Welcome to my latest food crush, where I highlight local dishes that stand out because they’re one-of-a-kind, the best execution of a classic, delightfully retro comfort food or simply so delicious they’re impossible to forget. Much like a real crush, these plates live rent-free in my head.
I love proteins in the raw, from sushi to carpaccio and tartare. With minimal ingredients and a beautiful presentation, I love getting to the actual (ahem) bare-bones flavors that come with a simple raw dish. But bare-bones differs from what you’ll find in my latest food crush. Felt Bar and Eatery’s filet and marrow tartare is served on the bone. And it is anything but simple and exceptionally crush-worthy.
Felt is the hot new urban bar that arrived on Main Street in Salt Lake City last year. Appropriately named after the building where it resides in the Felt Building, the interior wraps you in black ceilings, warm wood, leather, and concrete. With Utah culinary veterans Richard Romney, formerly of Takashi and Post Office Place, and Travis Herbert, the former corporate chef for Fleming’s, this gem of a watering hole has quickly become a must-visit.
The biggest reason to visit Felt again and again is for their unique take on the classic steak tartare. Most tartare dishes are made with top round or sirloin and are ground or chopped fine. Instead, at Felt, they use the filet, the tenderest part of the tenderloin, and do a rough chop.
Roasted bone marrow is mixed in as the binder rather than the usual raw egg yolk. It makes for a rich flavor and a smooth mouthfeel. The bone marrow dresses up the filet with a butter-like beefy essence that catapults the dish into an entirely new territory.
Lest the dish become too hefty, Chef Herbert mixes in a house-made beer mustard as a tangy counterpoint. Fried capers add some brine and a much-appreciated crunch. Finally, toast points with charred grill marks are the delivery method to get meat to mouth.
The table pairing for the bone marrow tartare is the fresh torched sablefish. The smokiness from the ever-so-slight char stands up to the bold flavors in the beef. Think of sablefish as the salmon of whitefish—luxuriously fatty and oh-so-delicious. The four generous slices at Felt Eatery and Bar were expertly kissed by a blowtorch, a common technique at sushi bars. What was uncommon at Felt Eatery and Bar was the yuzu ponzu, mango miso dotting the plate, and the cucumber wasabi sauce. I generally avoid wasabi when eating sablefish—it can overpower the delicate sweetness of the fish itself. The perfect foil to the heat of the wasabi is the blended-in cucumber to make a sauce rather than an aggressive dab of green.
If You Go
Felt Bar and Eatery
341 S. Main Street
feltslc.com
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