Food and drink events to keep an eye on in the days and weeks ahead

T.F. Brewing

September 28th

Lagers, brats (by Beltex Meats), stein holding competitions – you’ll find it all at T.F. Brewing this Saturday – as the local brewer celebrates their 6th annual Oktoberfest. As well as the beer n’ brats, Wellers Food Truck will be on-site, with plenty of Germain music throughout the day to soundtrack the festivities. General admission tickets are priced at $40, with VIP passes priced at $140. Please note this is a 21+ only event.

Cache Valley Creamery

October 17th, 6.30 – 8.30 p.m.

Benefiting the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Utah, this chef contest will see a quartet of local names compete. Held at Salt Lake Culinary Education (2233 S 300 E) the event promises to “Tantalize your taste buds and melt your hearts at the Cache Valley Creamery Showdown. This one-of-a-kind event will bring together Utah’s cheese lovers to celebrate all the goodness and deliciousness of cheese. You’ll watch four Utah Chefs battle it out in a culinary throwdown to crown the best cheesy holiday dish.” Guests will then vote for the winner of the evening’s showcase cooking – tickets are priced at $35 and can be purchased online here.

Laurel Brasserie & Bar

October 26th, 6.00 p.m.

Held in Laurel’s (555 South Main Street) private dining room, this Friends of James Beard Benefit Dinner, will see a four-course meal plated by some heavy-hitting names. Participating chefs include

• Fernando Soberanis, The Grand America Hotel
• Tomas Olvera, Laurel Brasserie & Bar
• Xavier Baudinet, The Grand America Hotel
• Mike Blocher Table X Restaurant
• Reinaldo Escudero, Valter’s Osteria
• Dave Jones, Log Haven
• Ali Sabbah, Mazza
• Nick Zocco, Urban Hill

Tickets are priced at $150 per person and can be purchased online here – the menu has yet to be formally announced.

Finca Pintxos Bar

October 27th, 6.00 p.m.

This Friday you can sample a lineup of Spanish wines not ordinarily available in Utah. At this tasting at downtown Finca (126 Regent St), the business writes, “La Rioja Alta is one of the top wineries in Spain with cellars in Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Rias Baixas. We are honored to feature their wines for this special dinner. All four wines have been ordered just for the dinner and are not available in Utah. Each wine is considered a top wine of the region with consistent outstanding reviews from sommeliers and major wine journalist.”

Brand manager Emma Otero will be in attendance to guide guests through the wines on offer. The menu is priced aat $45 for tapas/pintxos and $75 for wine, and reads as follows:

• Welcome – chilled shrimp salad, aioli, lemon, cured egg, crostini
  • Lagar de Cervera ‘23 | ALBARINO | Rias Baixas
• Pork belly skewers, Pedro Jiménez glaze, preserved corn & tomato relish
  • Aster ‘Crianza’ ‘20 | TINTA DEL PAIS | Ribera del Duero
• Beef & pork meatball, tomato sauce, shaved manchego
  • Vina Ardanza ‘Reserva’ ‘17 | TEMPRANILLO/GARNACHA | Rioja
• Paella, chorizo, saffron, shrimp, calamari, mussels, aioli, lemon
  • La Rioja Alta ‘Gran Reserva 904’ ‘15 | TEMPRANILLO | Rioja
• Almond cake with whiskey sauce

Avenues Proper

October 30th, 6.00 – 9.00 p.m.

The next iteration of AP’s cellar dinner series (food paired with aged cellared beers by local brewers) will have a vegan bent. The evening is priced at $40 for food and $25 for beer pairings, menu is as follows:

• Elote flatbread, local sweet corn, parmesan, Tajin, lime aioli
  • 2019 Wasatch English-style barleywine
• Ratatouille, DiNapoli tomato, root vegetables, chimichurri
  • 2018 Proper Geol
• Stuffed portobello, house pasta, pesto cream, Italian “sausage”
  • 2017 Epic Whiskey barrel-aged barley wine
• Butternut squash pie, whipped cream, pâte sucrée, butterscotch
  • 2017 Proper Geol

Franck’s

November 6th, 6.00 p.m.

Fisher Vineyards will be the muse for this Cottonwood Height restaurant’s next tasting menu. Tickets are priced at $130 per person, or $110 for food only – reservations are available via OpenTable. Menu as follows:

• 110 Degree Maine scallop, smoked honeydew “whey, buttered heirloom oats, Frog Bench pepper pebre, super sour honeydew, honeydew powder
  • Unity Chardonnay
• Spruce tip basted sweet meat pumpkin, squash seed crumb, rose-red curry, fermented spruce tip, trout roe, rose oil
  • Unity Pinot Noir
• House bucatini, lamb bitter chocolate ragout, espresso caramelized hazelnut, Barely Buzzed chees, red grapes
  • Unity Cabernet
• Whole roasted prime N.Y., cellar aged sunchoke, licorice tarragon emulsion, raw sunchoke, raw sunchoke relish, fried sunchoke, Thai basil
  • Coach Insignia Cabernet
• Balsamic preserved blueberry donut, ricotta cheese, sesame

Other useful links

• Free newsletter – signup and receive our weekly newsletter for free
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• Best of SLC 2024 – what you can’t miss in the Beehive right now.

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.