Mimosas Made in Mormontown

I love Mimosas. It is a standard that is widely consumed and liked by many, perhaps because it has refreshing citrus flavors and celebratory associations. When I have had a weekend of over-the-top partying, typically spent out of town, it is a requirement of mine to find a breakfast spot that serves this Sunday hangover remedy. Last Sunday, I had not necessarily reached my party limit over the course of the weekend, nonetheless, drinks were required this particular morning. The Mountain Man and I had been half-heartedly planning to hang out since I’ve been back stateside for two months. We pondered where to go – Ruth’s? A favorite but usually packed. The Tin Angel? It serves local produce and features local artwork in the restaurant not to mention has a fun drink menu, but is unfortunately closed on Sundays.

We landed at the Wild Grape, a place I’ve been to a few times but the MM had not yet experienced. This restaurant has been in business for two years and they also offer local produce like cheese from Beehive Cheese and keep their dishes seasonal. They also have wine events where big players in this industry, like Robert Mondavi, stop by to offer his opinions on the matter of his expertise. Impressive he came through actually. I encourage you to check out upcoming events they are hosting, typically wine related. Next Wednesday, December 29th, the winemakers behind the company Donkey & Goat will be present between 6:30-9 to speak about their product and select Syrahs will be paired with a meal. You can bet I will be there before I jet off to California to celebrate the coming of the new year.

It was also a pleasant surprise to discover from a placard at the entrance that The Wild Grape was voted “Best Mimosa” from The City Weekly. After seated, my friend and I browsed through the culinary offerings but the real fun came when we spotted the Mimosa selection on the menu… nine different Mimosas are featured! Not knowing which to choose, we asked that we be served each one of them. Unfortunately, drinks can only be served after noon and we had to be served one glass at a time. Really Utah lawmakers.. stop trying to be a pain for libation lovers! We began breakfast at eleven and enjoyed conversation over coffee and a just-right runny eggs Benedict (mine made vegetarian) with disappointingly over-seasoned hash browns. We also enjoyed the view of some of the hottest boots I have ever seen sported on a confident, edgy and, might I add, just plain sexy woman sitting across the restaurant. The restaurant has large windows which adds such great natural light into the capacious space. Noon came and our friendly waitress knew we were eagerly awaiting our version of Sunday sacrament and jutted out of the back two flutes filled with nitid colored bubbling beverages. We had the following flavors: Strawberry, Prickly Pear, Pineapple, Mango, Peach, Pomegrante, Blackberry and Kiwi. There was one flavor which we forgot to try which was the Blood Orange. I guess I will just have to come back one Sunday to try them all again….darn. Now for the ranking:

Mildred's picks:
1. Strawberry
2. Peach
3. Mango
4. Kiwi
5. Blackberry
6. Pomegrante
7. Prickly Pear
8. Pineapple

The Mountain Man's picks:
1. Peach
2. Kiwi
3. Strawberry
4. Mango
5. Prickly Pear
6. Pomegranite
7. Blackberry
8. Pineapple

While our rankings differed, we did like the same drinks in general opting for the drinks that were not as sweet tasting. The drinks that we did like, oddly enough, were made mostly with syrup while the sweeter drinks, like the Blackberry, were made mainly with fresh fruit puree. The pineapple was bland, hence why it received the lowest score from both of us. The sparkling wine used was Andre, a California extra dry variety. It is a cheap standard but I admit was a good choice which complimented these particular versions of a classic drink. My favorite of this type of beverage is Pierrier-Jouet. I have also tasted Don Perignon once and it tastes surprisingly well with or without orange juice after not having been refrigerated after an all night drinking fest (ahem NYE 2008). That particular New Years, I went to the Bubble Lounge in San Francisco which is one of the only places that you can order DP by the glass. But I also had an open bottle waiting for me at the flat in which I was staying and worked on finishing it the next morning alongside my dark, unflavored coffee. Perhaps on my next visit to France, I will stop getting wasted in Paris and will take a day trip to the Champagne region and further educate my palette for this drinking varietal.

But back to the present story at hand. The Mountain Man and I questioned the waitress if anyone else has been so bold to order every single Mimosa on the menu and she said she has only seen it done one other time where a fun gay group ordered a rainbow spread of Mimosas (since there were 8 people they could order all of the Mimosas at once). I will definitely need to come back with a group and replicate this event. We were feeling really swell after this outing and soon after brunch, I took a nap to recover from all of the work of drinking and judging the various Mimosas. I especially like that I spent the following Sunday downing 8 Mimosas as well! I am agreeable to the idea of keeping this newly found tradition of drinking not only one, but many Mimosas on a Sunday morning.

A Vegas Style Night in Salt Lake

I have never been to The Metropolitan in all of my nine years living in Salt Lake area until tonight. This restaurant and bar is a modern, chic and expensive looking place positioned on the well trafficked 3rd west next to Squatters. The Metropolitan has advertisements in the City Weekly wherein it propogates the various awards received since its inception 15 years ago. This particular locale always seems to be frequented by successful, attractive people and it wasn’t a place that necessarily had pull for me as an angsty, anarchist vegan in her early 20s. But like the idealist protagonist in the movie SLC Punk, I changed drastically from my early 20s to my late 20s and now have a palette for this type of dining experience.

I reached out to my friend, Tosha, who had just posted on Facebook that she was newly single and asked if we could meet up and talk. She responded saying that she wanted to go to Vegas. Being that it was already mid-day Saturday, I decided that Vegas was off the table for this weekend but we could do SLC Vegas style. The Metropolitan was the best match in terms of look and menu offering. They serve nothing but American cuisine. A smart move on their part – it makes them stand out amongst a panoply of ethnic restaurants in the SLC valley, particularly sushi restaurants that I swear are taking over every corner. So Tosha and I got dressed up in our fancy pants suit attire because girls night out deserves nothing less.

We drove up together and took the valet parking option (I’ve learned to carry cash on me after traveling to many major cities over the past year). We were going to be seated in the back of the restaurant and I asked if we could be seated in a more centered area. After the hostess consulted with the gracious enough Maitre d', we were led the front table looking out at the street – much better! Court, our waiter, was composed and engaging. We discovered that The Metropolitan was offering a great fall menu that ranged from pumpkin soup to roasted hen, which Tosha ordered. I requested the Semolina pasta and it was just a delight – al dente fresh American pasta and tome de chevre, dates, toasted almonds, orange zest, sage. Brilliant combination.

Court recommended two wines to compliment our meal and Tosha chose the Helfrich Guwerztraminer 2005 from Alsace. It was described as a normally sweet wine that is more dry than most of this variety. Tosha noted its crisp pear taste and other reviews mention notes of lychee, a berry which originates from China that I have never tried. I do believe Court was right, that this wine was a great pairing for our seasonal meal. We drank a bottle between us and discussed not only the challenges of a relationship but we expanded to subjects like travel, human conflicts and literature. A decent wine can really make for enriching conversations. We also talked back and forth with our waiter about some of our favorite spots in San Francisco since he used to live there and Tosha and I spent an adventurous and memorable weekend there recently. For the finale, we both ordered ice cream made in house in three flavors: chocolate, espresso and cream. The ice cream was a bit dry but it was edible nonetheless. I have decided that I will be a returning patron as The Metropolitan has the whole package and they also have a fall tasting menu paired with an add-on for wine tasting that I want to try. Honestly, the food was a great price and so was the wine. In fact, it was shockingly affordable. Reservations are needed and you can book using Open Table on their website.




The night wasn’t over as that is typical for a Vegas style outing. We went over to the SkyBar which does not have the best reputation amongst my crowd since there is a fear of seeing someone from work picking someone up at random (it has happened before). While the Skybar touts itself as being the only Vegas style club for no other reason I can think of than in your face cleavage, scary drugged out blonde in a corset look and the VIP bottle tables, the hipper-than-thou audience and the vibe is not equal to that of the only true city of neon. Perhaps if the owners made the bar look less like inside of the Stratosphere, that would be a step towards transplanting the Vegas ambience to Salt Lake.

At the bar I asked “What is your cocktail recommendation for someone who has just broke off a relationship not 24 hours ago?” and Tosha ordered for me “What’s a drink for someone who is twitter-painted”? Tosha's order turned out to be a large mixed drink with a melon flavor and slightly sour aftertaste which perfectly emulates how one feels after a break up. I received a sex on the beach which is fitting for someone in the beginning stages of a fairy-tale romance. Tosha followed her drink with a tasty, girly shot of Hypnotic, another first for her (each place and drink was a first for her tonight… she tends to have firsts with me). After the waitress went to put our drinks on the tab and forgot to ask our name, we decided it was time to close out and perhaps never visit this side of Vegas in SLC again. But not before dancing practically alone on the dance floor to Michael Jackson's "Rock with You" which is a moment that I think will stick with me for a while. Tosha and I will be doing Vegas early next year and be rest assured that the edited commentary will make its way on to this blog.

Tonight just affirmed my knowledge that the places you visit are truly memorable based on the people you bring along on the journey.