- Alex Springer
When you write about local food for a living, planning a date night can be intimidating. I already have decision fatigue when it comes to what movie to watch or what video game to check out next, and I could feel this setting in as I scanned through the vast array of local restaurants. We were both after somewhere nice, but not "dinner jacket" nice, somewhere that felt like an event but kept things casual. It wasn't long before we both landed on Porch (11274 S. Kestrel Rise Road, Ste. G, 801-679-1066, porchutah.com), which ended up being the ideal spot to celebrate an evening free of cleaning melted Popsicles off of sticky fingers and getting caught up on laundry.
Porch is a labor of love from local chef Jen Gilroy, who made culinary waves with Meditrina in downtown Salt Lake City. Though Meditrina has sadly closed its doors, it's given Gilroy and her team time to create a Southern-inspired menu that is laser-focused on its concept. Whether you're looking to order a few tapas-style plates to share or a fully realized entrée, Porch is an excellent place to enjoy a summer evening. Its location, smack-dab in the middle of Daybreak's SoDa Row district, injects a buzz of community excitement, especially when dining on their comfy patio. If you've been missing that vibrant energy created by locals out and about while the sun sets on a Saturday evening, Porch has a place for you.
Though Porch's menu is designed to give visitors maximum flexibility when it comes to crafting their culinary journey for the evening, I'm the kind of diner who needs a focal point—see my earlier lament about decision fatigue. Once I've got that focal point in mind, I can start to build outward to get a sense of what small plates need to be on the table. It had been a good while since I'd had a good steak, so I went with the grilled bavette steak ($33), and my wife ordered the prosciutto-wrapped salmon ($23). From there, we went with some of the smaller small plates like the Pickle Whimsy ($3) and the Iron Skillet Cornbread ($5). In anticipation of our meal, my wife and I indulged in some people watching—a couple meeting up for what we assumed to be a blind date and the same guy taking nine laps around the restaurant while goofing around on his phone were some of the highlights.
As this outing was a celebration of sorts—romantic getaways weren't high on the list of priorities during the last year—I started the evening off with a smoked old fashioned ($9). For three bucks extra, you can get this with High West instead of Jim Beam, which I fully recommend—buy local, especially if it's the good stuff. It's an ideal sunset drink—smoky, warm and sweet enough to help you savor a day that has come to a close.
The cornbread arrived first, couched in its own cast iron skillet with a pat of whipped butter melting in its center. Then came the pickle jar, overflowing with fresh, vinegary cucumbers, green beans and pears. In addition to that silky whipped butter, the cornbread comes with some tomato Tabasco jam that emphasizes the acidic sweetness of the tomato. The Tabasco flavor shows up on the back end, offering just enough of a kick to wake those taste buds up for the incoming meal. The pickles had a similar effect; the cucumbers were bursting with flavor, and those pickled pears were a sublime mix of fruity sweet and pickled sour.
Once our appetites were properly piqued, our entrées arrived. The steak and salmon were both served on a bed of buttermilk whipped potatoes and topped with grilled asparagus, both of which complemented their respective proteins. My current craving for steak was at code red, so I would have been happy with any cut of grilled meat on my plate—but this particular number was one for the books. Before it hits the grill, the steak gets a dry rub of coffee and juniper berries. Once it's on the plate, it's topped with a bacon brown butter that imparts an extra level of savory flavor once it melts its way into the steak itself. Tender, juicy and perfectly cooked—an excellent specimen for anyone who is in dire need of a good cut of meat.
The salmon was a decidedly lighter take on a dinnertime protein, and it was also cooked to tender perfection. The bites that had the luxury of being wrapped in a thin slice of grilled prosciutto were spot on, but my wife and I both found that there wasn't enough prosciutto to make this happen on every bite.
All in all, Porch ended up being exactly the right call for our evening. On top of being a great spot for a date any night of the week, Porch also offers Tapas Tuesdays where you can get five small plates for $30, along with Burger and Wine Wednesdays for $10 burgers and $5 glasses of wine. We'll definitely be back next time we need to get away from reality for a few hours.
