| Singing Cricket: Where Gourmet, High Energy Chirp Together | ||
| By Anne Wilson -- Special To The Tribune | 04/12/2002 | |
| Dancing cranes and singing crickets may not sound like a recipe for good eating. But happily, life is full of surprises. The Singing Cricket Cafe is one of them. This evolving restaurant, which occupies a good-sized corner of Dancing Cranes Imports (everything you need for the Liberty Park drum circle and more!), serves what chef/owner Lara Kierstead calls "gourmet American energy food." Some people who walk into Dancing Cranes and see the tie-dye, crystals, huge plants and incense might assume "energy food" is a euphemism for some New Age diet. But the 33-year-old Kierstead, who has tried as many weight-loss diets as the rest of us, finally decided she already knew the secret: Don't skip breakfast, eat a variety of foods in sensible portions, and exercise. Your body will do the rest. That's why she offers some of everything: beef, pork and chicken, lots of vegetables in sandwiches, salads and soups, fruits, meatless items and desserts. The menu continues to change. Sometime in May, Kierstead hopes to extend the cafe's daytime hours to include dinner. Creating three-course, fixed-price dinners won't be anything new for Kierstead, who already owns another business, called "A Chef in Your Kitchen," that delivers personalized meals. Clients meet with Kierstead, tell her what they like to eat and she designs a menu for them from a list of 100 entree choices. There's no question she knows her way around a kitchen. After earning a degree at the University of New Hampshire in her native state, Kierstead attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She worked at hotels and restaurants in Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia before moving to Utah to be closer to the mountains and a sister. In 1998, she launched her personal chef service in Park City and Salt Lake. But long hours of working solo almost convinced her to sell the business. Then she met Jim Platt, owner of Dancing Cranes Imports, who was looking for someone to take over the cafe in his store. Platt had taken an ugly building, which housed a piecemeal fabric outlet, and turned it into a place with personality. Skylights in the ceiling provide abundant natural light and the sound of water pulses through indoor fountains sold at the store. It smells faintly of incense. Kierstead remodeled the kitchen while Platt expanded the dining space. The new space is carpeted, with glass-topped, ornately carved tables and roomy rattan chairs. The huge plants that surround the space, together with the water sounds and quiet instrumental music, create a retreat that is serene but full of life. The cafe menu includes a complete line of coffee beverages, along with chai and smoothies. Kierstead and her staff do the brownies and cookies; other desserts come from a local bakery. All of the sandwiches ($5.25 to $6.95) come with layers of vegetables, unless diners don't want them: lettuce, tomato, thinly sliced cucumbers, sprouts and red onion. All are served with a pickle and a choice of chips, pasta salad or potato salad. Kierstead likes to get creative with her sandwiches, to delicious effect. Cold, roasted pork loin is paired with pear and mango chutney, while the Cricket chicken, her favorite, has grilled white meat, roasted peppers, basil pesto and havarti cheese. She and another chef came up with that winner one day as they sought to put some of their favorite flavors together. The longer they played, the closer it came, until bingo! It is a stand-up mate to one of Kierstead's pasta salads, a creamy concoction of penne, kalamata olives and capers. Anyone who is lukewarm about olives should leave it for the rest of us. The steak sandwich is a modestly sized piece of tri-tip grilled until slightly pink in the center and smothered with sauteed mushrooms, onions and American cheese. Paired with a vegetable soup brimming with garbanzo beans, carrots, onions, a hint of thyme and diced chicken, it was filling and full of healthy veggies. Kierstead serves most speciality sandwiches on a delicious onion roll made by Curtell's Bakery. Vegetarians can choose from the hot grilled veggie sandwich with marinated eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onions, pesto and provolone, or the house special salad ($6.50), which changes weekly but always features mixed greens, seasonal fruit, nuts and cheese. While Kierstead loves to experiment, not everything is a sure bet. One day, she made a salad of red potatoes with a whole grain mustard dressing and chopped carrots. It sounded good, but the dressing was one-dimensional and dry. Her gingered carrot soup was creamy and chock full of onions, but would have benefited from a hint of sweetness. Servers at Singing Cricket are casual and kind. In three visits, there was only one mishap, when our server forgot to swap chips for potato salad. Mostly, they seem happy to be working in that lovely space. The Singing Cricket Cafe is unique in terms of ambience and seems at one with nature. This cafe is undergoing its own evolution. And that's a tasty proposition. Singing Cricket Cafe * 673 E. Simpson Ave. (2240 South), Salt Lake City, 487-0056 * Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4:30 p.m. * Prices: Nothing over $7 * Liquor: No * Reservations: No * Child's Menu: Yes * Takeout: Yes * Wheelchair Accessible: Yes * Outdoor Dining: No * Parking: Street * 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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