Showcase: The Annex By Epic

If you don’t follow Gastronomic SLC on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram you might not have seen our very first featured showcase. If that’s the case please do take a moment to review your life choices up until this point. Good? Let’s move on.

Throughout June we covered the sterling cuisine of The Annex By Epic in Sugarhouse. Chef Craig Gerome is now over a year into his stewardship of the kitchen, and as such, at this point I don’t think we can call him the new guy anymore. Still, plenty of people are continually surprised to see the new food coming out under Gerome’s supervision, which is light years removed from what came before. If you’re one of those, please take notes, there will be a test later.

So what sets this restaurant apart? Two things: excellent product, excellent execution. Without sounding like a starry-eyed-hipster, Gerome’s cuisine isn’t just seasonal, it’s micro seasonal. O.k. that did sound like I have my skinny jeans on, but frankly it’s a solid term (note: skinny jeans are a practical impossibility for me at this point anyway). Gerome now prints a new menu on a daily basis. Sure there are staples like the Bouchot mussels overnighted from Stonington, Maine, that you will find more often than not – but much of the menu is in flux and flow based on product that might arrive daily in the restaurant.

Case in point, at a recent beer pairing dinner, one dish was composed from a single batch of produce from Sweet Valley Organics in Idaho – picked, cooked, eaten, boom, gone. If you we’re there, it was fabulous and ephemeral. If you weren’t, you simply can’t have it. Ask your server what is great on any particular day you visit and you won’t be disappointed.

Of course, all this would be for zilch if execution wasn’t on point; but you guessed it, Gerome and his great crew have this nailed down too. There’s the basics from perfectly cooked steaks and lovingly prepared fish. And then there are the bells and whistles, used with nous and restraint only when it makes sense. See that grilled octopus below, it hits the sous vide machine first, making for lusciously tender meat.

The Annex By Epic is one of the current culinary gems in Utah, if you’ve yet to sample it, make it a priority. Extra bonus reason while you melt in this heat: their AC is really good too. Here are those pictures again from our June social showcase:

The Annex By Epic: Blue snapper, bouchot mussels, split english peas, leeks, champagne butter, bronze fennel.

The Annex By Epic: Griddled spot prawns and artichoke barigoule / harissa emulsion, fennel, lemon.

The Annex By Epic: 48 hour sous vide beef short rib, English pea fondue, grilled stone fruits, sauce bordelaise.

The Annex By Epic: Castel Franco radicchio salad, spring onion vinaigrette, Idaho goose berries, fennel, parmesan cheese.

The Annex By Epic:
Fried salt cod brandade, caper brined cucumbers, fennel and malt vinegar pollen, remoulade.

The Annex By Epic: Saffron pappardelle, peeky toe crab, butter poached heirloom tomatoes.

The Annex By Epic: Grilled octopus salad with fennel, baby Swiss chard, grape leaf, parsley pistou and an Bliss IPA vinaigrette.

The Annex By Epic: Atlantic halibut en perssiade, Utah corn fondue, artichokes barigoule & salsa verde.

Stuart Melling

Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you!  I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC.  I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City  dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.

I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV.   Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune.    I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand.   What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.

Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.