The Copper Onion - Salt Lake City, Utah

Address: 111 E Broadway, Ste 170, Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Items Ordered:

• Ricotta Dumplings: thyme, lemon
• Mussels: creamy black pepper sauce, toast points
  
• Sauteed mushrooms: fried farm egg, potato sticks, parsley, garlic
  
• The Copper Onion Burger: house-made bun, roasted onions, steak fries
  
• Mimosa

On a recent snow trip to Utah, we stopped by some restaurants we read about online. We decided to stop by the Copper Onion for lunch while on visit to downtown Salt Lake City. I still think about the Sauteed Mushrooms that I had there. I wish I could recreate that perfect mix of ingredients! I mean, egg? Potato sticks? Garlic? It was all my favorite ingredients in one mushroom dish. We wanted to try so many things so we got the entrees and also ordered appetizers to start. All the dishes had a lot of flavor and were made with a great mix of ingredients – very innovative! I enjoyed the burger, mussels and dumplings! Definitely a cute restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City!

--v

Tasty Garden - Alhambra, California

Address: 288 W Valley Blvd, Ste 110, Alhambra, CA 91801

Items Ordered:

• Walnut Shrimp
• French Style Filet Mignon
• Chicken & Mushrooms with Rice in Hot Pot
• Sauteed Fish Fillets
• Deep Fried Tofu with Dried Scallop
• Salt & Pepper Squid
  

Tasty Garden is my go to place for Chinese food in the San Gabriel Valley. One of my favorite Chinese dishes is the Honey Walnut Shrimp, and this is one of my favorite places to get it. The shrimp is crispy and has just enough flavor to go great with rice. My second favorite dish here is the French Style Filet Mignon. It is wonderfully marinated and a perfect level of tenderness. All the other dishes were good and went well together. It is great for a family style dinner. Every time I come here, I want to order everything off the menu, especially because the leftovers are great. Good thing I have SOME sense of self-control.

--v

The Tasting Kitchen - Venice, California

Address: 1633 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291

Items Ordered:

• Mussels with saffron and fennel
  
• Clucks 'n frites
  
• Bucatini alla amatriciana (bucatini in spicy marinara)
• Bass, forbidden rice, mandarin beurre blanc

After our first bite of the mussels at Tasting Kitchen, we were madly in love with the restaurant. The mussels possessed a beautiful texture and the buttery toast was addicting soaked in the saffron sauce. The bucatini was our second favorite dish as the marinara sauce was actually spicy and the pork was extremely tender. Too bad we had to share the portion amongst 3 people :(. The roast chicken had a crispy skin and retained its moisture, but the taste was ordinary compared to the other dishes. However, it photographed beautifully and became the poster child for Tasting Kitchen when we were retelling our experience. The bass also had a nice crispy exterior and flaky interior. We highly recommend Tasting Kitchen and would definitely return; hopefully in the very near future.

--v & y