There's a new restaurant in downtown Salt Lake that you'd be out of your mind not to frequent. I heard murmurs about this place from Tessa Lindsey, who I mentioned last month. She designed the interior, which is incredible. A mix of clean Art Nouveau lines with high light ceilings and wood floors give the restaurant the feeling of a friendly unpretentious gallery.
To fit the bill, Tessa hung some very nice paintings by her ever so cool boyfriend Trent Call, all large canvases that are a subtle new take on his familiar comic figures. The vibe is great, small and classy, simple, but very loved. Max occupancy is probably about 35.
This intimate size fits the owner/chef's style very well, as he is ever present and has a hand in every dish. This is his first solo restaurant project after learning in San Francisco and jointly running a highly acclaimed place in Seattle. His food is incredible. Every dish is bursting with flavor and it's impossible to choose between them all. I tried the glazed pork ribs, which were totally decadent and caramelized, and the spanacopita, which was described as the chef as more simple than his award-winning recipe from Seattle. It was very bold, however, and totally complicated enough for me. Both were tapas-sized small plates portions. The price of this restaurant is what really kills me: Those two together were only $11, and this is some seriously high quality stuff, and the portions are enough to share 5 different things between 3 people and leave stuffed. I also tried the pear and ratatouille pizzas, which were both great, the ratatouille better. The chef recommends the BLT pizza as well. The pizzas are cute little personal things and only $7.95!
Then there are the drinks. Eva has the full gamut from cheapskate to class-act, the first night I got a PBR ($2.50), the second an organic cider ($7.75), and they've got a ton of options up to a very impressive 22 oz. Brother David's 10 proof ale ($11!). The wine selection looks classy, too but I don't know 'nothin 'bout no sissy grape drinks.
Hands down this is the most big-city restaurant in this little town. It's delicious and cheap, intimate and gourmet, well designed, and well staffed. You've got no reason to skip it. Even a cheapskate like me needs to go on a date every once in a while, and Eva is the place. And did I mention it's open until 1 AM?!? Sold. Please save our city.
For super-special deals, restaurateurs (that word means waiters, and apparently bike delivery guys) get 50% off all food for a limited time after 10 pm. So take Esther on a date and she'll pay for her half just by being there!
Eva is on Main Street between 3rd and 4th south.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Eva
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7 comments:
hahahaha Thanks for the shout out Davey :) And it's true, I'm a restaurateur! This place sounds absolutely amazing. Think I'll hit it up this weekend after visiting the sexy artsy boys at the warehouse on Friday ;)
It look so fabulous and cute! Yay SLC and real restaurants! Definitely going this summer. I somehow managed to forget the whole part of our conversation about it until I saw your post here... ooops
yay! Warehouse party!
Coincidentally, a fellow named Oliver did a lot of the interior installation work for Eva, and he also helped Austin and Ryan with Austin's room! I'd be totally down to go after the party, but I think it'll still be going until after 1 so I'll be a good host and stick around.
Maya you'll love it...
Thanks for the words, Davey. This is Rob, Front-of-House manager for Eva. The Oliver mentioned above is Oliver Lewis, one of the front men of local rockers Tolchock Trio, all around handy-man, my new best bartender, and, as you can tell, Renaissance Man. Hit him up for all of your rugged hammering needs at the e-mail below
Hope to see folks in the place soon.
This place looks really great. I can't wait to try it out for myself. Thanks for the review.
--
Stuart
http://www.gastronomicslc.com
Davey your Mom is my neighbor on 1st Ave and she told me to check out your blog, I'm glad I did! This place sounds fantastic. My sister is visiting from SF this weekend and now I have the perfect hip place to take her for her birthday!
OMG! I'm so excited about this place! I'm definitely going to check it out. Thanx for being my eyes in this lil city!
:)
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