TASTEMAKERS

My husband and I attended Salt Lake Magazines first ever Tastemakers event this past week (May 19 and 20, 2011 5pm-10pm). It was quite the event and also quite a success for a first time and for SLC! Salt Lake Magazine sold 1000 tickets (the maximum amount) and even in chilly, dreary and rainy weather, everyone came and made the most of what I hope will be an event that becomes tradition.

The idea was a kind of "stroll" through different food tents and restaurants throughout the city where you tasted mini bites from local vendors and got a passport stamped as you went along. The tickets were reasonable ($20 with an optional $10 wine/beer pairing). We made the absolute most of the event and got our passport stamped in full. We bumped into friends throughout the stroll, chatted, ate, sipped and had a great time! It was exciting to see our city support this event and to see so many people having fun eating. Below you can find a list of all participating restaurants and their offerings as well as some photos:

IN THE TENT:

Blue Lemon Bistro~ Salmon BLT Canape
Caffe Niche~ Grapefruit "Brulee"
Easy Street~ Lobster Mac & Cheese (my favorite!!!)
Gracie's~ Gracie's Crown Rib's (served with a veggie mac)
Martine Cafe & Tapas~ Morgan Valley Lamb Kibbe
Meditrina~ Scottish Salmon Crudo
Talisker On Main~ Ballard Farms Pork Loin Medallions
The Downtown Farmers Market~ Tastings from Liberty Heights Fresh, Tulie Bakery, Rico Brand and Cali's Natural Foods

AROUND THE CITY:

Benihana~ Sushi Roll Sampler
Caffe Molise~ Pollo Alla Gratella
Christopher's~ Stuffed Tenderloin of Beef
J. Wong's Asian Bistro~ Salted Baked Shrimp
Market Street Grill~ Maryland Lump Crab Cake
Metropolitan Restaurant~ White Albacore Crudo
Naked Fish~ Sashimi Trio
Ruth's Chris~ Prime Slider
Squatters~ Mussles and FritesThe top food photo is the offering from Metropolitan. Delicious and simple. The rain REALLY hit once we entered the restaurant so we got comfy, ordered a glass of wine and watched it pour while we nibbled on the albacore crudo. Photo #2 is the prime slider from Ruth's Chris. It was my second favorite offering. Generously portioned and incredibly flavorful, we were seated at the bar and served these sliders. As completely stuffed as we were... I probably could have downed 5 of these... YUM! Photo #3 is the sashimi sampler from Naked Fish. How beautiful is it?!? I say it gets the award for most lovely presentation. It was also super tasty!

If you want "juicy" comments... I don't have many. Let's see... I felt horrible for Meditrina. The 1st night, the Salt Lake County Health Dept. shut them down for trying to serve "raw fish" (crudo) that the health department had already pre-approved. They were there on night 2 and the crudo was light and perfect! Every glass of red wine served was ice cold so I think the vendors could have put more care into that and... some of the restaurants got so incredibly busy with their regular evening service and us at Tastemakers that they treated some patrons poorly... that's a kink that absolutely needs to be ironed out by next year. That's it. It truly was delicious and a lot of fun! Way to go SLC and Salt Lake Magazine!