Main Street food tour – Park City, UT

I have always wanted to participate in a food tour. I finally took part in the Park City Food Tours. We did a food tour that started at 4:00 and ended at 7:00. We learned both about food, and the history of the town. We visited four restaurants and one last surprise stop (not a restaurant) at the end. Click here to book a summer tour.

The first restaurant we visited was the Wasatch Brew Pub. The place had a lot of history itself, so that part was interesting. Every place we went to, they gave us a little something to try which is either something popular on there menu, or they might have just gotten those ingredients recently and they are fresh. The serving size varied for every restaurant. Here we got fried shrimps with a mango cilantro sauce. The shrimps were done really well, and were nice and crispy. The cilantro made the sauce taste exceptionally good.

The next restaurant was Cisero’s which is only a couple buildings down from the brewery. The design inside was a bit old fashioned, but they did extend the restaurant in the back which makes the space feel more open and easier to enjoy. At Cisero’s we got served a plate with four tasters. The first item was their famous chips and aioli, which are served at lunch with all their sandwiches. The chips were pretty good for being chips, and the aioli was nice, but it was also very heavy. Next there was a bruschetta which had tomato and mozzarella which was nice and simple. The next taster was the ravioli with a creamy pesto sauce. I liked the inside of the ravioli, but the pesto sauce was a little too filling so one ravioli was good for me. The last taster was salmon with fingerling potatoes. The salmon I thought wasn’t the best, but other people thought it was good. I am very picky when it comes to salmon. It was a little on the drier side, and a little cold. I am not sure I would go back to Cisero’s personally, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it yourself. The restaurant looks great for families with big appetites.

Then we went to one of my favorites Talisker on Main. I wrote a blog about this restaurant about two years ago. It is still amazing, and always fairly busy. The funny thing was that we went the night before the food tour to Talisker not knowing we would go again the next night. There we were served lobster & crab beignets. It was on the bigger side for an appetizer, but was still amazing. I love pickles, and there were lots of little pickles on the dish and the went along nicely with the beignets.

Lastly, we visited Silver, which is across the street from Talisker. We had always wanted to go there, so it was perfect to try it out. This place probably served my favorite dish of the night. It was cod with sea green beans and plumcot (half plum half apricot). The sea green beans were phenomenal. I’m not too big into veggies, but I could eat this forever. The dish really worked well all together. I love the ambiance and decor of the restaurant, very hip, and I definitely could see myself going back. The general manager, Shawn Hyer (image below), was great in telling us all the history about the place.

Overall, the food tour was a great experience, and I would do another one in a heartbeat. I learned so much from each restaurant, as well as in general, the history of Park City. The last stop we did was at Mountain Body, and we got a “extensive hand wash.” We used different lotions and cleansers to clean our hands. I now really wish I would have bought some!

Thank you so much Shirin for a great and entertaining tour, and showing me the hidden gems on Main Street.

Tina

Forage, Salt Lake City, UT

Forage (co-owned by Viet Pham and Bowman Brown, who is also the executive chef) was really a night to remember. Located in Salt Lake City, it is a small and elegant restaurant. There was a pre-fix menu for $89, 13 courses in total, with a couple different options for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. I choose the juice and non-alcoholic pairings for $21. The wine pairing would be $65, and those are small pours which are paired with the different courses, while the other option, wine flight ($42), is also small pours, but are not necessarily paired with the courses, it is what they have available. Or if none of those appeal and you just want a glass of wine, or a bottle, they have a wine list option as well.

They tell you ahead of time that the dinner will take 3 – 3.5 hours, so plan accordingly. Reservations do fill up quickly, but sometimes early hour options or very late options are still available. I believe you can start as early as 5:30, and as late as 8:30. We started at 6:15 which worked out for us, as we had a drive of about 40 minutes to get back to where we were staying. The waiters are very attentive by making sure that you always have water, and can explain every dish and drink down to the last detail, even where each ingredient can be found.

Now onto the courses. There were a total of 13 courses, and there was also some bread offered and at the very end you also get some treats which are not mentioned on the menu. They space it out very well, so you don’t constantly have food on the table, but you also don’t become hungry throughout the meal. We also were told that something about the menu is tweaked everyday. Four of the courses are one or two bite sized, made to be eaten by hand. A few courses in you will get a hand towel.

Strawberry juice

 

The strawberry juice was very good. It was refreshing and light, and a great way to start the meal.

Douglas fir

The douglas fir, was a carbonated soda, which was sensational. It was not that much carbonated, and on top was some salt. The salt complimented the soda very well.

Black walnut

The first dish used with the hands was the black walnut. It had a nutty flavor to it, but underneath the green powder is some gruyere cheese, which evened it out. The only problem was whenever you took a bite the powder would fly everywhere 🙂

Black currant leaf and tomato

 

This dish was very interesting and good, with some different elements. For example the tomato ice. It didn’t exactly taste the best, but it was interesting, and I was glad to try it.

Kale juice

Although I not normally am into vegetable juice, but this kale juice was amazing. It was very pure, and was surprisingly tasty.

New potatoes and wild crayfish

The crayfish was cooked very well, and wasn’t rubbery at all. The leaves worked very well with both the potatoes and crayfish, and for the leftover sauce, I used the bread to soap it up.

Smoked trout and preserved cherry blossoms

This bite just melted in your mouth. I couldn’t really taste the cherry blossoms that much, but it didn’t matter because the trout was to die for, definitely one of my favorites, despite how small it was. It wasn’t smoked to much, which was good because the smokiness flavor wasn’t to much.

Rhubarb juice

The rhubarb juice was very nice, you could certainly taste the rhubarb, but it didn’t stand out to me like the kale one did.

Sweet corn and bacon

This was not what I expected when I saw that there would be corn and bacon, although it was still very good. The corn is in the mousse, while the bacon is infused in the broth. The broth made the mousse a little mushy, but it didn’t affect the mousse that much.

Green apple juice

The green apple juice, was my absolute favorite. I love green apples, because they always taste so crisp, so this juice was to my liking.

Idaho sturgeon with cream and sorrel

The sorrel (hidden under the leaves) was cooked very well. It was smooth, but not slimy. The cream was out of this world, I was so mad I had only so little 🙂

4th of July tomato

As another small bite dish, this was superb. Inside there were several different types of cheeses in the tomato. I don’t really enjoy tomatoes in general, but this one was especially good. Also the way they made the tomatoes was very impressive, because they had to take the skin off.

Burned eggplant with beans and wild mustard

This dish was nice and simple, but the flowers were a little overpowering. However the burnt eggplant tasted great, especially with the string beans.

Duck egg

The duck egg was probably my favorite. I don’t know how they can put the perfectly cooked egg inside the dough. The sauce was phenomenal, and the plating was quite clever.

Beet & apple juice

The beet and apple juice I have to say was one of my least favorite juices, but it still wasn’t bad. I just personally don’t like beet juice.

Chicken with green tomatoes and onions

This chicken was cooked very well, and the sauce that went along with it paired along nicely. The green tomaotes were also a nice edition, and it was a nice way to end the dinner. But there was still dessert!

Herbal Tea

 The herbal tea was a mix of different teas, and it was cold, so it wasn’t really for me. It was okay.

Cucumber and herbs

This dish was different, but like the black currant leaf and tomato, it was still interesting never the less. It was also nice and refreshing.

Sunflowers

The sunflower dish was amazing. Although little, it was filling, but I still remember the little portion was good enough.

Chocolate caramels

They were little, but filling quickly. They weren’t listed on the menu, but they were a little treat that came with the check.

Another very nice thing that they gave us was granola at the end of the evening for breakfast the next day.

All in all, it was a great meal, and I didn’t feel to full at the end. This is definitely worthy of a Michlean star. I highly recommend it if you’re in the area.

Thanks for reading!

-Tina

 

 

Flashback @ 2013 – top 5 dining/food experiences

Hello followers, Here is a flashback at the top five restaurant or recipes of 2013 (I have posted about some, but not all):

5) Tavern at Table One – Park City, UT

Table One, is a beautiful upstairs restaurant. Downstairs below it, is Tavern, a ski lodge mimic with a great little bar and some high tables to catch up with friends or have a drink. We went to The Tavern on two of the nights we were in Park City, once for a meal and once for just some appetizers and drinks.  The two nights combined we had ordered a variety of dishes. Some of which included a jumbo shrimp cocktail and carnitas tacos. Definitely recommended!

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail with classic cocktail sauce and lemon.

l

l

j

j

f

g

Carnitas Tacos with crème fraiche, cilantro, pico de gallo, and flour tortilla.

v

v

v

 

4) Cake Decorating

As many of you know, from an earlier post, I have taken up cake decorating. This new hobby is a great way for me to relax, while getting to eat yummy cake 🙂 For x-mas, I received two great little tins, to make layered cakes, which I am looking to start in the new year. Here is my first cake that I did without any help.

This is a vanilla cake decorated with frosting, and the snowflakes are made out of fondant and decorated with a special mixture that includes blue sprinkles.

c

c

c

c

c

These are some little flowering details I did at the edge of my cake, made out of frosting that I dyed pink.

c

c

3) Dinner with Russell Jackson – Flashback of Food Network Star

Even though I have already posted about this fabulous dinner, I will always remember it. See older post for pics and more info.

2) Raclette – New Years Eve meal

This New Years Eve we celebrated with some friends and had raclette. Raclette is a Swiss dish were you melt cheese and then put it over potato or bread. Then you add on some spices and it is great. I recommend for family dinners and get togethers. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to take some pictures, although here is a link that will show you some pictures of raclette:

A Raclette cooker (image credit “The Cheese Shop”).

1) Dinner with Russell Jackson & Stacy Poon-Kinney

This was definitely my top food experience this year. Russell Jackson was there of course, but on top of that Stacy Poon-Kinney, another contestant on Food Network Star, was there as well. She did cook as well as talked with all the guests and it was great hearing her experience of being on the show. I was also another big fan of her throughout the show. It was a great birthday surprise and I’m definitely  going to visit Stacy’s restaurant in San Diego (The Trails Eatery). Here are a few photos from the dinner:

Nice slice of bacon with a great BBQ sauce.

t

t

t

Russell preparing some dishes.

f

f

f

f

f

f

Russell pouring liquid nitrogen into a bowl.

f

f

f

f

f

f

Chocolate eclair on top of pig blood ice cream and some breadcrumbs.

f

f

f

f

f

Russell, Stacy, and I: What a great dinner, thanks so much Russell and Stacy!

I hope you liked my flashback of my top 5 food experiences.

Coming up next: Such an simple yet yummy pancake recipe!

 

Thanks,

Tina

Restaurant Review: Talisker on Main

Talisker is a really nice and comfy restaurant.

Inside it is a really nice and Talisker has a really relaxing room temperature. I have never sat outside so unfortunately I cannot state a opinion on the seating outside.

The server that we had was a man named Leon. He was really helpful with the ordering and could explain in great detail what the dishes were. Leon really had just a great sense of humor and for me I always like it when there is a helpful and nice server because when you go to a restaurant you don’t just want the food to be good you also want there to be helpful people.

Now to the food!

My family and I went to Talisker and we were a party of three. We each had one appetizer and one entree.

For my appetizer I had the Diver Scallops (see picture). The Diver Scallops were really nice. The texture of the scallops was so amazing. The scallops were  really a big highlight of the meal. They put two good size scallops on the plate and it was a perfect amount for the appetizer. The dish also came with cauliflower. I love cauliflower but they put a little too much cauliflower on there. I also felt that the cauliflower could have been a little more juicy. I don’t like soggy cauliflower but I also don’t like dry cauliflower. Besides the cauliflower I thought that the dish was great. It had really nice presentation style. I would really recommend this dish- especially to cauliflower lovers.

For my entree I had Fried Chicken (see picture) and it was rather filling but very good.  On the menu it said that the chicken came with croquettes and the croquettes were super tiny and there were only two on the plate so that was a bit disappointing, because they were  really good and it could have used a bit more. There was an incredible biscuit on the dish as well, but it was also incredibly sweet.  In the end I ate half of the chicken and half of the biscuit and took the rest home.

During the meal we had two extra small dishes that the chef brought out, because the food was taking a long time.  They were both excellent and the chef came out and said hello to us and  I thought that was really nice of him.

Their location is nice – it is in Park City, Utah. The restaurant is just really great and the servers and the chefs are quite nice and they fit your needs well.  Make sure though you go to Talisker on Main Street and not Talisker lodge, because the one I am talking about is Talisker on Main.

Here some other dishes we ate that night – yumm.

Mixed green salad with roasted carrots

Risotto

Steak

Thank you for using your time and energy to read this review.

Good bye, Tina