Whoever decides things like this decided that March is National Noodle Month—and why ask why? Noodles are a kind of universal language—almost every culinary culture has a version of noodles. And it’s fun to noodle about noodles. So here’s a list of notable noodles in Salt Lake City.
Simple can be the hardest thing to do, as anyone who has ever tried to write a haiku knows. This is one of the simplest noodle dishes ever, but Copper Onion always pulls this off perfectly. And—the recipe can be a haiku:
Fresh fettuccine, sliced scallions and black pepper and pecorino cheese.
Ramen Carbonara Katsuobushi at Ikiga
One of the most brilliant fusion concepts ever—a creation of Chef David Hopps, using ramen as the base for a kind of carbonara made with aged duck egg and Japan’s secret weapon, katsuobushi. Umami to the max.
Braised Rabbit Tagliarini at Provisions
Yes, rabbit! Chef Tyler Stokes braises a bunny and uses the stock and shredded meat to sauce broad house made tagliarini.
Pappardelle Bolognese at Stoneground Italian Kitchen
To my mouth, this is the best Bolognese in town—a deep, rich sauce of braised veal, pork, beef and san marzano tomatoes over pappardelle, with a cooling dollop of house-made ricotta and fresh basil.
Spaghetti e Polpette di Nonna Maria at Sea Salt.
Eric Debonis’ grandmother sure knew how to make a meatball! A fantastic version of the most famous pasta dish of all.
Noodles and broth are the yin yang of ramen—together they form the wondrous whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.
Drunken Noodles at Skewered Thai
Lots of vegetables tangled with pan-fried wide noodles in savory soy punched up with Thai chilies. We assume the “drunken” refers to the amount of beer you’ll drink to go with this.
And we end with a topic of discussion—is a dumpling a noodle? I’m saying yes and therefore including the potstickers at J.Wong’s—jwongs.com—in this list because they make me hungry even to write about and because they are made of thin dough, like ravioli or tortellini, not a ball of dough, like gnocchi or matzoh balls, but I see that there’s room for argument.
And there’s always room for more noodles. Got a fave?
