Saffron Valley East India Cafe
26 E. Street, SLC, 801-203-3325
Red Carpet Interview

Best Comfort Food
Silver Star Cafe
1825 Three Kings Dr., Park City, 435-655-3456
Red Carpet Interview

Best Breakfast
Caffe Niche
779 E. 300 South, SLC, 801-433-3380
Red Carpet Interview

Best Japanese
Naked Fish Japanese Bistro
67 W. 100 South, SLC, 801-595-8888
Red Carpet Interview

Best Lunch
Feldman’s Deli
2005 E. 2700 South, SLC, 801-906-0369
Red Carpet Interview

Best Bakery
Eva’s Bakery
155 S. Main St., SLC, 801-355-3942

Best Neighborhood
Avenues Bistro on Third
564 E. Third Avenue, SLC, 801-831-5409
Red Carpet Interview

Hall of Fame

Cucina Toscana (2008)
307 W. Pierpont Ave., SLC, 801-328-3463

Mazza (2008)
1515 S. 1500 East, SLC, 801-484-9259
912 E. 900 South, SLC, 801-521-4572
Red Carpet Interview

Red Iguana (2008)
736 W. North Temple, SLC, 801-322-1489
866 W. South Temple, SLC, 801-214-6050
Red Carpet Interview

Log Haven (2009)
6451 E. Millcreek Canyon Road, SLC, 801-272-8255
Red Carpet Interview

Takashi (2010)
18 W. Market St., SLC, 801-519-9595

Squatters (2011)
147 W. Broadway, SLC, 801-363-2739
776 N. Terminal Dr., SLC, 801-328-2329
Red Carpet Interview

Aristo’s (2013)
224 S. 1300 East, SLC, 801-581-0888

Hell’s Backbone Grill (2013)
20 N. Highway 12, Boulder, 435-335-7464
Red Carpet Interview

Click here to see the 2015 Dining Awards winners.

Feb 08
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2014 Dining Awards Readers’ Choice Winners

By Dining Awards

We always want to know what our readers think, and after tallying more than one thousand votes, it’s clear they have very good taste. (Click here to see the 2014 Dining Awards winners chosen by our panel.)

Best Restaurant: SLC
Pallet
237 S. 400 West, SLC, 801-935-4431

Best Restaurant: PC
Silver Star Café
1825 Three Kings Dr., Park City, 435-655-3456

Best Restaurant: Provo/Central Utah
Communal
102 N. University Ave., Provo, 801-373-8000

Best Restaurant: Ogden/Northern Utah
Plates & Palates
390 N. 500 West, Bountiful, 801-292-2425

Best Restaurant: Moab/Southeastern Utah
Hell’s Backbone Grill
20 N. Highway 12, Boulder, 435-335-7464

Best Restaurant: St. George/Southwestern Utah (tie)
The Bear Paw
75 N. Main St., St. George, 435-634-0126

The Painted Pony
2 W. St. George Blvd, St. George, 435-634-1700

Best New Restaurant
Pallet
237 S. 400 West, SLC, 801-935-4431

(Note to readers: Pallet won this award last year and is not a new restaurant. Second place by a close margin was Alamexo.)

Best Japanese
Takashi
18 W. Market St., SLC, 801-519-9595

Best Lunch
Silver Star Café
1825 Three Kings Dr., Park City, 435-655-3456

Best Southeast Asian
Plum Alley
111 East Braodway #190, SLC, 801-355-0543

(Note to readers: By the time you read this, Plum Alley will be closed.)

Best Coffee Shop (tie)
Coffee Garden
878 E. 900 South, SLC, 801-355-3425

The Rose Establishment
235 S. 400 West, SLC, 801-990-6270

Best Chinese
Sampan
675 E. 2100 South, SLC, 801-467-3663
10450 S. State St., Sandy, 801-576-0688

Best Quick Eats
Caputo’s Market & Deli
314 W. 300 South, SLC, 801-531-8669
1516 S. 1500 East, SLC, 801-486-6615

Best Indian
Bombay House
2731 Parleys Way, SLC, 801-581-0222
7726 Campus View Dr. #120, West Jordan, 801-282-0777
463 N. University Ave., Provo, 801-373-6677

Best Italian
Fresco
1513 S. 1500 East, SLC, 801-486-1300

Best Mediterranean/Middle Eastern
Mazza
1515 S. 1500 East, SLC, 801-484-9259
912 E. 900 South, SLC, 801-521-4572

Best Mexican
Red Iguana
736 W. North Temple, SLC, 801-322-1489
866 W. South Temple, SLC, 801-214-6050

Best Breakfast
Pig & A Jelly Jar
401 E. 900 South, SLC, 385-202-7366

Best Comfort Food
Pig & A Jelly Jar
401 E. 900 South, SLC, 385-202-7366

Best Undiscovered
Pallet
237 S. 400 West, SLC, 801-935-4431

Best Wine List
Bistro 222
222 S. Main St., SLC, 801-456-0347

Best Desserts (tie)
Pallet
237 S. 400 West, SLC, 801-935-4431

Silver Star Café
1825 Three Kings Dr., Park City, 435-655-3456

Dec 20
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Midway’s Ice Castle

By Outdoors

A castle is coming to the kingdom of Midway. Ice Castles, LLC will bring a one-of-a-kind to Midway, as it unveils a massive castle made entirely of ice. This ice castle will feature lofty ice towers, shimmering archways, glowing tunnels and glossy walls—all made completely of ice.

Ice architect Brent Christensen started Ice Castles by building small ice structures in his Alpine yard in 2008. Now, his work has been seen by over 300,000 visitors, and he’s built castles in Colorado and Minnesota.

Christensen comes back to his roots this year with his first large-scale Ice Castle at Midway’s town square, next to the ice rink. Christensen patterned his design for Midway’s castle after well-known geological features across the state, like slot canyons, arches and cave-like tunnels. Guests are invited to not only view the beauty of the structures but to squeeze and crawl through parts of the stunning display.

Each castle is created by hand using only icicles and water. Millions of icicles sparkle a glacial blue by day and glow multi-colored at night with help of thousands of LED lights embedded in the ice. “Ice Castles really are one of the most unique and beautiful places on earth,” Christensen says. “Every visitor gets a distinctive experience since the ice is constantly melting, freezing and being reshaped. It’s an amazing, continuously evolving experience.”

Midway’s ice castle began construction in late November and will be open to the public in late December and possibly through March 2014, weather permitting. The Ice Castle will be open from noon to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Check out their website to learn more. See all our our outoors coverage here.

Nov 30
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Chocolate

By Eat & Drink
Fine chocolate is one of Utah’s secrets—along with powder snow, great microbrews and a vibrant gay culture. But, it’s time to let the cat out of the reusable shopping bag. Forget what you’ve heard about Utah’s low-brow sweet tooth—Salt Lake City is all about making and appreciating exceptional chocolate.

Amano Chocolate of Orem was the first local chocolate-maker to hit the big time. Founded in 2006 by Art Pollard and Clark Goble, within three years it was named one of the top eight bean-to-bar chocolate companies in the world by Martin Christy, founder of both SeventyPercent.com and the Academy of Chocolate. Before it burst onto the American fine-chocolate scene, Amano Chocolate debuted on Caputo Market’s shelves in downtown SLC.

Founding chocolate artisan Pollard is a bit of savant when it comes to beans and sourcing. His were the first American-made bars to be taken seriously, outranking (and ruffling the feathers of) French, Belgian and Italian powerhouses in competitions. It’s because of that single-minded dedication that Pollard has produced some of the most talked about bars in the chocolate world, including Dos Rios (Dominican Republic beans)–a chocolate taste that hits the tongue with blueberries and cream, some woodsy spices, and a wallop of white blossoms like honeysuckle. He just says, “Utah always has had an affinity for chocolate. When we started we were the only bean-to-bar company but now there’s a couple new small ones. We’re honored to be the ones who paved the way.”

Now, Utah also has Mill Creek Cacao, coffee roaster turned cacao roaster; The Chocolate Conspiracy, makers of organic raw chocolate; Mezzo Chocolate, which takes it from beans to brew, and, most recently, Solstice Chocolate, a single-origin producer. To celebrate these and fine international chocolate, Caputo’s hosts a Chocolate Festival every year, inviting local pastry chefs to dream up desserts inspired by chocolate.

But we’re not talking Mars Bars here.


Art Pollard of Amano Chocolate

What’s the diff?

“Chocolate” on the label doesn’t always mean chocolate–one of the major points of enlightenment on the road to becoming a chocolate snob. The snob’s term for what we grew up thinking was chocolate is “mockolate,” meaning candy products made with cocoa solids, but no cocoa butter. Instead, this stuff is made with vegetable oil or some other fat. Legally, it can’t even be called “chocolate;” it has to be labeled “chocolate candy.” When a cacao bean is crushed, the butter and solids are separated. In fine chocolate, they’re mixed back together, along with sugar and vanilla. And even though you may like the flavor of mockolate just fine, remember it doesn’t have any of the health properties associated with true theobroma.

Genuine fine chocolate is made with cocoa solids and cocoa butter from beans from a single country, district or even farm. Depending on its origin and who makes it, the same high-quality bean can yield vastly different flavors.

Yes, we’re talking terroir, a concept fundamental to the wine business and equally important to chocolate.

One of the growing concerns of fine chocolatiers is the chocolate plant itself. As the Fine Chocolate Industry Association says on its website, “The best tasting chocolates in the world are poised for extinction.” Their point is, growers are removing and replacing rare cacao trees with higher-yielding, disease resistant but less flavorful hybrids. When he first started Amano, Pollard says, “Bad cocoa was everywhere. But there was great cacao to be had–fine quality stuff. To get it and use it you had to pay way more than even fair trade and have a personal relationship with the farmers. We always try to have that personal relationship and to be involved. Most of these farmers who make great cacao have never tasted the final product, so I make it a point to bring the finished bar to these producers and have them taste it.”

Pollard recalls, “After working side by side all day with these farmers, I had a bunch gathered and I had them taste the Amano Cuyagua farm. One crusty old farmer came up and told me one of the most profound things. He said, ‘This chocolate is like a river–the flavor of the chocolate goes on and on, it take you to all these wild and wonderful places.’”

The chocolate makers transform the raw beans into gorgeous bars through tricks of science, sweat and possibly, alchemy. It’s usually dark (no milk products, 50-100 percent cocoa), but never bitter. The texture is usually fine (with some exceptions, especially among raw chocolate makers). The chocolate section at Caputo’s Market dazzles emerging chocolate snobs and is a key source for established ones. It’s also the headquarters from which Matt Caputo conducts chocolate-tasting classes and hosts meetings for the Chocolate Society. Here, you can browse, taste and be bowled over by the flavor of something as simple as ground cocoa beans, sugar and vanilla. The young staff is freakishly knowledgeable. Caputo has curated one of the foremost fine chocolate selections in the world according to his peers, i.e. national chocolate experts and the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade which cited Caputo’s chocolate as one of the reasons they named the store one of its “Outstanding Retailers” in 2009.

Utah is also forging ahead in another category: drinking chocolate. Topher and Shannon Webb of Mezzo Chocolate have created a luscious, rich drinking chocolate that puts the insipid instant stuff to shame. Their secret: They make shavings from single-origin bars they’ve crafted themselves. The result is drinking chocolate that is as interesting and fruity as a well-made Spanish Rioja wine.

Like other fresh foods, chocolate has a season, and we are in the middle of it. Granted, the season doesn’t have to do with Mother Nature. It’s determined by human appetite and the mail. From Halloween through Easter is chocolate season, from cool to cool. When the weather warms, chocolate melts quickly and quality is compromised. Of course, the zenith of chocolate season is February 14.

Next>>>Where to get your local chocolate, and why to be a chocolate snob

Nov 21
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Grand America’s Holiday Window Stroll

By Community

Image courtesy of The Grand America Hotel.

The Grand America Hotel has announced its fourth annual Holiday Window Stroll, just in time to kick off the holiday season. The event features 13 unique, whimsical displays in each of the hotel’s retail window. The stroll will start on Black Friday, Nov. 29 at 8 a.m.

This year’s theme for the Holiday Window Stroll is “Santa’s Workshop.” Guests can take a closer look into the magical world of Santa’s helpers as they prepare for the holiday season. “We’re thrilled to invite the local community, as well as guests from all over, to celebrate the magic of the holidays at The Grand,” says Bruce T. Fery, chief executive officer for The Grand America Hotel. “We hope this year’s Holiday Window Stroll, combined with the many holiday events at the hotel, captures the joy of the holiday season for all to enjoy.”

Each window display is meticulously hand-crafted, and includes an animated component that truly captures the imagination. Stroll attendees will receive a “Ticket to the North Pole” to guide their explorations, as well as a special seasonal chocolate at the end of the stroll.

Guests visiting the hotel for the unveiling festivities will be welcomed with eye-catching holiday decor and a host of events, including a book signing and reading of children’s book “Maurice on Holiday.” The first 10 guests to complete the stroll on the launch day will receive a breakfast buffet for two and access to a meet and greet with author Stephen Wunderli and a signed copy of his book.


Photo courtesy of The Grand America Hotel

On Nov. 29 at 10 a.m., don’t miss executive pastry chef Alexandre Henocq and his team as they unveil an intricately crafted 150-square-foot gingerbread house. The two-story house will be displayed in the ballroom corridor throughout the holiday season.

The Holiday Window Stroll hours will be Sunday–Thursday, 4–9 p.m. and Friday–Saturday 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

The window stroll will conclude on Dec. 31.

Nov 21
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Karaoke Night in Utah Valley

By Arts & Culture, Music

Photo courtesy of Rock the Mic Entertainment.

Tired of the usual movie night? Karaoke and open-mic nights proliferate Utah Valley, so snag a hot date or some friends, grab the mic and sing your heart out.

And all you first timers, don’t be shy. Have a little sump’m sump’m first if you need to, but don’t let stage fright keep you from a cathartic, confidence-building experience. You’re going to love it.

Here are the best karaoke nights in Utah Valley, where you can sing to your heart’s content (and some recommendations on what you should eat while you’re building up courage).

Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill
290 W. University Pkwy., Orem (and all locations)
Tuesdays from 9 p.m. to midnight
Quick tips: best time to go is around 9:30 p.m., appetizers are half off during karaoke night
Tasty eats: Marsala mushroom sirloin, all of the appetizers

Callie’s Café & Sports Bar
466 N. State Street, Orem
Fridays and Saturdays from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Quick tips: cash only, a no-frills bar and grill, not a place for yelling a Top 40 song with your hyper girlfriends
Tasty eats: French dip, Pitcher’s Mound with garbage hash browns

Wing Nutz
1054 S. 750 East, Orem
Wednesdays from 9 p.m. to midnight
Quick tips: hosted by Rock the Mic Entertainment, more than 35,000 songs to choose from
Tasty eats: wings, wings, wings and wild wraps

Guru’s Cafe
45 E. Center Street, Provo
Saturdays from 8 to 10 p.m.
Quick tips: people love event host DJ Brady Mac from Rock the Mic Entertainment, karaoke night has been going for four years here
Tasty eats: Marco Polo pasta, sweet potato fries with Southwest fry sauce, cilantro-lime quesadillas

Pizza Pie Cafe
2235 N. University Pkwy., Provo
Tuesdays from 9 p.m. to midnight
Quick tips: the $6 entrance fee covers the buffet, a drink and karaoke; go right around 9 p.m. if you want a good seat, also hosted by Rock the Mic Entertainment
Tasty eats: “Cinnamon Stix” dessert pizza, Hillbilly and barbecue pizzas

More of the open-mic type? Grab your guitar and you can perform your covers and originals at these places.

Velour
135 N. University Ave., Provo
Tuesdays from 8:30 to 11 p.m. (doors open at 8 p.m.)
Quick tips: $3 for general public, $2 for open-mic performers, all ages can sign up at the door to perform (start lining up an hour before), acoustic—no full bands
Tasty eats: candy and snacks available, large selection of canned and bottled sodas

Muse Music
151 N. University Ave., Provo
Wednesdays from 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 8 p.m.)
Quick tips: $1 to get in, 10 performance slots, comedians and poets also welcome, performers get up to eight minutes
Tasty eats: café always open during shows, get the grilled cheese and edamame

The Deerhunter Pub
2000 N. 300 West, Spanish Fork
Wednesdays from 8 to 11 p.m. is open-mic night with Brother Chunky
Sundays from 8 to 11 p.m. is karaoke/open-mic night
Quick tips: this is a 21+ bar
Tasty eats: grill is closed, because they don’t have a cook right now—sorry!