The results are in and for those who keep insisting Utah is a metaphorical desert when it comes to high quality food, here’s another shot right back at you; Beltex Meats have been crowned in gold once more at the Good Food Awards.
The yearly contest celebrates the very best producers in the US and is almost always dominated by the gastro-hubs on the East and West coasts. This year though, Utah-butchers Beltex once again rubbed shoulders with the nation’s best for bragging rights. Securing gold for their signature country pate, owner and chief-charcuterier-in-change, Phillip Grubisa told me:
Our country pâté is a sort of riff on the classic and the refined. We definitely go for your basics of a country pâté and it functions as a way to preserve the whole pig. Pork shoulder leg fat and organ meats are used and then thin slices of pork jowl lattice the outside. A nose to tail treat in one slice.
It’s been a staple product we have been selling since day one and it was THAT product we had to see and make sure we could sell as a way to say…if we can get em to eat and enjoy our pate round these parts…we can get em to eat anything ..
I’ll raise a cornichon to that. The pate is available in pre-packaged 1/4b slices for $7; grab some at their Saturday ‘farmers market’, held outside the store on Saturdays, or opt for some delivered right to your door (delivery is free on orders of $75 or more). Rumor has it that the store will be eyeing re-opening their doors to the public properly once more come Spring…
Foodie events starting a comeback
Speaking of re-openings, it looks like event planners are slowly starting to see an eventual light at the end of a particularly hellish tunnel.
Up at Snowbird the popular series of pairing dinners held at The Aerie are now back in full swing. February 6th saw the first event of the year with SaltFire Brewing owner, Ryan Miller joining up with Executive Chefs, RJ Peterson & Ken Ohlinger. Next on the docket for February 20th is a beer pairing dinner with T.F. brewing followed by a March 13th wine pairing with La Sagreta.
Meanwhile, the Park City Food And Wine Festival announced their return for the Fall of 2021. The multi-day wine bash is scheduled for September 30th through October 2nd. The organizers write they’ll still be keeping an eye on C19 measures, a wise choice, I’m sure we’re all gonna need a moment to re-adjust to rejoining the world and crowds:
We’ll be seeing you in Park City this fall and can’t wait to raise a glass to the end of 2020. Since we saw you last, we’ve found the silver lining of social distancing – no crowds! That’s right….no more long lines at our wine festivals. We are limiting capacity at this year’s Park City Wine Festival which gets you more one on one time with the winemakers and ample space and time to sample, sip and swirl!
Changes to our site and newsletter
If you noticed some changes to our website and newsletter of late – you’re not wrong. Over the past few weeks we’ve made some pretty major changes under the hood. IF your a web geek – this is all in effort of some big changes from Google this year (hey there Core Web Vitals) – if you’re not, please read on and don’t fall asleep.
The biggest change is to our newsletter which now goes out on Friday’s as standard. The weekly digest will wrap up all stories from the week in one single mailer, just in time for the weekend. The change will allow us to post more frequently, without overloading inboxes.
If you’re already a subscriber to our newsletter, we’ve automatically moved you to this new list; you needn’t do anything at all. If you’d rather change to the instant update email – that goes out daily when new stories are posted – just reply to the next newsletter email, and ask to switch to the same day list.
In other news
- Utah bill would allow third party sales
- Vessel Kitchen finds new ways to stay open
- Ogden’s Jesse Jeans closes
- Are bubble dining pods safer than regular dining-in
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.
This article may contain content provided by one of our paid partners. These are some of the best businesses in Utah. For a list of all our current and past relationships see our partnership history page.