Taste of Utah Valley

Guide to dining • Issue No.1 • Spring 2017

MANN VS. DESSERT

Downtown Provo crawl features 10 restaurants, 10 sweets, 5 hours & 1 stomach

Taste of time Relish the history of

long-lasting county eateries

XXXXX | XXXXXX

1

www.heraldextra.com

Publisher Bob Williams Managing Editor/ Digital Director

ike a hungry diner waiting impatiently with a rumbling stomach for their favorite dish to arrive at the table, this dining magazine has been years coming, and we’re thrilled to finally dive in.

Despite the wait, we hope you’ll find it worth it as you bite into some of the delicious stories and features we’ve cooked up for our first issue of Taste of Utah Valley. Quick on its heels, look out for our second issue in September 2017. Like Rockwell’s ice cream or Chubby’s burgers, we can’t get enough. We hope you’re anxious for more on our local food scene as well.

Utah County’s restaurants are rich with flavor – with eateries featuring locally sourced ingredients to places showcasing international dishes from the owners’ background or travels.

In our first edition of Taste of Utah Valley, you’ll find some restaurant highlights of the oldies but goodies (pg. 11), as far as longtime valley staples go, as well as the innovative and new. In one of our most ambitious food reviews, we delve into a food crawl – Utah Valley style – tackling close to a dozen desserts in just one evening (pg. 5). Prepare your insulin pen.

In conjunction, we’ve added some new features to our Dining section online that we think you’ll find incredibly helpful. Looking for a positive reviewed restaurant in Lehi that’s longer than one sentence that can give specific recommendations? It’s as simple as a search.

Check it out at heraldextra.com/dining.

Jordan Carroll Managing Editor Scott Tittrington Digital Editor Stacy Johnson Design David Revilla Photography Sammy Jo Hester Dominic Valente Isaac Hale Writers Doug Fox Court Mann Derrick Clements Kari Kenner

Cheers!

Casey Adams

Jordan Carroll

Managing Editor

Your all-access pass to local Utah Valley Local Dining Reviews!

Jennifer Durrant

heraldextra.com/ticket

We’ve Got You

Check here first for movies, music, dining and theater in Utah Valley.

COVERED

fb.com/TheTicket

@UVTicket

@heraldextraticket

www.heraldextra.com

Brought to you by the

02 | Taste of Utah Valley

www.heraldextra.com

Our new Provo dessert crawl is the ultimate sugar rush .......................................................................................

05

Old standbys dish on secrets to their success ................................................................................................................

11

Look beyond perfect produce when cooking at home .............................................................................................

14

Dine the light fantastic at Megaplex Theatres ......................................................................................................

15

Revisiting reviews from local restaurant favorites ......................................................................................................

18

Springville Mapleton Area Chamber Business of the Year 2017

DA

THE

I LY

HE R A

LD

BEST OF

AD

2016 S’

C HOI C E

04 | Taste of Utah Valley

AR

RE

ER

DS

UTAH VALLEY

La Casita Mexican Restaurant has been serving great food for 39 years.

Carne asada, nachos, chile rellenos, enchiladas, tacos, kid’s meals and lunch specials.

AW

Open Monday - Saturday Lunch & Dinner

Grab your insulin, folks — it’s time for downtown Provo’s inaugural dessert crawl Restaurant 1: Bombay House

COURT MANN

Daily Herald ife is full of things you should experience once, and then never again.

This is one of those things.

A few years ago one of my friends suggested this to me. That suggestion: a dessert crawl through downtown Provo — like a pub crawl, but with sweets instead of suds. Now, most of the time, dining reviews are not healthy endeavors. You get a bunch of food and overeat and feel bloated and sleepy the rest of the day. That being said, a dessert crawl even seemed a little extreme. How many desserts can a person reasonably eat? How many can one unreasonably eat?

Well, I’ll tell you how many: 10. The amount is 10 desserts.

It’s best to plan ahead when doing something like this. I scoped the menus of downtown Provo’s restaurants before embarking on the crawl. I wanted to sample the best desserts downtown had to offer, but I also wanted to, you know, enjoy it — you don’t want to eat five consecutive chocolate desserts (or do you?). It’s all about variety.

Starting on the northern edge of downtown, we spent the next five hours — yep, five (this takes forever) — walking from restaurant to restaurant, the sugar in our bloodstreams gradually rising, until we had eaten all 10 desserts. Here’s how it all went down.

(463 N. University Ave.) Dessert: Kulfi Kulfi, India’s signature ice cream, can come in many flavors, but Bombay House’s flavor is pretty traditional. Theirs includes pistachios, cashews, cardamom seeds and cream. The cream in kulfi is not whipped, so it’s creamier than typical American ice cream, resembling something closer to custard. It also takes a long time to make, with a distinct flavor that comes from continuous cooking of its milk and a slow freezing process. I was really into this dessert. The rich, almost bready taste of the cream, the subtle sweetness of the caramelized sugar, that earthy quality of the pistachios. A very smooth dessert, and a great way to begin the crawl.

Restaurant 2: CHOM Burger (45 W. 300 North) Dessert: Grasshopper Shake Walking off the kulfi, we headed to CHOM, one of downtown Provo’s newest restaurants. CHOM offers a few different milkshake flavors.

This includes a rotating seasonal flavor, which currently happens to be Grasshopper. If you’ve never had a grasshopper dessert, it’s mint and

ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD

The Kulfi at Bombay House in Provo.

The Grasshopper Shake at CHOM Burger in Provo. The shake includes ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD salted caramel, Oreo, chocolate chips, vanilla ice cream and mint flavoring.

April 2017 | 05

Downtown Provo’s Dessert Crawl

500 N

100 W

300 N

University Ave.

400 N

200 N Freedom Blvd.

100 N

Center St.

06 | Taste of Utah Valley

chocolate chip flavored. CHOM’s Grasshopper Shake also includes salted caramel and Oreo bits. We had CHOM split a single Grasshopper shake into three cups and ate ours as we walked to the next restaurant. CHOM gives you a wide straw with your shake, which is nice — nothing worse than squeezing a thick milkshake through a narrow, soda-sized straw. Especially this grasshopper shake, with its copious chocolate chips. CHOM’s Grasshopper Shake was more potent than I’d expected. The mint had a nice kick. But our shake was, sadly, pretty runny. Could have definitely been thicker.

Restaurant 3: Taste (117 N. University Ave.) Dessert: Mini Tasting What do you do at Taste? Well, you taste things. Taste’s downtown Provo store is attached to Coleman & Davis, a newish local chocolatier.

They host a variety of tastings each week, which include chocolates, cheeses and vinegars. For $8 a person you can experience a “mini tasting,” which includes five different chocolates and a few vinegars.

We sampled Italian hazelnut milk chocolate, Australian milk chocolate, sourdough-based English dark chocolate, raspberry-infused Parisian dark chocolate and Parisian banana nut dark chocolate. The tasting also included two different vinegars from Oregon — one honey-based, the other ginger-based — as well as a Tuscan hazelnut paste. A Taste employee walked us through each item, showing us the proper process for tasting chocolate (which includes smelling and rubbing the chocolate, all in the name of bringing out its many flavors). Note to tasters: Don’t refer to these steps as “hocus pocus.” One of my friends did this, and the employee didn’t look her in the eye after that.

DAILY HERALD

Chocolate bars cool on a tray at Taste in Provo.

Restaurant 4: Rockwell Ice Cream Co. (43 N. University Ave.) Dessert: Muddy Buddy ice cream Recovering from the “hocus pocus” gaffe, we walked down the block to Rockwell Ice Cream Co. It’s quickly become downtown’s busiest ice cream place (watch out for all the Tinder dates!), and for good reason. All of Rockwell’s flavors are created by the owner, Justin Williams. I’ve never had a bad flavor there; they’ve always been so supremely tasty. My go-to flavor at Rockwell is the Muddy Buddy, a chocolate-based offering that

ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD

Muddy Buddy ice cream is pictured in a waffle cone at Rockwell Ice Cream Co. in Provo.

April 2017 | 07

incorporates the ultimate riff on Chex cereal. (Muddy Buddies, for those unfamiliar, are Chex pieces coated in chocolate, peanut butter and powdered sugar.) The crusty Muddy Buddies embedded in the rich chocolate ice cream, with chunks of peanut butter, is a thing of beauty.

Restaurant 5: Gloria’s Little Italy (1 E. Center St.) Dessert: Millefoglie Gloria’s, located on the northeast corner of University Avenue and Center Street, has provided some of my favorite downtown meals over the years. But it has also been pretty mediocre occasionally.

Basically, consistency isn’t its strong suit. When I do order dessert at Gloria’s, I usually opt for the gelato. But we had just eaten ice cream, so instead we ordered the Millefoglie. This didn’t go as well as we’d hoped. Millefoglie is the Italian name for a Napoleon — a layered, custard-filled puff pastry. I’d seen the Millefoglie on the menu before our visit, but our server didn’t know which one the Millefoglie actually was.

After some inquiry he figured it out, handing us an enormous pastry.

Based on size alone, there was no way we’d make it through the whole thing. But the taste didn’t help. There really weren’t distinct layers to this Millefoglie — it was just a hodgepodge of cream and thin pastry flakes. The pastry looked flaky, but at this point was sort of soggy. I suspect it had been in the display case too long that day. I checked the time — five desserts in, and we’d been at this for two hours already. We were in it for the long haul.

DAILY HERALD

The Millefoglie dessert at Gloria’s Little Italy in Provo.

Restaurant 6: Station 22 Café (22 W. Center St.) Dessert: Deep Fried Cookie Dough Our crawl hit a major snag at Station 22. The restaurant was busy that night, so we just asked for a to-go order of the Deep Fried Cookie Dough. Seemed like a simple request. We sat down at Station 22’s waiting area and waited. Then we waited. And then we waited some more.

Forty minutes after ordering, we finally got our Deep Fried Cookie Dough. I had conceived this dessert crawl as a race against one’s own stomach. My stomach was starting to lose. We parked ourselves on a bench outside Station 22 and opened our to-go box. The Deep Fried Cookie Dough is coated in a sweet batter, fried, and served with walnut butter and cinnamon sugar on top, alongside some vanilla ice cream. It was good, but was it wait-for-40-minutes good? Nah.

ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD

The Deep Fried Cookie Dough at Station 22 Cafe in Provo. The dish features deep fried chocolate chip cookie dough, vanilla ice cream, walnut butter, cinnamon, sugar and fried sage.

Restaurant 7: Bruges Waffles & Frites (42 W. Center St.) Dessert: Pig on a Cloud After eating nothing but sweets for three hours, we desperately needed something salty. I had foreseen this scenario, though, positioning our next stop accordingly. The Pig on a Cloud from Bruges is a Liège waffle with bacon, crème fraîche and drizzled caramel. They didn’t skimp on the bacon — major props, Bruges — but we still needed more salt. My friend wisely ordered some fries, and thank goodness for that — each tiny salt crystal dissolved on my tongue, a craved counter to all the sweets that had come before. We alternated bites of fries and our dessert. The Pig on a Cloud’s bacon was more akin to ham than we’d expected, but still a great dessert nonetheless — that crème fraîche is whipped heaven.

I’ll be back for another when my blood sugar isn’t skyrocketing.

08 | Taste of Utah Valley

ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD

The Pig on a Cloud at Bruges Waffles & Frites in Provo. The dish features a Liège waffle stuffed with a slice of bacon, topped with bacon, crème fraîche, bacon bits and caramel.

Are You Hungry?

Welcome to Blues Street BBQ Co! Come on in and taste the difference in our smoked meats and awesome sauces!

Southern Specialties like: Memphis Rubbed Baby Back Ribs Hog Heaven Fries Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Friday & c i s u M Live Nights y a d r u t Sa

Mon – Thursday 11am-9pm Friday & Saturday 11am-9:30pm Closed Sunday bluesstreetbbq.com

SPECIAL

3499

2 Full Racks of our Signature BBQ Ribs Choice of 2 sides and Texas Toast

$

Offer valid through Dec 31, 2017

648 E State Rd. American Fork 801-692-7700

Restaurant 8: Joe Vera’s Mexican Restaurant (201 W. Center St.) Dessert: Deep Fried Cheesecake Salt consumed and spirits lifted, we walked down Center Street to Joe Vera’s. Since doing the crawl, I’ve looked at pictures taken that night a handful of times. None have inspired such salivating as the Deep Fried Cheesecake we ordered next. Joe Vera’s served this delicacy in a fried tortilla coated in cinnamon sugar (like a churro) alongside two scoops of vanilla ice cream and three large tufts of whipped cream, all drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces. It looks pretty, it tastes pretty. Would definitely recommend.

Restaurant 9: Oregano Italian Kitchen (223 W. Center St.) Dessert: Spumoni Panna Cotta Spumoni? Great. Panna Cotta? Great. Spumoni Panna Cotta? Yeah, it’s pretty great. Oregano Italian Kitchen fuses two classic Italian desserts here, with the tri-flavored spumoni, usually an ice cream, reimagined as a panna cotta gelatin custard. Served in a narrow glass, the top layer has marinated raspberries, then a vanilla custard, then a pistachio custard, each layer’s flavors and colors coalescing into the next. After hours of decadent desserts, the smaller and understated Spumoni Panna Cotta was a welcome reprieve. Only one more dessert to go.

DAILY HERALD

The Deep Fried Cheesecake at Joe Vera’s Mexican Restaurant in Provo.

Restaurant 10: Fruta Crush (198 W. Center St.) Dessert: Mangoneada We did it. We actually did it. 10 desserts from 10 restaurants, all in a night’s time. There was a sense of accomplishment as we entered Fruta Crush on Center Street. We’d been at it for more than four hours, with flowing conversation but an underlying urgency — you’ve got to stay on task, after all. Now at our final stop, there was nowhere else we had to be. No more rush. We ordered three Mangoneadas. These are giant mango-flavored sherbet popsicles, which fill the plastic cups in which they’re frozen and served. I garnished mine with some kind of subtly spicy seasoning — it may have been chili powder-based, I’m not totally sure. Either way, the Mangoneada was a fitting, smooth-butsugary kick in the pants to end the evening.

Takeaways (and some advice) One of my friends later joked we should’ve added an 11th and final stop: the hospital. And hey, while we’re there, how about a dessert from the cafeteria?

After nearly five hours and 10 desserts, maybe he was right (besides the cafeteria part). Eating nothing but sweets for that long, and doing so in small portions, gives your body a strange sensation. I hadn’t eaten normal food since earlier that afternoon. By the time the sun went down, the only food in my stomach had practically zero nutritional value. I certainly wasn’t hungry afterward — the thought of eating more was not appealing — but I wouldn’t say I was full either. My body was working, but on a strange, foreign level that wasn’t sustainable. It put me in a mental state that was both frenetic and lethargic.

Dare I say, my body didn’t appreciate the novelty of what we’d accomplished.

Hindsight is 20/20. I should’ve just force-fed myself some normal food afterward. If you brave your own dessert crawl, learn from my error here. Have some meat and vegetables handy at the finish line.

10 | Taste of Utah Valley

DAILY HERALD

The Spumoni Panna Cotta at Oregano Italian Kitchen in Provo.

Five hours is a long time to spend in restaurant booths with the same people. You need good collective chemistry to keep things fresh. I took a risk, inviting two friends who didn’t really know each other to be my two guests. I lucked out here. They got along swimmingly — both are good-natured, share the gift of gab and don’t take themselves too seriously. (This is why I invited them.) An endeavor like this requires much chitchat. Get guests who can keep the verbal ball rolling.

I’ve levied a lot of caveats here, so perhaps the question remains: Should you do the dessert crawl yourself? Yes, absolutely. Now, is it a good idea? Sort of — I mean, “good” is such a loaded word. It’s undoubtedly an experience you’ll never forget.

But if you do it twice, you might have a problem.

Stories from Utah County’s oldest restaurants that show no signs of stopping

The Daley Freeze in Payson was built in 1954. Ashlee and Jared Harrington own the restaurant.

The Purple Turtle in Pleasant Grove has been around since January 1968, and one of the current owners, Steve Cobbley, has been around in some capacity at the place just about that whole time.

“I started working here in 1976, in high school,” Cobbley said. “And then I worked for a number of years and left to go on a mission and came back and worked while I went to BYU, and then I left for a few years and came back and worked and was able to purchase part of it.”

As for what has kept the doors open until now, Cobbley points to a few different things.

“I think taking care of customers is a good thing, I think quality is a

ILY

HERA

LD

BEST OF

DA

THE

UTAH VALLEY AW S’ C HOICE

AD

2014

I LY

HE R A

LD

BEST OF

UTAH VALLEY RE

ER

AD

PROVO LOCATION 684 North Freedom Blvd (801) 377-3994

TH E RE

UTAH COUNTY’S BEST SUBS

DA

ER

2016 S’

C HOI C E

DS

Tartar sauce by the cup

A dream spot for a diner

AR

been around for years — decades — and don’t show signs of shutting off the burners any time soon.

We counted more than 20 restaurants that have been running since the early 1990s or before, and reached out to a few of them to see what has kept them in business all these years.

“We’ve owned it for two and a half years, but my husband and I used to eat here when we were 5,” Ashlee Harrington said. “People used to eat here when they were little and it’s just that memory. The memory and the old-school part of it.”

She said that the fresh, made-to-order food has kept the place in business, with popular items like hand-dipped halibut and onion rings.

“Our tartar sauce, people come and buy it by the cup,” she said.

DS

n recent years, Utah County has seen an explosion of dining options, with new restaurants popping up — in every culinary variety — faster than one can visit them all.

But not every new pizza, ramen or sushi shop stays open for long.

Competition over the empty stomachs (and full wallets) of Utah County residents can be stiff, and plenty of places close within months of being open.

And then, in the background of all that commotion of cutting ribbons and closing doors, are the staples. The restaurants that have

AR

DERRICK CLEMENTS Daily Herald

AW

SPRINGVILLE LOCATION 520 North Main Street (801) 489-9484 April 2017 | 11

good thing, I also think a name like Purple Turtle doesn’t hurt us,” he said. “That’s kind of a hard one to forget. It captures your attention and draws people in — especially kids. You drive by and your kids see the turtle, and, ‘Hey! Purple Turtle!’ “ If the name of the restaurant sounds particularly imaginative, that may be because of its origins.

“The original owner, his name was Lloyd Ash,” Cobbley said. “He had a dream about a very successful restaurant on this corner. And he didn’t think anything of it, and the next night he went to bed and had the exact same dream, so he figured he probably ought to start this restaurant. And all he remembered was it was named Purple Turtle.

That’s the story I’ve been told anyway.”

A naan starter in Provo Bombay House founder Daniel Shanthakumar earned a bachelor’s degree from BYU-Hawaii and was ready to stay there to start a restaurant when his plans changed during a visit to Utah in 1992.

“I was about to sign the lease, (and) I came to visit my sister in Utah, who was going to graduate school at BYU-Provo,” Shanthakumar said.

“The one in Hawaii, we were waiting for a Japanese company to fund the project. In Utah, we said, ‘Why don’t we do it in Provo? With our own money, with a couple of the guys?’ It was not meant to happen, and then in December we found the place, and the following year in February we opened it.”

Now, Bombay House has other locations in Salt Lake and West Jordan — and Utah County has a number of Indian restaurants. (India Palace in Provo and Kohinoor in Orem both were founded by people who previously worked with Shanthakumar at Bombay House.) But in 1993, Bombay House was the first.

“We kind of pretty much educated Indian food to Utah,” Shanthakumar said. “When we put the sign (out), people said, like, ‘Indian restaurant in Provo?’ For a while we thought, ‘Oh man, we’re in trouble.’ “ On the opening night, Shanthakumar invited about 50 friends, but

ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD

Sandeep Singh refills Julienne Craig’s water glass as she has dinner with her family and friends April 7 at Bombay House in Provo.

DAILY HERALD

The Daley Freez in Payson has been serving Utah County customers since 1954.

12 | Taste of Utah Valley

DAILY HERALD

The Purple Turtle in Pleasant Grove has been shelling out delicious food since January of 1968.

Utah County’s Oldest Restaurants

DAILY HERALD

Leslie’s Family Tree Restaurant in Santaquin, shown in this 2013 file photo, has been scaring up business since it opened in 1984.

Restaurant

Year

City

Daley Freez Leslie’s Family Tree Santa Queen Drive Inn Ripple’s Drive-In Brick Oven Glade’s Drive Inn Purple Turtle Porter’s Place Canton Village (now Lucky 5) Joe Vera’s La Casita The Italian Place Sensuous Sandwich Taco Amigo Magleby’s One Man Band Diner Tommy’s Burgers Los Hermanos Burgers Supreme Zubs Bombay House

1954 1954 1954 1955 1956 1962 1968 1971 1977

Payson Santaquin Santaquin Provo Provo Spanish Fork Pleasant Grove Lehi Spanish Fork

1978 1978 1978 1980 1980 1981 1986 1987 1987 1990 1992 1993

Provo Springville Lindon Provo Pleasant Grove Springville (Various) Provo Provo Provo Springville Provo

ran out of food when 250 people showed up.

“We didn’t expect that,” he said. “The response was overwhelming.”

An old ghost of Santaquin Leslie Broadhead has owned Leslie’s Family Tree in Santaquin since 2000, but she has worked there since the day it opened in 1984. She bought it from her mother.

“It’s all the same history, same recipes, same restaurant,” she said.

“We built it for our mother when my father passed away. My mom and brother went into the business together, and all of our family worked here, (so we said), ‘Let’s just call it the Family Tree,’ so we did.”

Broadhead boils down the secret of the restaurant’s success to one thing.

“I mainly think it’s because of our scones,” she said. “They’re literally the size of your arm. They’re big.”

The building the restaurant is in is one of the oldest in town, Broadhead said.

“Oh heck, that building’s been here — it’s one of the first buildings that was built in Santaquin, so it’s been a whole bunch of different things,” she said. “And then our kitchen here is actually the old post office and the Greyhound bus stop that was here years and years ago.”

All that history gives the place another claim to fame — aside from the scones.

“We’re known for having ghosts up here, too,” Broadhead said.

“We’re one of Utah’s most haunted (places). So I thought maybe that’s what you were calling about.”

But Leslie’s Family Tree — like lots of Utah County restaurant staples — shows no signs of becoming a ghost itself anytime soon.

looking for a place to

?

eat

a place to meet

choose from our GREAT selection...

Red Robin Wingers

King Kabob

Orange Julius Osaka Japan

Panda Express

Panpaya Latin Grill

Villia Italian Kitchen Subzero Pretzelmaker The Coffee Shop

more to COME!

provotownecentre.com

April 2017 | 13

Chef Chad Pritchard

C

How to be less wasteful in your own cooking at home JORDAN CARROLL Daily Herald n an empty and set dining area prior to the dinner crowd in downtown Provo, Chef Chad Pritchard at Oregano’s Italian Kitchen sat down and spoke with me about my favorite topic — food.

I originally had a different agenda as I sought information from a professional on how to select the best ingredients for cooking at home (Does anyone else struggle with picking melons?). However, I instead experienced a come-to-Jesus moment. It’s one I think more than half of Americans still need to face.

While I frequently host inner debates in the grocery store aisles and at farmers market booths about which piece of produce to pick, and I know surely you do too, how often do Americans discount the imperfect looking items as unusable? At farmers markets in particular, produce can come in irregular sizes or include small blemishes that the modern-day shopper — used to shiny fruit and smooth vegetables — unconsciously turns their nose up at.

“Is it pretty?” Pritchard asked me. “Small farmers don’t have those processes. Conventional produce looks perfect — they’re grown to be shipped. They don’t care if [consumers] enjoy them. For example, tomatoes are so entrenched in our cooking that they’re not reinventing the wheel. People don’t care what tomatoes taste like; they’ll still buy it. It’s grown to look pretty. The ones grown and sold at farmers markets? The produce has cracks, they look ugly.”

According to an article published by Ohio State University based on a large-scale consumer survey about food waste, Americans throw away 80 billion pounds of food each year and only 50 percent of people are aware that it’s a problem.

“First, we can do things to chip away at the perceived benefits of wasting food,” doctoral student Danyi Qi, who co-authored the study, said in the article. “Our study shows that many people feel they derive some type of benefit by throwing food away, but many of those benefits are not real.”

Researchers in Qi’s study suggested removing “Sell by” and “Use by” dates from food packages could significantly reduce the amount of good food that is trashed.

“Only in rare circumstances is that date about food safety, but people are confused about the array of dates on food packages,” said study co-author Brian Roe, the McCormick Professor of Agricultural Marketing and Policy at The Ohio State University.

Pritchard shared numerous insightful tips on what consumers — and more specifically Utahns — can do to create delicious-tasting food that also minimizes waste.

••• Vegetables will get labeled “no good” but Pritchard reiterated that

14 | Taste of Utah Valley

hef Chad Pritchard is a classically trained French chef with a strong background in both Italian and Asian cooking.

Born in Southern Alabama, and raised in Central Texas, he grew up in the restaurant scene of Austin. After finishing college, Pritchard decided to pursue his passion in the kitchen and further his culinary training by attending the Texas Culinary Academy, which would later become Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, in Austin, Texas. After working at multiple restaurants across the country, he returned to the program that he graduated from, and became a chef instructor at Le Cordon Bleu in Dallas, a position he held for two years.

After a stent as an adjunct instructor in the culinary department of Utah Valley University, Chef Pritchard purchased and acts as the Executive Chef of Oregano Italian Kitchen in Provo. Through these efforts and his desire to operate restaurants around Provo, the ultimate goal is to create a restaurant culture in the Utah Valley that rivals any other region in the country.

they’re frequently going to get cooked anyway. People are afraid of discount bins (and I’m guilty of this myself). We waste so much food, Pritchard explained, and yet sometimes the flavor is better.

“People don’t understand that just because a piece of produce is soft and ugly doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

What do you do with those fruits and vegetables? Roast, blend, chop, blanch.

Tip: Buy what you’ll use. Americans buy a week to 10 days worth of groceries and ultimately end up chucking it. Instead, go to the store to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables two to three times a week.

Preserving Can’t use what you bought? Preserve it. Utahns are all about canning.

“At culinary school we had peppers coming out of our ears,” Pritchard said. “I called my wife and she brought boxes of peppers home. She’d julienne the peppers, put them on sheet pans in single layers, freeze them and put in ziplock bags. Then, the peppers could be saved to put in soup and fajitas. You don’t have to can.”

Cherry tomatoes? Freeze them and then put them in a sauce.

Get outside of your comfort zone when it comes to canning.

Pritchard included examples like roasting tomatoes in the oven and then putting them in a jar and filling it with olive oil, rather than canning plain stewed tomatoes.

Strawberries are in season? Buy 2 pounds and make jam, or even better — a berry compote. There are more options than the generic defaults.

Tip: Dry your abundant fresh herbs. Does your basil grow out of control in summer? Tie it up and hang it upside down. In two weeks you’ll have amazing dried basil, according to Pritchard. Basil. Sage. Lavender. They last all season.

Byproducts Pritchard’s wife, Kimber, is the master of fully utilizing different parts of produce and potential byproducts. You’re paying for it, he said, so why not try to get the most flavor from it?

“Garbage”? Waste not! For example, shrimp shells can be used for stock for soup or turned into a powder for shrimp salt. Both of these things add flavors that truly enhance a dish or meal.

Tip: Skins and rinds of citrus can be used for their zest. So, zest! Dry it out and add to tacos or guacamole.

Megaplex Theatres take dinner-and-a-movie combo to next level DOUG FOX Daily Herald inner and a movie has been the go-to date-night pairing since the days of the double feature. (Remember those?)

As far as silver screen-related combos, dinner and a flick go together like Bogie and Bacall, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and Beauty and the Beast.

It used to be, however, that pulling off a successful dinner-film double dip involved making reservations, accounting for extra time and potential dining delays and traveling to two separate locations.

Not any more.

The Megaplex at Geneva in Vineyard, which opened in March 2015, has you covered. Most movie theaters are stocked with the usual array of candy, drinks and popcorn, but Megaplex locations have taken theater dining to a completely different level with a full variety of hot and cold menu offerings.

According to Jeff Whipple, vice president of public relations for Megaplex Theatres, expanding the menu was a prime goal of the late Larry H. DOMINIC VALENTE, DAILY HERALD Miller when he opened the first Megaplex location at Jordan Commons The signature nachos are pictured at the Larry H. Miller Megaplex in in Sandy in 1999.

Vineyard.

Leslie’s Family Tree Restaurant

of Orem and Spanish Fork

77 W Main Santaquin, UT 84655 • 801-754-3499 www.lesliesfamilytreerestaurant.com

Wisconsin farm real dairy and hand pressed sirloin Burgers, both fresh and never frozen!

DA

THE

I LY

HE R A

LD

BEST OF

Monday - Thursday & Sunday 9am - 9pm Friday & Saturday 9am - 10pm

2016 S’

C HOI C E

AR

AD

• Traditional Home Cooking • Famous for the Scones • Live Music on the Weekends

RE

Great American Food

ER

DS

UTAH VALLEY AW

Thanks for voting us best burger and best dessert in Utah County!

April 2017 | 15

If you go Megaplex Theatres @ Geneva Where: 600 Mill Road, Vineyard.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday Prices: $2.50-$8.50 Info: (801) 841-3270, megaplextheatres.com/ geneva

DOMINIC VALENTE PHOTOS, DAILY HERALD

Sink your teeth into a signature salad at the Larry H. Miller Megaplex in Vineyard.

“Since then, we’ve built and remodeled several additional theater complexes with the idea of providing a better selection of food items than other theater chains,” Whipple said. “We’ve adjusted the menu over the years to account for the changing tastes of guests, but the idea has been the same since Larry and Gail (Miller) started the first Megaplex location.”

Whipple said that the expanded menu has been a hit with Megaplex patrons from Day 1.

“Date night has improved for couples who didn’t have time to enjoy dinner and a movie,” he said. “The combination available at Megaplex Theatres makes it easier for people to enjoy a night out watching a favorite film and enjoying a great meal that’s freshly prepared.”

My wife and I put the Megaplex dinner-and-a-movie option to the test recently for an opening-weekend showing of “Kong: Skull Island.” Our original plan revolved around getting to the theater plenty early and dining comfortably in the food court, but in typical date-night fashion at our house, we were pinched for time once we were finally able to extricate ourselves from the rest of the family at home. Not to worry. At Megaplex, we learned, you can actually get your food in special trays which you take right into the theater and fit into the cup holders of your seat.

Genius!

The Megaplex menu is typical to a normal diner, but downright expansive for a movie theater. Starting off, there are hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, corn dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches. Stepping up from there are a half-dozen freshly prepared sandwiches. These include a Philly Cheese Steak, Turkey Cheese Steak, Chicken Cordon Bleu, B.L.T., Turkey Swiss, and Hot Ham & Cheddar. Sides feature regular fries, sweet potato fries, Buffalo JR’s Tots, and a small side salad.

Pizza Hut also services Megaplex with a selection of hand-tossed sig-

16 | Taste of Utah Valley

nature salads and 9” artisan style pizzas. The salads include Athenian, Asian and Chicken Caesar. The pizza options include Meat Eater, BBQ Chicken, Pepperoni and Cheese. Personal pan pepperoni and cheese pizzas are also offered.

Mexican food items Nachos Grande (in full or half sizes), meat or bean burritos, quesadillas and a taco salad.

The Coke Freestyle machine also will leave your head spinning with its myriad soft drink options and flavor add-ins.

Whipple said that Megaplex offers the same key items at all locations and that the menu is adjusted and updated based on patron preferences. He said some of the top sellers at the Vineyard location tend to be the Philly Cheese Steak, the artisan pizzas and the same Pineapple Dole Whip that is offered near the Tiki Room at Disneyland.

Cool down before or after the latest blockbuster with various flavors of gelatto at the Larry H. Miller Megaplex in Vineyard.

And don’t forget the regular candy.

“Most of our locations also offer the same group of top-selling snacks and candy,” he said. “Where possible, we even keep a few boxes of Junior Mints in the freezer, since some guests enjoy the cool mint a little extra cool. It’s worth a try!”

With the start time of our feature film bearing down upon us, my wife and I made a command decision to order our meals and eat them in the theater — then we would simply get dessert after the screening. The Megaplex experience capitalizes by providing that flexibility.

My wife ordered the chicken quesadilla and I opted for the B.L.T. Both were fresh and extremely delicious. We got them with drinks and a side of sweet potato fries. The sweet potato fries also proved to be a great decision.

I must admit to feeling slightly self-conscious as I ate my B.L.T. during the movie, sitting right next to stranger on one side in a rather full section of the theater. The bacon was crunchy and I was worried it might be a tad too loud. The crisis — even if only in my own mind — was averted once I realized I could just carefully take bites during the loud scenes.

Thankfully, there were no shortage of booming, bombastic sequences in “Kong: Skull Island” to mask my hunger.

Kong growls and beats chest. Bite, chew, chew, chew, gulp. Kong smacks plane from the sky and throws to the ground. Bite, chew, chew, chew, gulp. Kong tenderly lifts fair maiden in his paw to get a closer look.

Sandwich poised in front of open mouth, then gently placed back in tray. You get the idea.

(Note to self: Maybe this wouldn’t be the perfect meal choice for something like, say, “Cast Away,” that goes long stretches without dialogue.)

Following the movie, we went back to concessions to sample some dessert. My wife went with gelato — choosing three different flavor scoops in a bowl for $5.50. I couldn’t resist a cookie dough shake — and there were nine additional toppings available as well.

Further dessert options include soft-serve ice cream (be it in a cone or a cup), donut holes, cotton candy, frozen lemonade, Dibs and the aforementioned Pineapple Dole Whip.

No sooner had we sat down at an open table to enjoy our dessert choices than we were joined by a couple from our neighborhood, who were there to attend the next screening of “Kong.” They picked up some snacks and joined us for a fun 15-minute visit.

Dinner, movie, dessert and a partial double date? The uncommon denominator was Megaplex — which provided everything on this particular evening except a real-world happily ever after. That, my friends, is up to us.

425 W CENTER ST, PROVO, UT DOMINIC VALENTE, DAILY HERALD

A gourmet pizza could be your main dinner attraction at the Megaplex Theatres in Vineyard.

April 2017 | 17

Rockwell owner dishes scoop on local ice cream company Spenser Heaps Daily Herald ustin Williams takes ice cream pretty seriously. What began as a family pastime making homemade ice cream during his summers growing up in Colorado has transformed into Williams’ business and passion.

Williams opened the doors at Rockwell Old Fashioned Ice Cream Company in downtown Provo with his sights set on making the best ice cream from top-quality ingredients.

“The whole concept was I wanted to do it better than anybody,” Williams said. “I wanted the best: the freshest milk from the local dairy, I wanted everything made by hand from scratch.”

This ethos stems in part from Williams’ own purchasing habits.

When he’s shopping for food, cost is a factor but quality is paramount.

Williams also pulls from his experience working with top chefs in highend restaurants, using terms like “flavor portfolio” and “pairing” when he talks about his product. When describing his business philosophy, Williams talks more about quality, sustainability and locality than he talks about cost.

Rockwell sources a custom ice cream mix from nearby dairies including Reed’s Dairy in southeast Idaho, which uses no artificial hormones.

Williams said he’s visited the dairy farm to make sure he knows where his ingredients come from and make sure the cows are treated well.

The shop’s honey comes from Delta, while mint and other floral flavors come from local growers, Williams said. Once the farmers markets start up for the season, Williams looks forward to a greater variety of local flavor components.

Besides great ingredients, Williams uses an ice cream maker analogous to the process used for ice cream around the turn of the 20th century. Many ice cream makers use a 100 percent overrun, which means the ice cream mix has expanded 100 percent from the incorporation of air in the manufacturing process. Williams has his settings dial to only do a 20-to-30 percent overrun, resulting in a richer, creamier product.

While his business is still young and evolving, it seems like Williams has found a pretty good recipe for success.

On a recent Friday evening, dozens of people filled every available standing space in the shop waiting in line for a serving of Williams’ frozen treats. While there is a steady stream of customers during the day, employees said Friday and Saturday nights start to get crazy around 7:30 p.m. and stay that way until closing time at 11 p.m.

The crowds of customers flocking to Rockwell seem to serve as a sort of vindication, but the success of Williams’ desire to put quality first was a point of concern when he was planning the business. While not as cheap as some of the big ice cream chains, at $3.60 for a 5-to6-ounce scoop, the prices at Rockwell are in line with other higher-end ice cream shops in the area.

An informal survey of customers in the shop this past Friday revealed that none of them were surprised or disappointed by the price.

Several mentioned they were delighted to see the size of the servings they received and wished they’d ordered a smaller size. What people did talk about was the creamy texture and amazing flavors.

J

18 | Taste of Utah Valley

If you go Rockwell Ice Cream Co. Where: 43 N. University Ave., Provo Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday Info: (801) 318-5950, http://www.rockwellicecream.com/

Praise like this is music to Williams’ ears. He recalled having a local ice cream shop growing up that he’d take friends and family to when they were visiting from out of town. Williams remembers a sense of pride in having a great, local place to show off.

“I want that same feeling for my customers and I want them to know that we work hard,” Williams said. “This is my dream. I love doing it, but I also want people to be happy.”

Williams said he enjoys receiving requests for future products, flavor ideas and criticism from his customers.

“It’s fun to have that kind of camaraderie between the owner and the customers,” Williams said. “We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them. … They’re the ones who really make us who we are.”

This article originally appeared in the Daily Herald on May 30, 2016.

43 N University Ave, Provo, UT 84601 (801) 318-5950

If you go Marley’s Jr. Where: 27 N. 100 West, Provo Hours: 7 a.m to 10 p.m.

Monday through Wednesday, 7 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday Prices: $2.50-$10 Info: (801) 373-0718, marleys.com

Marley’s Jr. revs up taste meter in smaller Provo location KARI KENNER Daily Herald

I

f you spend any time at all in downtown Provo, you may have witnessed the evolution of a tiny little shop located just off Center Street on 100 West.

Once home to a burger joint called Sammy’s, the building later evolved into a pretty delicious dive-style diner called Zeek’s Pieshake Parlour. The burgers were good and the namesake Pieshakes even better, but it unfortunately wasn’t too long until the restaurant changed hands once again, this time becoming Marley’s Jr. If the name sounds familiar, well, it should. Marley’s Gourmet Sliders is a classic (and highly popular) biker-style restaurant located inside Timpanogos Harley-Davidson in Lindon, with a second location at The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo.

It’s similar to other Marley’s locations, but if you’re expecting all the same options, don’t. The menu features four areas drastically simplified from the original Marley’s menu to serve as a perfect junior option for a bite-sized store.

All-day breakfast options include bottomless French toast with buttermilk syrup ($6), a loaded breakfast burrito ($6) and perfectly crisped breakfast potatoes ($2.50), while the lunch menu features a classic slider ($3.50), a Handsome Rob (essentially a burger with cheese, bacon, grilled onions and buffalo sauce priced at $3.50), chicken tenders ($6) and shoestring or sweet potato fries ($2.50).

The menu finishes up with a variety of shakes and, as a token of the restaurant’s predecessors, a sampling of Pieshakes, including Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie and Peach Cobbler.

One of the first things we tasted was the chicken strips, and it’s safe to say we have a new favorite place to get them. As opposed to the traditional, thick breading found on chicken strips in most restaurants, Marley’s

20 | Taste of Utah Valley

Jr.’s strips were more lightly breaded and cooked to just the right level of crispness on the outside to allow for some moisture inside.

As per standard for Marley’s, the shoestring fries really are shoestring thin, which can be frustrating for quick eating, but that made for perfect finger food for the toddler in the group. They were seasoned and cooked well enough that size really didn’t matter.

The breakfast potatoes were well made, and everyone in our group who sampled the sweet potato fries ranked them as some of the best.

On par with those served at the full-size Marley’s restaurants, the slider patties were well-cooked and topped with a full-size burger portion of decorations.

We loved both the regular and Handsome Rob varieties, though if you’re looking for extra flavor, we’d definitely point you toward the latter. Think melty cheese, flavorful grilled onion, crisp bacon and just the right amount of sauce, and you’ll glimpse how good it really was.

The highlight of our French toast experience was by far the gooey buttermilk syrup, which coated our thick, Texas toast-style bread. Though I’m more a fan of flavorful cinnamon French toast, there’s no denying the bottomless option of French toast at Marley’s is worth the $6.

We topped off our meal by sharing a Peach Cobbler Pieshake and a Banana Nutella and Toasted Marshmallow regular shake. At $6, though our Pieshake was good -- legitimate, delicious cobbler in my shake? Yes, please! -- it really wasn’t more wonderful than our other two shakes, which came in at $4 each. Packed with real ingredients and full flavor, unless you’re really craving a Pieshake, we might recommend one of the other fantastic flavors that come in the same size.

To wrap up, seeing as sliders are smaller, and generally more flavorful versions of a burger, it only makes sense that Marley’s Jr. is a smaller, and definitely flavorful version of Marley’s.

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on July 14, 2016.

Café 300 delivers some of Provo’s best comfort food COURT MANN Daily Herald ny time I review a restaurant, I try to be inconspicuous. I don’t want the restaurant owners to know what I’m there for. To preserve the authenticity of it. If they knew, they’d probably pull out all the stops. (Come to think of it, that sounds pretty nice.)

Going to Café 300, though, I think I blew my cover. It might have something to do with my friend bringing his high-end camera to snap photos. Or maybe it was that our group of four got way more food than we could possibly eat: appetizers, Italian sodas, five separate dinner meals.

Listen, I never said I was good at being discreet.

I had been to Café 300 once before. The restaurant, located at 465 S. University Ave. in Provo, follows many other restaurants that used to reside at the spot, including Winger’s, Norma Jeane’s Diner and Taco Riendo. My first visit to Café 300 did not disappoint. I got the Hot Turkey meal, which the menu accurately described as “generous slices of juicy, oven-roasted turkey breast and gravy,” served with salad, a potato, vegetable and roll. It was the closest thing I’d had to a home-cooked meal in quite some time. The gravy and the mashed potatoes and the juicy turkey ... my goodness. So good.

We ordered the Pork Chops, which came with the same sides as the Hot Turkey. The pork chops weren’t as juicy as the turkey. If anything, they were a tad dry. Still, though, it had plenty of homecooked charm.

For those who aren’t so meat-inclined, might we recommend the Herbed Cream Cheese Sandwich? It comes with herbed cream cheese, red onion, thin-sliced cucumber and tomatoes, served on your choice of bread. It came with two sides, picking from ranch beans, French fries, onion rings and greens. Café 300’s fries are top notch: medium girth (think smallish steak fries), perfectly seasoned, slightly crispy on the outside but nice and soft on the inside, and hot, but not so hot that it burns your tongue.

While we’re on the topic of side dishes, let’s discuss Café 300’s onion rings. In my first visit, my friend swore by them — and for good reason. How often do you bite into an onion ring only to pull out the entire onion from its deep-fried casing? Not with Café 300, though.

The melding of onion and flaky, breaded crust was perfect. Maybe onion rings aren’t your thing. It doesn’t matter. Get theirs anyway.

My space on this page is far spent, but let me briefly mention the other food we ordered. The Bacon Cheese Burger was hefty — a one-third-pound patty with sliced bacon, your choice of cheese and other hamburger fixings, served on a toasted bun. In a word, tasty. We also got the pasta salad and a variety of Italian sodas. All delicious options.

It has a small staff, and it takes a while to get you your food after the order has been placed. This isn’t a place to go if you’re in a rush.

Go to Café 300 to relax. And if you bring a camera with you, who knows? You might get some special treatment.

A

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on May 29, 2014.

22 | Taste of Utah Valley

If you go Café 300 Where: 465 S. University Ave. Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sunday Prices: $7-$11 Info: (801) 691-0218, CafeOn300.com

Cafe300gt@gmail.com 801-607-2174 465 S. University Ave, Provo, UT 84601 NEW HOURS Tues, Wed, Thur 7:00 am - 3:00 pm Fri & Sat 7:00 am - 10:00 pm Sun 7:00 am - 2:45 pm

We’re not fast food, we’re fresh food

New Menu, New Hours - Same Great Food!

Breakfast all day - Everyday

FREE Entree with purchase of a 2nd Entree and 2 Beverages *expires 6/30/2017

If you go CHUBBY’S CAFÉ Where: 1284 Redwood Road in Saratoga Springs Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday Prices: $5.29-$9.99 for adult entrees Info: (385) 352-7143, facebook. com/Chubbyscafesaratogasprings

Chubby’s Café weighs in with phat form KARI KENNER Daily Herald hubby’s Café in Saratoga Springs is managed by Ryan Schooley and Will Moak, and is another notch in the belt of the Moaks when it comes to building a successful business.

According to Schooley, the Chubby’s Café franchise kicked off seven years ago under the stewardship of Tom and Mike Moak, who dropped everything to start a business they could stand behind. The brothers sold all they had, taking a leap of faith and their mother’s recipes to start a burger joint that could carve its own niche in Utah.

That do-it-yourself, nose-to-the grindstone spirit is part of how Schooley teamed with Will Moak to open the Saratoga Springs location of Chubby’s, shifting from a role as the Moak family’s former attorney to a part of the Chubby’s legacy.

Though I’m a sucker for stories of go-getters and successful startups, I’m an even bigger sucker for fantastic burgers.

When I dine out just with family and friends, I tend to default rather than experiment with the full menu of options. Essentially, I’m a big fan of burgers and will get them almost anywhere I go. Eating at Chubby’s, however, has set the bar high enough that I don’t know if I’m going to be able to go back to normal restaurant burgers.

There are roughly a dozen options when it comes to freshly made burgers, with an almost equally lofty list of chicken sandwiches, a few salad options and a handful of kids meal options.

Getting straight to the point, and the beef, I followed the suggestion of a friendly Chubby’s staffer and ordered the BBQ Burger. Priced at $7.99, the burger comes piled with pepperjack cheese, a tangy BBQ sauce,

C

26 | Taste of Utah Valley

grilled onions, coleslaw and pickles, with your choice of side included.

Word to the wise, these burgers are BIG. So set aside any issues you might have with getting a little messy before you order one. They’re well worth the sticky fingers.

The slaw at Chubby’s is sweet and ridiculously well-seasoned (I’m not usually a coleslaw fan), and paired really well with the flavor of the grilled onions. The tang of the BBQ sauce was a nice contrasting element, with a well-cooked patty and crisp, toasted buns completing the picture.

I chose the scones for my side -- they are decently sized, served in pairs and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Combined with the sweet honey butter sauce that comes with them, they were almost more dessert than side, and beyond delicious.

My husband tackled the chicken offerings with the Chicken Bacon Ranch, and we were equally impressed with it. One of the biggest issues we usually have with sandwiches like this is either too much or too little in the ranch department, but somehow Chubby’s has managed to strike the perfect balance.

We tend to be a little miserly when it comes to dining out. With two kids and a mortgage, we choose where we go carefully, and if there’s not a good value for the price, we probably won’t head back anytime soon.

That being said, I’m already planning our next trip to Chubby’s.

With its utterly American (in the best way) cuisine with a hint of Cajun and Southern flavors, Chubby’s in Saratoga Springs is a much-needed, utterly delectable addition to the west side of the valley.

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on Feb. 23, 2017.

Our Original Location in

Pleasant Grove

336 South Main Street Pleasant Grove, Utah

801.785.1503 And Now Serving the

Saratoga Springs Area 1284 Redwood Road Saratoga Springs, Ut 84045

385.352.7143 www.chubbyscafeut.com

If you go De La Rosa Mexican Grill Where: 46 E. Bulldog Blvd., Provo Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Info: https://www.facebook. com/DeLaRosaMexicanGrill/, (801) 374-3542

De La Rosa Mexican Grill: An opportunity for your taste buds JORDAN CARROLL Daily Herald

D

oesn't the saying go, when God closes one door he opens another? Or maybe it was a window.

While I'm not particularly fond of the original phrase, as it usually means pain ensues while everyone around you is exasperatingly optimistic, it seems the row of shops along Bulldog Boulevard adjacent to the Brigham Young University campus has found a new business to join the lineup after the tragic loss of El Azteca.

That was a door we all mourned the closing of with much resentment toward the cosmic universe. It's still a tender subject for some Provo residents.

But alas, Provo has been given De La Rosa Mexican Grill. Its doors have been open for business for about nine months, and it seems to have grown a small following during that period – though I imagine it will take quite some time before it amasses the devotion El Azteca drew. Adjustments can be hard ... however good they may be. (There's still one Provo restaurant that I can't bring myself to try because I'm still distraught over the previous occupant's closing. I loved it that much.)

However, with eager and friendly faces, De La Rosa is quick to greet customers and usher them into the familiar space. Its menu is not extensive and within it there are some unique combinations that could become customer favorites.

Lauded as its signature item, the Chicken Plate is substantial. A half order of the grilled chicken can easily feed two people, with leftovers, and is also served with rice, coleslaw and tortillas. The chicken was flavorful and one of those dishes you wish you could grill up at home, but if you tried you might end up scorching the side of your house – you're better off just going out for dinner. The coleslaw was a surprise side; I can't recall eating coleslaw at another Mexican restaurant. And while I was

28 | Taste of Utah Valley

originally perplexed, the crisp coleslaw ended up being a fitting side as it helped mitigate the heavy feeling one can encounter after inhaling the deliciousness that is Mexican food. It kept the meal lighter.

There were a few dishes on the menu my friend and I were unfamiliar with -- Alambre con Queso and Orden de Alambre -- but the descriptions piqued our curiosity and in the case of the Alambre con Queso, sold us.

The Alambre con Queso had great flavors from a combination of green bell peppers, onion, bacon, cheese, and meat -- we chose steak -- with an oiled and crispy tortilla. As my friend aptly put it, the Alambre con Queso was like a Mexican Philly cheesesteak and it was "glorious." I expect that to be a repeat order.

The rest of the menu included dishes like tacos, burritos, quesadillas and deluxe tacos (pork and steak with beans or potatoes). We sampled a steak and pork taco but the meat didn't embody the flavors of previous dishes or incite any excitement. Tacos can be competitive when you have a town laced with taco shops (Brassas, 180 Tacos, Taqueria El Vaquero, Laura's Kitchen and Don Joaquin).

All of the dishes could be supplemented with the handful of salsas De La Rosa had at a small salsa bar. They ran a little on the spicier side, which I personally appreciated. The deep red one was paired with the chicken plate, and you can never go wrong with a tomatillo sauce.

From the bebidas in the cooler we tried very large cups of horchata and hibiscus, which were a deal.

We also learned De La Rosa caters. So, if you can't manage to step through the hallowed doors where El Azteca once stood, you're in luck as De La Rosa's chicken can apparently come to you.

See? Open window. And now, full stomachs.

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on Nov. 3, 2016.

Dine-in

Drive-Thru

• Pollo Asado • Alambres • Tacos • Tortas • Burritos • Salads

Catering

• Quesadillas • Enchiladas • Nachos • Carne Asada Platters • Chile Rellenos

Mon-Thurs 11am-9pm • Fri-Sat 11am-10pm 46 East Bulldog BLVD Provo, UT 84604 • (801) 374-3542

If you go India Palace Where: 98 W. Center St., Provo and 1086 W. South Jordan Parkway, Suite 3, South Jordan Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Saturday Prices: Soups and salads $3.95-$4.95; entrees $12.95$16.95 Info: (801) 373-7200, indiapalaceutah.com

Treat your senses at India Palace CASEY ADAMS Daily Herald alk into India Palace in Provo and your senses are confounded with sounds and aromas of a familiarly foreign culture.

Soft Indian music fills the silence in between tables set in a dining area divided by decorative partitions. I was greeted and seated quickly and mentally perused menu items based on the sweet, spiced smells wafting through the air.

When I think of Indian food, I resort to thinking of curry – and justifiably so, I suppose. However, it’s the complex blend of specific spices that actually trigger this knee-jerk association. One cannot taste it all in one bite, but after three or four spoonfuls you know what you’re getting yourself into.

India Palace specializes in authentic Northern Indian cuisine, and I began with Chicken Shorba (chicken soup.) It’s served in a teacup-sized dish with a tomato base and plenty of diced chunks of chicken. Green peas and minced onions tie in a mild blend of Indian spices that went down smooth.

After turning to the entrees, I noticed two different mango chicken menu items. I ordered the Mango Chicken entree from the traditional chicken specialties section and was surprised at what I was served -- red curry?

I swallowed my presumed expectation of seeing orange mangoes and cautiously dipped my spoon into the scarlet mixture. First I tasted a definite tomato flavor, but then it gave way to a spirited spectrum of peppered seasonings.

Thin mango slices in the sauce had soaked up the color of the red curry lying among large pieces of chicken. When I added a mango slice to my spoonful of Mango Chicken the pepper-sweet combination balanced out nicely.

W

30 | Taste of Utah Valley

The other mango chicken dish, Mango Chicken Korma, is comprised of a mango pulp in a yellow curry sauce that is less sweet-and-sour and far more sweet than the red-colored mango chicken dish. I would recommend the yellow curry-based version.

I ventured on and found my desire in a wonderful Shrimp Pineapple Curry in the seafood specialties menu section.

Large, quartered potatoes and vegetables with canned pineapple chunks and plump de-tailed shrimp stared up at me. They were all bathing in a sweet yellow curry touched with a hint of coconut milk. Like I said, wonderful.

There are three spice levels available: mild, medium and hot for most entrees. I typically go with mild so the heat doesn’t overwhelm the subtle flavors of good curry. However, I went for medium this time, and it was time for a breather.

India Palace has a drink menu that’s full of tropical fruit titles so I went with a Mango Lassi, which consisted of mango puree mixed with a smooth homemade yogurt. It’s just what I needed to cool the taste buds and cleanse my tingling palate.

I had ordered some garlic naan, unleavened bread cooked in a clay oven, to go with my entrees, and I still had a good portion left. There is a whole menu section devoted to lamb specialties and I just had to try something from there to finish off my Indian bread before heading out.

I targeted Lamb Madras and hoped for the best. It didn’t disappoint.

This too, was a yellow curry with only onions and a main meat. The lamb pieces were generous, savory and seemed to hint of mint a little bit.

Each entree is served with rice that’s speckled with a tasteless but brightly colored orange sort of rice confetti. It added a little character to ordinary white rice.

On my way out, the host motioned to a small clay dish at the counter filled with raw seeds and tiny, colored candies. Apparently, you take about a half tablespoon of these seeds and candies and palm them into your mouth as a breath mint. I did so, and was delighted with a crunchy sort of licorice flavor.

A nice little touch, I thought.

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on July 30, 2015.

Your Favorite Indian Cuisine Lunch Buffet (Mon. - Fri.) 11am to 2:30pm

Dinner

(Mon.- Fri.) 11am to 10pm (Saturday) 11:30am-10pm

Let us host your meeting or party We Cater

Full Menu Availiable

We can make fresh naan and tandoori right at your party location with our clay oven (tandooor) Call 801-836-4708 or 801-310-0785

98 West Center St. • PROVO 801-373-7200 1086 W South Jordan Pkwy • S. JORDAN • 801-302-0777

indiapalaceutah.com

Joe Vera’s: New digs, same great flavor KARI KENNER Daily Herald hen I got my bill and subsequent receipt at Joe Vera’s, I noticed an interesting difference. While one slip of paper titled the eatery a Mexican Restaurant, the other was a bit more descriptive, dubbing it a Fiestaurant.

Striving for some accuracy in my review, I poked around on the internet a bit and even Joe Vera’s website uses the two titles interchangeably, so, considering both could be accurate, I’d like to focus in on exactly what a Fiestaurant is.

Though there wasn’t an energetic, live Mariachi band, and there wasn’t any dancing or piñatas like you might expect from a typical fiesta, Joe Vera’s certainly offered up a fiesta of sorts in the form of a party in our mouths, courtesy of the fantastic food that was served.

As some background, Joe Vera’s has been a Provo fixture for decades, garnering a loyal fan base and a reputation for excellent Mexican cuisine. In May 2016, a sign was posted announcing the restaurant was moving and taking over the main floor of the former Provo Art & Frame Building, located at 201 W. Center St. The party/fiesta really began when my crew and I were treated to light and crispy tortilla chips as well as several bowls of fresh salsa to accommodate our entire group. Let’s level here -- chips and salsa are synonymous with dining at a Mexican restaurant, but the ones at Joe Vera’s were more than just something to munch on while perusing the menu.

For the sake of being deliciously thorough, we each ordered from a different corner of the menu before settling in to wait for our food.

I had difficulty in ordering because I’d been treated to an El Bandito at Joe Vera’s once previously, and am often enticed to return to things I know I will enjoy. But, I set my sights on the Chicken Crepes, intrigued by the idea of crepes playing a leading role in Mexican food.

Though I missed the El Bandito, the crepes did not disappoint.

Smothered in verde sauce, the crepes were packed with flavor, but mild enough I could share them with the little one in the group.

One of the first dishes to hit the table (and subsequently the first to disappear) was the Milanesa, a beef steak that has been breaded and sautéed before gaining a topping of broiled cheese and tomato.

Though the texture was a little reminiscent of a hamburger steak, the meat was delicious, well-seasoned and breaded in a way that was crisp rather than greasy.

We also sampled Verde Burrito (featuring pork, beans and cheese topped with a healthy helping of verde sauce) and were impressed to see just how easily the verde sauce could carry its flavor to enhance an entirely different dish.

The last order on our list, the Taquitos Grande with beef, was probably the group favorite, with crispy taquitos fried to perfection and stuffed with a flavorful beef that paired perfectly with the special red sauce -- a flavorful addition to the meal that added to the overall taste, rather than overwhelming or taking away.

W

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on Sept. 22, 2016.

32 | Taste of Utah Valley

If you go Joe Vera’s Mexican Fiestaurant Where: 201 W. Center St. in Provo Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday Prices: $4.99-$14.99 Info: (801) 375-6714, joeverasrestaurant.com

JOE VERA’S

MEXICAN RESTAURANT

urant i n t resta ow an

the best Me y l u xic Tr

For over 30 years, Joe Vera’s Mexican Restaurant has provided Utah County residents with delicious Mexican food at an affordable price.

Open for Lunch and Dinner.

Specials Monday through Friday.

See us at our new location

201 W Center St, Provo

801-375-6714

n

If you go King Kebab Where: 1200 Towne Centre Blvd., Provo Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday-Saturday Prices: $1.59-$8.45 Info: facebook.com/pages/ King-Kebab/621878077869269

Convenience only small part of King Kebab’s allure DERRICK CLEMENTS Daily Herald h, the food court. That magical place that triumphantly evokes the melting pot of the American dream just by its clashing smells. The place one typically only chooses for convenience’s sake while buying socks and certainly only outright craves in moments of deep self-loathing. The land of chain restaurants and pretzels and pretzel restaurant chains.

So it came as a delicious surprise to discover King Kebab in the Provo Towne Centre Mall, a place that completely blew apart my preconceived food-court notions. Selling Middle Eastern and Mediterranean shawarma, gyros and falafel, the first thing I wanted to clarify as I placed my order was whether it was a chain.

“No, it’s family-owned,” my server responded. “It wouldn’t taste this good if it were a chain.”

Once I took a bite of my lamb and beef shawarma, I had to agree.

The sauce had a terrific flavor, and the thin Lebanese pita wrap tasted fresh. It came with French fries inside, which I understand is traditional, and tasted good to me.

The falafel came in a thicker, Greek-style pita bread, which also tasted fresh and had the right consistency. I am always on the search for great falafel -- or any falafel -- in Provo, and I can’t believe this place has been under my nose the whole time in the last two and a half years. Every time I went to the Cinemark, I could have had my favorite chickpea treat. Both the creamy sauce and the spicy sauce made it taste delicious.

A

34 | Taste of Utah Valley

We ordered a beef shish kebab on the side, which came with different sauces to dip in, but I preferred the meat in my shawarma, with the trappings with vegetables and bread. On its own, the meat was a bit too much of a good thing, and the consistency was a tad rubbery, which was not the case with the wrap.

The lemonades and desserts are also freshly made, including baklava and Belgian chocolate candy. The chocolate was rich and dark -- as all chocolate should be.

I couldn’t believe how much food we ordered for the price -- until I remembered I was in a food court. For a moment, though, I had been transported to the streets of Jerusalem, or at least New York City, where I have actually been, and where I first came to appreciate this particular kind of food.

In the Provo area, there are so few places to order a shawarma or a falafel wrap, discovering a new place is exciting.

And again, the location -- the only location -- for King Kebab is inside the Provo Towne Centre Mall. So there is no question that next time I find myself at the sad apex of hunger, laziness and already being at the mall, I will definitely be returning to King Kebab. But it’s much better than that: As my dining companion said as we finished our meal, “I would come back here just for this.”

And more than likely, the next time I eat at King Kebab it will be a special trip just to get my falafel fix.

And maybe on the side, I’ll go to a movie for convenience.

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on June 2, 2016.

Enjoy the healthy, savory cuisine of the Mediterranean.

Shawarma | Gyro | Salad | Falafel Hummus | Shish Kebab (Mici) Authentic Turkish Delight | Baklava Vegetarian

We Cater

Provo Towne Centre Mall 801-822-6278 Monday thru Saturday 10:30 AM - 9:00 PM Closed Sunday

Get 10% Off your order with this ad.

Expires 7/29/17

If you go Lucy’s Brazilian Kitchen Where: 155 N. University Ave., Provo Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Friday and Saturday Prices: $1-$12.50 Info: lucysbraziliankitchen.com

Lucy’s Brazilian Kitchen offers more affordable taste of Brazil DERRICK CLEMENTS Daily Herald

A

s one of the many Utah County residents who, at one time in my life, spent approximately two years in Brazil (there are many of us -- and that’s not even counting the many Brazilian immigrants living here), I have been eagerly anticipating Lucy’s Brazilian Kitchen for months.

I was drawn in by the decor of the place before even having a chance to try the food. If you’ve walked down University Avenue, you’ve seen the large mural on the wall closest to the window. It features Christ the Redeemer perched on the hills of Rio, and it makes a warm welcome to guests as they enter the restaurant.

I’m happy to report that the experience of eating at Lucy’s is a positive experience as well.

We in Utah with ties to Brazilian culture have, in the past, succumbed many times to the local churrascarias like Tucanos or Rodizio Grill, because we wanted that particular style of deliciousness -- but those restaurants can take a lot out of a person, both from the wallet and from the ability to live normal life after taking on an extra hundred pounds after every delicious meal.

But now we have Lucy’s, which may not replace those higher-end Brazilian staples in terms of quality, but does allow us to get our Brazilian fix in a more focused, smaller way. So rather than paying a lot of money in order to eat my own body weight in grilled meat, I can choose to pay about $10 for a particular entree.

And oh, the choices! I was blown away by the variety of Brazilian foods offered. Everything from full-on top sirloin to the little chocolate balls, brigadeiro or beijinho.

For entrees, we went with the picanha top sirloin with fried plantains (bananas) on the side, breaded chicken breast and the grilled flank

36 | Taste of Utah Valley

steak. The latter was my favorite, offering simple and filling pleasures.

Eating two savory pastries on the menu definitely brought me back to my time of street-eating, and I appreciated the trip. We had the hamand-cheese pastel and the coxinha, which is a teardrop-shaped deep fried chicken fritter. I preferred the pastel, but I remember coxinhas being hard to get into for me at first and later falling in love with them.

Of course, a Brazilian meal is not complete without the pao de queijo, or cheesy bread balls. Think small dinner rolls that are packed with bouncy cheese and taste delicious.

One area that the larger Brazilian houses have disappointed me in are the drinks. Of course, we are in Utah, so the fresh fruits are harder to come by. But the Brazilian limeade at Lucy’s is absolutely to die for.

It’s somehow creamy and foamy and just the right amount of tangy.

For dessert, we had two of the mousse options -- passion fruit and chocolate cake -- and both were good, but I loved the passion fruit.

Essentially, every Brazilian food I had ever encountered during my time there has a home in Provo at Lucy’s, and that makes me very happy.

We couldn’t even come close to sampling everything that is offered on the menu, but I am excited to go back to try a few other items.

Two big items that I miss (and missed during my visit) are vitaminas (smoothies) and smoothie bowls -- particularly made with acai.

Some of the items seem a bit pricey (a can of Guarana will set you back $3, for example), but in general, everything is much more affordable at Lucy’s than at other Brazilian restaurants in town.

So when you have a particular craving for that one Brazilian dish, chances are, Lucy’s is pulling it out of the oven at the exact same moment. And that’s a comforting thought.

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on Dec. 15, 2016.

Try our fresh-made Brazilian Limeade

Provo Utah’s newest authentic Brazilian Restaurant lucysbraziliankitchen@gmail.com • lucysbraziliankitchen.com (801) 980-9014 • 155 N University Ave, Provo

If you go Oregano Italian Kitchen Where: 223 Center St., Provo Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-10 p.m.

Friday, 3-10 p.m. Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Prices: $4-$26 Info: (801) 788-4185, oreganoitaliankitchen.com

Pasta’s prime at Oregano Italian Kitchen JENNIFER DURRANT Daily Herald asagna. Alfredo. Tortellini. Marsala. Parmigiana. Carbonara.

There is nothing that gets my stomach growling more than the thought of these delicious Italian dishes. By far one of my favorite types of food, I love feasting on anything considered Italian.

Maybe it’s the cheese. Maybe it’s the crisp, fresh flavor combinations. Maybe it’s the pasta. Maybe it’s the vibrant reds and greens that adorn the entrees. Italian food is a clear favorite.

Before dining at the restaurant, I jumped online to peruse the menu options. My Italian cravings were not disappointed. All of the Italian favorites were on the menu, like Spaghetti and Meatballs, Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, Lasagna and Chicken Parmigiana.

But Oregano’s, priding itself on bringing New York Italian to Provo, also offers Spaghetti Carbonara, New York Strip Marsala, Pan-Seared Salmon and a Garlic Basil Parmesan-Crusted Chicken. All of these great signs of delicious Italian cuisine.

Due to a hectic week, I opted to try Oregano for lunch. Grabbing my co-worker Jordan, she and I headed to Oregano for a nice bite in between meetings and deadlines.

After being seated, we were presented with the full menu, along with an Express Lunch Menu. This menu, designed specifically for the time-crunched lunch crowd, is filled with meals easily suited to a onehour lunch. Items include Spaghetti and Meatballs, Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and lunch versions of classics, like the Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich and Brasato (Braised Beef) Sandwich.

While those items were tempting, I already had my heart set on one of two dishes from the main menu. It was either going to be the Chicken Marsala or the Spaghetti Carbonara. Luckily Jordan was in exactly the same food mood. So she went for the Carbonara while I ordered the Marsala with the clear intent of stealing a bite or two of her pasta.

L

38 | Taste of Utah Valley

To get things started, we ordered the appetizer sampler, Fritto Misto, filled with Fried Calamari, Fried Shrimp, a small Arugula Salad and marinara sauce for dipping (though its current menu features just Calamari Fritti). Typically fried many different ways, I was impressed with Oregano’s preparation of a light, cornmeal batter on both the calamari and the shrimp. While wishing for a bit stronger flavor and spice kick, the seafood was fresh and tasty. I did really enjoy the Arugula Salad with its peppery flavor, sharp Parmesan Cheese and tomatoes.

Our entrees arrived quickly and we immediately began digging in.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rich flavor of my Chicken Marsala. The wine sauce and mushroom combination not only made a delicious topping for the herb-crusted chicken breast, but also a wonderful gravy for the mashed potatoes and asparagus. The large portion was perfect for leftovers later!

Jordan’s Spaghetti Carbonara was a wonderful treat. Filled with bacon, a creamy, cheesy, eggy sauce and accompanied by a grilled basil pesto-laden baguette, it was a perfect lunch on a beautiful spring afternoon. My quick bite was not nearly enough, which means I will be returning soon for my own bowl of the pasta.

The other surprise from that pasta dish was that unassuming side of bread. Pesto grilled onto a piece of bread -- so simple yet so flavorful.

I only wished (and I’m sure Jordan did, too), that the slices were a little larger to better enjoy the simplicity.

Long ago I decided that a true Italian dinner just isn’t complete without dessert. So naturally, we had to select one of the sweet conclusions from the menu. Our options included the Double Chocolate Turtle Brownie, Spumoni Panna Cotta, an Almond Biscotti, and the Chocolate Raspberry Tiramisu. (Current dessert offerings now include dark chocolate mousse, traditional tiramisu, and Nutella creme brulee.)

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on April 2, 2015.

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.”

-Fredrico Fellini

HOURS Tuesday - Thursday Friday Saturday

11am-2pm & 5pm-9pm 11am-2pm & 5pm-10pm 3pm-10pm

223 W Center St, Provo • 801-788-4185

If you go Strap Tank Brewery Where: 1750 W. 596 South, Springville Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday Prices: $6-$25 Info: (385) 325-0262, straptankbrewery.com

Strap Tank brews winning dining formula DERRICK CLEMENTS Daily Herald t may seem strange for a food reviewer who does not drink to voluntarily review a brewery.

But Strap Tank Brewing Company is a unique case for a number of reasons. It is not only the first craft brewery in Utah County, but it’s not even in the cosmopolitan metropolis that is Provo in 2017. It’s in Springville, Provo’s rural neighbor on the southern border.

Strap Tank also has the distinguishing feature of being a full-menu restaurant -- a fact that, combined with my presupposition that I may not be the only non-drinker in its surrounding area curious about the food at the pioneering establishment, led me to believe my perspective might not be unwelcome to local readers.

So with nothing to say about the one menu item that makes it especially unique in Utah County, I am nevertheless pleased to be able to say: Strap Tank is the brewery that offers so much delicious food, even the designated drivers will go home happy.

Having a delicious menu doesn’t seem necessary for a place that focuses on drinks, but in this county, it just may be the smartest insurance policy. If you’re expecting passable mozzarella sticks and sloppy onion rings, you’ve come to the wrong pub. The menu items my group tried were extraordinarily tasty.

Our meal started out with the bacon-jalapeno-wrapped cheesy bread, which is what mozzarella sticks are like in heaven. They somehow manage to be spicy but not unbearable, succulent but not overly greasy.

The jalapenos were crispy and gave just the right punch to the cheese, and when the server offered to take the last bite away (it had

I

40 | Taste of Utah Valley

been sitting alone on its original plate), I momentarily panicked, like a mother bear seeing her cub about to be taken away, when she had just planned to save the last bite of her cub to take home because she didn’t want its joyous life to ever end.

We had the ribeye steak, which was an excellent cut of meat that took up half a plate it was so big. It was served with mashed potatoes (or French fries) and green beans.

The green beans had some asparagus mixed in, which was an excellent choice, and they were sauteed in, I guess it was butter, in just the right amounts.

That’s the thing about the menu items at Strap Tank: They aren’t necessarily elaborate or gimmicky. They are simple, delicious food, prepared with deep care and skill. It’s an offering that the fictional character Ron Swanson from TV’s “Parks and Recreation” would absolutely appreciate.

The mashed potatoes were similarly successful -- they even had bits of potato skin in the finished product that make for a more-than-agreeable texture.

We also went for the appropriately named Strap Tank Burger, which has a half-pound of beef delivered on fine grilled buns and served with sauces, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and pickle all on the side.

It also comes with French fries, which can be substituted for sweet potato fries or a green salad (scoff!), or, for one more dollar, baked beans or onion rings. We went with the onion rings, and they were just right: no slipping apart, just the right taste.

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on Jan. 19, 2017.

The drought is over...

Utah County’s ďŹ rst brew pub since prohibition is waiting for you!

Family Friendly Atmosphere Full Menu with something for everyone

Mon-Thurs.

11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Fri & Sat 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Sun 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

1750 West 596 South, Springville 385-325-0262

Tacos & Restaurant Eclipse will keep you coming back for more COURT MANN Daily Herald

S

ometimes you try something new and it works out. Other times, well, not so much.

I’ve rhapsodized before about the inherent dilemma of dining reviews — namely, that one’s visit might not be representative of a restaurant’s actual quality, service, etc. That being the case, I decided I’d make multiple visits to Tacos & Restaurant Eclipse, a Mexican restaurant across from the Startup Building in south Provo.

If you’ve been to the Provo Food Truck Roundup, you’ve likely seen Tacos & Restaurant Eclipse. It’s housed in the warehouse-type building that shares a parking lot with most of the food trucks.

Now, my first visit to the restaurant was great. The second visit was a letdown — not because of the food or service or anything, but because it was closed. That’s my bad, not theirs. I really needed that second visit to try more of their dishes. Story deadlines being what they are, though, I must soldier on.

If you hit up Tacos & Restaurant Eclipse, be aware that the staff’s English is really minimal. At least that’s how it seemed on my visit. My friend who came with me spoke Spanish, which came in handy. (No, you aren’t hopeless if you don’t speak Spanish; Tacos & Restaurant Eclipse has satisfied plenty of English speakers.)

All right, Court, enough with the exposition. Let’s get to the food already.

Tacos & Restaurant Eclipse menu is somewhat streamlined compared to other Mexican restaurants — about 10 different entrée options — but not lacking in variety. It was tough to decide what to order, but this is why I’m paid the big bucks.

We opted for the steak fajitas, two sizable sopes (one chicken, one steak), a few beef tacos and some horchata. Everything we had was great. Everything we had seemed fresh. Genuinely zero hang-ups here.

My fajitas were brought to our table piping hot, the sizzling and crackling sounds taunting my grumbling stomach. The steak rested beneath a layer of green, yellow and red bell peppers, with shredded jack cheese melting over it all, and a basket of hot tortillas on the side.

These were great fresh off the grill, and have been great as leftovers, too.

My friend ordered the sopes, and thank goodness she did. For those unaware, sopes are a traditional Mexican street food that features fried masa shaped like a shallow bowl, holding meat, refried beans, lettuce, onions, salsa and sour cream. These were delicious — so delicious, in fact, that I repeatedly reached over the table to grab a bite, eventually eating about half of what my friend had ordered. I feel a little bad about this in hindsight, but at the time I couldn’t resist.

The tacos were your basic street taco, with just the meat and tortilla, and toppings you add yourself. Not much to embellish on here, and no need. If you like street tacos, you’ll like these.

Will I go back to Tacos & Restaurant Eclipse? Absolutely. I still have to make up for my lost visit. But even if I didn’t need to, you bet I’d be back anyway.

42 | Taste of Utah Valley

If you go Tacos & Restaurant Eclipse Where: 591 S. 100 West, Provo Hours: Tuesday through Sunday during lunch and dinner hours Prices: $5-$10 Info: (801) 638-2325, “Taqueria y Restaurant Eclipse” on Facebook

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on Nov. 17, 2016.

Since it first appeared, the restaurant changed its name from Taqueria Eclipse to Tacos & Restaurant Eclipse. The review has been updated to reflect the name change.

Daily grilled tacos specials

pastor, chorizo, cabeza, lengua, tripa, fish taco, gringa

We offer Catering & Hall Rental for 100 people or less

591 S 100 W St, Provo (In front of Provo TRAX station)

(801) 638-2325

OPEN: TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 10AM-10PM

If you go The Holy Grill Where: 322 State St., Pleasant Grove Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Friday and Saturday Prices: $4-$26 Info: (801) 701-0097, holygrillrestaurant.com

The Holy Grill proves to be wholly satisfying DOUG FOX Daily Herald

I

f you are a fan of the tantalizing delights of slow-cooked meats, prepare for your cravings to be wholly satisfied at The Holy Grill.

Having been tipped off by a friend, we visited The Holy Grill on a Friday night. The BBQ joint, which opened in mid-August, is located in a little strip mall off State Street in Pleasant Grove, just east of the Smith’s store.

Orders are placed at the front counter, then you choose your table and soak in the wafting smell of barbecue while anxiously awaiting your order to arrive.

The dining room was decorated simply with plain white walls and several photo frames with what appeared to be comic book drawings and several other things. There were 16 tables in the dining room, with seating for nearly 65 people.

Our party of three ordered several different menu items to get a divergent sample of what’s available. And after our limited foray, we would certainly be interested in returning to experience even more of what the menu has to offer.

Like many popular BBQ restaurants, the meals are served simply. At Holy Grill, your food arrives on deli paper in plastic baskets, and, when you are not using just your hands, the utensils are also plastic.

44 | Taste of Utah Valley

Naturally, we were primarily interested in trying out the smoked meats -- so our first menu selection was the Three Meat Basket. The Three Meat Basket comes with pork ribs, beef brisket and pulled pork, and one side for $18.

It can certainly be stated that these meats did not disappoint. Tender and flavorful all on their own, we enjoyed augmenting them ever so slightly with a couple of the six different sauces situated at each table.

We’re not much for spicy or hot sauces, so we toggled between the milder BBQ Sauce and Orange Krush choices. But if your tongue’s temperature runs hotter than ours, there are four other options available: Mustard Sauce, Vinegar Based, Grim Reaper and St. Elmo’s Fire.

We shared this basket among the three of us, but we suppose one hungry carnivore could handle it all on his or her own.

We had heard good things about the French Dip Sandwich and they turned out to be true. Definitely a delicious choice, especially when the brisket sandwich is dipped in the accompanying au jus sauce.

For the more straightforward, the Holy Grill offers five burger choices (including a pair featuring pastrami). Our teenage daughter settled on the American Burger, which was served with lettuce, tomato and onion on the side. I took a small cut of the burger and loved it. It wasn’t fancy but the flavor was fantastic.

We tried three sides and enjoyed them all. Our favorite side was the sweet potato fries -- sweet and crunchy, they were some of the best we’ve had in this area. The regular fries were great, too, as was the potato salad.

They were out of our preferred dessert choice -- peach cobbler -- but the apple turnover with a scoop of vanilla ice cream proved to be a worthy substitute.

In summation, if you worship at the altar of smoked meats and BBQ, you should definitely give the Holy Grill a try.

This review originally appeared in the Daily Herald on Oct. 27, 2016.

20% OFF ENTIRE ORDER Valid only with coupon.

Not valid with any other offers.

Expires May 13, 2017.

Now Serving

PRIME RIB Friday & Saturday only

The Holy Grill

AWARD WINNING BBQ

AND GRILL

322 East State Street Pleasant Grove 801•701•0097 www.holygrillrestaurant.com Mon-Thurs 11am-8pm Fri-Sat 11am-9pm Dine-In, Take-Out and Catering 20% discount does not apply to the Prime Rib.

• We went in on a Friday date night and I enjoyed the banana nutella ice cream. My wife got the salted pretzel caramel, it was awesome as well!

The atmosphere was fun and upbeat. The staff was friendly and very helpful. Great place!

Dominic N. Ventura, CA. • Awesome concept! Great experience!

Roll With It Creamery isn’t your typical ice cream shop. First, Roll With It creates your ice cream from scratch right in front of you. Second, the ice cream is served rolled up (thus the name). It’s a unique way to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Pistachio was da bomb diggity.

Ryan S. Santa Clara, CA

Utah’s First and Only Thai Rolled Ice Cream!

Ice Cream Made Right in Front of Your Eyes!

At Roll With It we offer a build your own style menu with tons of different permanent and seasonal options! Build your own amazing creation or pick one of our custom made flavors! We offer gluten free, dairy free, and even vegan options! Below listed are a few of our choices and toppings. Come in and see even more!

Cookies and Cream, Banana Nutella, Mocha, Raspberry Cheesecake, Salted Pretzel Caramel, Lemon Sorbet, Seasonal Sorbet, Lavender, Heath, Piña Colada, Smores, Rocky Road