Communal Named in Open Table's Top 100 Restaurants

It’s the a New Year, so it’s time for “Best Of” countdown lists from all corners of the media world. Here's one more: Communal, the Provo restaurant owned and operated by the Heirloom Restaurant Group, was named to Open Table’s Top 100 Restaurant Lists for 2012.

Open Table is an online reservation and review site used by diners all over the U.S. Based on the feedback from this site, Communal in downtown Provo was selected as one of the Top 100 Restaurant in the country in the category of American Cuisine. Other restaurants on the list include Eleven Madison Park in New York, Boulevard in San Francisco, and Corduroy in Washington DC, so Communal is in good company. 

Communal is known for serving fresh local ingredients and its support of local farms and products. 

In a press release, Heirloom congratulated The Tree Room at Sundance, the only other Utah restaurant to be included on the list. It was while working at the The Tree Room that Heirloom co-founders Colton Soelberg and Joseph McRae first met and cooked together.  

"Iron Chef" Contestant Viet Pham Inspires Us

My first Chew and Chat column for the Standard-Examiner http://www.hersutah.com/story/utah-restaurateur-gets-cooking-iron-chef serves as a pep talk for those of us who lost jobs in the recession.  Pick yourself up and get going, because success may be just around the corner.

Case in point: Utah chef Viet Pham lost his job at the Provo restaurant Spark in January 2009. Now on Jan. 6, he's competing against Bobby Flay on the Food Network's "Iron Chef." He made it to the finals of  "Extreme Chef" last fall. He and his business partner, Bowman Brown, were named among Food & Wine magazine's Best Young Chefs in 2011 and were nominated for a James Beard Award as well. 

When I interviewed Pham, he told me getting fired was a blessing in disguise.  His culinary philosophy simply didn't mesh with that of Spark's owner.  

But Pham wouldn't have gotten anywhere by wallowing in misery or going home to California, where the economy was even worse. Instead he and his sous chef, Bowman Brown (who had also been fired) opened Forage, a small high-end restaurant  in downtown Salt Lake City.

I met the two chefs in the spring of 2009, when they were still working on getting Forage up and running. It sounded like a unique concept for Utah: serving just one fixed-priced, small-plates meal each night, with the menu changing every day based on what was fresh and in season. But  I wondered if it would fly, because it was pricey for cost-conscious Utah. Also, our winters make seasonal cooking a lot more difficult than, say, California. So they were building their own greenhouse to raise their own produce.

I think the restaurant's success is due to the partners' creativity and hard work, as well as Viet's flair for promotion.  And, there's wisdom in thinking small. Offering one fixed-price dinner keeps quality high and wasted food low, as opposed to a large menu with many options that may not get ordered.

Viet's story is inspiring to me, because I was also laid off from a job that I loved, along with many of my co-workers. At the time, I was told, "You might have had skills and talent that were worth something at one point, but they aren't anymore." 

I'll admit, I spent some time wallowing. But I also decided to used my "worthless" skills and talents to write and photograph a cookbook. It's been rewarding to see "Soup's On!" all the way through to publication. I've loved hearing from people who enjoy the recipes from my cookbook, especially those who usually avoid the kitchen because they fear cooking it too much work.  

Likewise, I've really enjoyed hearing from my former co-workers who have found other jobs where their "worthless" skills are well-used and appreciated. We may not be on the Food Network, but we are picking ourselves up and finding  "life after layoff." 

The Biggest Loser's First Openly Gay Contestant

After the controversial last season of  "The Biggest Loser," viewers complained that they wanted to see more positive contestants and less drama. Hard to say whether that will happen or not. But we do know that Jillian Michaels is back as a trainer, and that three adolescents (who can't be eliminated) will lose weight along with the adult contestants.

And, according to NBC, a Utah man is the first openly gay contestant on the show. 

According to the NBC press bio, Jackson Carter of Layton, Utah is a volunteer coordinator for a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth outreach center known as OUTreach.  He's also a movie theater assistant manager and a student at Weber State University. 

Carter's primary motivation for going on “The Biggest Loser” is the kids he mentors at the youth outreach center.

“I want to be a role model for those kids so that they grow up to lead successful, healthy lives,” said Carter.

He was born in Roosevelt, Utah, a small town on a Ute Indian reservation, and raised there with his two younger siblings before moving at age seven to Layton. 

Except for a brief period in high school when he was very fit, he has always been overweight. He said he experienced bullying both for his weight and his sexuality after coming out at age 14.

Now 21 years old and 328 pounds, Jackson is majoring in theater education with a minor in social work.  With work, school and mentoring, he has little time to plan nutritious meals or follow an exercise routine, and the convenience of fast food and his tendency to eat when stressed haven’t helped.

Once he loses weight, Jackson looks forward to participating in physical activities with his OUTreach kids,  being able to go to the beach and take his shirt off, and changing the lives of those around him who are also struggling with their weight.
Of course, the show is about losing weight, so sexual preferences shouldn't be a huge focus anyway.  But the trainers often delve into the contestants' emotional issues —  especially Jillian, who screams and swears one minute and then hugs and psychoanalyzes the next.  I suspect that somewhere along the line, the bullying Carter experienced as a teen may be discussed as a contributing factor to his weight gain.  

During Season 13, many viewers complained that contestant Conda Britt was a bully, and that the treatment of Adrian and Daphne Dortsch had some racial undertones. But the Dortsches didn't help matters with Adrian's loud personality and Daphne's chip on her shoulder. 

I hope this next group of competitors are able to avoid that type of drama and keep the competition fair, friendly and fun to watch.

Winners of Cafe Rio Meal Cards

Thanks to all of you who left comments on my Cafe Rio giveaway post.

I put all the names of the commenters in a soup bowl and pull out ten winners.

They are:

Hharris

Perfect Particle

Putter's Mama

Pam

Bev

Casey at the Bat

Shawna B

Johanna

Julie Bakker

Chonk

Congratulations, you have won a Cafe Rio T-shirt and meal card!

Please email me at valeriephillips55@hotmail.com with your snail mail and address. I will pass it on to Cafe Rio so they can send your freebies.

Thanks for playing!

Daily Bread Donating $80,000 in Food to Shelters

'Tis the season for giving, and that is what the Daily Bread food storage company is doing for four Utah-based organizations that help those that are hungry, homeless or suffering. Tomorrow, December 20, Daily Bread has rented a truck where a few of their employees will distribute $80,000 worth of food.

The Daily Bread “Santa sleigh” truck will be stopping at Salt Lake Community Action Program’s warehouse (404 West, 6100 South) in Murray to unload $20,000 worth of food. This organization operates six locations to feed the hungry.

 “I was in tears when we got the call that we would be getting that large of a donation of food,” said Cathy Hoskins, Executive Director of Salt Lake Community Action Program, according to a press release from Daily Bread. “This generous donation from Daily Bread will literally help hundreds, if not thousands of people for a lengthy period of time. We could not be more grateful. We have seen such an increase this year in the amount of people that are homeless and hungry, so this will help our organization out a lot.”

The second stop will be the Family Promise of Salt Lake (814 West, 800 South). This organization helps many families get back on their feet. 

Stop number three will be at the YWCA, which has the Women in Jeopardy Shelter Program (322 East, 300 South). This organization is housing 300 women and kids a night on average. 

Last stop is The Road Home (210 South Rio Grande St.), which assists homeless individuals and families.

“We could not be more pleased to be able to give these Utah charities and organizations a lot of our product to be able to serve and give to those who need it most”, says Sarah Barnes, Daily Bread, Vice President of Marketing. “Personally, I look forward to riding along on the Daily Bread “Santa sleigh” truck tomorrow and being a part of the experience. Knowing we can help these organizations that do so much good for the people in these Utah communities means the world to me and everyone in our company.”

Daily Bread is a Utah-based company that provides 25-year, freeze-dried food storage at www.dailybread.com.

Cafe Rio Meal Card & T-Shirt Giveaway!

The Cafe Rio restaurant chain is letting me give away 10 Cafe Rio T-shirts with a free meal ticket attached!  It's part of the company's holiday gift card promotion. From Dec. 21-24, you can buy a $25 gift card at Cafe Rio and receive a free meal card.  

Yes, I realize this isn't the only chain that offers some type of bonus when you buy a gift card.  Subway, Panda Express, Costa Vida, Zupas, Applebee's, and Outback are some that I know of.  

But, Cafe Rio is the only one offering this special giveaway! And it's so very easy to win.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post by Saturday. You can use your full name or just a first name.

I will put all the names in a bowl and draw out a winner. Please check my blog on Saturday for the list of winners. If you're one of them, you'll need to email me with your full name and mailing address so I can give it to the folks at Cafe Rio!  Can't you taste that sweet pork burrito already?  

My Last Deseret News Column

For 12-plus years, I've written a weekly column for the Deseret News Food section. What a great time I've had, and how much I've learned during that time! 
Whether I was sick, on vacation, whatever, I somehow always managed to write my column. The only exception was the last day of August in 2010 when I was laid off from my job as Food editor. Since then, I've continued writing my column for a freelance fee instead of being on the company payroll. 

Today is the end of my Deseret News era, as I announced at the end of my last column here - 
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765618139/Family-mealtime-cant-happen-unless-someone-cooks-dinner.html?pg=2 . In January, my column will appear in the Standard-Examiner. You can find it on Standard.net. 

In a future blog post, I'm going to look back on some of the memorable people I've met and stories I've covered. But in the meantime, let me state my case for the importance of a Food section, although it seems to be a losing battle with many newspapers across the country. Even as the topics of food, cooking and nutrition are becoming big business on TV (Food Network, Cooking Channel, etc.) and online (blogs, blogs and more blogs!) some newspapers have laid off  food writers and shrunk their food coverage. (Funny, but nobody ever thinks about downsizing the sports pages. Could it be that most of the decision-makers at newspapers tend to be competitive men?)  

Years ago, two-time Pillsbury Bake-Off finalist Janet Barton told me she became a good cook because it brought her kids home around the dinner table.

"Especially as my children became teenagers, I wanted them to have a decent meal, and I wanted them home," said Barton, of Sandy. "Cooking brings them home for dinner and brings your family together. I just think it's important that a mother or father, or someone, be home and put a good meal on the table so everyone can sit down together."

I heard the same thing when I interviewed Kelsey Nixon, BYU grad who now hosts her own show, "Kelsey's Essentials," on the Cooking Channel.

On her show, she not only shares cooking skills, but memories of her North Ogden family's mealtime traditions.

She talked about the "magic" that happens at the table when the whole family sits down to eat together.

"We believe in the power of food, how it can build stronger families and communities," Nixon told me last year. "I grew up in a home where family mealtime was very important, and it affected me so much. My mother worked full-time, and yet she came home and prepared a home-cooked meal nearly every day. Instead of looking at it as drudgery, she considered it a hobby and almost therapeutic after a day of work. Her attitude and approach to cooking is what made me fall in love with cooking in the first place."

I, too, have grown to believe in the "power of food," as Nixon puts it.

In past articles, I've mentioned the book, "The Surprising Power of Family Meals: How Eating Together Makes You Smarter, Stronger, Healthier, and Happier," by Miriam Weinstein. According to Weinstein's research, regularly eating an ordinary, every-day supper with your family is strongly linked to emotional stability and lower incidence of teenage drug and alcohol use. It correlates with kindergarteners being better prepared to learn to read. It discourages both obesity and eating disorders. It supports a connection to your extended family, your ethnic heritage and your community of faith.

Family mealtime can't happen unless someone cooks dinner.

Food is so much more than just fuel for our bodies. 

Since God first commanded man not to eat the forbidden fruit, food has also been an expression of faith and religious beliefs. Some examples are the dietary laws of Jews, Hindus and Muslims, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Word of Wisdom. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ used food as a teaching tool — fig and olive trees, loaves and fishes, water and wine, wheat and tares.

Culinary education is valuable for self-reliance, and it is crucial in helping the poor.  The old "teach a man to fish" saying holds true for cooking. If you offer someone a meal, you've fed them for a day. Teach a person to cook, and they can find ways to feed themselves all their lives. Teach them about nutrition, and they can keep themselves and their families healthy as well.

Food plays a major role in financial responsibility. Monthly house and car payments or utilities are pretty set, but there's a lot of wiggle room in a food budget. How you grocery shop, and whether you choose to cook at home or eat out can make or break a family financially.

Food also offers values in the media when so much of today's TV programming is drowning in violence and sleaze. The old TV cooking shows pioneered by Julia Child have morphed into popular culinary education programs on the Food Network, as well as reality series such as "Chopped!" and "Iron Chef." Utah has been a part of this trend, with Kelsey Nixon on the Cooking Channel, Salt Lake City chef Viet Pham competing on "Extreme Chef" and "Iron Chef," and three different Utah bakery owners winning episodes of the Food Network's "Cupcake Wars." Several local contestants have also done well on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" which combats obesity through nutrition and exercise.

Food has political implications, with city governments trying to legislate the size of soda pop cups, trans fats, nutrition information and even the toys in Happy Meals. The organic movement, community-supported agriculture, and the rise of local artisan products all speak to the influence of food in the community.

Food is a barometer of the economy, as food prices go up or down, and as food banks strive to feed the hungry.

Food is friendship— as the terms, "breaking bread together," or "dinner and a movie" imply.

As most readers have probably realized, the Deseret News is making some changes in its Features pages, and this is my last column for the Deseret News.

Food is fascinating. Over the years I've been fortunately to cover such a wide variety of food topics in the Deseret News Food section, and I've appreciated he opportunity to share what I've learned with you, the readers.  Bon appetit!