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Feed2008 Best of the Beehive
The best of everything in Utah
(page 1 of 6)
FOOD
To live well is to eat well. Time was, the quality of a meal in Zion was gauged by its quantity. No more. Our dining landscape can be as exciting as our natural scenery, if you’re willing to do a little exploring.
Best liquid meal
Some things, technology has not improved. There’s no way to get the deep flavor of a great lentil soup except by long simmering. And the milkshake, originally an artful concoction of ice cream, milk and chocolate syrup, mixed to a luxurious slush, is now a mechanically extruded sludge. This is why you go to Lamb’s. You know the minute you walk in the door that Lamb’s has not succumbed to high-tech temptation. For goodness’ sake, Lamb’s still provides a place for you to hang your hat. Lamb’s expects you to take your time—as they do with the soup and the milkshake.
169 S. Main Street, SLC, 801-364-7166
Best excuse for you to sip into something new
Sometimes—even though you’re a really cool person—don’t you want to try one of those ridiculously tinted cocktails you see on the trays headed for other people’s tables? Park City’s annual cocktail contest gives you an excuse to indulge in silliness and order a Blueberry Mojito (Deer Valley’s Royal Street Cafe’s 2007 winner) or Kristauf’s Martini Bar’s Crisp Pear, which took the prize in 2008. You may have to order a second one, just to confirm. parkcityinfo.com
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It’s the secret of every mama’s cooking that leftovers are better than first-night meals. But you don’t hear that touted too often in restaurants. “Thrifty” is not a consumer buzzword. But Pat’s BBQ’s Burnt-end Friday specials are the exception. At lunch, every picnic table is packed with patrons working on plates of brisket ends and rib nubs ’til the kitchen runs out. 155 W. Commonwealth, SLC, 801-484-5963, patsbbq.com
Beer goggles
Wh
en we want our out-of-town guests to see Utah has a beer culture all its own, we don’t lie. We send them to Squatters, Salt Lake’s oldest microbrewery. The joint’s tasty grub, sweet patio and slew of award-winning beers go a long way toward helping newbies get over any culture shock. 147 W. 300 South, SLC, 801-363-2739, squatters.comGreatest greens
The humblest of all vegetables reaches sublimity on the plate at Mama’s Southern Plantation, where collard greens are given all the attention of the tenderest fiddlehead ferns. That means these greens are tended with Southern-style TLC, not cooked past the point of color and crunch, but served up when they are still flavorful. And they are the perfect accompaniment to fried anything. 1394 S. West Temple, SLC, 801-485-6715
Takes the cake
Stepping into Maha Barrani’s pastry parlor, in a converted bungalow, is like entering a fortune-teller’s tent. Don’t expect glass cases filled with schoolkids’ cookies—this isn’t a bakery, it’s a place for cake collaboration. The two of you settle into a couple of easy chairs and Barrani consults with you about your cake, divines your dream confection, then makes your dream come true. For a wedding at the McCune mansion, she placed tiers of cake, hand-painted with icing chinoiserie designs, on a custom-built pagoda cake stand. Pastry Arts Barrani turns out a lot of wedding cakes, but any cake-worthy celebration is the house specialty. The real magic? Maha’s cakes taste as good as they look. 332 E. 900 South, SLC, 801-596-3353
Eating in the raw
These days, eating is as much about philosophy as appetite. Salt Lake, being more of an idealistic burg than a gourmet one, has several cafés based on the notion that living food—anything that has not been heated over 112 degrees—is better food. Quite a challenge to the conventional cook, but the imaginations behind Living Cuisine pull it off with great flair. 2148 Highland Drive, SLC, 801-486-0332
Sincerest “encantado”
More than the decor, even more than the food, great service is what makes a restaurant experience remarkable, and service should start the minute you walk in the door. Few Utah restaurateurs offer as warm a welcome as Todd and Gabrielle McAfee and Gabrielle’s brother, J.C. Pino, do at Café Madrid. The Spanish spirit of hospitality here is as authentic as the Manchego and Manzanilla. Invariably, you feel like you are the one customer they’ve been waiting for, and their thoughtfulness continues throughout the evening, so that a night at Cafe Madrid is personal, like having dinner at the house of a good friend. Who happens to cook very, very well. 2080 E. 3900 South, SLC, 801-273-0837, cafemadrid.net
Best O-rings
The Quest for the Perfect Onion Ring has led from the Varsity in Atlanta to Sonny Bryan’s Barbecue in Dallas; in Salt Lake, the pot of golden O’s can be found at Baxter’s American. Each Black Lion ale-battered crust contains a bracelet-sized onion circle cooked to perfect sweetness, and they come presented as a separate course, like the treasures they are. You have your choice of three sauces, but really, dipping is just gilding the onion. 400 W. South Temple, SLC, 801-456-8999, baxtersamerican.com
Gentlest morning jolt in SLC
Those who require caffeine in the morning are a sensitive lot. They need a jolt to become fully one with the concept of daytime, and, for the most part, they eschew pre-coffee conversation, especially if conducted in loud tones. Of course, they run late in the morning. That’s why Caffé Expresso deserves applause. This drive-through coffee shop is open every day, serves great coffee in aesthetically pleasing cups, and has a cute and apparently infinitely good-natured and cheerfully friendly staff, who will give you a biscuit for your dog along with your cuppa. 602 E. 2100 South, SLC, 801-466-6616
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Shopping at most corner markets means settling for something you don’t exactly want, but that comes closest to filling a need. You’re out of bread, so you pick up a loaf of the squishy white stuff. You’re hungry, so you buy some Tom’s peanuts. Hills & Hollows in Boulder offers the ultimate convenience—a handy store with things you actually want, whether it’s organic ice cream or Persian rugs, homemade bread or incense. And you can fill your tank, too. But there’s nothing convenient about that. 840 W. Highway 12, Boulder, Utah, 435-335-7349.
Best culinary translation
JFK made the jelly-filled doughnut famous by inadvertently claiming solidarity with it in 1963. The grammatical accuracy of his proclamation, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” has been debated for years; there is no debating our desire to be at one with the berliners at Vosen’s Bread Paradise. Rounds of golden-brown pastry, oozing raspberry or apricot and showered with sugar, these are the best culinary translation in town. 249 W. 200 South, SLC, 801-322-2424, vosen.com
Greatest sum of its parts
A great sandwich is about proportion, not quantity. Anyone can pile five inches of ham on a roll. The perfect equilibrium of flavors and textures, the right balance between filling and bread, the tension between being manageable enough as a finger food and sustaining enough as a meal—these are the qualities that define a great sandwich. The Italian Place, in Logan, has mastered the art. Their sandwiches tend to have four, five, even seven or eight different fillings. Each pepperoncino, caramelized onion and dab of mustard contributes toward the whole. 48 Federal Avenue, Logan, 435-753-2584
Most like having our own Trader Joe’s
Utah foodies lament our lack of California-based gourmet emporium Trader Joe’s. But because of our liquor laws, we’re pretty certain this particular niche in the state’s retail landscape will remain vacant. However, the biggest state liquor outlet in Park City, store # 38, comes close: it shares a parking lot with Park City Market and has a nice wine selection. No Two Buck Chuck, but that’s not the part of Trader Joe’s we miss. 1550 Snow Creek Drive, Park City, 435-615-8538
Best green chili, middle of nowhere
After a few days of eating freeze-dried in the backcountry, most Utahns know to stop for sustenance at Ray's in Green River—the burgers are legendary. But Ray’s reputation may have shadowed its neighbor, Ben’s Cafe, where the green chili rivals any in New Mexico. Next time, on your way to or from Moab, check it out. 115 W. Main Street, Green River, 435-564-3352
Pie worth a drive
Pie, for all its image as the all-American dessert, is now a rarity. Off-the-interstate places used to have the best, but mom-and-pops, roadside cafes and family-owned diners have caved and fill the dessert section of the menu with frozen pies baked a state away. Not so in Veyo. Veyo Cafe, in Veyo, Utah, 20 miles outside St. George, claims world fame for its pies. Take the drive off the beaten path and rediscover the taste of the America before chain-restaurant homogenization. 13 N. Main St., Veyo, 435-574-1749
“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris...then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you”...blah, blah, blah... “moveable feast.” So said Ernest Hemingway, who got a lot of mileage out of his seven years in the City of Light. What with the cost of jet fuel and the decline of the dollar, we suggest you get inspired by Salt Lake’s own little piece of French café society, The Paris. Bring your pad and pencil to the Zinc Bar, let wine and steak-frites renew your body and soul, and good luck with the next great American novel. Hint from Ernest: Leave your contractions at home.
1500 S. 1500 East, SLC, 801-486-5585, theparis.net.
Mitt Romney is only the best waffler—the real Belgian deal has a lot more substance. For several years now, Pierre van Damme—a genuine Belgian—has been turning out real Belgian waffles at the Farmer’s Market in Pioneer Park. One bite and you’ll abandon doughnuts for the season. If we’re lucky, van Damme will be successful selling waffles wholesale to restaurants. If we’re really lucky, Salt Lake will realize its dream of a permanent public market, and we can have waffles every day.
HELP
“Help is on the way”: Magic words when your car is dead on the side of the road, your dress is in need of an emergency dry-cleaning or your stereo melts down just before a big party. Here is who we call when we need a Good Samaritan.
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Time for a repair
Mt. Olympus Clock Shop is well-known as an importer of authentic German nutcrackers and clocks (cuckoo and otherwise), but the shop is also one of the only places in Utah where you’ll find an expert to repair your heirloom timepieces. Plus, a visit to their store, with all its chirping, bonging clocks, is a sensory experience unto itself that reminds you how wonderful passing time can sound. 2265 E. 3900 South, SLC, 801-277-6688, mtolympusclocks.com
Vacuums that suck
It may seem easy just to throw that old vacuum out and buy a new sucker, but don’t. Take it to City Wide Vacuum and have them clean up your clogged-up Hoover or Dirt Devil. All for a price that doesn’t suck—but your vacuum will. 1128 E. 3300 South, SLC, 801-486-8251
Let there be light
Founded 24 years ago by a frustrated interior designer who could never seem to find the perfect lamp for his projects, The Lamp Company has a blinding array of lamps and shades at every price from low to high. The brilliant inventory even includes, if you’re in the market, a replica of the “Lady Leg Lamp” made notorious in the classic holiday film
A Christmas Story. 1443 S. 700 East. SLC, 801-487-9636, thelampco.com
Glass man
They may begin as ordinary sheets of glass, but when artistic maverick Dan Cummings is finished with them, they are transformed into one-of-a-kind tabletops, shower enclosures, windows, walls and other interior elements for homes and commercial spaces alike. Inventive and ingenious, Cummings etches, sandblasts, sculpts, fuses and manipulates glass into unique custom pieces that look like art but function like fabulous furnishings. Spectrum Studios, 196 W. Malvern Avenue, SLC, 801-484-5161
Residential redos
New home sales may be in a slump, but remodeling specialist David Ridd couldn’t be busier. With clients across Utah clamoring for his services, Ridd helps customers develop personalized plans and then he executes them, start to finish. Soft-spoken and a great listener, Ridd’s easygoing personality may fool you. But make no mistake: He’s a dynamo, turning lackluster rooms and homes into a high-style habitats. daveridd@comcast.net
Clean clothes
Easy in and easy out, that’s the first requirement of any dry cleaner, but being able to handle your most expensive and dear clothing with care is a close second. Continental Dry Cleaners fits the bill in both regards. 902 S. 900 East, SLC, 801-359-4448
You: In a flash drive
Sandy resident Chris Owen brought the MedicAlert bracelet into the 21st century with a device called iD. It’s a flash drive that contains all your medical do’s and don’ts for paramedics and other emergency medicos. Fire and police departments along the Wasatch Front have adopted this system to help first responders and emergency room doctors treat patients with accuracy. Nice work, Chris. 866-955-0535, identificationdevices.net
Losing your sole?
Give your favorite shoes new life with a visit to Village Cobbler. They’ll even give you a shine and new laces if you just need a touch-up. 1455 S. 2300 East, SLC, 801-582-7784
Say it with flowers
This is the help section, but sometimes all the help we need is something to brighten our day and liven up the room. Floral arrangements from Twigs are top-drawer solutions to the daily blahs. 1616 S. 1100 East, SLC, 801-596-2322, twigsflowerco.com
Nip and tuck
Sometimes all that almost-perfect dress needs is a little help from experts with the needle and thread. Silver Needle tailors work the seams to transform off the rack into the perfect fit. 1407 S. 1100 East, SLC, 801-485-6304
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Nearly 70 percent of Utah’s water is used to water lawns. Tearing up even a portion of your water-hungry lawn can save thousands of gallons of water and lower your bill. The Utah Rivers Council offers a “Rip Your Strip” program on its Web site to help you tear up that useless grass between the sidewalk and the curb and replace it with attractive native plants. The site offers tips, tools, resources and even offers a modest grant program to help you with seed money to get started on an easy conservation project. Visit ripyourstrip.com
Furniture built to suit (or sit)
Still looking for that single piece of furniture to complete your room? Stop the search and simply contact woodworker extraordinaire Troy Poulson. As the owner of Millcreek Furniture in Murray, he caters to discriminating homeowners and designers, crafting custom furniture pieces one at a time to fit his clients’ tastes and décors perfectly. 801-747-3294, millcreekfurniture.com
Chim, chim chiroo
What do you want in a chimney sweep? Singing? Dancing? A terribly exaggerated cockney accent? You’re thinking Dick Van Dyke. What you need is Rod Law of, yes, Chim Chimney in Brigham City. Despite the whimsical name of his outfit, Rod is all business. He’s the chimney sweep who trains chimney sweeps in the actual business of cleaning chimneys. He can also help you improve your energy-wasting hearth fireplaces and stoves and put a gas log in the den, all with truthful, no-surprise estimates along the way. Now that’s a song and dance we can enjoy. 467 S. Main Street, Brigham City, 877-773-8287
Modern wiring for old homes
All you people with your fancy new homes with modern wiring have no idea what we old home owners have to mess with. Extension cords strewn about, bizarrely placed light switches, ungrounded and overtaxed plugs in odd places. Plus you can’t get any of these hotshot young electricians to come into your 1933 bungalow for anything remotely resembling a fair price. Enter Chris Chatzis of Apollo Electric. And although this young man of Grecian descent may have his deities mixed up (Zeus was with the lightning, Chris. Maybe it’s an Apollo-as-light-bringer thing?), old homes are his specialty. He’s not afraid to get dirty in your attic or crawl space, to bring your beautiful craftsman into the 21st century. All for a fair price. New builds? Nope. Give Chris a lathe-and-plaster wall and a fuse box installed when Hitler was invading Poland. 801-554-3344
iflea market
It’s our online flea market. Need to unload a wood stove? Seeking used lawn ornaments? You can dump it and find it at KSL.com’s classifieds, along with all the usual houses, cars and garage sales. Plus,no gross X-rated stuff,
like on craigslist. ksl.com
Best place to get pumped
Pull up to the pump and sit back—they still fill your tank for you at Hansen’s Service, Inc. There are only two pumps in front of the tiny little building in the Marmalade district, but Hansen’s can also inspect your auto, fix your brakes and handle minor repairs. When fuel is pushing four bucks a gallon, you deserve a little old-fashioned pampering to go with it. 206 N. 200 West, SLC, 801-355-4136
Best place for you and your vee-dub
Buying a Volkswagen is not just acquiring a car—it’s more like joining a cult. It’s the beginning of a buggy relationship: You know from the get-go that sometimes there won’t be any get-go. Electrical “problems” are a given. Who cares? It’s love. What you and your bug or bus need is a fellow devotee. And here is where you find one: Utah Imports, Inc. Owner Jeff Keller is a second-generation auto technician who specializes in VW repair. 858 S. State Street #3, SLC, 801-533-9600 utahimports.com
Landscape luxe
Want to plot out a new look for your property? Let landscape designer Dean Anesi dig in. As the owner of the Urban Garden in Salt Lake City, he not only turns vast acreages into high-style yards but, just as artfully, transforms even the simplest bungalow backyards into lush, oh-so-livable landscapes. 801-521-4525
Resumé redux
Writing a resumé is like trying to bend a spoon with your mind. You have to brag about yourself in the exact right way for someone you’ve never even met. Enter Angela Ashurst-McGee of Red Rocket Resumé. She’ll give you advice in your search for a dream job. redrocketresume.com
Old-school audio repair
Your record collection continues to gather dust while your perfectly balanced turntable sits idle with a broken belt. You could go out and buy what passes for a turntable these days, or you could get it fixed. There is only one place that will touch your old gear, and that’s Interwest Electronics on State Street, the last vestige of a once-great row of stereo stores and head shops. The same dudes who sold your dad his turntable are still there, still grouchy and, in spite of their gruff demeanor, they would still love to get their hands on your audio equipment. Because in a throw-away world, they just don’t make them like they used to. 4091 S. State Street, SLC, 801-266-5301
Whatever happened to hanging out a shingle? Who just puts out a sign and says, “I can do this”? We know of one guy, the Bike Guy, Johnny Barlow. You’ll find his shingle on 900 East, just north of 1700 South. Barlow is a true entrepreneur and a truly competent bike mechanic. Plus, unlike the intense, hardcore-only vibe that exists in many corners of the cycling world, Barlow encourages “a non-intimidating environment in which customers can receive honest, educated, care-driven service, regardless of income, fitness level, status or level of experience.” 1555 S.
900 East, SLC, 801-860-1528, thebikeguyslc.com.
Looking for ornate metal works to adorn your stairways, fencing, light fixtures and even garden paths? Behold! The master of metal: Richard Prazen. The blacksmith and owner of Artisan Forge has spent years at the forge creating new works with Old World skills.
2181 W. 2200 South, SLC, 801-973-0249, prazen.net
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