Solid.

This is a second location, the first being in Midway. Although they’ve only been open a few days, it’s clear that this is a cafe that is about doing a few simple things, centered around a wood-fired oven and the owner’s farm-raised cheese, and doing them very well.

First up for us was a fried egg and bacon bagel sandwich. The star here was the fresh, scratch made bagels. We had our sandwich on an asiago topped one, but they have a full variety of flavors. The texture of the bagel was definitely lighter and more airy than any I’ve had before, though it stood up nicely as a platform for the fillings. If I had a single quibble with the meal it’s that I’d have loved the fried egg on the sandwich with a runny yolk, as it would have provided a bit of sauce for a sandwich that was otherwise a tad dry.

The main event for us was a roasted mushroom pizza. In a world of Pizzeria-712-puce-Himilayan-salt-roasted-corn-and-­kumquat pizza, nobody will mistake these for innovative. Instead, they are simple, traditional, and executed extremely well. Perfect char on the bottom of the crust, good chew, and all the crisp bits that indicate a perfectly cooked pizza in a very hot wood-fired oven. Although we added some roasted sausage to ours and removed the gorgonzola because my wife dislikes it intensely and thus didn’t have their stock version of this menu item, the flavor combinations here were elegant. I appreciated most of all how well handled the rosemary was. That tends to be one of those herbs that can quickly overpower a dish and make all the ingredients taste like they were dragged roughly across the floor of a pine forest. Here, though, the touch was light and provided a nice counterpoint to the earthy mushrooms.

Between our pizza and dessert, we were offered tastes of various cheese from the owner’s farm. My advice: indulge here a bit and enjoy the flavors coming from Duvall Farms. There’s a beautiful cheese tasting to be had just comparing the various kinds of cow or goat milk cheese flavors that can be coaxed from a single farm’s output. My favorite was a harder cows milk Young Tomme. There were eight being offered for purchase by the ounce, and we grabbed a few ounces to go.

They offer cheesecake, ice cream, and gelato for dessert. We opted for some pistachio gelato, which my wife decided was her favorite pistachio that she’d ever had.

I suspect given how close this is to us and that the prices are fair bordering on inexpensive, we’ll be exploring that pizza menu quite a lot in the coming days. It’s nice to have a place nearby that can do a nicely charred crust.

Tastemakers is Salt Lake Magazine’s showcase of local culinary talent. Held at the Gallivan Center, it consists of a collection of 14 local restaurants and food providers collected in tents, each offering bites for your sampling pleasure. Also included in the $30 passport price is the opportunity to stroll to an additional 10 restaurants near Gallivan for a bite served on their home turf. Live music and potables for purchase round out the offerings.

We had extremely limited time last night and so focused on the food that was available at Gallivan. Among them, the Churrasco Flank Steak with chimichurri and horseradish mashed potatoes from Texas de Brazil and the Black Garlic Tortellini with wild mushroom, black truffle, and roasted bone marrow cream from Silver in Park City were the two standouts.

Considering that plates at my Epcot festival cost $3 and that the price per offering here is just over $1, that $30 passport is kind of a steal. I’m headed downtown this evening to eat live ebi at Naked Fish, a tenderloin filet slider at Ruth’s Chris, a bite from my established favorite Oh Mai, and some Wild Boar Bolognese at New Yorker.

http://blog.caputosdeli.com/looking-back-at-battle-blond/

6093 S. Highland Dr.
801-277-9888

It’s a joyful thing when a local business becomes a regular haunt because they make consistent, amazing product.

Oh Mai has become one of those for me. It’s a rare week that I’m not there twice buying two sandwiches at each visit. I eat one for whatever meal I’m servicing at the time, and put one in the fridge for the next day. It’s immediately a better day if I wake up and remember that there’s Oh Mai waiting for me in the chill chest for lunch.

My family loves it, too. I get sandwiches, my wife is stuck on pho. My daughter devours the Mai Roll, expertly gutting them for the shrimp, and then slowly deconstructing them from there. My mom goes there constantly, too.

Their newest creation is the chicken shiu mai, a chicken meatball sandwich. As is the norm for their food, it’s a complex dish. The ethereally tender meatballs swim in a delicious, dark red tomato-based sauce and are topped with a dark soy sauce that, when I first opened the little to-go container to assemble my sandwich and took my first whiff, smelled almost like chocolate. Add to that the usual cucumber, pickled carrot and daikon, cilantro, and jalapeno and you have a really fantastic feast.

Oh Mai sandwiches all exist on a spectrum between fairly clean like the S2 roast pork, and a dripping, delicious mess like the S12 brisket pho. This newest sandwich, due to the combination of sauces, is definitely on the messy end of things. I was glad that I got mine packed with the sauces and vegetation on the side. Eating it there wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

It takes a lot to break me out of my usual “S2 and S5 with extra pickled vegetables” habit when it comes to Oh Mai, but I’m already looking forward to tonight’s chicken shiu mai special.

http://www.caputosdeli.com/products/special-event-battle-blond.html

It appears that the event is now sold out, but I’m excited that I’ll be joining Viet Pham of Forage, Ryan Lowder of Copper Onion, and Takashi Gibo of Takashi on the judging panel. I’m a big fan of all three of their restaurants, and can’t wait to see what impressive secrets this new Dulcey holds.

3:30 pm
Sweetwater
at Rose Wagner Center in Salt Lake
My Score – 89

6:00 pm
Sound City
at Tower Theatre in Salt Lake
My Score – 90

Movies seen thus far: 33
Today’s Favorite: Sound City
Festival Favorite: The Way, Way Back

9:00 pm
Prince Avalanche
at SLC Library in Salt Lake
My Score – 73

midnight
Sightseers
at Broadway Cinemas VI in Salt Lake
My Score – 86

Movies seen thus far: 25
Today’s Favorite: Stoker
Festival Favorite: The Way, Way Back

3:00 pm
Gideon’s Army
at SLC Library in Salt Lake
My Score – 87

6:00 pm
Pandora’s Promise
at Tower Theatre in Salt Lake
My Score – 90

9:00 pm
Fill the Void
at Broadway Cinemas III in Salt Lake
My Score – 90

midnight
Virtually Heroes
at Tower Theatre in Salt Lake
My Score – 59

Movies seen thus far: 30
Today’s Favorite: Pandora’s Promise
Festival Favorite: The Way, Way Back

6:00 pm
We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
at Broadway Cinemas III in Salt Lake
My Score – 90

9:15 pm
Narco Cultura
at Broadway Cinemas VI in Salt Lake
My Score – 70

Movies seen thus far: 22
Today’s Favorite: We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
Festival Favorite: The Way, Way Back

9:00 pm
C.O.G.
at SLC Library in Salt Lake
My Score – 71

Movies seen thus far: 19
Today’s Favorite: The Look of Love
Festival Favorite: The Way, Way Back