Fresco Itallian Cafe

We headed to the newly christened "Best Overall Restaurant" (Salt Lake Magazine) this weekend to finally try out the place where Tom Call (last seen on this blog at the Bacon Battle post) has been cooking since he arrived in Utah.  The result was a mixed bag - some very good and some marginal.  Nothing was bad, but Fresco certainly doesn't top the short list of restaurants we've reviewed in SLC over the past year.  We came with four people for this meal, plus two friends randomly sat down next to us, so we really got to look at six entrees, three salads and a few appetizers.  We took advantage of the $12 corkage fee twice.  The restaurant was super dark and I only take shots with an iPhone so my janky photos are the best you're going to get.  Here's the skinny:

We started with the antipasto.  It was well done - three cheeses (a sheep/cow blend, a bison cheese and a cow's milk hard cheese).  All were good, and accompanied by three cured meats that I could not distinguish between.  Cured meats are not yet a part of my culinary vocabulary.  Sorry.  The antipasto came with an interesting selection of accompaniments as well.  Overall, good start.

Next appetizer course was the Calimari.  Reviews were mixed between "good" and "great" at our table.  The caper salsa is a really cool twist on this dish and the thin sliced butternut squash serves to balance out the flavors and add some color to the plate.  Continuing along on a positive trajectory here...

Salads arrived.  I split a pear and radicchio salad (arugula, rocchetta, and supposedly some hazelnut vinaigrette).  The salad looked great on the plate and the ingredients looked good on paper, but we all swore that they forgot the dressing.  The salad was bone dry... we could certainly have been wrong, but either way our salad was missing something and turned out pretty disappointing. 

There was also a Caesar at the table and it tasted like a Caesar, no complaints.  Next time I go to Fresco, I'm going to try out the roasted beet salad given that I've had some really impressive beets before coming from Chef Tom, and we should have gone that route this weekend.

Entrees.  Here's the rundown:

I ordered the risotto - which was a pork tenderloin wrapped with a pork belly on a bed of risotto with a balsamic reduction and broccolini.  The dish was topped with some crisp greens.  Flavors on the risotto were great, veggies were crisp and the greens were a really nice addition.  Sadly, my pork tenderloin was significantly overcooked.  At this point, I'm worried about the overcooking trend with this chef and pork tenderloin.  My pancetta-wrapped tenderloin at the Bacon Battle was also overdone, but this was a full step worse than that.  The pork belly was also not cooked particularly well.  All in, this entree broke my heart.  Chef Tom prepared the best pork belly that I have ever eaten, so maybe my hopes were too high, but this one fell very flat.

My wife went for the Maltagliati (Chicken Cacciatore, Parmesan, Wild Mushrooms).  This was perhaps the winner of the evening - PERFECT sauce, and a really nice pasta.  Nothing was wrong with this and Amelia now continues her streak of out ordering me whenever we go out.

Our friends did Fettucini Carbonara (house made pancetta, red onion, local egg and Parmesan) and the Cavatelli with Lamb Bolognese.  The Fettucini scored points on presentation (beautiful unbroken egg yolk FTW!) and really nice, fresh ingredients.  It was easy to pick out exactly what you were tasting in that dish, and everything worked well together.  On the other hand, it wasn't particularly exciting and we all agreed it wouldn't be a repeat order.  

The Bolognese was one that we had eyed on the menu before coming to Fresco and I feel like it should be the dish by which the entire restaurant is judged.  Seasoned with Marjoram and topped with a portion of ricotta, it was very simple, but it is really hard to pull off a well-done bolognese, and I think that Fresco was successful here.  This dish is very opposite of the Maltagliati, which was great because all of the big flavors were right in your face.  The Bolognese was subtle, and executed really well.

We also had a taste of the Ballard Farms Pork, which is pretty much the entree Tom cooked at the Bacon Battle.  Mine was overcooked that night, but on this night it was done perfectly so I'll chalk up my bad experience to the perils of working with a cadre of culinary students at a big event.  The Niman Ranch short ribs looked great, but were too far away to steal a taste.  I'd be temped to go for them based on appearances, for what that is worth.

We finished the meal with a couple of desserts: the date tiramisu and the itallian doughnuts ("Zeppole").  The doughnuts were a clear winner due to the slightly sweet lemon curd and some ricotta cheese mixed into the dough to add some body to the pastry.  The date tiramisu was interesting and we all enjoyed it, but next time I'd just double up on the Zeppole.

Notes on service: our server was great though we didn't really ask for much direction.  We did get quite a few attempts at clearing our table while we still had plenty of food in front of us, which was odd to me.  In sum, the wait-staff didn't significantly add or detract from the experience so no complaints on that front.

The verdict?  Fresco may be the best Italian in Salt Lake.  It certainly puts competitor Cucina Toscana to shame, and I really appreciate the changes to the menu that reflect chef Tom Call's more continental style.  There is still room to grow in terms of execution, and based on our experience this place should not even be in the conversation for Salt Lake's best overall restaurant, but we will be back.

The Copper Onion

We've never been to The Copper Onion and I had always heard mixed reviews. When our office food guru Tae-Sik gave it the thumbs up, I decided that I had to check it out. We were really, really impressed. On a high level, it was like a foodie mated with a chuck wagon and their progeny married Tony Caputo and opened up a restaurant. I also got the impression that only about half of the people in the place were really ready for what they were experiencing - very mixed crowd.

We started out with a Charcuterie plate, which you should do. I'm going to plug our server right here in the front of this review. She was the best server I've had in Utah. We went all omakase on her and she did not disappoint. Her name is Angie and she WILL improve your dining experience - so go there, ask for her and tip well.

Angie picked out a few items for us to try out and we ended up with a nicely balanced plate. Gran Biscotto, Grotte Caputo and a mixed-milk brie that I am not remembering the name of. They were all good although I saw an Iberico on the menu that I would have tried out if I were to do it over.

Next we ordered a pork belly appetizer. Pork bellys are probably my favorite food, but this was the only course I really have to critique. The meat was cooked really well - I am not sure how they did it but it was dry and crispy on the outside and really tender on the inside. Almost looked fried but I don't know. The dish was served over Brussels sprouts and parsnips, both of which were cooked perfectly. The killer was the sauce - they doused the whole dish in way too much of a fruit glaze (tasted like it was a cherry base?). The sauce complemented the salty dish, but they just used way too much. I can't give a dish too much credit if I'm scraping off sauce so that I can taste the food.

The arugula salad came next and was an arugula salad. It was pretty straightforward - good (not great) arugula with a Parmesan, black pepper and vinegar dressing. So far the meal was going well and would be outstanding but for the pork belly sauce overload.

Our entrees arrived next. My wife went totally rogue and ordered the cast-iron seared chicken. I thought this was a crazy bad choice and I wanted to plead with her to order something worth talking about. When they delivered her entree - I felt even worse. The presentation wasn't bad, it just looked like some chicken on a bed of spaetzle, asparagus and butternut squash. My entree was the griddled moulard duck breast served with spaghetti squash, a portobello mushroom and some spring greens with pumpkin seeds. Here's the thing though: the chicken was a winner. Even my photo of the dish looks janky, but it was delicious. Don't get me wrong, the duck was really nicely done (thanks again to Angie for directing me towards this), but the chicken was so unexpectedly perfect that we were both blown away. So glad that the foodie gave the chuck wagon a chance.

Speaking of the chuck wagon, we had strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert, and it was great. It felt like the slice of pie you get at a diner in Sweetwater, Texas - big and delicous... no presumption of trying to put a snarky spin on the classic.

Last point was that we took advantage of the BYOB policy and drank the 2008 Vistalba Corte B. Anyone who hangs around me long knows that I'm partial to Argentine wines, and since we didn't know what we were getting we went for a vino de corte (this was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec). This is one of my favorites, dollar for dollar, and has been since I spent some time with the guys who produce it in Mendoza.

We also ordered a bottle of Vichy Catalan water - really interesting sparkling water with a slight salty flavor. This is the only restaurant in Utah to order it with your meal (you can snag it at Caputo's as well). I'm usually not a sparkling water fan but this was a cool addition to the dinner.

The Verdict? I think that The Copper Onion deserves its reputation as one of the best places in SLC to eat creative food. A five course meal for around $100 was quite a value and we felt like our server actually knew a ton about food and how to piece together a great meal. Two thumbs up, we'll be back.

Chef War: Bacon Battle

Chef War is a relatively new event hosted by Chef Jonas Otsuji in which two local SLC chefs are invited to face off around a theme, and all of us Salt Lakers get to come and evaluate three dishes each to determine a winner. Given that Chef Tom Call (see my Tom Call fanboy post here) was going to battling it out around the theme of bacon, the opportunity was too compelling to miss.

I attended this event with a group of friends and we called ahead to find out what the wine situation would be. No wine. Strike one, but we could deal with that. When we rolled in last night, strike two was a bit less navigable. Chef War had sold significantly more tickets than they had in available seats. Ok for a concert, not so much for a dining event. The venue was a high end kitchen supply store and it just didn't work with the way they had it set up. Several people were in an entirely other room - so they could not see or hear any of the action - we decided to just pick up our table and move it into the main area, much to the chagrin of the people who had arrived on time and scored decent seats.

So, we pulled some tables together and made due and Tom Call came out to demo the first dish - a pork belly salad with a really interesting glaze. I wish I could tell you what the glaze was - but the PA system was only working in half of the building, and it wasn't our half. So Tom did his thing, which we couldn't see or hear, but c'est la vie. Then a dish arrived that wasn't what he had been cooking. Odd. The first dish served was a mixed winter greens salad with smoked pancetta oranges, grapes, cauliflower and garnished with PORK RINDS. This was good, not great, but I was so stoked on the usage of pork rind in haute cuisine that I overlooked any flaws.

Chef Katie Weiner was the author of the pork rind salad. Interestingly, Tom had been slated to square off against Roberto Denni, but he was a last minute (like 1.5 hours before go time) scratch. Rumor was that the owner of the restaurant in which Denni cooks threatened termination if Chef Denni participated in the competition, but that remains unconfirmed. So it is important to keep in mind that Katie drummed up her entire menu in about an hour. Impressive.

Next came Tom's pork belly. This was the best dish of the night - cooked exactly as a pork belly should be: crispy fat on the outside but soft throughout. It should be noted that we had no knives last night. Every dish had to be cooked as planned - you can't make it through an overcooked tenderloin with just a fork. After this one I was pretty sure that we were about to witness Tom make poor Katie Weinner feel bad about herself for the next couple of hours. Current score: Tom 1, Katie 0.

About the time I was having that thought, Katie issued her retort. Banana-infused polenta topped with bacon-wrapped Italian sausage and baby bok choi. I can't say that this dish objectively tasted better than Tom's pork belly, because it didn't, but this was what I paid for - interesting combinations that are way outside of my culinary lexicon. Next time you find yourself reaching into the fruit bowl for a banana, consider wrapping it with a touch of bacon. You'll be pleasently surprised.

Tom's next course: pancetta and basil encrusted salmon with sliced fingerling potatoes and a tomato reduction of some sort. I was pretty bummed here. Number one, the salmon was a touch overcooked. Not dramatically, but I expect perfection from Chef Tom. Number two, the bacon was a side note on this dish. I'm not sure how the bacon factored into the encrusting here, none of us could find in the flavor or with our eyes, but there were a few nuggets of pancetta in the sauce. New points on the scoreboard: Tom 1, Katie 1.

Katie's final course came next. I momentarily lost myself and ate it before I took a photo, but here's the skinny: dark chocolate cake topped with.... bacon. The cake was great - very dense almost like a flourless cake, but I did not get topped with enough bacon. I was made to feel bad because the poor girl next to me received exactly zero bacon on her cake. If you took the bacon on my piece of cake, you could have fit it onto a dime about 6 times. Bacon battle was starting to fizzle.

Next came Tom's final course. Given that we had just had chocolate cake I was ready for some mind-blowing bacon dessert. Maybe a thick sliced bacon strip dipped in home made milk chocolate or something totally unexpected involving bacon, sugar and no chocolate at all. What arrived was a pork tenderloin, wrapped in bacon, and served on a grilled pear and some winter greens. Was the pear a dessert? The truth is, I feel like there was a snafu in the timing here because this was no dessert course. Beyond that - it was only decent, not mind blowing. My tenderloin was again a touch overcooked, and it was cold. To be fair to Tom, I believe this was none of his fault - just seems that the Chef War crew did not have their act together.

Final Score: Tom 1, Katie 1 - contest rendered unjudgeable due to poor event planning from Chef War.

So that's the food, but there were other notable features of the evening. First, the only cooking we saw last night was in the first 10 minutes or so when Tom was out front. He was walking us through what went into the dish and then headed back to the kitchen... but he forgot to turn off his mic. Next thing we know we are hearing Tom's voice again, this time asking "Why the fuck is there no sauce on this? These all need some fucking sauce!". Far and away the comic high point of the evening - mostly due to the many families with children in the audience and their outraged expressions.

Second necessary info point: Chef War is billed as a culinary event, but it is really an infomercial for the sponsors. We tuned out but every few minutes a lady in a corset (yep...) came out and tried to sell us on a personal coach, new faucet or organic marketplace.

Finally, thanks to Joseph Welles Henderson the fourth, we drank the best wine in the room - 2005 Radio-Coteau Cherry Camp Syrah. I'm usually not a huge Syrah fan, but this one trends more towards Pinot characteristics while still being forward enough to complement fatty pork dishes (like bacon? indeed). This may be the perfect wine for a bacon pairing.

The Verdict? Chef War is a mess. They may be able to get their act together because they can clearly attract some top notch talent at these events, but until I see firm evidence that the event management skills have caught up to the culinary talent associated with this party, I'm out.