On your next visit to Salt Lake City, add Stoneground Kitchen to your list for the housemade pizza & pasta, rustic Italian cuisine and a killer patio…all in a beautiful loft space in the heart of downtown.
I began this blog in 2012 to force myself out of my rut–going to the same restaurants and eating the same things. The blog was a hobby, with about 10 regular readers. In the last 2 years I became very active on social media, improved my writing, and made significant upgrades to my website. In late 2016 I decided to turn my hobby into a business. I’m still in the infant stages, but one of the best things I did was attend my first food blog conference last month in Salt Lake City. I was nervous going in, but I made some wonderful new friends and learned A LOT. I’m still working my way through the pages and pages of notes.
This was my first visit to Salt Lake City, so I flew in a day early. My flight left OKC at 6am, and so my only food was the bag of peanuts on the plane. Aaron’s sister-in-law gave me several restaurant recommendations and, after some back and forth I finally decided on Stoneground Kitchen.
Salt Lake City revolves around Temple Square and the Mormon Church. As a matter of fact, the downtown city street names are based on their distance from Temple Square. I’m glad I got to town early, because I spent most of my first day completely confused. By the end of my trip I had it figured out, but I definitely made several wrong turns in my quest to find Stoneground Kitchen.
Stoneground Kitchen is in the loft space of a building in the heart of downtown. The dining room has 3 distinct sections: tables and booths to the left as you enter, long tall tables in the middle, and a beautiful partially covered patio at the far right end. The open kitchen has a large brick oven, as well as barstools on one side. The space is a unique mix of materials, with wood tables and floors, stone walls and distressed wood exposed ceilings.
Stoneground Kitchen is open for lunch and dinner Monday – Friday, and dinner only Saturday and Sunday. The rustic Italian menu is quite large, which is not good for someone like me who already has a tough time making decisions. The menus include daily lunch specials, lunch, dinner, and Sunday Supper. They also have a large wine list.
I planned to drink water, but then I saw Scaia Corvina on the wine list. It is one of my favorite reds, and I’ve never see it on a restaurant menu.
I rarely get an appetizer when I dine solo, because then I can never finish my entree. However, my blogger friend Chava–and a lot of online reviewers-raved about the polenta tots so I had to check it out for myself
One bite, and I understood the reviews. They are scorching hot, crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, and the parmesan on top adds such a wonderful bite. I could easily have eaten 2 more bowls of these all by myself.
Another Stoneground Kitchen specialty is the balloon of foccacino, straight from the oven. The server bursts the bread at the table. I seriously considered that as well, just for the presentation. As cool as that would have been, I’m glad I did the tots instead.
Stoneground Kitchen makes both the pizza and pastas in house, so I quickly narrowed my entree choices to one of those. With the help of my server I finally settled on the bolognese pasta.
Braised veal, pork and beef, san marzano tomatoes, house ricotta, basil, creste
The pasta is very al dente, which is standard in many restaurant kitchens. I prefer my pasta fully cooked, but I couldn’t complain because the dish is excellent. There’s nothing like the distinct texture and bite of homemade pasta. The mixture of veal, pork and beef in the bolognese sauce creates a beautiful balance, and it works so well with the pasta. I love ricotta, especially housemade; so I was more than a little disappointed that there was only a little bit in the dish. But that was the only negative. Pasta portions tend to be outrageous at restaurants, but Stoneground Kitchen does the opposite, with a true single portion.
I really liked the mix of textures and flavors in the side salad. The toasted pistachios added a unique and delicious crunch. I really need to figure out how to make them, because they were excellent. Just like the tots, I could have eaten a bowl of the pistachios.
I was at perfect full point after my entree, and knew I didn’t need dessert. Then I saw a couple of delicious-looking plates go to the table next to me. And then my server told me the desserts are all homemade. I reconsidered again, since I planned to walk the city afterwards and figured I could walk off the calories. But I decided to be good and pass.
I definitely want to go back and visit Salt Lake City. My Uber driver was a ski instructor for 19 years, and I may need to look him up for a lesson. And yes, I’m definitely going back to Stoneground Kitchen. I want to sit on the patio, at this awesome table, in the evening
