The first time I visited Salt Lake was on my inaugural road trip across America – a 10,090 mile drive embarked on between the summer of my junior and senior year in high school. Yes, my best friend and I somehow convinced our parents to say yes. Can you imagine ANY parents allowing this, today? They even loaned us the wheels! We were 16, sporting scruffy facial hair to appear older than we were, so we could, in no particular order, drink, gamble, and meet girls. (We were moderately successful on two of three.)
Among other things that happened in SLC?
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Our car broke down and once fixed, we ran an illegal taxi service ferrying people from the airport to the city for ten bucks a ride to make back all the dough we spent on a new radiator.
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We met Mormons! Who befriended us and impressed us enough that we received missionary visits from their brethren back in the DC area when we returned home.
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We drank 3.2% beer in our Motel 6 room every night until we had restocked our coffers enough to leave the friendly people of Utah behind.
Suffice it to say, times have changed.
I hit approximately a half dozen places on my blow-through visit last week. The city is bustling, vibrant, aggressively food forward, and I did not have enough time to sample all the interesting upscale bars and breweries I heard about. I enjoyed terrific sushi, an amazing Japanese-influenced steak tartare, and some truly ingenious craft cocktails–one prepared by my new SLC bestie who, as the title of this piece suggests, leads a dynamic Rocky Mountain lifestyle with her wife.
Of course in 2026 no one should blink an eye at this, but we know there are plenty of east and west coasters who think of places like Utah as a bastion of red state mores. Thus my second surprise: the number of establishments that were blatantly clear on their protection of individuals’ rights.
Good people, good food, good values. That was the takeaway from my brief Utah walkabout. Every encounter, from the hotel front desk to the folks I met as I dined my way across town, spoke of an openness of attitude that in no way reflects the divisiveness we hear about in this vast land of ours. Maybe we need to put down our phones, disconnect for a bit, and go have a beer and a burger somewhere new. We may not be nearly as divided as it seems.
Always hungry,
Ken
From Park City to Aspen, there is plenty of high fashion and high-end dining to be had in the Mountain West. But almost always, you’ll find yourself changing planes or spending a night in the gateway cities of Denver and Salt Lake. The chefs and restaurateurs are holding their own out there for sure.
Steak Tartare, Salt Lake City, reviewed by Ken Carlton
