PROJECT STATE STREET: Hiatus

okay, so there may be a delay with the uber-ambitious PROJECT: STATE STREET series of blog posts. i have eaten at and taken notes on a few locations along salt lake city's state street but the project is so much more than a food review. in the mean time, i have so many great places to review. this blog will undergo a few structural changes as content is added to assist you, dear reader, in navigating some of the best places in UTAH to experience great food for whatever occasion you have to DINE OUT!

still with a vein of literary flair, the self-proclaimed food critic will navigate the best places for the fiscally conservative first dates (hey, you don't want to commit entirely if its just a blow out), the casual couple's night out, the healthy, the adventurous, the odd, daring, new, and exciting, and the unknown gems just waiting to be discovered. Kiss those national chains goodbye and find real food and real people right here in this culturally rich regional city.

did you know we have a pakistani restaurant right in the avenues? or an ethiopian restaurant 10 minutes from downtown? how about all those new burger places that seem to be stealing all the limelight? yes, i have tried them and will give you the meaty, greasy details right down to the last shoestring onion. so gather all your foodie frantic friends and start the gastronomical adventure that awaits your curious tongue.

The Great Crêper

So there I was listening to local radio in my car, Theo, when the all-too-familiar burst of spontaneous epicureanism hit me. I concluded it was probably my desire to somehow delay trapping myself in the school library for the next several hours. In any event, I am always excited to try a new restaurant. Its called Berry Luna and its just off 

upcoming projects:

january 2009 marks the beginning of PROJECT STATE STREET: part food review, part documentary and 100 percent exciting epicurean adventure. more details later. subscribe and stay up to date with the latest culinary discoveries from your resident self-proclaimed gastronome. ME!

Cedar Cedar Pumpkin Eater

okay, i didn't eat pumpkin, but i had plums and they sure were tasty. 

hey, the celebrated event known as the salt lake dine-o-round is coming up next week! this is reason to celebrate. when else could you go to restaurants you can't really afford any other time? go ahead, be tenacious and try their tasty treats for a tempting price, trite in comparison to their normal menu. its a great way to be adventurous in your eating while keeping your wallet on the diet. 

so last year i did the dine-o-round and ended up in a little lebanese paradise called cedars of lebanon. located at 2oo south and about 300 or 400 east--i think (you know, finding the establishment is part of the adventure!), this eatery is unfortunately one of the few true middle eastern restaurants in salt lake proper. and while it fades in comparison with some out-of-state peers, it offers a delightful window into the arab culture as well as its food. my chicken dish was adorned with mediterranean plums intoxicating to the senses. i love those culinary borders where sweet and savory come together in perfect harmony. (unfortunately i forget the name of the dish, but it was on last years dine-o-round menu.) the rice however was nothing to write home about. 

neither were the belly dancers. oh, not because they were bad, o contraire. they were good. too good. and when they involved me into the belly dance for all the restaurant patrons to see...well, lets just say you need to know me personally to get the full story. this year you can also take in the culture of lebanon (go on a friday for the belly dancing) and its wonderful food during the salt lake dine-o-round. just visit the link for more information and prices. happy eating! 

http://www.downtownslc.com/events/dine-o-round.htm

a long awaited return.

after a long hiatus from posting my culinary adventures, i decided to make a comeback! i have been traveling (africa--yes it was amazing), studying, and just being busy that i have not had the time (or motivation) to really give this blog the upkeep it deserves. 

thats okay because now i have a slew of eateries to review, for you see, a hiatus in writing is not a hiatus in eating. certainly not. among the twenty or so posts that will appear in the near future, i hope you will join me in traversing the tasty salt lake food scene. from sketchy dives to social hives and everything in between, i'll review restaurants like the sumptuous, award-winning cucina tuscana to the sweet, home-cooked comfort of esther's meat loaf burger and 'fresh' fries. indeed, utah offers some of the best fare in the region and utahcuisine.blogspot.com is the place to come to get honest reviews, tips, recommendations and the occasional warning for all things indelibly edible in our little valley of the great salt lake!

Does trendy always mean worth it??

a few weekends ago i decided to take in the morning and go for a drive, explore, and follow tangeants of tree-lined side streets or intriguing architecture throughout this beautiful city. in doing so, i stumbled upon the actual site of what i had only heard of in rumor and thought the opportunity to be as golden as the autumn tree tops that led me there.

the avenues bakery...the reputation certainly does precede. trendy, local, cultural, and best of all, its patroned by many who consider themselves possesing of similar qualities. needless to say, i was expecting, well...how should i put it...more than what i got?

hardly a fit in with typical avenues' gentrification, the building itself was new and, apart from a few scattered art photographs, quite sterile. after mulling over the menu looking for anything unique or characteristic, i settled for bluberry pancakes. here in lies the first tip: never settle! you will be dissatisfied with your meal before you even take a bite. in my case, that might not have been a bad idea, for after consuming one of 2 large, over-cooked, denny's style pancakes, i could not go any further. i thanked the less-then-interested waitress, payed my bill, and with a waning exuberance for the morning's adventure, returned home.

now perhaps i am being slightly melodramatic with it all...i tend to do that sometimes. perhaps i need to give their omlette a try. but to be honest, i think i really need to just find a breakfast joint that serves up a little creative TLC to accompany the orange juice.

elegance without stuffiness

nestled comfortably in the heart of downtown salt lake, the martine restaurant is my pick of the week for high end food for a less than exuberant price (slightly less). i can't say exactly when, but at some point earlier this week i decided i would, in the near future, totally splurge on a selfish, no holds barred culinary excursion. with a little help from the internet, i located martines, and honestly, i can't think of a better place to blame (apart from myself) for the current dent in my wallet.
because i was in an adventurous mood, i daringly, if not slightly hesitantly, ordered a unique fare which ,before the present time, had never before chartered the drooling waters of my curious mouth. so complex and harmonious were the flavors that i feel completely inadequate to describe them. let it suffice to say that among the fried escargot, artisan bread, and seared duck, a rainbow of taste completed the palette as well as that part of my soul that belongs to food. in a word: transcendant, and i haven't even touched on the atmosphere or presentation. truly this is a place you will just have to experience for yourself.