NewCityMovement

SLC has a new Wine Store!

Cupcakes To The Rescue

Mini's Cupcakes has been calling my name for months now. I always seem to cruise past it on my bike when it's not open but the other day however I made a special trip to discover their delightful cupcake concoctions. Mini's 'cuppies' are just the right size, contain the best ingredients, no fillers, preservatives or additives and their frostings are made with real butter and cream cheese. My favorites were the popular 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', the 'Orangesicle' and the 'Margaritaville' - made with real tequila!

Mini's
800 South 14 East (Between Main and State Street)
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
(801) 363-0608

Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Closed Sundays

The Six Best SLC Salads

Salad, a term derived from the Latin sal (salt), which yielded the form salata, 'salted things' such as the raw vegetables eaten in classical times with a dressing of oil, vinegar or salt. The word turns up in Old French as salade and then in late 14th century English as salad or sallet." - Oxford Companion to Food

Here are some of my favorites to crunch on in Salad Lake City:

The Mediteranean @ Oasis Cafe
Soba Salad @ Sage's Cafe
BLT Salad @ Trio
Asian Salmon Salad @ The Pub at Trolley Square
Roasted Pork Tenderloin Salad @ Fiddlers Elbow
Three Salad Salad @ Caputos
Roasted Beet Salad @ The Tin Angel
The Wedge @ Spencer's Steak House (stinkiest blue cheese ever!)
The Spinach Salad @ Stoneground (best house made vinaigrette)

Update! Jamie Gadette from CityWeekly had some great additions:

Blackened Tilapia Salad @ Squatters
Seaweed Salad w/ Squid @ Takashi
Rastafarian Salad @ Blue Plate Diner
Larb Tofu Salad @ Chanon Thai

Does anyone know where to get the best Ceasar? Post your suggestions in the comments.

The Factory Meat Trix

Clever use of B movie The Matrix to reveal the true conditions of factory farmed meat, milk and poultry. The goal is to get people to eat healthier, locally-grown food.

Chowhounds is a new local blog on an eating and treat'n journey, sharing it's enthusiasm for local restaurants and food. It's truly, truly scrumptious.

Stewart from the UK started a website that aims to be a meeting place for all things foodie in SLC. Nice!

Ronald McDonald's... Daughter

Eiewwww, gross, weird and wrong.

Good Vietnamese food is hard to come by in Salt Lake since the rapid decline of the once great Cafe Trang, but I'm happy to say I think I've found a decent replacement for yummy PHO and flat noodles. Try Indochine on 230 S. 1300 East. The service is still working some kinks out (the waiter spilled beer on us trying to carry it on a try), but the food is pretty good and they have great fresh spring rolls.

Acme Burger

Acme Burger is the new "white tablecloth burger joint" created by Kipp Kelly who used to manage Trio, Chef Adam Kreisel formerly of Orbit Cafe where I used to deejay and Alan Ireland. Acme is in the space connected to the back of P.F. Changs. Photos, info and the menu, which does not include any vegetarian options (yet!?) can be viewed at Acmeburgercompany.com.

Niche Is Now

By far, one of the best new additions to the very upper East side of 'Broadway East' is Caffé Niche at 779 East 300 South. Business partners Tara Southard, who owns the connecting salon and self-taught chef Amanda Lundahl talked about renting the space that once housed Grunts & Postures if it ever became available. Well it did come up for lease, although much sooner than they speculated. Southard and Lundahl decided to go for it anyways and began the arduous year-long process of designing and building the distinctively chic Niche.

What I adore about Caffé Niche is the fact that everything is done almost perfectly. No, really. It's love at first sight from the attention each customer gets with a smile (important!), to the splendid design aesthetic, to the asymmetrical floor plan. All leading up to your moment with a slice of their luxuriant flossy quiche, a plate of the Italian scrambled eggs or breakfast strata and coffee (Ibis Fair Trade organic).

Many items are vegetarian and all are reasonably priced. Expect European portions however. If you're looking for a buffet head one block South to Chuck-a-Rama where you can binge to your hearts content with transfats, fake plants and wagon wheels staring you down.

I'm yet to visit after the brunch hour but Tara tells me some of the more popular lunch items are their P.L.T. (pancetta, lettuce and roasted tomato) and Grilled Turkey with blue cheese mayonnaise. They've also recently added a light Dinner menu from 5-9pm on Friday and Saturday's featuring salads, pasta and tartines which are a fancy open-faced sandwich on imported baguette. Still, prices for dinner remain extremely affordable ($7-$8 plates) including a well selected wine menu with glasses set at $6 and bottles at $25 such as the refreshing Riff Pino Grigio and a rarely offered Louis Latour Chardonnay and Pino Noir. All this plus a clean spacious patio should be reason enough to visit the neighborhood haut spot early and often.

Caffé Niche
779 East 300 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
801.433.3380

More info and sample menu at www.caffeniche.com.

Edging Towards Vegetarianism

Sage's Cafe, among one of SLC's first downtown vegetarian restaurants is not as dubious as it's Keebler Elf tree house exterior might suggest. I seem to remember having some of the worst service ever there when it opened some 5 years ago. But since I have been enjoying the guilt free, healthy taste of vegetarian cuisine more often I agreed to join a friend there last week for lunch and was surprised at how much better it was than I remembered. Why I waited so long is beyond me, it's less than a block from my work. Sage's joins my shortlist of favorite non-meat based establishments alongside the Oasis Cafe and the newer Vertical Diner. I also love the house made veggie burger at Urban Bistro.

If you go, try one of the following dishes which tend to get rave reviews:

Soba Salad
Buckwheat noodles tossed in a sesame vinaigrette served on a bed of fresh mixed greens and topped with tahini dressing, seasonal vegetables, and cumin sesame blackened tempeh 11.00

Tacos Vegetarianos
corn soft tacos filled with your choice of tempeh, tofu, vegetarian chicken or portabella mushrooms served with grilled vegetables, cilantro-lime vinaigrette tossed greens sour cream and guacamole 12.50

Just Eat It

I came across this delicious new space food called PRO BAR the other day at the White Folks health food store. I love the packaging and design which features fruit painted in a realistic pop art kind of way. The bars are made of whole, raw foods and are 100 percent certified vegan. To my surprise, PRO BAR was created and are made right here in Utah by a Park City resident ski bum named Art Eggertsen. Try one bitches.

Everything Good For You Is Bad

Tis morning I saw a billboard for Diet Coke PLUS. It's an enhanced version of refreshing Diet Coke with added vitamins and minerals

After visiting the Diet Coke website where I found the vile product comes in 7 variations, further investigation led me to this article which debunks the notion that DCP could possibly provide any real health benefits. This is the American way.

Spooky Toyland

The front window of Zim's Craft store on State street as seen by me and my drunken friends walking home from a great night at The Jackalope Lounge. By the way, the Jackalope is crazy on Wednesdays. Music was super loud but awesome none the less as I found out my old friend SamEyeAm was behind the decks kicking out some early 90's hip-house and everything in between. Sam is probably the best DJ around ...I've been saying that for years.

Squatters East

Having a room mate that works for the local brewpub giant Squatters means I'm lucky enough to get invited to all their new restaurants before officially opening to the public. The most recent being Squatters Roadhouse Grill (formerly the Mountain Air Café) located at 1900 Park Ave. in Park City.

It's a clean and simple interior as you can see, but they should make a killing in P.C. serving good beer and reasonably priced food to the bourgeois.