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Globe Is Game, But Stumbles In the Moonlight | |
| By Anne Wilson -- Special To The Tribune | 11/09/2001 | |
| During its first 18 months on a struggling block of Salt Lake City's Main Street, the Globe Cafe managed not only to survive, but thrive. Owners Peter Berntsen and Chad Larsen cultivated a loyal clientele of business people who use the cafe for breakfast and lunch. Now the partners are hoping to expand by converting the restaurant midday into a fine-dining dinner establishment they call Globe by Moonlight. Their first move was recruiting chef Adam Kreisel, a former Salt Lake resident who was working in San Francisco at Mecca, an Asian/Creole fusion restaurant, after training at the California Culinary Academy. Then they worked on a nighttime look. Artist Ryan Glasgow designed a metal and glass railing in front of the cooking line that would queue daytime crowds but act as a visual focus at night. He also designed the metal apparatus for the velvet curtains that form a nighttime vestibule at the front door and the movable hostess stand in the middle of the restaurant. With the lights dimmed and the tables illuminated by small candles, Globe by Moonlight's techno-hip look has a new moodiness. Still, the conversion feels like someone accustomed to jeans being forced to wear a tux. Diners are greeted informally in the middle of the dining room, but that is part of the partners' plan: edgy look, edgy food, served in a casual ambience. Kreisel's menu blends exotic ingredients in ways that make sense once you know his fusion background. It is complex food, made of quality ingredients and artfully presented. Kreisel is a young chef who wants to make a statement, but even he admits his style and philosophy are still evolving. Not everything on the menu works, like the recent sushi special that featured ahi tuna wrapped in dough and briefly fried. Quick cooking kept the tuna rare but made the dough greasy. The condiments that came with it were a mixed success as well: diced melon and ginger (good) and seaweed (an acquired taste). When Kreisel layers house-made duck prosciutto over polenta and tops it with poblano peppers, dried tomatoes and mozzarella, the diner gets a fascinating flavor mix that is problematic to eat -- the prosciutto wants to stay in one piece and the tomatoes are too large to be savored in every bite. His favorite menu items are the appetizers, in particular the giant ravioli, stuffed with ground venison and swimming in a richly flavored wine-shallot sauce studded with pancetta and halved figs ($8). The filling is slightly gamy, but the giant spoons brought to the table with the dish will work overtime on that sauce. Kreisel is proud, too, of his wild boar carpaccio ($11), shaved slices of meat flecked with pepper and surrounded with a drizzle of honey mustard and pickled yellow wax beans. Wild boar evidently needs those flavor enhancers because it is a surprisingly mild meat. One of Kreisel's best starters is Mediterranean pear ragout, a heady mix of pears, tomatoes, leeks and apple, flavored with cumin and balsamic vinegar ($6). It has the consistency of chutney, a perfect spread for crostini smeared thickly with roasted garlic. It's more than enough for two people, with the only problem being that the crostini ran out before the ragout did. Entrees are as bold as the beginnings. Utah red trout is served with a crisp skin on a mound of mashed potatoes, sweetened with caramelized shallots and surrounded by a pool of ginger-flavored cream and fiery chili oil ($18). Startling rare venison loin, cooked so gingerly it is impossibly tender, comes with a fruity cranberry-sake sauce and creamy risotto flavored with truffles ($24). Oven-roasted chicken ($17) is flanked by a mound of sautéed chanterelle mushrooms and apple compote; underneath is a bed of pearly quinoa, a bland grain that is a staple in South American cooking. Exotica continues in the desserts, with a trio of house-made sorbets ($6), a cheese plate ($9) and pineapple potstickers ($6). As crazy as it sounds, the potstickers are outstanding -- slices of fruit and mascarpone cheese encased in dough, accompanied by coconut sorbet, toasted coconut chips that stand in as cookies and candied macadamia nuts. Service at Globe by Moonlight isn't on a par with the food, although the wait staff is earnest and friendly. Servers don't yet have the confidence and knowledge to handle such a demanding menu, but experience will make or break them. The risk is that diners won't wait out the training period. Globe by Moonlight 264 S. Main St., Salt Lake City; 321-0160 Hours: Monday through Thursday, 5-10:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5-11 p.m. Prices: Entrees from $13 to $24 Liquor: Yes Reservations: Yes Child's Menu: No Takeout: Yes Wheelchair Accessible: Yes Outdoor Dining: No Parking: Street or public lots Credit Cards: All major Anne Wilson is The Tribune's restaurant reviewer. The newspaper covers the cost of meals at restaurants reviewed and there is no connection between reviews and restaurant advertising. Wilson welcomes food and wine news, comments and suggestions at wilwrite99@aol.com. |
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