Dang It Delicious: June 2011

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Yamato

We really love Yamato where you can enjoy fabulous sushi and have meaningful conversation without fighting the noise.

Poki Tuna. Generous cubes of tuna, mango and avocado are seasoned and tossed. Sweet ripe mango, soft creamy avocado and meaty tuna are perfect together.

Mesa Roll. Tempura halibut, cilantro, jalapeno, spicy aioli. Seriously AMAZING. The crunch of the battered fish, the subtle fire of jalapeno, insane.

Super Dragon. Shrimp tempura, crab, cucumber topped with eel, avocado, unagi sauce, 2 color tobiko. Another insanely good one.

Hamachi with Garlic. Nothing beats a clean cut piece of fab fish.

Earlier, we had an epic 3 hours at Rotary Park singing, rhyming lyrics, yelling math facts, jumping streams, following ants, hide-and-go-seeking and running our hearts out through clusters of magical aspens.

Yamato

(435) 615-7334

1781 Sidewinder Drive

Park City, UT 84060

Official site for Yamato.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Lobby Lounge at Grand America

Our fab mommy-daughter weekend continues at the Grand America wandering around drilling on math facts (tiger mom), scribbling on fancy Moleskine notebooks and snacking on yummy bites. The Lobby Lounge located right in the lobby serves Continental Breakfast 6am-10am, Afternoon Tea 2pm-5pm and coffee and cocktails throughout the day until midnight.

Fruit Bowl, Bagel and Fresh OJ.

This is real, REAL fresh orange juice (as in juice from actual oranges) containing the ideal level of pulpy, sweet, sour, ice cold juice. Between the two of us, we guzzled three 12 oz glasses.

Our prepackaged fruit was crisp, freshly cut and sugary ripe.

What a gorgeous slab of curvy marble. Can you imagine crisp crackling heat when this fireplace roars?

Glass chandeliers, all over the place, were huge, plentiful, modern, clean, whimsical and classic.

Enormous floral displays, more light fixtures, fine drapes and rugs, marble hallways, rich Euro decor, romance muted lighting, crown molding, dome ceilings, all the gold...

The Grand America Hotel

555 South Main Street

Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Reservations 1-800-304-8696

Garden Cafe at The Grand America...lunch

Miriam and I are still at the Grand America Hotel doing mama-daughter bonding! The time was well-spent in deep reflection on how to be a good friend, building character, honesty, kindness, generosity, earning respect and friendship, etc. What else do 10 year olds need to talk about?! We drew pictures, filled in dialogue bubbles for comics, ate a ton of food including some fancy shmancyfare at The Garden Cafe. Life gets more and more delicious!

The OJ here rocks! Coffee is served in matching China.

I am a pathetic sucker for buffets (tacky, I know!). We passed on the menus and went straight to the line. Trip #1 consisted of every protein dish: sea bass, pork tenderloin, shrimp, chicken breast. And the Mexican rice was chunky and fabulous.

Trip #2: mortadella, garden greens, rice, fruit and berries.

There was something for everyone. Carbo loader counter...

Cold apps, cold cuts, seafood salad, cheeses, pickled vegetables.

Seared Chickcen Breast Florentine with Tomato Buerre Blanc.

Seared Australian Sea Bass with Putanesca.

Cider Brined Pork Tenderloin with Sundried Cherry Port Reduction.

Dessert Table!

Gobs of chocolate drown our fresh fruit and berries. Sloppy dish of heaven!

It took us 3 hours to fit in drawing and stories and nibbling.

One-of-a-kind glass sconces decorated the walls inside the Garden Cafe. The detail on these light fixtures! Romantic dimless everywhere.

The Garden Cafe at Grand America Hotel
555 South Main Street

Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Reservations 1-800-304-8696

The Garden Cafe at The Grand America...breakfast buffet

If you are in the mood for something beautiful, fancy and delicious, check out The Garden Cafe at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. Don't bother with the menu because the Breakfast Buffet is really the only the way to go.

First trip to the buffet... yogurt parfait, sausage, fruit, cold cuts, french toast, lox and capers, oatmeal. Expect the Garden Cafe to carry every possible breakfast-type of food.

Second trip to buffet... more mortadella, fresh fruit, lox, oatmeal and an impressive eggwhite omelet. All the food was good and the cut fruit stayed crisp, not stale.

The omelet station had no line! The eggwhite omelet was most impressive—light, fluffy, intensely flavorful and perfectly cooked! Eggwhites were tossed in spinach, onion, tomato and garlic.