Salt Lake City’s upcoming culinary events for your calendar

Windy Ridge beer dinner

November 16th, 6.00 p.m.

This Park City spot are set to host a four course pairing dinner, with Offset Bier the chosen brewer paired with each dish. Price is $65 per person with tickets available online. Menu as follows:

• Welcome appetizer, peach and goat cheese bruschetta
  • India Pale Ale (Modern IPA) 6.5%
• Belgian endive with citrus vinaigrette, candied pecans and whipped ricotta
  • Pale lager (South German Style Pils) 4.7%
• Creamy butternut squash with creme fraiche and toasted pumpkin seeds
  • Jackson Hop Farm (Fresh Hop L IPA) 5.0%
• Braised osso bucco with horseradish mashed potatoes and asparagus
  • DOPO (Modern L IPA) 5.0%
• Sticky whiskey date cake
  • Drawn to the Dark (Bourbon Barrel Aged Baltic Porter) 13.0%

Utah Cheese Awards annual reception

November 18th

This Saturday sees the celebration of the 2023 Utah Cheese Awards. Organizers write, “Join us once again as we recognize the products and producers of the Intermountain West region. This year we are at the stunning Beehive Distilling bar where you will be able to purchase a drink with products made on site as well as many other local beverages. Mooonbread, which teaches sour dough baking will return as an exhibitor and be supplying the bread.” Attendees can expect to sample the following bites over at Beehive:

• Morning Fresh Dairy White Cheddar Curd
• Aggie Creamery Aggiano
• Aggie Creamery Old Juniper
• Various Heber Valley Artisan Cheese adjuncts interior and exterior cheeses
• Other local cheese
• Jalapeno Jam
• Sourdough bread by Mooonbread
• Aggie Chocolate Factory 70% Cocoa Chocolate

Tickets are priced $22 an can be purchased online.

Pintxos y libros

November 19th, 6.00 p.m.

Join Pago group founder Scott Evans alongside author Clayton Szczech for small bites (pintxos), a tequila tasting, and a discussion about Szczech’s new book: “A Field Guide to Tequila: What It Is, Where It’s From, and How to Taste It”. The evening at Finca Pintxos Bar is priced $40 or $27 for just food. Add a signed copy of the tequila book for $25 as well. Tickets can be purchased online.

Tequila selections and cocktails will be selected by the author and will feature recipes and producers highlighted in his book. Menu with pairings as follows:

• Welcome, best ever margarita
• Tortilla española, Spanish potato, onion and egg “omelet”, aioli, paprika
  • Blanco tequila
• Datiles, skewer of bacon wrapped dates, blue cheese, almond, spiced honey
  • Reposado tequila
• Coliflor, wood roasted cauliflower, labne, salsa verde, pomegranate
  • Anejo tequila
• Tosta de setas, roasted mushrooms, goat cheese mousse, crispy garlic, sourdough
• Cerdo, piquillo peppers stuffed with roasted pork
  • Tequila cocktail

Friendsgiving at Grid City

November 21st, 5.30 p.m. or 6.30 p.m.

Get in on the seasonal mood a few days early this year. Grab your best friends and head to Grid City (pictured top) in South Salt Lake. Regular tickets are priced $75 with VIP tickets $100. VIP includes an earlier start time of 5.30 p.m. – as well as a dedicated server, swag raffle, meet and greet with Grid’s head brewer, a tour of the brewery as well as seating inside the setup too. Tickets can be purchased online here. Menu as follows (including veggie friendly options):

• Amuse, avocado & cucumber gazpacho, smoked paprika oil
• Carrot ginger soup, fried leek, sourdough rolls
  • Bubble Works Ederflower Seltzer
• Salad of arugula, cherry tomatoes, and caramelized onions, apple cranberry lemon vinaigrette
  • Beer Works Mexican Lager
• Roasted root vegetable risotto, roasted fennel, turnip, oyster mushrooms, truffle oil
  • Beer Works Brown Ale
• Turducken roulade with roasted garlic, OR
• Seitan steak bites with mashed potatoes, collard greens, pans jus & cranberry chutney
  • Beer Works India Pale Ale
• Pumpkin cheesecake with a pecan pie topping, OR
• Chocolate torte with walnut crust
  • Sentance Series Vanilla Cacao Rasberry Nitro Brown Ale
• Bubble Works Cucumber Lime Seltzer

Stanza mezcal dinner

November 29th

Towards the end of the month this downtown Italian restaurant are hosting a mezcal pairing event. A five course menu will be served in the upstairs private dining room alongside appropriate pairings. Price is $100 per person ($70 food, $30 alcohol). Reservations are available via their website. Menu as follows:

• Ceviche de callo de hacha y camaron, scallops, shrimp, cucumber, onion, avocado, tomatoes, lime
  • Margarita de Mezcal y Sal de Gusano
• Sopa de Lima, chicken, citrus broth, tortilla strips
  • Paloma y mezcal
• Jamaica sorbet with with mezcal float
• Mole con guajolote, turkey, traditional mole made with chocolate and a variety of chiles & spices
  • Mezcal old fashioned
• Flan con dulce de leche
  • Ponche y piquete de mezcal

Other useful links

• Free newsletter – signup and receive our weekly newsletter for free
• Food talk group – chew the fat with other like-minded Utah foodies over on Facebook.
• 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.