| Passages Is Pretty, But It Doesn't Quite Deliver | ||
| By Anne Wilson -- Special To The Tribune | 11/02/2001 | |
| Passages is a restaurant with aspirations. You can see it in the decor: the sparkling black-and-tan tile floor and ochre walls, the handsome wood paneling and polished granite counter with artful under-lighting. Ambition shows in the menu, too: rare Ahi tuna with pesto, a ribeye steak with garlic mashed potatoes and tenderloin stuffed with chorizo. Unfortunately, this restaurant in the Inn at Temple Square is an underachiever. At best, the food is slightly above average and the service is amateurish. There is no wine list, no liquor at all, because the Inn is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which forbids alcohol consumption. And since church leaders discourage work on Sunday, Passages is closed that day, no matter how many hotel guests might want to eat on the Sabbath. But the restaurant's proximity to the Mormon Temple and its compliance with Mormon standards will likely make it attractive to tourists and religious-minded folk, including young couples on a prom-night date. It fills a niche, but without much flair. The menu of wraps, pastas, salads and entrees has enough variety to suit most tastes but the execution sometimes falls short. The tuna ($17.95), for example, came rare as promised but was served with a tepid pesto, which tasted mostly like cheese. It didn't enhance the flavor of the fish, nor did the side dish of bland saffron rice. The vegetables were the most telling: strips of squash and carrots sauteed to being limp, barely seasoned and mounded in a pile. Vegetables are a good indicator of restaurant quality. The best treat vegetables with the respect they deserve, not as some requirement for a square meal. Another dish that hinted at creativity but fell flat was tenderloin stuffed with chorizo ($18.95). Instead of a savory stuffing folded inside a tender steak, this dish appeared as two steaks with sausage pancaked between them, an unappetizing presentation that couldn't hope to marry the flavors. The potato pancake hidden underneath all that meat was the best thing on the plate, which also had its share of mounded vegetables. The ribeye steak ($16.95) tried to compensate with sheer size for its failures -- it was gristly and undercooked. There is nothing worse than a poorly cooked steak except a huge, poorly cooked steak. Again, potatoes (garlic mashed this time) saved the day. On the brighter side of the menu, Passages does pretty well with salads, including a nicely composed house salad, and a blackened shrimp entree-sized variety ($10.95). The penne pasta with chicken is nicely seasoned with cumin and chile ($11.95), although the pool of oil at the bottom of the dish prompts second thoughts. Mixed in with the pasta are some squash strips (seen those before), red bell pepper and some nice chunky tomatoes. The lunch serving is ridiculously large, however. How about making it smaller and lowering the price? The Cobb salad wrap is a good idea, with its rich filling of bacon, avocado, chicken and lettuce ($7.95). It was on the dry side, a problem that could be easily cured with tomatoes or more dressing. The fries that came with it were crispy and tasty. Breads and cakes at Passages are good, too. The basket of bread brought to every table before the meal includes a moist crescent roll, a frosted orange roll and a savory roll that tastes faintly of cheese. Butter comes in three flavors: plain, garlic and raspberry. A pumpkin layer cake ($5.95) being offered as a seasonal special is nicely flavored, with a filling of delicious pumpkin mousse. It would be even better with more layers of mousse, to lighten the heaviness of the cake. Servers at Passages tend to be young, earnest and inexperienced. At dinner, our server brought the wrong appetizer, then presented the salads before we had a chance to eat the black bean terrine, which is a version of seven-layer dip with fewer layers ($5.95). The fried tortillas that came with it were the best ingredient, but ran out before the dip was gone. Passages has the look of a fine dining restaurant, but the food and service don't match its pretty face. Passages at the Inn on Temple Square 71 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City; 531-1000 Hours: Monday through Saturday for lunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; dinner, 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday for breakfast only. Prices: Entrees from $7 to $22 Liquor: No Reservations: No Child's Menu: Yes Takeout: No Wheelchair Accessible: Yes Outdoor Dining: No Parking: Valet only 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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