Food: Meet the Parents Part Deux

Bambara Restaurant is housed in the Hotel Monaco in Downtown. Manfriend's dad was sweet enough to invite me to dinner at his favorite Salt Lake City restaurant when he was in town. On this visit, The Dad's wife came, too.

The Dad, The Step-Mom, and The Sister were running late which gave me time to explore the lounge of Bambara. It's the Vault. And it's awesome! The room is beautiful and Bambara used the vault to handle the Zion Curtain law (bar tenders could not serve drinks across the counter until 2008) in the most beautiful way I've seen. The bar tenders were very friendly and set me up with a great side car and conversation in just a few moments from when I took a seat at the bar.

Manfriend got a beer on tap and we had a nice, comfy half hour before the family showed up. We were promptly sat by the host. (He was amazing!) The outstanding service was the theme for the evening.

I started off with a tuna tartar The Step-Mom was brave enough to try. It was delicious. The tartar was served with fresh, homemade potato chips. The combination of soft flesh with crisp chip was amazing. The textures went together perfectly. The softer flavor of the tuna paired well with the lightly salted potato and the the Italian herb salsa cut right through. This is a dish I wish I could prepare on my own.

Next I tried the chicken because it was served with mashed potatoes. (It's physically impossible for me to say no to potatoes.) And I was so in love with this entree. The chicken was moist, the skin was crisp. It was so good! But after all that tuna I went straight for the veggies. The potatoes were so creamy and smooth, with mushrooms and garlic thrown in for delicious measure, I couldn't stop eating them. I ate until I was past full.

Then I ordered dessert.

A lovely dish of ice cream including strawberry, lemon and vanilla flavors. The waiter also brought us adorable cupcakes. The homemade ice cream was as good as it sounds.

Bambara brought me one of the most impressive and satisfying meals in my life with superb service. I would love another excuse to go back.

Not to mention, the company. The Family and I had a great time. And Manfriend also commented on how delicious the calimari, steak, and cupcakes were.

Bambara is worth the money.

Beer and movies

At least, I imagine those are the words behind the name of local beer pub Brewvies the only movie theater in Utah where you can drink while you take in a film.

I was there for the premiere of Kelsey Landry's directorial debut "The Date." A short film about classic mishaps of miscommunication. The film was well executed and a great script. Kelsey did a fantastic job. The Salt Lake film community was incredibly supportive with the best filmmakers volunteering their time and talent to this film.

Brewviews could use a little filmmaker magic. I have a theory that every so often a table becomes the bad luck table for the night. Last night, that was me.

Erin and I sat down and waited for a few minutes. No waiter showed up. I looked at the drink menu on the table. "Oh there isn't food on this," I said.

"The menu's over there," Erin answered and pointed to a stack of menus on the bar. I walked over and grabbed a couple menus. We looked over the menus and talked about what to order. I looked around. No waiter showed up.

"Do you want to move to the bar so we can get some service?" I asked Erin. Yes, I said it loudly and on purpose. Really, I'm five inside.

*Poof* Inexperienced waiter appeared. Blond-haired Emo-kid asked what we wanted I ordered a pitcher of Uinta Cutthroat Pale Ale. It's a nice local beer that is always good. I also asked for an appetizer of sweet potato fries.

Erin decided she wanted more time to choose an entree. So I sat back and waited for our beer and fries. While I was waiting, Esther showed up and asked if we wanted to order anything. I said we had ordered and we were waiting for our server to come back before ordering more. She said it was okay that they share tables. So I went ahead and ordered the nachos and Erin ordered the Pub Club sandwich with chips and salsa.

A different person (I'm guessing bus boy) stopped by with our beer and sweet potato fries. The fries were different. This was my first and last experience with sweet potato fries and I like normal fries better. The smoother, creamier texture of sweet potato isn't conducive to my taste buds for deep-fried starches. Although the bottled aioli at Brewvies much improved the fry, I won't order them again.

Esther brought the nachos and pub club. The sandwich looked delicious. The nachos looked sad. I was nervous about the pile of jalapenos and chicken atop crusty looking cheese. I should've been. I went for a chip on the edge avoiding the jalapenos I had asked to have removed from the nachos. It was stuck. The cheese had been microwaved on top of the chips then left to get cold. Leaving a hardened mess of goo on top of the now soggy chips covered with dry flavorless chicken.

I asked Esther if I could send the nachos back and try again. Luckily, she saw the chicken and jalapenos and said there was a mix up. She took the nachos back. In a few minutes she brought out a second order of much better looking nachos. In the meantime, Harry's order for a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries came out with regular french fries. So Emo-kid waiter took the order back.

Finally, we ended up with a pub club done right, edible nachos and a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. The cost of beer, sweet potato fries and nachos was about $25. Making beer the best part of the night's food.

When I'm at Brewvies for another premiere, I'll stick with the beer and movies.

Thinking thinkiness

It was a balmy, dark night when Erin, Harry, Chris and I enjoyed some sushi from Ichiban on 200 East 350 South-ish.

Our waiter was adorable and amazing. He poured our wine an overpriced bottle of Lindeman's Shiraz perfectly. Plus, he did the whole taste testing thing, which I always think is cool. Oh yeah, and he let Harry make fun of everything in sight and laughed along.

We sat on the patio looking out onto 200 East-a small street that had more traffic than I thought it would for a Sunday night. The only downside to the patio was the ridiculously loud air conditioner from the apartments next door.

We had the Jazz, Dragon, Utah, Caterpillar and another Utah-named roll. Everyone agreed the rolls were much spicier than we anticipated. I suppose this could be the fault of the order and not Ichiban, but really four out of five rolls had some kind of spice included. That sounds way more Korean than Japanese to me. I also felt like these rolls were a lot richer than other sushi I'm wondering about the amount of Japanese mayo used or other sauces in the rolls.

However, the rolls were still flavorful and yummy. I really liked the caterpillar roll (non-spicy) it had a lot of avocado. All the fish in all the rolls seemed really fresh. We also tried a tempura fried roll, the tempura fried sushi was new for me. I really liked the crunch of the tempura, but it seemed to drown out the flavor of the rest of the fish and veggies in the roll itself so it was a little disappointing.

The shiraz was fairly good. Next time, though I'll be picking up a much cheaper bottle from the wine store. I was surprised by how much I liked this wine since I usually don't love wine. But it had a nice spiciness to it that I don't usually get out of my wine.

For our appetizer we had the miso soup. It was very good. The tofu pieces were bigger than the traditional soup usually has, but I liked the added chunkiness. The flavor was so good, I'm not usually a big fan of miso because it seems bland, but this soup had nice flavor with fresh herbs like cilantro really standing out.

I'm not sure about our total bill, but the average roll seemed to cost about $14. Definitely, not cheap eats for me. Luckily, Harry was kind enough to pick up the tab so this time it was cheap for me.

The experience of Ichiban leaves me wanting to go back, the food not so much. Maybe, next time I'll ask the adorable waiter for some suggestions on the sushi.

Dairy Keen is King

Dairy Keen in Heber, Utah is crazy. This little town is full of crazy coolness. I've heard lots of good things about Dairy Keen. I was excited to have the opportunity to stop by this little hamburger shop. The place is full of trains; on the ceilings, on the walls, outside, inside, everywhere for kids and big kids. They even have a Harry Potter train on display.

My brother Troy had the banana split and the chicken club sandwich. He loves their chicken club and always gets it. Unfortunately, he regretted ordering the banana spilt instead of his usual German chocolate shake.

About those shakes, that is some good ice cream. I don't know what Dairy Keen does, but their ice cream is thick, creamy and delicious. Anyone out there know if it's made nearby so I can buy some?

I had the strawberry shake. The strawberries were fresh and yummy. And the ice cream? I know I mentioned this before, but SERIOUSLY. GOOD.

I also had the Train Burger. The Train Burger is one of their signature items and is pretty much a ham-topped burger. It was way more meat than I was expecting, but still yummy. The ham is deli-sliced and salted while the hamburgers are made by hand. There's something about uneven edges on my burger that just makes my tummy happy.

Dairy Keen is a great local spot that has received lots of national coverage. If your ever in Heber, go ahead and stop by. Of course, I would love to check out some of their other local restaurants.

Just because there aren't people doesn't mean it isn't good

We were seated in the small back room with traditional Japanese furnishings. The other birthday guests were nervous about being in the seemingly empty restaurant they had never heard of, but once we settled in and made our order John took care of the rest.

I tried the mermaid sushi roll, which was new. It had yellow tail, salmon and mussel with green tabiko. It was a little slimier in texture than I would've liked and for that I'll blame the mussel. The flavor was great and it had just the right amount of tabiko to give it some pop. Plus, the way it looks on the plate you can totally see why it's called the mermaid roll, the green tabiko is rolled on in a circular pattern than the rolls are laid out to look like a fish tail it's pretty nifty plating.

The terriyaki chicken and beef dishes looked and smelled delicious and were great for the non-seafood people in the party. They were served huge portions with tons of veggies so all the men and women were happy with the dish. The birthday girl said the steak her husband ordered was very good.

I also tried the dragon roll it was pretty good, but not my favorite--no particular reason it just lacked pizazz. I had a California roll and realized once again how I don't really like crab all that much. Then I had the sunshine roll and remembered it was one of my favorites at Sapporo. Janelle loved the sunshine roll including the plating with the lemon slices on top. She also said that with sushi it makes sense to eat the lemon rind or else you miss some of the flavor. I would have to agree, the sunshine roll is so delicious because of the lemon.

Some of the fish seemed a little off. It may have been because we were there on a Thursday, but the birthday girl's husband was overheard mentioning the fishiness of his shashimi. I believe it was salmon and yellow tail.

When we stopped to say hi to John, he totally remembered us and apologized for not realizing we were in the "special" room. We will definitely be seeing him again on a Friday when the fish is fresh. Oh and next time we'll be at the bar.

Loren, we need more deliciousness!

After beer there's always room for barbecue. Following Sunday's Brewfest Harry, Erin, Laura, Ava and I made our way to Sugar House Barbecue for some yumminess. We were able to sit our on the back patio and our server was Loren, one of Salt Lake's best waiters. He is so amazing I remembered him from my last visit to the barbecue over a year ago.

The man is incredible! He endured three drunken girls and their alcoholic friend very well. He even remembered it was Erin's birthday and brought her a free dessert that was big enough to share. He also answered my questions about the menu and let us move inside once it cooled down outside.

I ordered the 1/3 rack of pork ribs with Greek potatoes and beans. As for the ribs, they were great. They had a nice, smoky crust on the outside and were soft on the inside. I thought they were a little dry, but with the house barbecue sauce it was so delicious it didn't matter. The house sauce is spicy, sweet and sour so all the flavors roll across your tongue. It's not the barbecue sauce I expected, but I still enjoyed it.

The potatoes were so good I felt inspired to make my own version at home the next day. Just dice some potatoes with the skin on toss with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian spices and cook until soft.

The grilled beans were way yummy and I can see why they are one of the most popular sides at Sugar House Barbecue. I'm not usually a huge fan of beans, even though I've been eating more of them lately. These beans were sweet, soft and flavorful.

Everyone else definitely loved their food, too because we all cleaned our plates. Harry said, "That was good. Where's dessert?" Harry and other men I've eaten there with seem to agree, Sugar House Barbecue doesn't serve enough barbecue. Sugar House Barbecue does serve a smaller portion than most restaurants. For me it just means I actually eat everything. I think the portion sizes are fine at Sugar House Barbecue because one meal is exactly enough to fill me up.

However, to each his own. If you go to Sugar House Barbecue, plan on spending around $15 per person on the entree. And if you bring a big appetite, you might want to order twice. Oh and do yourself a favor and ask for Loren.

Noodles, again.

During my last weekend at Sundance, I spent a little more time with fast food.

James and I went to Noodles & Company on University Parkway in Orem. As always the food was consistent. Yay! Fast food chains.

I tried the Parmesan Crusted Chicken for the first time and was surprised by the richness of the crust. It was really yummy for a drizzly day of moving stuff. I also had the Pasta Fresca with cavatappi noodles. I didn't like the fresca as much as their Penne Rosa, but it was worth trying something new.

I definitely could use more vegetables in my pasta. I felt a little cheated by the lack of tomatoes and spinach in my pasta. I don't know if they always serve such a small amount of greens with their pasta, but this girl wants more.

As always with Noodles I was impressed by their speedy service. The consistency of their food means nothing remarkable happens so I have nothing remarkable to say. So thanks for bringing a decent consistency to the fast food scene Noodles. I'll always be grateful for you when I don't know where else to eat.

Provo food time, hold on to your tummy

Another day in Provo meant another day of fast food for me. Wes, James and I went to Apollo's Burgers. This was my first visit to the Utah chain and one of very few I will make in my lifetime.

Apollo's was kind of gross. The open counter only shows off the uncleanliness of the kitchen. I ordered the cheeseburger combo just so I could upgrade to onion rings. The cashier said Apollo's won't allow you to order a kids' meal and substitute anything for the french fries. Apollo, take a hint from your big-time competitor Mickey D's: give people options.

The burger was pretty good. I was pretty happy with the grilled burger with lots of cheese and toppings. For fast food, it was good. The onion rings were just off. I'm not sure what went wrong, but the onion was undercooked, the breading bland and it tasted like the inside of the freezer. I don't know what happened, but they are possibly the worst onion rings I've ever had.

Then I went to the bathroom and I almost lost it. I've been in gas stations with cleaner bathrooms. It was disgusting. I really hope it was just an off day and they were understaffed. If I ever go back to Apollo's Burgers it sure won't be there Provo location.

The lesson here is to only order my favorite deep-fried side dish at the Soup Kitchen. Oh Provo, when will you have good food?

Learn to fake it until you make it, honey!

Really, is it that hard to fake it?

After Ava, Erin and I went to Blue Plate Diner at 2100 South 2100 East, Ava sent me this link to Bad Service.Reading these stories made me feel an itty-bit better about our experience, but come on.

Blue Plate was so busy this Sunday afternoon we waited for a table. The wait wasn't too long, but it was a little weird to be asked to wait. The hostess (who I believe is the owner's wife) handed me three menus and asked us to follow our waitress to the back booth that had taken ten or so minutes to get cleaned after all we got to watch while we waited.

We followed Jasmine back and sat down. She wandered off then came back a few minutes later to ask what we wanted to drink. Her first words to us were, "What would you like to drink?" All three of us ordered coffee and water.

A few minutes later we all had water, but I had no coffee. Apparently, when I asked for coffee she didn't hear me. Now I pride myself on being a good customer. I've worked in the restaurant business and I always tip well. I really believe that if I treat my server well, they will treat me well. Obviously, Jasmine has a different ideology. I was bugged that I had to ask twice for coffee, but I tried to not make a big deal out of it.

Many minutes later (Erin had time to choose what she wanted even), Jasmine made her way back to take our order. No smiles, no helpful-ness just "What do you want?" Seriously, what happened to piss her off so much that she couldn't even pretend to be cheerful for the five seconds it takes to write down an order?!

Our food came out fairly quickly and was good. But in the hour or so we spent eating Jasmine checked on us once and another waitress refilled our coffee after Erin asked for more. The second waitress also managed to make a hugely inappropriate joke at the same time about not having enough coffee for Ava.

Awesome! Because when you have a table of three unhappy people making a joke about not seeing we need something is golden.

I've eaten at Blue Plate often enough to know that this level of terrible service is most likely a fluke. But I'm upset enough by the experience that next time I want breakfast in the afternoon I'll go to the Park Cafe or try Finn's on 1700 South. Sorry, Blue Plate you gotta earn my love.

Drinking in Utah County

Where to get a margarita in Utah county?

It's a tough question to answer, but the answer seems to be Chili''s. Y'all know I don't like chains, but apparently that's all they have on University Parkway. Last night, the other Sundance interns and I went to dinner at Chili's.

Two good things, one: Presidente Margarita and two: The bar. I know that might sound redundant, but let me explain.

Utah County has a disgusting amount of children. I love my nieces and nephews. Children I don't know frighten me. When we walked in, everyone insisted we sit in the bar area. Our waitress Amber Rae was very friendly and a decent waitress. She seemed a little unprofessional and immature--most the staff appeared to be in their late teens so I was happy to have a waitress who could legally bring me alcohol.

The Presidente Margarita was nice and smooth. A little weak, a girl like me could always use a little more liquor. And like all Utah restaurant cocktails cost about $7.

The chicken fajita I ordered is really a bland quesadilla. It cost about $9 and came with fries. I will never order this again. I may not have been that hungry, but the fajita was past disappointing.

So if you ever find yourself in Orem, you can drink at Chili's. Good luck getting buzzed!

The Park Cafe

Hash browns a.k.a Park Potatoes and more coffee than anyone could possibly drink at one meal. The breakfast fare at Liberty Park is a great hangover cure, even if the servers hover.

Patrick, Erin and I went to The Park Cafe on 600 East 1300 South for a breakfast/lunch meal. The Park is only open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The menu is limited to breakfast and lunch items.

The only dish you need to worry about is Park Potatoes. These hash browns are so delicious. They remind me of the kind my mom used to make with grated potatoes and bacon grease. The Park has mastered the right level of crispy goodness to soft potato.

I also ordered the grilled cheese sandwich, which was a waste because after all the potatoes I didn't have room for the grilled cheese. Of the few bites I did take, it was good. But didnt' match the yumminess of the potatoes so I was disappointed.

Erin loved her huevos rancheros even though they didn't have chorizo and instead came with breakfast sausage that was ordered as a separate side. Patrick loves the chili at The Park and it's one of his favorite breakfast spots. I think we were all very happy with our food.

Our server was friendly, knowledgable and overly helpful. For some mysterious reason the bus boy and our waiter both refilled our coffees and waters about every ten seconds. I asked for a lot of coffee and water, but my glass was never less than three-quarters full. And my creamer, sugar with coffee beverage became coffee with creamer and sugar far too quickly. I kind of like to be left alone with my friends when we go out to eat. I never thoguht I'd say this, but the wait staff is too helpful.

For grilled cheese with Park potatoes and coffee my bill came to just under $6. For the food, it was well worth the price, but please leave my coffee alone.

Welcome to the Grove

Oh. My. God. Is that a sandwich? I dare you, to not say that when you first see a sandwich from The Grove Market on Main Street and 1700 South-ish.

Sasquatch, Ava and I made our maiden voyage to The Grove Market because whenever I've gone by on the bus this little deli is packed. There are always people sitting outside on the tables and occasionally the line goes out the door and onto the small patio.

The afternoon we went the deli wasn't especially busy, but The Grove wasn't quite what I expected either. I had envisioned it to be a deli, which it is, but it's also a market. The little shop is packed to the gills with Ute memorabilia and other sports gear exploding off the shelves. The market has pretty much everything you would need, including a ridiculously vast selection of olives and hot sauce.

A full sandwich from The Grove will set you back about $10. A little expensive I know, but the sandwich is of such gargantuan proportions you are actually buying two separate sandwiches. There are not many people in this world who can eat an entire Grove sandwich in one sitting--Walt, don't even try.

I ordered the avocado, tomato sandwich because I was feeling like salad. Packed between two slices of thick French bread were avocado, tomato, lettuce, pickles, cheese, salt, pepper, mayo and mustard. The sandwich was so big it was somewhat intimidating.

I loved the pepper and pickles. The avocado all squished out so I ended up eating half my sandwich more like the salad I'd thought about ordering. Because of my problems with holding the sandwich together I'll probably ask for the bread rolls next time instead of slices.

I really enjoyed my sandwich and would love to go back to The Grove. However, Ava says the sandwich is too expensive for what you get and there is way too much mayonnaise and mustard. Sasquatch was somewhere between Ava and I. She really liked her sandwich, but also said her sandwich had too much mustard on it.

So my suggestion is order a half sandwich on a bread roll and ask for less condiments. I have no idea if the boys who look like they dropped out of Brooklyn will deliver, but they seem like nice kids. After all, it doesn't hurt to ask.

The Soup Kitchen

You already know I love The Soup Kitchen on 1100 East and 2100 South. How could I not? A cup of soup for $2.69, an order of onion rings for $1.49, plus free bread sticks--it's like I've gone to cheap lunch heaven.

The potato leek soup is my new favorite. The soup is a nice creamy texture with big pieces of potato, bacon and leek. And since a leek is a "gourmet onion" I loved it. This is a grown-up's potato soup with lots of flavor.

I also grabbed a couple of the free cheese bread sticks. I ended up eating just one because that's all I needed for a cup of soup. The bread sticks are made fresh each day. My favorite part of the bread stick is the fluffy texture of the bread. The flavor is a little bland for me, but since it goes in my soup it's not a big deal. I just don't eat the bread sticks plain.

Finally the onion rings--the amazing golden rings of beer-battered and deep-fried deliciousness. I probably don't have to tell you how much I love the Soup Kitchen's onion rings, but I will. They are so good! Everyone should try them. The batter is rich and flavorful with plenty of herbs, spice and beer. Then they are fried perfectly so the outside is crispy and the inside is soft.

Served with a side of fry sauce mixed at a nice ratio of real mayonnaise to ketchup, the onion rings really couldn't get any better. And like I said lunch for just under $5.

Utah's Best Breakfast

Erin, Laura, Ava and I went to the Blue Plate Diner for dinner. It was another brinner experience for me on the patio at 2100 South 2100 East. For the past ten years or so, this place has won City Weekly's Best Breakfast Award. The diner was also featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Drivers not too long ago.

Even though it was just a little too cool, we sat on the patio. Our waitress was helpful and friendly, plus she had a couple of awesome tattoos.

I tried their biscuits and country gravy. The only downside was having to ask for more gravy. Come on, I want to die of a grease and sodium induced heart attack people! Give me more gravy. The biscuits were big and fluffy--much better than my sad attempts. The gravy was yummy, too. It had nice big chunks of sausage and was thick and flavorful. The home fries were better this time than before. I think there was more onion and green pepper.

Ava had the turkey avocado sandwich. She liked it well enough to take the extras home. I tried some of her steak fries. They were pretty good, but as Ava says the fry sauce could be better.

Erin tried the corned beef and hash dish the Blue Plate is famous for. She said it was good. It looked and smelled so delicious I might just try corned beef next time I'm there.

Laura had the tuna melt sandwich. I suspect this is one of her favorite things from Blue Plate. She seemed to enjoy her dinner, too. She ordered the shoestring fries instead of the steak fries. They looked great and would probably be my choice from their fry options.

In the end, Erin was nice enough to pick up the check. So I'm not sure how much it was, but I know each of our meals cost under $10. It's definitely worth the price for the fun vibe and delicious diner food.

Millie's

Ava and I decided to enjoy a little bit of deep-fried goodness in the sunshine for lunch. We walked over to Millie's Burgers on 2100 South and about 1000 East. The servers were helpful and fast.

I ordered the Millie Cheeseburger, onion rings and a coke. The Millie Cheeseburger is apparently Millie's version of the McDonald's Big Mac. According to Ava this means it's a burger, cheese, special sauce, lettuce and pickle on a sesame seed bun. I'm pretty sure the special sauce at Millie's is fry sauce.

The burger reminded me a lot of being a kid and having summer barbecues. Mostly because, it was a little overdone and a little messy. The onion rings were the frozen than fried kind and you've probably figured out by now I'm not a big fan. Millie's does add some spice after frying them so I could handle. Plus, they always give you fry sauce.

As always, the food is good. Nothing spectacular, but for $6 and supporting my local economy totally worth it.

Italian, again!

Cafe Trio
680 South 900 East

On Saturday afternoon, Ava and I decided to get out of our food rut. So we went back to an original and enjoyed some Italian. I had been to Cafe Trio once before for a lovely lunch on their patio. And I missed the sunshine Saturday, but I won't blame the restaurant. Silly nature, cursing us with winter!

We waited about five minutes before the host sat us. The wait made me really nervous about how the rest of the meal would go. But it must have been a fluke. Our server, Joshua was fabulous.

Cafe Trio was very clean and it had a nice vibe. We were there at an odd time of day, so there weren't many customers. But it still felt comfortable. The only complaint I have about ambiance is the music. A couple of the songs just didn't fit with the modern European feel.

Off the $7 cocktail menu, I had the Flirtini. It has vodka, raspberry syrup, lemon and sparkling white wine. Turns out the sugar rimmed glass with the sugary beverage was a little too sweet for my taste. The drink was as girly as the name implies.

Ava ordered an Amore. It's made with lemoncello, fresh strawberry puree and sparkling white wine. It was very yummy and definitely the better of the two. So next time, next time: the Amore will be mine.

Hahaha!

I ordered the Trio Club sandwich with the day's soup for $9. The soup was a split pea with sausage. It was a great winter time dish. I really enjoyed it's flavor and texture. It was surpringly creamy and rich.

The sandwich was delcious. The foccia bread was so yummy! I also enjoyed the melty cheese and tomatoes. I would recommend this sandwich to anyone who enjoys a more traditional club, for sure. It's a great example of American Italian cuisine.

Ava ordered the baked penner for $13. She loved it! She said, "I'm so full it hurts to move." The mushroom, cheese, tomatoe sauce and garlic combination looked and smelled delicious.

The best part was the piece of plastic wrap she pulled out of the sauce after eating most of the pasta.It's a still a mystery how the plastic wrap got there. I have some questions about Cafe Trio's food preparation now. How many people would never go back to a restaurant where they found plastic wrap in their food?

Yeah, me either. Maybe it's awful--like eating gum off the floor. But the rest of my Trio experience was so positive, I probably will go back to Cafe Trio someday.

Just not any day soon. They are expensive for my budget. Worth it, but still pricey. A giant thanks to Ava for lunch. I love you!

What's your favorite Italian lunch cafe?

Squatters

Squatters
147 West Broadway

So uhh...I want to start by saying I do not enjoy giving negative reviews. In fact, if you read any my previous reviews you'll probably notice I am easily impressed and amused. So most places I go I enjoy. Squatters is an exception to this rule.

Maybe it was the expectations. I've heard many good things about Squatters. The beer is good and blah, blah, blah. Yeah, these people lie. Here's the real story.

#1 Squatters is a male dominated world. I grew up with five boys, I'm used to the room being testosterone heavy. But Squatters is overwhelming in the number of middle-aged men. Not being of the middle-aged and male persuasion, it was not my pint of beer.

#2 Service is slow. Although we were seated immediately and our drink orders taken quickly. I was forced to give the stare down to a busboy and our waitress to get the check. It's a pet peeve I have. Otherwise, Missy was a decent server and answered all my usual obnoxious questions about most popular/favorite dishes.

#3 The food is mediocre. Seriously, not very good. I ordered a burger with fries ($9). The fries are the frozen then fried kind, which I'm not a big fan of. Amazingly Squatters is a Utah restaurant that doesn't serve fry sauce. Instead they offer a chipotle aioli. It was way yummy and made me feel better about the whole not-fresh fries situation.

The bun was way too big for the burger. I ordered my burger well-done and by the time I finally found the center it was somewhere between well-done and medium rare. Did you know there was a middle stage to the grilling?

Me either.

To be fair, Ava did enjoy her chicken chimichanga ($12-ish). "I'm really lovin' this rice," she said. The rice was tender and fluffy with a nice amount of seasoning. The bite I had of chimichanga wasn't overly impressive, but it was good.

#4 The beer. I know this is the big one, the reason people go to Squatters. I ordered the Full Suspension ($4.79 on tap), which is not a good choice for a woman who would rather drink a cocktail. It's a bitter beer and left a very acidic after taste in the back of my throat.

On the other hand, the Provo Girl Ava ordered was very yummy. It was smooth and "good for what ales you" without Ava or me making yucky faces.

I apologize if you are a middle-aged man who loves Squatters. Maybe someday when I am a middle-aged man we can all love Squatters together. Until then, happy eating.

Job seeking

Hello all! This next post is only related to my blog in that I get to talk about me. Yay!

I've been searching for a job for about a month now. I've also pitched some freelance work, but am hearing only silence in reply. As I continue my job/freelance work search I'm getting a little depressed about the whole situation.

I know, I know. It's the economic downturn and no one is hiring. But who wouldn't want an adorable, personable, intelligent woman on their staff? Lots of people, apparently.

Anyway, the complaints aren't the point. Do you know anyone who is hiring in the Salt Lake area? I'm currently studying communication and am able to work in television, film, journalism, public relations and advertising. Of course, I'm willing to work in restaurants or offices. If you know anyone who sounds like they would love to pay me to be amazing for them, please let me know.

Thank you!

Is it just me?

Or has food gone downhill in quality lately. But really? How hard is it to make a good sandwich? And where can you find this horrible sandwich I had the joy of tasting?

Why at East Coast Subs in Downtown Salt Lake City! I spent a gorgeous afternoon strolling the streets of Downtown taking photos. When I was hungry, I found myself faced with East Coast Subs or crossing the street and going to Esther's. I had never been to either so I chose convenience and went inside East Coast.

I should have been warned by the sole table of two at one in the afternoon. A sandwich shop on a weekday with two customers just shortly after regular lunch time is not a good sign. But, I put my faith in the woman behind the counter and the easy to read menu.

Between greeting the woman at the counter (I assume she is the owner) and placing my order, the owner passed me off to an employee. She was friendly and waited patiently as I read the menu.

I ordered a small BLT sandwich, a small fountain drink and a small side of onion rings. The easy-to-read menu lead me to believe the meal would cost about $7 plus tax, it was closer to $10. Apparently, the addition of a combo for $2.79 only applies if you get medium size, but the girl behind the counter failed to mention it, as does the menu, when she asked what I wanted with my sandwich.

$10 is more than I ever want to pay for lunch, especially a sandwich. But I figure if you make it good enough you can charge a little more and I won't mind. So my expectations were raised with the price tag.

My order was ready to go in about 5 minutes. I decided to eat over at Gallivan Plaza next to the fountains. The setting was great. My first bite was the exact opposite. It went something like this: bite, chew, chew, umm, is that stale bread?, eww!

Yes, people. Not only was the sandwich constructed in such a way that the first mouthful was entirely bread it was also stale bread. The contents of the sandwich didn't fare much better in freshness.

The lettuce was browned and the tomato looked extra smooshed, like it had sat at the bottom of a container of tomatoes for a few too many hours. No condiments were given, so I had no mayonnaise. The bacon was the best part of the sandwich. It had been taken off the grill just seconds before topping my stale bread. So while, it may have been a lower quality meat it was a least edible.

I turned to the onion rings, hoping to recover some of my faith in sandwich shops. What I found were freshly baked onion rings straight from your grocer's freezer. You know, the Ore-Ida kind you grab when you have kids and want to make dinner in a hurry.

If that's what they really serve on the East Coast, I'm moving farther west. Sorry East Coast Subs, next time I'm crossing the street to Esther's.

Settebellos

Settebellos is an interesting place. There are only two locations in the world. Senior can be found in Las Vegas and junior is in Salt Lake. I've heard the restaurant lauded for their truly authentic Italian pizza. Pizza so Itlaian the closest thing you'll get to it is the real deal in Italy.

Everything is imported from Italy: every ingredient and even the head chef. Insane love of Napoli style pizza is what brought this place to Salt Lake City. As their menu and website will tell you, the founders of Settebello worked with a bunch of pizza-obsessed Italians to create a Vera Pizza Napoletana (an organization dedicated to preserving true Napoli pizza) certified pizza.

For an appetizer we started with foccacia, it was very good. It had a great texture and the right amount of rosemary flavor to balance with the extra virgin olive oil and peppper.

For our pizza we ordered a margherita with garlic and the house speciality: the settebello. Both were delicious. The crust cooked to a nice golden brown on top, the cheese melty and delicious. Even the tomato sauce was simple, sweet and delicious. The ingredients were all very fresh and very yummy.

Everything appeared very clean. But given the taste of burnt crust in my mouth they don't clean the oven. This really bothers me. Typically, I'm prepared to love any new place I try. I want to love Settebellos. I want to tell people they have the best pizza you can find in Salt Lake. But I can't. Please, please clean the oven so I can recommend Setebellos. I shouldn't get a mouthful of charcoal to complement my tomato, basil, mozarella and garlic bliss pizza. I'm pretty sure that much charcoal isn't tradition.

For dessert we had gelato. I ordered the lemon with raspberry and it was delicious. The right amount of tart with sour just the way I love it. The strawberry was delicious and the pistaccio was...well, pistaccio.

Our service was excellent. Our waiter was very friendly and very attentive. We didn't even have to wait to be seated. Settebello really is the kind of place you can go with your best friends and be as loud and obnoxious as you are at home and feel right at home.

You can find Settebellos at 260 South 200 West in Salt Lake or online at http://www.settebello.net/. Expect to pay about $11 for a pizza. All in all I'll give Settebello's a 9 out of 10 just clean your oven, please!