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February 9, 2010

Utah Locavore 100

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21. Pink pizza

You’ve had tomato, you’ve had bianca. Put the two together and you get pink pizza, a pie topped with tomato-tinged ricotta. Brilliant. Este Pizzeria, 2021 Windsor Street, SLC, 801-485-3699; 168 E. 200 South, SLC, 801-363-2366, estepizzaco.com

22. Green River melon from a roadside stand on I-70

Maybe it’s something in the dirt, but melons grown in Green River are ambrosial. Be careful—the name carries a premium and there are lots of “knock-off” melons out there. The season is August and September and the Dunham, Vetere and Thayn families are all longtime growers.

23. S’mores at Log Haven

For full effect, eat this deluxe version of campfire food on a snowy evening, when the old log cabin in the canyon is at its coziest. Log Haven Restaurant, 6451 E. Millcreek Canyon Rd., SLC, 801-272-8255, log-haven.com

24. Some Dude’s Fry Sauce

Fry sauce is one of Utah’s basic food groups. It’s really just Thousand Island dressing, but Utahns are nuts for it. Do not get between a French fry-wielding Utahn and his fry sauce. Buy it at Smiths, Target, Albertson’s or from somedudesfrysauce.com.

25. Creminelli’s sausage

The Creminelli family has made sausage in Italy for over 400 years; now it makes sausage exactly the same way in Utah. This is the only entirely dry-cured sausage being made in the U.S. Go to creminelli.com for retail sources.

26. Barely Buzzed cheddar

Beehive Cheese’s coffee-rubbed cheddar has already become one of the state’s best exports. 2440 E. 6600 South, Uintah, 801-476-0900, beehivecheese.com

27. Berliner from Vosen’s

They’re filled with raspberry or apricot jam, fresh-baked daily and covered with powdered sugar, as you will be when you bite into this traditional but seldom-seen German pastry. 249 W. 200 South, SLC, vosen.com

28. Amano Artisan Chocolate

Utah has a remarkable number of food artisans who are fanatical about a single thing and content to make one thing well, in this case, organic single-estate, national award-winning chocolate. Amano Artisan Chocolate, 496 S. 1325 West, Orem, 801-655-1996, amanochocolate.com

29. Lehi Roller Mills Heart Healthy Hotcakes Mix

Kevin Bacon danced his blues away here in Footloose, but this century-old mill was originally famous as the producer of whole-grain flours and baking mixes as wholesome as Utah itself. 833 E. Main St., Lehi, 801-768-4401, lehirollermill.com

30. Cox Honeyland honey

It’s the beehive state—you have to have some native honey. 1780 S. Hwy 89-91, Logan, 435-752-3234, coxhoney.com

31. Squeaky cheese

Cheese has to be fresh to squeak sufficiently. Stop in Beaver on your way to Las Vegas and get some Cache Valley squeaky cheese curds from the DFA store to eat in the car. DFA Cache Valley Cheese, 330 W. 300 South, Beaver, 435-438-2421, dfamilk.com/dfamart

32. Utah-made wine

Let’s be honest: this is not the best wine you could drink. But everything has to start sometime and just having fruitful Utah vines is a beginning. Spanish Valley Vineyards and Winery, 4710 S. Zimmerman Lane, Moab, 435-259-8134, moab-utah.com/spanishvalleywinery; Castle Creek Winery, Mile Post 14, Hwy. 128, Moab, 435-259-2002, redcliffslodge.com/winery

33. Jerky from Samak Smoke House

In Utah, you eat like a backpacker even if you’re not one. The best jerky is on the Mirror Lake Highway (Hwy. 150) just east of Kamas, where the Samak family has been smoking for over 25 years—turkey and beef jerky, and smoked trout. 1937 Mirror Lake Hwy., Kamas, 435-783-4880, samaksmokehouse.com

34. Kouing aman 


This amazingly buttery and miraculously caramelized Breton pastry is labor-intensive. Only two bakeries in the country make them; one is here. Les Madeleines, 216 E. 500 South, SLC, 801-355-2294, les-madeleines.com

35. Fruit from a tree in Fruita

The pioneer experience is in the roots of every Utahn, whether their forebears pushed a handcart or not. Picking an apple in Fruita’s orchards, the legacy of early settlers, puts the fruit of those roots right in your hand. nps.gov/archive/care/orchards.htm

36. Week’s Berries of Paradise Freezer Jam

Freezer jam is the first product Weeks made from his berry crop—an uncooked jam that tastes just like fresh raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. Weeks Berries, 8650 S. 800 East, Paradise, 435-245-3377, weeksberries.com

37. Yanni’s gyros with white sauce

Without generations of Greek influence, cuisine in Salt Lake City would be a bleak landscape. Thankfully, gyros are as typical and available as burgers here. Yanni’s Greek Express, 2761 S. Highland Drive, SLC, 801-466-6525

38. Strawberry chicken at the Mandarin

Boneless and smothered in neon-pink sauce, this untraditional Chinese dish is typical cooking at this flamboyant institution, which specializes in Utah-influenced Chinese food. 348 E. 900 North, Bountiful, 801-298-2406, mandarinutah.com

39. Salad at the Cinegrill

It’s not the iceberg lettuce that’s so good. It’s the gloppy dressing, a strong mix of oil and vinegar, lots of garlic, Gorgonzola, capers and dry mustard, and the garnish—pepperoncini, pepperoni and provolone—that makes Cinegrill’s salad memorable. 344 S. 300 East, SLC, 801-328-4900


40. Muhamara at Mazza

You could call this the opposite of Jell-O: it’s a complex blend of bittersweet pomegranate , spicy red pepper, rich walnuts and fragrant garlic, diametrically opposed to the one-note sweetness of Utah’s favorite food. 1515 S. 1500 East, SLC, 801-484-9259 or 912 E. 900 South, SLC, 801-521-4572, mazzacafe.com

41. Tollhouse pie at the Dodo

The Dodo was one of the first American bistros in Salt Lake, and its Tollhouse pie, a super-sweet version of the country’s favorite chocolate chip cookie, has been on the menu since it opened. 152 S. 400 West, SLC, 801-456-2473 or 1355 E. 2100 South, SLC, 801-486-2473, thedodo.net

42. Cutthroat trout

You have to catch this to eat it. The Bear Lake strain of the Bonneville cutthroat trout evolved in Bear Lake’s unique water chemistry. Fish for Oncorhynchus clarki in early spring, just after ice-out. Good spots are off First Point and along Cisco Beach.

43. I couldn't live without: "Steak and eggs at Frost's Cowboy Corral"—Bill Allred, radio personality, X96

Allred has a secret life as a foodie—he judges cooking contests, attends tequila-pairing dinners and refers to tuna salad as "salade Nicoise." At Frost's, he shares coffee with Walt Morrison, the man who invented the Frisbee. "I kid you not," says Allred. 35 N. Center Street, Elsinore

44. Buffalo burger at Buffalo Point on Antelope Island

Sit outside by a buffalo sculpture. Watch the buffalo graze by the Great Salt Lake. Eat some buffalo. No place but Utah. 
(Yes, we mean bison.) Buffalo Point Outdoor Bistro, 801-776-6734, buffalopointinc.com

45. Cheese fries with dipping sauce

A giant platter piled with fries covered with—possibly—pounds of melted cheese and served with a daring twist on the traditional Utah fry sauce: mayonnaise mixed with barbecue sauce! But—and this is the key, really cool part—you call your order in from the phone on your table. Training Table Restaurants, 809 E. 400 South, SLC, 801-355-7523, thetrainingtable.com. (Locations throughout Utah)

46. Zucchini fries

B&D would be a typical collegiate burger joint, except for these fries—vegetables are so un-collegiate—which lift the whole place into the realm of the remarkable. B&D Burgers, 222 S. 1300 East, SLC, 801-582-7200. Multiple locations.

47. A cup of siphon coffee

Chances are good that you’ve never tasted a cup of coffee like this. That means, in a sense, you’ve never really tasted coffee. It takes a coffee fanatic to think the resulting cup is worth the science project of making it. Fortunately, Utah is a great breeding ground for fanatics of all types. Caffé d’Bolla, 249 E. 400 South, SLC, 801-355-1398, caffedbolla.com

48. Hamburgers

Burgers are really a sixth major food group in Utah, and they’re so major they would form the entire bottom layer of the food pyramid. Here are some of the most distinctive.

Triple garlic burger with cold beer.

Aprés ski or post-hike, locals love its garlicky goodness. Cotton Bottom, 2820 E. 6200 South, SLC, 801-273-9830

A Utah classic: the pastrami burger

We like to put meat on our meat at Crown Burger Restaurant, 377 E. 200 South, SLC, 801-532-1155

Star Burger

With a split knackwurst (more meat) on top

Shooting Star Saloon, 7350 E. 200 South, Huntsville, 801-745-2002

White Owl burger

It’s not the burger so much as it’s the rooftop deck where you sit to eat it. White Owl, 36 W. Center Street, Logan, 435-753-9165

Big Ben

This not-so-fast food is made to order on a special mammoth bun. Burger Bar, 5291 S. 1900 West, Roy, 801-825-8961

Hermie’s Burger

A made-in-Utah double decker. 294 N. Main St., Cedar City, 435-865-0612

Burger at the New Yorker

Super-deluxe, with bacon and avocado. New Yorker Club, 60 W. Market Street, SLC, 801-363-0166, gastronomyinc.com

Hires Big H

Eat it in the car at the original location. Hires, 400 S. 700 East SLC, 801-364-4583


Ray’s Tavern burger

Everybody’s favorite after a river trip. 25 S. Broadway, Green River, 435-564-3511

49. Momos at Himalayan Kitchen

Outsiders view Utah as monolithically WASPy, but Salt Lake Valley is more diverse than they think and we have lots of really good ethnic food. Indian food—like the momos at Himalayan Kitchen—is a particular joy.73 E. 400 South, SLC, 801-328-2077, himalayankitchen.com

50. Greek oven-roasted potatoes at Sugarhouse BBQ

Whether you choose southern-style pulled pork, Texas-style brisket or Memphis-style ribs, order the Greek potatoes. Totally untraditional and pure Salt Lake. 2207 S. 700 East, SLC, 801-463-4800, sugarhousebbq.com

51. Sourdough pancakes at Silver Fork Lodge 


The log building dates from prospecting days. The sourdough starter is only half that old—just 50 years young. A plate of these slightly chewy cakes comes with a spicy apple compote; an order of the thick bacon rounds out a breakfast that lasts all day. 11332 E. Big Cottonwood Canyon, Brighton, 888-649-9551, silverforklodge.com

52. Warren’s fried mushrooms

Why ’shrooms were added to the standard menu of burger-fries-shake no one remembers, but once you burn your mouth on one of these volcanic breaded morsels you won’t forget them. Warren’s Drive Inn, 3955 Riverdale Road, South Ogden, 801-393-1295. Go to dylans-warrens.com for additional locations.

53. A churro at Liberty Park

To get the full effect, you’ll want to take off your shoes and wade in the topographical Seven Canyons water feature while eating this sugared tube of deep-fried dough. 589 E. 1300 South, SLC, 801-972-7800

54. Margaritas on a Lake Powell houseboat

Relaxing on a houseboat in the lake that used to be a desert canyon has become one of Utah’s favorite vacations. Margaritas are the drink of choice. Bullfrog Marina, Bullfrog, 435-684-3000, lakepowell.com


55. Bambara's local cheese plate

The cheese course has returned, and Bambara features our fabulous local cheeses—the selection could include cheese from Rockhill Creamery, Shepherd’s Dairy, Beehive Cheese or Red Rock Cheese. 202 S. Main Street, SLC, 801-363-5454, bambara-slc.com

56. Lunch on the terrace at Zion Lodge

The million-dollar view from the terrace would make anything taste delicious, but the salmon burger is good all on its own. Zion National Park, 435-772-7700, zionlodge.com

57. Hot rolls at Lion House

Let Proust keep his madeleines; the yeast rolls served in the former kitchen of Brigham Young’s house are a field trip memory combining state and personal history for countless native Utahns. 63 E. South Temple, SLC, 801-363-5466, templesquarehospitality.com


58. Dinner in a yurt

Utah’s uniquely dry snow makes a winter night more comfortable than you expect, and it all feels so Dr. Zhivago—sliding across the snow to a semi-private multi-course meal in a warm tent. The Viking Yurt, 2065 Mahre Drive, Park City, 435-615-9878, thevikingyurt.com

59. Morrison Meat Pies

Perhaps the first fast food in the west, this variation of the Cornish pasty is a legacy of the miners who came to dig for Utah’s copper and coal. Thomas Henry Morrison came to Salt Lake City from New Zealand in 1880. 3403 S. 1400 West, West Valley City, 801-977-0181, morrisonmeatpies.com


60. Cup of Postum

Yes, Kraft Foods discontinued Postum a year or so ago, but you can find jars hoarded in some die-hards’ pantries. The drink mix made from grain is an alternative to coffee, which some believe is forbidden by the Latter-day Saints’ Word of Wisdom, so Utah was Postum’s last stand.

 

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