Zucchini Pasta with Pesto and Marinara Sauce
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| One of the Best Zucchini Pastas I've Had |
It’s been a few months since Veg
News declared Salt Lake City the reigning champion of vegan friendly
cities over the venerable, but weird Austin. Given the recent
changes, the salty citizens have nothing to fear and can keep
strutting around wearing their crown of kale. Union Street Eats
closed for a while, but will be back on the streets, Frisch, a new
vegan café featuring the most amazing kale salad ever opened, and an
all-vegan sandwich shop called Buds opened this week, which will
feature some Union Street favorites. I promise to put reviews of
these places soon, but wait the best is yet to come.
Jalapeno Cucumber Margarita
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| The Perfect Summer Drink! |
From the ashes of W Lounge and
Union Street Eats rises Zest Bar and Restaurant. Not only is it salt
lake’s newest offering in healthy eating, but it sets the bar
pretty high. The atmosphere is industrial chic. As you enter, a huge chandelier greets you as you check in with the hostess, followed by
the impressive center piece bar contrasted with unfinished ceilings
and dotted with wooden tables. There is even a couch where you can
and drink at for the perfect lounge experience. On the walls are
pictures of purple kale, a pomegranate and this took me a while
(actually, it was the table next to me), a photo taken from the
inside of a bell pepper. It’s one of the most thought out
restaurants that I’ve been to in this city, and the closest
competitor would be Vedge in Philadelphia. I’ll be honest I was
expecting a small café with a few tables and a homey feel similar to
Sage’s Cafe, so I was blown away with the scale and how well
thought out the atmosphere is. After years of owning W Lounge, Casey
really knows the service industry and created, what would be my dream
restaurant and bar. But, you’ll just have to take my word for it as
I didn’t take any pictures. But don’t worry, I’ll be back so
maybe I’ll add some. Oh, and as if the atmosphere couldn’t be
better local musician Zach Moon strummed the guitar with some soulful
songs that wouldn’t be out of place on a Sons of Anarchy episode or
opening for Rocky Votolato. For the first song, I was a fan, and
would’ve grabbed a cd if I had one less cocktail!
Ginger Spice
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| If You Could Bottle Xmas, This Would Be It! |
For many months, Casey has hosted
Vegan Drinks at W Lounge and he broke nearly every rule I have about
mixed drinks, like don’t use fruit juice or soy milk as a mixer.
I’ll be honest; I’m a craft beer guy. Belgium, IPAa and funky
beers are my drinks of choice. Each month, Casey would slowly steer
me away from the barle malt with creative cocktails, from bing cherry
mojitos, white Russians and others too numerous to remember, since he
would always change things up. With Zest, he pulled out all the
stops, in what is one of the most impressive cocktail menus in town.
The first two drinks that stuck out to me were the Ginger Spice and
the Jalapeño margarita. It’s no secret that I’m a fan of ginger,
but as the special one said. This is what she would want to drink
while decorating the xmas tree. Using fireball whiskey (cinnamon
flavored) and ginger beer, this drink was warming and exciting. Oh,
it had a piece of candied ginger in it, too. I can’t think of a
better cocktail. The jalapeño margarita had muddled cucumber in it
along with patron tequila and citron. I was expecting a spicy bit,
but it was really subtle by the cucumber. My own change would be Don Julio tequila, which I think is the hands down the best tequila.
Asian Salad
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| Simple, Yet Delectable. The Dressing Is What Makes This |
When Union Street Closed (ever so
briefly), I knew not to fret because the chef behind the cart would
be on to bigger and better things. I’ve written about Chef Larayn before
as she launched Union Street, but I’ll repeat some of it again.
Along with hosting Vegan Drinks for almost three years now, Larayn
has been one of the most underrated chefs in the Wasatch. Not only a
trained chef graduating from The Natural Gourmet Institute, but she
sharpened her knife at Sage’s Café, and then moved onto Union
Street Eats as well as private catering events. The menu is a
vegetable forward, putting the subtle of the vegetable at the
forefront of the dish represents the menu.
As we were admiring our drinks, our
awesome server brought out the fresh crudité vegetable sampler with
an avocado and cilantro and an almond butter dipping sauces. The
picture doesn’t do it justice, because the presentation was
impeccable and brimming with color. From slivers of purple, orange
and yellow bell peppers, carrots and parsnips, it was simple yet
delicious, especially when dipped into avocado cilantro dipping
sauce. The special one and I both agreed that this was the best
sauce. I liked the almond butter, but thought it paired best the
celery and maybe fruit.
From there we moved on to the
Asian salad with spinach and mung bean sprouts and topped with black
sesame seeds, which featured a savory salad that didn’t have any
bitterness, but a nice savory flavor. The watermelon gazpacho
provided a perfect complement with a subtle and crisp flavor. The
freshness of the watermelon really shined.
Veggie Cruddite Plate
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| The Avocado-Cilantro Sauce Was The First To Go. This Stuff Needs To Be bottled! |
In the interest of journalistic
integrity and to provide readers with complete picture, we decided to
sample some more cocktails. The cello driver was a new twist on the
screwdriver with a lemon flavored vodka, fresh orange juice and
basil. Orange juice is sacred to me, so it should never be mixed with
alcohol, but again Casey won me over. Between the kombucha bomb
(vodka and the kombucha flavor of the day) and the Nutty X and the
beet sangria, I had a difficult choice, but went with the beet
sangria. I’m not sure if there was a mix up, but the beet sangria
was just a glass of wine without any fruit. The only hiccup of the
day, it was still a decent glass of wine.
Cello Driver
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| Move Over Screwdriver, There's A New Fellas In Town! |
The zucchini pasta arrived topped
with a fresh pesto and surrounded in marinara sauce. If you don’t
know me, I spent perhaps the first decade of my vegan years eating
pasta, because I didn’t know how to cook, so I know pasta.
Generally, you’re not fooling anyone with zucchini pasta; they
think they are eating a cleverly designed salad. I’m not sure if
the folks at Zest marinade it or if it was the pesto, but this dish
was perfect and even had a hint of butter coming through from the
fresh zucchini. After all the zucchini that I had from my CSA (Bell Organic Gardens), this
is what I wish I was making with it. Zucchini is a delicate vegetable
and its impressive how they put its buttery and creamy texture to
use. I can’t wait to sample more items from the large plates menu,
especially the beet raviolis stuffed with cashew cream.
Watermelon Gazpacho
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| That's Another Word For Cold, Yet Delicious Soup! |
Although mostly vegan, just one
sampler and one large plate isn’t vegan, only two of the five
options are vegan. Unfortunately, the herbs de Provence sorbetto was
not being featured on the day I went, but I’ll have to have it. It
must be done. My only complaint and it’s more of a personal
preference is that I wish they featured some more meaty dishes, ala
the wings at Horizons or the grilled seitan from Vedge. I mean if I
had my druthers I would open a vegan steakhouse, but it’s also
because I know how awesome Larayn and Casey could conjure up. Just
look at how amazing Union Street is. Regardless, Zest is one of the
most exciting dining options I crossed the Mississippi many many
moons ago. I look forward to sampling everything off their menu and
watching their evolution.
Bring On The Nutty X
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| Might Be The Best Mixed Drink I've Ever Had! The Dude Would Abide! |
As I mention, the dessert weren’t
vegan, so it was okay to have another drink, right? Don’t judge me.
This is for you the readers. I had to go with the Nutty X, a triple
espresso martini made with almond milk and Frangelico. I don’t want
to betray the ginger spice but this cocktail had serious wow factor.
It’s like a white Russian, but elevated. The almond milk and the
Frangelico really make it pop. I highly recommend this drink.
Their
grand opening will be on October 2nd from 5 pm until 1 am with
their full menu. You're a little weary about zesting on a weekday, the next slc vegan drinks will be at zest on Friday October 5th starting at 7. Go on, get zesty now. And Austin, we’re
keeping the crown and might even take on the big apple soon!
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