The last few days haven't left me much time to write up anything. Between catching up on sleep and trying to squeeze as much as I could in, and..well...having a little too much to drink, writing these posts were low on my priorities. Plenty has gone on in the last couple days so I'm going to break it up so they're easier to digest. On a side note I've lost track and lost count of the "Day #" so I'm just not going to bother. I stepped off the train after being on the outskirts of SLC for what seemed like an hour. It never seemed to get any closer and then we were there. The reported snow hadn't materialized beyond a dusting earlier and a stray flake here and there. It also wasn't really a mile to the hotel. It was quite cold at 3am, but it had been more biting in Devils Lake so i figured I would be fine. Safely in my room I crashed until noon and then hit the town. Tradition has it that my first stop is a food stop so I headed for a small patisserie cafe called Les Madeline's that was rumored to have a front runner for the world's best kouing aman. The only problem was that I had no idea what that was. They were sold out when I arrived but she told me they were making more and they'd be ready in an hour. I wasn't sure if i would make it back by, and I still needed to do some Google Maps research to figure out where to go so i grabbed a couple spring rolls they offered and killed some time. Holy shit was it worth it. I'm not sure I can say it was the best thing I've ever had, it was most definitely the best baked good I've ever had. The kouing aman is a fist sized, buttery, cinnamony pastry that is folded in on itself to make a faceted bun that is crunchy and flaky on the outside and soft and bready on the inside. Fresh out of the oven it is a magical experience, but even the next day after its been rattling around town and sitting in a box on the table its phenomenal. Although Les Madeleine's does deliver, I could see the chance of having one oven fresh be worth a trip to SLC alone. I was going to have to try very hard to find something to do to top it.
First off let me say that the streets in SLC confused the hell out of me. They make sense, but in a way i couldn't wrap my head around. The North's, South's, East's, and West's are all dictated by what side of the Mormon temple they are, but the naming convention is asinine. Take the centrally located Temple St. for example: there's a North and South Temple St. but those are divided into East and West. So you could be at an address on North Temple West. Then there are the numbered streets. They go up in number the further away from Temple you get, but are also divided into the four cardinal directions so that you could end up at the corner of East 300 South and South 300 East. As long as you always know where the temple is you can't really get too lost, but I've already admitted to being directionally challenged as well as not having a clue where the temple is most of the time. Google Maps was indispensable here, and even then it was still a little confusing. Anyways, while killing time at Les Madeleine's I kept looking at a building across the street with a sign that said The Leonardo. Curiosity finally got the best of me and I looked it up. It turned out that The Leonardo is a new museum in SLC that tries to blend art, science, and history together and make it fun and to encourage people to be creative with lots of interactive exhibits. They do a surprisingly good job of bridging those divides. One of their exhibits dealt with algae. On the surface there's nothing remotely artistic about algae, and even the science seems like it would be a little dull. However when you learn about the future uses of algae from bio-fuel to water purification and how it can change our nations dependency on foreign oil without impacting our food crops like corn and soy fuels do its pretty interesting. Then bridging the art gap is an artist who created a huge sculptural installation that had a free flowing design of water and clear, molded plastic that was inspired by algae. Elsewhere in the museum was a large hanging assembly of odd sculptures that looked equal parts jellyfish, feathery, and aquatic plant that responded to light and sound and would move, unfurl, or rearrange itself as people came and went. In addition to areas where you could explore and interact with prosthetic limbs, several stations set up so you could create your own stop-motion animation, one of the coolest things was a research project that everyone could participate in. The project is overseen by the University of Utah, who are trying to find out if there is a genetic connection between people who are considered "supertaskers". These are people who are extremely adept multi-taskers, not to be confused with people who think they are and end up wrecking while driving and texting. The experiment is pretty simple; they take a saliva sample and then submit you to a short test combining math and memorization. At the end you get anonymized results and can opt into a more extensive testing for those that qualify. Surprisingly I rated in the area of the bell curve that represents those who could be supertaskers, which I didn't think I would even come close. My only complaint about The Leonardo is that for the $14 admission, the exhibits on the two floors (the third is currently only conference rooms) seemed a little sparse. However, for a museum that's only been open for 2 months I think they're well on their way to something pretty awesome.
While riding the metro in Chicago, and then later on a bus in Reno I saw some kids wearing shirts that said the Heavy Metal Shop. In Chicago I thought it was cool the guy was showing his support for a local record shop. When i saw it again I thought it must be some kind of franchise or just some clothing company I as out of the loop about. While I was walking down one of the side streets of SLC I happened to see a sign for the Heavy Metal Shop. When I walked in I was surprised to see that it was just a local shop and not some gimmicky retail concept made to appeal to the disenfranchised metal heads of the world. I talked with owner Kevin about the shop and sure enough this was THE Heavy Metal Shop. Although there had been offers over the years to franchise out, or license his shirts for retail he has remained true to his roots and kept it a local affair. We talked shop for a few minutes, I picked up a shirt, and was back out on the streets looking for...yup, food. I had read up on a sushi spot that was extremely highly regarded called Takashi. After some retracing of steps and Googling I finally found it and was treated to the best sushi I've ever had. It was a combination of quality ingredients, a varied and creative menu, and the surgical artistry of my sushi chef. I let him take the reigns and serve me what he thought were his and Takashi's best offerings. I had New Zealand ceviche, I had rolls with fish, herbs, and sauces from all over the world, I had in-house cured salt water eel (unagi - which 99% of what you get is freshwater eel prepackaged in China with a pretty crappy BBQ sauce), sea urchin (uni) which I had tried once before and it was soupy, acidic, and terrible but this stuff was great. On top of serving me phenomenal food, he also ended up giving me great pointers for places to eat and drink. Some were on my list already and he just reaffirmed, but some were new, niche, tiny, and off the radar. Possibly the best tip he gave me was explaining Salt Lake's rather odd beer laws. Where most places you go to find a place with the beers on tap, in SLC it was bottles. This was because of an old law that stated no beer on tap could be over something like 3.2%. There were no such limits on bottles, and because Utah and SLC in particular had such a great brewing history and culture there were some great not-to-be-missed beers. The next best tip was pointing me in the direction of The Beer Hive, where I would spend a lot of time and money over the next two days, but I would also have some of the finest beers I've ever tasted.
The Beer Hive is a beer lovers paradise. They have over 200 different bottled beers, though understandably not many on tap, and an incredibly knowledgeable staff. My guide on what would become a beer journey through Utah and the Southwest was Barry. The first night there I was convinced he was the owner. He was really personally invested in beer and knew histories, back stories, and his way through a ridiculous stable of beers. It would later turn out that he's just a dude that loves beer, and loves sharing with like-minded people. He would introduce me to a plethora of local and regional beers like Wasatch's Polygamy Porter, Red Rock's Elephino, and Squatters' Hops Rising. Though all good, there were two exceptional standouts. The first was Red Rock Brewery's Secale; a super smooth, rye whiskey cask aged dopplebock. The last beer of the night would be the best - Sierra-Nevada's 30th anniversary Grand Cru. The Grand Cru is an expertly blended mix of three of their best beers, coming together like a good blended whiskey to make something singularly unique and a beer that will take its place in the exclusive pantheon of god-like beers that are religious experiences. I drank a lot of beer. A lot of really good, high gravity beer and I later learned that altitude (which SLC is just under 5000 feet) can seriously affect how drunk you get.
I didn't exactly need a cab, but I definitely needed some good beer food and what better to fit the bill than a hearty plate of chicken and waffles? Almost directly across the street is a late night hangover hotspot called Bay Leaf. They serve a variety of foods from Chinese to Mexican, but their Southern comfort foods are what ease the beer soaked brain and belly. The chicken was salty and well breaded, the waffle was thick and fluffy, the OJ was at a temperature that was as much slushy as juice. It was exactly what I wanted. For a town that doesn't know what a Waffle House is, they got the gist of it anyways. Sated and less sloshy I meandered home, sobering up a good bit on the long, cold walk. I crashed immediately at the end of a good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment