Dining out: Porch

Porch in Daybreak, Utah

To the best of my knowledge, Porch might be the farthest South and West you can go in the SL valley – and still get a decent mixed drink. After that, well, you might as well just channel your inner Hunter S. and keep motoring to Vegas.

Porch is the brainchild of Jen Gilroy, chef and owner of both this new Daybreak SoDa row eatery, and the much-loved Meditrina in Salt Lake City. Now that you know that, it should be obvious there’s more than just a decent cocktail here – the food served at Porch is a substantial notch above any local competitor. And then some.

Inspired by Gilroy’s years living in Nashville, TN, chef de cuisine Josh McNeely and team do a stellar job of executing on Gilroy’s vision for a Southern comfort food menu. The approach is subtle and cautious mind you, avant garde restaurants still struggle in SLC, let alone the burbs. The nods to the South are approachable and accessible to everyone.

Thick and meaty fried green tomatoes come with mustard dipping sauce and won’t scare off the locals. A fabulously-moist pork tenderloin comes with a side of Hoppin’ John (gussied up rice and black-eyed peas) that might might furl an eyebrow on the menu, but not on the plate itself. Then there’s plenty of other comfort food standbys too: burgers, meatloaf and roast chicken; an ultra creamy mac and cheese with Nelson Ricks cheddar and Drake farms chèvre had several of our group almost fainting, hand to forehead uttering ‘I do declare’.

Mirroring the food, the decor is upscale and modern with plenty of natural light, wood and be still my beating heart – actual regular plates and glasses fit for humans; honestly, every time I’m served food on a piece of heirloom, artisan slate, I die a little bit inside. Service too is charming and welcoming with not a drop of pretension.

And those drinks? Cocktails run a very reasonable $7-$10 and feature all the same fancy pants ingredients like you’ll find in downtown SLC with twirling hipster mustaches. There’s a shrub here, a bitters there and wait, a house made ginger beer over there. A classy and creative independently owned restaurant in the SW of the valley? I’ll drink to that!

Porch restaurant interior

Porch: cocktail menu

Porch: Hemingway cocktail

$8 – Light rum, Luxardo, grapefruit, lime

Porch: Bruleed Pimiento Cheese Drake

$7 – Farms chevre, candied bacon, grilled bread

Porch: Fried green tomatoes

$8 – Creole mustard sauce

Porch: Pickle Jar

$4 – House-pickled vegetable and fruit medley

Porch: Meatloaf

$16 – Natural ground beef and pork, duck fat, buttermilk whipped potatoes, charred green beans, tomato confit, carrot chips

Porch: Grilled Utah Trout

$22 – Smoked sea salt, poached egg, wilted greens, pecan relish, caramelized onion cheddar grits

Porch: Grilled Heritage Pork Tenderloin

$24 – Hoppin’ John (black-eyed peas, rice, mirepoix, pea gravy), bruised arugula, rhubarb chutney), bruised arugula, rhubarb chutney

Porch: Pudding

Porch: Lemon cream cake

11274 Kestrel Rise Road, Building C, Suite G, South Jordan, Utah 84095
(801) 679-1066
www.porchutah.com

Disclosure: I was an invited guest of this restaurant who comped my meal.

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.