This article is excerpted from the Utah Eats newsletter, compiled by Kolbie Peterson, The Salt Lake Tribune’s food and drink reporter. To get the full newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday, become a subscriber by going to sltrib.com/newsletters.
Hello, Eaters!
Last weekend I had the opportunity to dine at the just-opened Aker, a new restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City, located on a city block — between 300 South and 400 South, between Main and State streets — that contains about 15 different bars.
Aker, in the Boston Building at 9 Exchange Place (where Maxwell’s used to be), is billed as a fine-dining Japanese-Latin fusion restaurant. Inside, the space is upscale and sleek, with beautiful light-green chairs, cozy booths and intimate lighting. A large bar faces the front windows, and a sushi bar is nestled in a back corner.
On the scale between Japanese- and Latin-style dining, the needle tips toward Japanese, at least in more obvious ways. In addition to such starters as miso soup and gyoza, the main menu features sashimi, nigiri, yakitori and signature sushi rolls, for example.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maguro Crudo at Āker restaurant in Exchange Place, on Monday, July 29, 2024.
But there is also a section dedicated to crudo (the maguro crudo is pictured above), which comes from Italian and Spanish cuisine, and a couple of sauces and peppers that come from Latin cooking. The entrees, divided between seafood and steak (which is all wagyu), looked to feature a variety of flavors, and the sides ranged from American to Peruvian.
We started with the bacon-wrapped shrimp ($8), from the yakitori section. It was served with a zippy chimichurri, a sauce that originated in Argentina, according to the BBC. The sauce’s herbs, plus the sweetness and smokiness of the shrimp, all combined in a lovely way.
(Kolbie Peterson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Over the Rainbow roll from Aker, pictured on Saturday, July 27, 2024.
Next, I picked one of the signature rolls, the Over the Rainbow ($26), made with tempura serrano, cucumber and grilled lobster, and topped with striped sea bass, salmon, avocado and delicate fried leeks.
This roll was an instance where the fusion element didn’t quite work for me; I thought the serrano pepper was a bit on the overpowering side, although I loved the roll’s many different textures, especially the leeks.
My dining companion ordered the wagyu ribeye, which you can read more about in the “Dish of the Week” section.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) āker restaurant in Exchange Place, on Monday, July 29, 2024.
For dessert, we got the Chocolate Lava Obsession ($13), which was good, even though the cake didn’t come with the molten center the menu advertised.
Despite having a couple of small quibbles, I think Aker (pictured above) is a solid pick if you’re looking for a high-end dining experience. Especially if you like steak.
Live deliciously,
Kolbie
P.S. Our server, Alana, did a great job. Kudos to her.
Food News
(Dilan Maxfield | Romney press office) Sen. Mitt Romney smiles with employees of J. Dawgs as he provides Senate Republicans with a selection of Utah foods for a lunch at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024.
• Last week, Sen. Mitt Romney treated his Republican Senate colleagues to a lunch featuring his favorite meat, “hot dog,” from Utah favorite J. Dawgs, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. The spread included J. Dawgs’ “Special Sauce,” as well as barbecue beans prepared by Romney’s wife, Ann Romney, and “Graham Canyon” ice cream from the Brigham Young University Creamery to top it off.
• Middle Eastern restaurant Mazza, at 1515 S. 1500 East in Salt Lake City, reopened for business Monday after a July 3 mechanical/electrical fire on its roof and in its kitchen, according to Instagram. No one was hurt in the fire, but the restaurant was closed for almost a month for repairs and cleaning.
• To mark National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day on Aug. 4 — Sunday — all DoubleTree by Hilton hotels in the United States are giving out free chocolate chip cookies (allergen-free version available) to both guests and the public, according to a news release. These cookies are usually given out only to guests when they check in, but on Sunday, everyone can try them. Cool fact: The DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie was the first food to be baked in orbit during experiments on the International Space Station, the release said. And the recipe, oft copied by bloggers, was released in 2020.
Openings:
• Today, a new Chipotle location is opening at 2654 N. 2000 West, Clinton, according to a news release. The restaurant features a “Chipotlane,” a drive-thru lane that allows customers to pick up digital orders without getting out of their cars.
• Bobby’s Burgers, a burger concept co-founded by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, has partnered with MTB Management to eventually open nine restaurants in Utah, according to a news release. The first is slated to open in the Beehive State by the end of the year. University Place (formerly University Mall), at 575 E. University Parkway in Orem, announced Wednesday that it will be one of the locations for Bobby’s Burgers. Sites for the other locations have yet to be announced.
Dish of the Week
(Eric Peterson) The wagyu ribeye from Aker, pictured with Peruvian fried rice and truffle mashed potatoes on Saturday, July 27, 2024.
I got severe dinner FOMO at Aker after my dining companion ordered the wagyu ribeye, a 12-ounce steak served with truffle mashed potatoes and chaufa fried rice, which is the Peruvian version of Chinese fried rice. The steak also came with two sauces, chimichurri and aji verde, a spicy and herbaceous Peruvian sauce that at Aker is made with Japanese Kewpie mayo, which is creamier and more eggy than typical American mayo, said head chef Jhonny Lopez.
This steak was truly something magical. It hit the perfect balance between fatty and meaty, and it was seasoned really well. And dipped in the two sauces, the meat hit entirely new levels of flavor that were a pleasure to experience. This was an example of Japanese and Latin fusion done right.
