Getting to know the Beehive State one sip and bite at a time
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Did you bring your IDs with you?” asks our (food) tour guide Ray Mucillo, as we walk past Petunia the Pig, the bronze sculpture, on our way to Tony Caputo’s Market and Deli. “Here in Utah, everyone is required to present an identification card in places that serve alcohol.”
Utah has very strict liquor laws. For one, liquor stores are state-run. Just so you get the drift, a majority of Utah officials setting the state’s liquor laws are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who are taught to abstain from alcohol. Second, liquor stores are closed on Sundays, and state and federal holidays. Third, depending on the city you’re in, you can’t get wine/spirits at grocery stores.
The good news is, the state’s (drinking) rules are always evolving. If you’re planning for a short trip, it’s always a good idea to review what is allowed, what is forbidden so you don’t miss out on Utah’s shot culture.
We are at Uffens Marketplace, a year-round marketplace in the heart of Salt Lake City. Delta Airlines, Visit Salt Lake and Utah Tourism Office invited The Philippine STAR and two other Korean journalists for a familiarization trip to the Beehive State. Salt Lake City is Delta’s hub for the Rocky Mountain region of the United States.
And what better way to learn about a place’s culture than through food!
Uffens Marketplace looks like an old warehouse with booths/shops for artists and crafters. Located just north of Pioneer Park at 336 West Broadway (300 South), it’s a beautiful and interesting urban venue which reminds me of Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market, which I got to explore two years ago. If Pike’s has Rachel the Pig, Uffens has Petunia as its official mascot. Petunia is a giant, metal piggy bank whose donations support art and music in the market.
“You’re right,” Ray tells me. “This market is made to look and feel like Pike’s Place. It hasn’t been as active since the pandemic, but it’s building back up.”
Ray and his business partner Adam Park run Beehive Bites and Sites, which offers chef-guided tours, highlighting the best local artisans and their stories.
Foodnotes
The Beehive State has some iconic food items like the Funeral Potatoes, and yes, the green Jell-O. These snacks are as much a part of Utah’s culture as the honeybee and the canyons.
It’s not just the landmarks that offer the best insights into a place and its culture. It’s the food. Through Funeral fries and green Jell-O, I flew back home with a deeper appreciation of Salt Lake City and its people that will stay with me — and my palate — for years to come!
Stories have it that the Mormons indulged in the gelatin snack because, again, “they have to abstain from alcohol.”
“Love of Jell-O is commonly attributed to Utah’s general love of sweets. Utah is also crazy about soda. We have specialty shops dedicated to sugary drinks. There’s also a bakery trail where you can indulge in sugar cookies,” explains Matthew Hemsley of Visit Salt Lake, over Smash Burger and potato gnocchi at Urban Hill. “Also because Jell-O is about family fun and Utah embodies that.”
Family, I guess, is also the inspiration behind the homemade Funeral Potatoes, a classic Utah comfort food. You see, the Latter-day Saints has big families and even bigger congregations to feed.
A dish that combines potatoes with cheese, creamy soup, and crushed cornflakes, Funeral Potatoes provided a thrifty solution for the endless potlucks, soup kitchens, weddings, and yes, funerals. Hence, the name.
Let the food crawl begin
But there’s definitely more to Utah than the iconic jiggly, green treat and the “official fast food for the hard times.” This we discover during the food crawl with Ray.
“Our cuisine is as diverse as its people,” enthuses Ray. “And the food culture here has grown tremendously over the last three decades. That picked up a lot in 2002 when Salt Lake City hosted the Olympics. Around that time, some of the locals came home and moved back, bringing with them a wealth of (culinary) experience. And it stays that way.” There are foreigners, too, who fell in love with Utah, married a local, set up their own businesses here, and made it their second home.
“That’s what makes our state interesting. There’s diversity and a lot of creativity going on. I stayed in Salt Lake City because of that,” shares Ray, who hails from San Diego.
A passionate foodie, Ray then brings us to three food establishments that showcase Utah’s unique, interesting, and diverse food culture.
Tony Caputo’s Market and Deliis among the city’s most popular and celebrated food places. It’s like a gourmand’s wonder box filled with organic produce, artisanal cheeses, Italian pastas, aged balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a whole lot more from the world over. Here, you can hang out with your friends over Italian sandwiches and kombuchas for lunch and pick up some great deli for dinner. Those with more time should register for a tasting class, like Beer and Cheese or Intro to Fine Chocolate.
“This market and deli was founded by Tony Caputo, a food evangelist who helped launch Salt Lake City’s artisan food scene,” relates Ray.
Food has always been an essential part of the Caputo family. After coming to the US from Greece and Italy, the Caputos owned and operated a small market on Salt Lake’s west side, home to Utah’s very first refrigerated deli case.
When you visit the shop, it’s perfectly fine to ask for a sample of cheese or something that catches your fancy from its Cheese Caves, a state-of-the-art cave where they age a variety of artisanal cheeses, coaxing out new, distinct flavors as these ripen to perfection.
“The Caputos make their own cheese in-house,” Ray tells us as he plops two kinds of cheese—the Copper Caputo, White Cheese (house cheddar)—and salami on the table.
Copper Caputo is flavored with cherries. “There’s a lot of alcohol that goes in there as well to make the flavors saturated. It starts with a base of Asiago cheese.”
The locals love it for the sheer reason that it’s fruity and sweet. It’s best served on a meat and cheese platter with crackers.
The White Cheese is house cheddar. It comes from a company called Beehive Cheeses. The milk comes from their farm. This cheese goes well on a sandwich, or you can melt and scrape it over a pasta dish.
“The Market Center, where Caputo’s is, is operated and run by the Caputos. They also rent out spaces to artists, brew masters and crafters,” notes Ray.
Caputo’s is also home to the largest selection of craft chocolate in the country, with more than 300 different bars to choose from.
Caputo’s is now run by Tony’s son, Matt and his wife Yelena, who carry on the tradition and constantly reimagine what it means to be a purveyor of fine foods in the modern age.
Finca Pintxos Bar. Finca serves food inspired by the diverse regions of Spain. Its owner, sommelier Scott Evans, fell in love with Spanish food, wine and culture during his early travels and wanted to bring that experience to his hometown of Salt Lake City. Here, diners get to enjoy Spanish tapas and pintxos—all made from scratch with local, seasonal ingredients.
White Horseis a stunning adult playground. This modern American brasserie serves everything—from bar snacks to shared plates, fresh oysters to sandwiches and steaks. If you’re planning to dine here, be sure you have your IDs with you because White Horse has a wall of spirits that goes all the way up the ceiling!
There are more than 25 different tequilas and mezcals to choose from, including four different Don Julios and four Patrons. Add to that, five absinthe options.
Here, we sample Egg and Chips, one of the locals’ fave bar snacks. It’s executive chef Matt Crandall’s take on London’s pub breakfast. House-made potato chips are placed in a brown paper bag and tossed with malt vinegar powder, truffle oil, and a 63-degree egg. All the ingredients are shaken, not stirred, and poured into a bowl. It’s so good that once you pop, you can’t stop! You have to consume it right away, because the sous vide egg makes the chips soggy.
White Horse also specializes in Western-European style charcuterie boards. “It’s different from what we serve here in the US traditionally,” notes Ray.
American charcuterie boards usually have cheeses and fruits. “While the Western-European style focuses on preserved meats (smoked and cured),” adds Ray.
That explains why our board is loaded with roasted almonds, pickles, stone-ground mustard, smoked duck, pork belly bacon with maple syrup, and andouille sausage. The cured meat items are a little spicy, but tasty!
It’s not just the landmarks that offer the best insights into a place and its culture. It’s the food. Through Funeral Fries, green Jell-O and new American Cuisine that warm the heart and tummy, I flew back home on Delta 2995 with a deeper appreciation of the Beehive State and its people that will stay with me—and my palate—for years to come!
