Shylo's Mobile Cafe

One of our Christmas traditions is to visit Christkindlmarkt, a German Christmas market at This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. We go during earlier in the day, although nighttime must be lovely with all the lights.

Since we go around lunchtime, time time around we tried Shylo's Mobile Cafe, I ordered the Phoenix Steak Sandwich: sliced rib eye, pepper Jack cheese, chipotle aioli topped with jalapeno cheddar sauce. I also ordered a side of truffle fries. Very satisfactory!

Current Fish & Oyster

Tonight, my husband and I went to a holiday concert in downtown Salt Lake City. We decided to make it a date night, and had dinner beforehand at Current Fish & Oyster.

Appetizer: The smoked clam dip was served with potato chips.

Appetizer: We also got an assortment of breads.

I ordered the fish and chips, which were fantastic.

Himalayan Kitchen

My father-in-law was in town unexpectedly this weekend, and on his last night here, we took him to Himalayan Kitchen. We've been there with him before and he had enjoyed it, so requested to go back.

We started with the vegetable platter, which came with a
vegetable samosa, vegetable pakora, and onion bhaji.

We also shared paneer pakora. 

My father-in-law had the Kathmandu tandoori, which came
with chicken, lamb, prawns, and shish kebab.

Both my husband and I had the lamb tikka masala.

Also: poori!

Squatters Pub Brewery

Ed and I finally got to the Natural History Museum today. We had planned on having an early dinner afterwards, but we had made our way through the museum a bit more quickly than we thought we would (only because there was so much great stuff, after several hours we were tired), but that didn't stop us from going to Squatters Pub Brewery for a very early dinner. We shared the Brewhouse Hummus, and I had the Mesquite Chicken Salad. The meal was fantastic.

Asian Tao

After a doctor's appointment that ended at about lunchtime today, my husband and I stopped off at the nearby Asian Tao for lunch.

We started by sharing some salt and pepper squid.

We also shared some shrimp summer rolls.

I had pho with meatball, beef, and brisket.

Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta

My husband and I are off to Massachusetts for the weekend for a family event, and because one needs breakfast before a long day of travel, I visited the airport location of Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta for a breakfast sandwich that featured eggs, mozzarella, and bacon on focaccia with (I think) pesto aioli. It was pretty good!

Siegfried's Delicatessan

My husband and I attended the German Christmas Market this afternoon at This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. One of the vendors serving lunch was Siegfried's Delicatessan, and because this was a German Christmas Market, of course we had to eat appropriately.

I had a Weisswurst and Spätzle with gravy (that's curry
sauce next to my Wurst).

I also had some Wienerschnitzel, which my husband kindly
helped me eat.

Aristo's Greek Cuisine

It's taken years, but I finally earned enough points using OpenTable to get a gift card. There was a decent selection of restaurants from which I could choose, so I chose Aristo's Greek Cuisine, a place my husband and I had heard about but never managed to go to. (This was mostly due to laziness.) However, one of my colleagues got married this evening, and invited my husband and I to the reception, after which my husband and I decided we needed some dinner, so off to Aristo's we went.

We shared a starter of Orektika, a sampler of three spreads:
skordalia (a velvety dish of garlic, garlic, and more garlic),
hummus, and taramasalata (a creamy dip of roe, olive oil,
and potato).

My husband also ordered gyro sliders, one each of lamb
and beef, chicken, and pork. (I couldn't get a good picture
with all three gyros.)

My husband ordered the kokkinisto (lamb shank braised in
red wine tomato sauce, served with orzo pasta and
Myzithra).

I ordered a few small plates - spanakopita and marines (crunchy fried smelt fish) - and a side of lemon rice.

Salt Lake Greek Festival 2016

This was the fifth year my husband and I attended the Salt Lake Greek Festival. We didn't stick around as long as we had in years past - we had some lunch, and admired the dancing and the items for sale in the little shop - but once again, there were no cooking demos to observe, nor did we take in a tour of the church or listen to a choral performance. The dancing was lovely, of course, and the food was, as usual, good (although we noticed a slight decline in the quality of the gyros). 

I had a gyro, spanakopita, pilaf, keftedes (meatballs), and
chicken souvlaki.

We both brought home some lamb, which came with an
excellent salad and feta, for dinner.

We had to get some desserts, too, of course: baklava,
baklava cheesecake, and galotoptia (custard).

The pasta flora (jam tart) and almond cookies were excellent.

Red Maple Chinese Restaurant

I met up with some teacher friends for dinner tonight; we met at Red Maple Chinese for dinner.

I started with some egg rolls. 

One of my dining companions shared an extra lettuce wrap
with chicken with me.

I tried something new tonight, also: the sizzling house special,
which came with shrimp, scallop, chicken, beef, pork, and
squid with a variety of veggies in a house brown sauce.

Red Maple Chinese Restaurant

My husband professed a craving for the food from one of our favorite local restaurants, Red Maple Chinese Restaurant, so I placed an order for takeout this afternoon and my husband picked it up on his way home.

I tried the sour spicy shredded potato...

...and the sea bass in special lemongrass sauce. 

My husband's standard order includes General Tso's chicken. 

He also ordered the ham fried rice...

...and the Shanghai noodles, because he was very hungry.

Avenues Proper Restaurant & Publick House

I chaperoned my first dance tonight: The high school at which I teach had its junior prom at the Utah State Capitol in downtown Salt Lake City. Neither my husband nor I had gone to our own high school proms, and I was actually rather looking forward to going with my husband. (I'd had no interest in going while I was a high school student.)

some of the views inside the Capitol Building

Beforehand, though, we decided to stop to have dinner at Avenues Proper Restaurant & Publick House.

I started with a potato soup with bacon.

We both had the Proper Burger, which came with white
cheddar, tomato jam, crispy shallots, and bacon on a potato
bun, frites, and aioli. 

I forget what type of dessert my husband had, but it was fancy.

New Yorker

Today was my husband's birthday. We had dinner at the New Yorker, a steakhouse we'd never been to before but which I saw had good reviews. We were not disappointed!

We started with crispy fried calamari with Asian slaw and
sweet chili sauce.

My classic Caesar salad came with anchovies.

One does not go to a steakhouse and not order steak. I had
the char-grilled ribeye.

I also ordered a side of fried Brussel sprouts, but I didn't
eat them: I was too full.

Salt Lake Greek Festival 2015

This weekend was the 40th anniversary of the Salt Lake Greek Festival; this is the fourth year in a row my husband and I have attended. We primarily go to the food but the festival features dancing from various Greek troupes; tours of Holy Trinity Cathedral and performances from the cathedral choir; and the Hellenic Cultural Museum of Salt Lake City.

This year we happened to go between dancing sets, so we didn't stay as long; we also didn't go on a tour of the church or listen to a choral performance. (And it's been a few years since we went to the Hellenic Cultural Museum.)

We noticed a few changes this year: There were fewer vendors - we remembered that last year, there were also many fewer than in previous years; for the second year in a row, we didn't see any art for sale. This year, for the first time, we didn't see the cooking demo stand set up. And the tchotchke shop - where we scored some feta and Greek coffee - had many fewer items than last year. There were also fewer food stands outside the food line; the sausage-and-fries stand had sold out, and there was no second gyro stand. Since both this year and last we went on a Sunday, we weren't sure if our timing had something to do with these differences.

But still - Greek food!

I did not eat all of this in one sitting: pilafi, spanakopita,
souvlaki, gyro, and calamari.

Some of the desserts we took home galaktoboureko,
galatopita, poutika, and a macaroon.

If we could have bought all the baklava,
we would have. We also brought home a
bag of koulourakia and some baklava cake.

We also took some loukoumades home.

Caputo's Deli

This past week I took a weeklong workshop at the University of Utah, through the Tanner Humanities Center, as part of my continuing education as a teacher. (Although I teach at the college level these days, I like to maintain my secondary teaching license.) We were given a meal card, so during the week I had some campus grub. However, with the exception of Monday (in which I ate at the) food court at the Student Union, I got my meals from Caputo's Deli, which a location at Tanner Humanities Center.)

Monday's lunch: Philly cheesesteak and curly fries from
Grill Nation.

Tuesday's lunch, part one: a small Caprese salad from
Caputo's Deli.

Tuesday's lunch, part two: a large meatball sub from
Caputo's Deli.

Wednesday's lunch: a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese,
and bacon from Caputo's Deli.

Thursdays lunch: the Italian cold cut (without provolone) from
Caputo's Deli.