Communal Restaurant in Provo - Foodie Paradise & Then Some

While Provo (Utah, that is) has some decent eating establishments, many are chains and since moving here, I had yet to find a Foodie experience that I admire as can be found in the Salt Lake offerings.  Well, that dry spell ended tonight under the deft hands of the staff of Communal, Sous Chef Luke and Co-Owners and Co-Chefs Joseph McRae & Colten Soelberg.

 We traveled all of 8 blocks to reach the warm and inviting atmosphere of Communal - beautiful lighting and decor all centered around an open kitchen made for an upscale casual feel.  Our server, Megan, was delightful from the first "hello" and we lacked for nothing.  My dining companions were my Mom (a gourmet foodie for as long as I can remember) and my 13 year old son and 12 year old nephew; a challenging group.

We began our journey with a shared starter that included:  meat from Caputo's, caramelized onions, tomato jam, house made pickles, crostini, melon and a tomato & goat cheese bread pudding.  First impression ... YUM.  and then YUM again.  Each bite was an individual journey on its own and received thumbs up from the whole group.  The favorite of the platter was definitively the tomato & goat cheese bread pudding.

The main entrees were next - hanger steak with bordelaise sauce, salmon with a tomato bacon vinaigrette, and the daily pasta preparation which was fettucine with an heirloom tomato sauce.  Initially, both boys got the pasta but when it was not quite to taste for my kiddo, Megan scooped it up and insisted he order something else to try.  And he did - the christiansen farms berkshire pork belly with a cherry sauce ... and he loved it - so much that we all barely snuck in a bite.  We ordered the boulangerie potatoes as a starch and it came in a crock - red potatoes baked with onions and bacon and I was again reduced to noises and a WOW. WOW. WOW!

    

The hanger steak was cooked perfectly - I like it mooing and doing a dance and it did dance ... all the way to my mouth!  The sauce was rich but did not overpower the meat at all.  This dish also received 4 thumbs up.

Mom said the salmon was divine and FRESH ... and cooked just right.  My bite confirmed the freshness and it was excellent.  Even though I am not a salmon fan, the freshness and preparation were evident.  Another four thumbs up.
My nephew enjoyed the pasta (judging from the empty bowl) - the serving was large with a hearty sauce.  My son exchanged his pasta for the pork belly which had all of us mumbling unintelligible happy noises ...  tender, moist, divine ... and with a side of the best mashed potatoes in the universe ...  there were eight thumbs up.

 

Since the pork dish was an addition, the boys bellied up to the bar and chatted with Sous Chef Luke and Damian, the cook.  Yet another example of the warm and friendly atmosphere at Communal ... it certainly made a wonderful impression on the boys who are ready to schedule another dinner!

Head Chef and Co-Owner Joseph stopped by the table and chatted for a few minutes and I could see where the gracious foundation of the staff came from - he made a point to talk to everyone in the dining room.

Our lovely meal was topped off with ... well, I would say dessert but it was more like ... Nirvana.  We shared two desserts - the first was the amano's chocolate smore and the second was the cornmeal cake with strawberries.  A pot of french press coffee and real cream and I was ready to pack my bags and move in to eat for the rest of my days!

Local, sustainable products ... a warm & caring staff ... a beautiful & inviting atmosphere ... creative and delicious food is what makes Communal.  We will just call it our new favorite restaurant and be thrilled that it is in the neighborhood!  Kudos ... truly well done and we can't wait to return!

We did not eat at the communal table - we did call ahead and make a reservation for a private table.  The option is open to sit at the bar as well and chat with the Chefs!  Starters range from $9 - $12, Entrees from $12 - $16, sides from $5 - $7 and desserts are $7.50.  The menu does change, as well as include daily preparations, and the starter we had and the side were all portioned to be shared. 

There is also a new blog - www.heirloomrestaurantgroup.com/blog - Pizzeria Seven Twelve in Orem is owned by the same group.  My Mom and nephew are visiting for a few more weeks and before we were even done dinner, Mom said - "We have to come back before I leave!  and add the other restaurant to our list."  

To Communal - THANK YOU for a wonderful journey and we can't wait to see you again!

 

Day Trip to Park City

Sometimes it feels like I am running at 500 miles per hour ... and still in the same place.  Family visits are joyful but stressful and there have been some challenges :) - was that PC?  The best part is getting out and about, doing day trips and indulging our rabid little foodie palates.  And indulge we have!

on the way to Park City

We had a lovely day in Park City - although I admit to liking it better in the snow :) and Empire Pass is still the place I would love to live and run my little Bloggy Kingdom ... the Montage at Deer Valley is coming along nicely and still targeting December 2010 for opening ... 35K foot spa ... HELLO!

 Lunch was cheesy goodness on the balcony of the Red Banjo - Park City's oldest restaurant and we were waited on by the current owner who is third generation.  We munched on pizza with chicken and artichokes and meatball sandwiches, sipped our black cherry vanilla and bubblegum sodas and Apricot Hefeweizen beer (which was SO good, we got some for home!) all while admiring the view down main street.  The food at Red Banjo was good and the prices were reasonable and very family friendly. 

 
It was Viper Day in Park City ... as in cars ... a bit too much on fumes and testosterone for me but the boys loved it.

And what would a day in Park City be without a visit to our favorite Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory?  Thankfully, Main Street is perfect for walking off a sugar high!

The day wrapped up with a drive home via Salt Lake, a visit into the Park City Nursery to visit their pumpkin patch and some lovely views along the way.

 All in all - Park City is a great day trip from Provo ... our next day trip is the Alpine Loop and Sundance Resort!
       

Anthony Bourdain - 13 Places to Eat Before You Die

13 Places to Eat Before You Die

Anthony Bourdain



Any seasoned traveler can tell you that the "best" meals on the planet are the result of an ephemeral confluence of circumstances. A table at the most expensive restaurant in the world does not guarantee a truly great meal. That said, if you're planning on dying in the near future and want to knock off a list of final, glorious dining experiences, these places would make a very respectable binge. Start with one.

Make a reservation today. Go on an empty stomach. Trust me: This is livin'.




1)  St. John (London) If I had to die with half a bite of anything hanging out of my mouth, it would probably be the roast bone marrow in Fergus Henderson's plain-white dining room at St. John. Scooped out and slathered onto a crust of toasted bread and sprinkled with sea salt, it's simple yet luxurious. The menu is proudly English, a rebuke to anyone still laboring under the impression that English food sucks. Famously pork-centric and focused on traditional offal and game dishes, St. John is as wonderful for what it does as for what it doesn't do: compromise. It specializes in good ingredients from "happy" animals that are treated with love and respect. Henderson has become a reluctant spiritual leader to a whole generation of chefs--and even the old-guard guys love to stop by for crispy pig tails, ham in hay, or a properly roasted bird. This is one of the truly bullshit-free zones on the culinary landscape.

2)  elBulli (Girona, Spain) It's the hardest reservation in the world. And everything they say is true: It's an adventure, a challenge, a delicious and always fun acid trip to the farthest reaches of creativity. Brothers Ferran and Albert Adrià and their team are the most influential and creative people working in food--and this surprisingly casual restaurant on a sleepy cove on Spain's Costa Brava is probably the most important restaurant of our time. Love it or hate it, if you have the opportunity to wangle a reservation, do it. It's like seeing Jimi Hendrix's first show. Forget any preconceptions you might have. Is it good? Yes. More important--is it fun? Yes. Yes. Yes.

3)  The French Laundry (Napa Valley, California)

4  Per Se (New York City) The best sit-down, multicourse, white-tablecloth meal of my life was at the French Laundry. And subsequent meals at Per Se, also run by chef Thomas Keller, were no less wonderful. There's no better way to go than the full-on tasting menu, a once-in-a-lifetime marriage of the best ingredients, creative thinking, and high standards, along with the personal imprint of the most respected chef in the world. How can Keller be at both restaurants at once? It doesn't matter. Pick one. Fast for 2 days, stretch your stomach with water the day of, and then see how they do it at the very top. It's a level of perfection in food and service that few even try to approach.

5)  Sin Huat Eating House (Singapore) It's grimy looking, the service can be less than warm, the beer is served in a bottle (often with ice), and the tables sit halfway into the streets of Geylang, Singapore's red-light district. But the crab bee hoon--giant Sri Lankan beasts cooked with a spicy mystery sauce and noodles--is pure messy indulgence. The whelks, steamed spotted cod, prawns, scallops (in fact, any seafood available that day) are all worth having. Warning: It looks cheap, but it's not.

6)  Le Bernardin (New York City) This is the best fish joint . . . anywhere. And it's relevant and fun, despite its formal service and fine-dining ambience. The grand tasting menu is a stripped-down thing of relatively austere beauty. And whatever they're doing this year or this month is always, always interesting.

7)  Salumi (Seattle) It's a sandwich shop with a couple of tables, and a true mom-and-pop--even if they're the mom and pop of famous chef Mario Batali. Anything cured, anything braised, any of the limited hot specials . . . in fact, anything the Batalis make is worth grabbing with both hands.

8)  Russ & Daughters (New York City)

9)  Katz's Delicatessen (New York City) Russ & Daughters started as a pushcart nearly a century ago, and it now serves some of the last traditional Eastern European Jewish-style herring and smoked belly lox, sable, and sturgeon. And since you're close, walk down a few doors to Katz's to remind yourself how pastrami is done right. This is what New Yorkers do better than anybody else. And here's where they do it.

10)  Etxebarri (Axpe, Spain) Victor Arguinzoniz grills unlikely ingredients over homemade charcoal: baby eels, imperial beluga caviar, oysters. (The fresh chorizo and prawns work, too.) Theoretically you can't grill a lot of this stuff, but a handcrafted series of pulleys that raise and lower each item makes it possible. Eat here, and no one is eating better.

11)  Sukiyabashi Jiro (Tokyo) The best sushi on earth? Maybe. Jiro Ono is more than 80 years old, and he's been doing old-school Edo-style sushi his whole life. Every piece of fish is served at precisely the right temperature and the rice and seaweed alone are blackout good. Ono will ruin sushi for you from anywhere else.

12)  Hot Doug's (Chicago) This place convinced me the Chicago red hot is, in fact, superior to the New York hot dog. And it's home to two great innovations in American gastronomy: the "foie gras dog" and the weekends-only practice of cooking French fries in duck fat. It's proof that food doesn't have to be expensive to be great.

13)  Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue (Kansas City, Kansas) People may disagree on who has the best BBQ. Here, the brisket (particularly the burnt ends), pulled pork, and ribs are all of a quality that meet the high standards even of Kansas City natives. It's the best BBQ in Kansas City, which makes it the best BBQ in the world.

Anthony Bourdain is the host of the Travel Channel's No Reservations.