The Wild Grape

I've been going to The Wild Grape since I've lived in Salt Lake City. That being said, I think I had a mediocre experience once with an entree, and their bison burger is the best hamburger in Utah, so I've never ventured far from the burger since that first visit. Well, we were headed to a Jazz game and wanted something quick so we though Wild Grape for burgers would hit the spot. Walking in, it was about 4x busier than I had ever seen the place (this made me feel good as I've worried in the past about their traffic levels on weekend nights). The Outdoor Retailer show meant that we were offered to wait or take a seat at the chef's counter.

I can't imagine at this point that I'll ever NOT sit at the chef's counter when I go back to The Wild Grape. We started off with the Arugula salad. Super high quality Arugula that kept its pepper flavor without being bitter at all. I will stick to the signature "The Grape" salad in the future because it's the only time I find pickled grapes on my plate and I love them, but both of these salads are worth your time.

At this point the chefs just started plating up small plates for us to check out some of the things they were up to. The memorable appetizer was the small portion we received of the Gnocchis. Braised beef in what tasted like a bourguignon sauce then sauteed with spinach and truffle oil. That dish, in full size, is now on my hit list for next time.

Feeling like we were in for something special, and seeing that my first impression may have been wrong (these guys can cook), I decided to spring for the scallop entree that I've always lusted after. My wife gave permission (she doesn't eat scallops and we almost always trade plates halfway through a meal), so I went for it. They were fantastic. Served on a spinach puree and a bed of root veggies, thick sliced bacon and spinach - the scallops were cooked perfectly. Dead Guy Ale complemented the really variable meal well. We grabbed a bread pudding dessert and hit the road, where my Mavericks embarrassed the poor Utah Jazz.

The Verdict? The Wild Grape should get more credit than it does. The meal we had significantly outshined what we've gotten at several much hyped foodie hangouts in the neighborhood (Pago) at half the price. We spent less than $75 for a three course meal (plus a few small plates on the house) and had a great time talking with the sous chefs all the while.

High West Distillery

We jumped into High West during Sundance last week. I've worked in Park City for a couple of years now but have never stopped into Utah's only distillery so I've been anxious to check it out. We were greeted at the door with news that wait would be "at least two hours" (this was Tebow time, after all). I looked deeply into the hostess' eyes and decided that she was likely trying to scare people away, so we put our names into the had and 20 minutes later had a table.

The experience was a mixed bag from there. We tried a few varieties of the house brand spirits and then turned to the meal. There is a single predominant technique used in the cooking at High West: salt. Sometimes that turned out great. The house salad was dressed with salt and pepper and some olive oil. It looked like the chef salad from my elementary school cafeteria, but getting past the presentation, it actually tasted great.

Our waiter talked me into the special - a Bison wellington served with potatoes au gratin, spinach Florentine and some baked carrots. The Bison was plentiful (32oz) and the Wellington was done right - mid rare and with a nice wild mushroom glaze. Everything else was like thanksgiving in Texas - salt and butter completely overwhelmed the potatoes and the spinach was not edible. If it was just for this dish, I'd say that High West got their hands on some great Bison steaks and that was what kept their chefs from flopping on their faces. But, we had a few other dishes that boosted the overall impression. The black coffee and bourbon glazed cod had a great flavor. If they amped up the presentation, that would be a go-to dish for me. The brussel sprouts with marcona almonds and pomegranate seeds were pretty much flawless. The burgers that a couple of folks ordered were good - nothing stand out but a solid effort.

The Verdict? I will go back to High West. I love their Whiskey and there are a few menu items that I'm itching to try (Whiskey Cheese Fondue for 3... yeah). I'd be aware that they seem capable of doing some very interesting things right next to some failures, but the small plates seem like they were generally all winners.