On a recent trip to Oasis Cafe I discovered their risotto.  Unfortunatley, I didn’t order it but my friend did and I couldn’t stop eating off her plate.  My dinner was also tasty, the Poached Halibut with grilled vegetables and hollandaise sauce, but the Risotto won my heat.  It’s a Root Vegetable Risotto with diced onions, carrots, fennel and a smoked hickory sauce.  The sauce is what made the dish truly remarkable!  I’ll be dreamy of this dish until my next visit.

Oasis Cafe offers 3 course dinner specials for just $25.  They change weekly so this risotto may not be on the menu but I guarantee that something delicious will be!

Oasis Cafe

151 South 500 East

We signed up for a month of yoga and have attended many of the different classes, though the Restore class is what we’ve been favoring most. Restore Yoga is a time of deep relaxation through passive stretching in optimal yoga poses. We practice letting go of the worries of your day with each outward breath, and taking in new fresh air with every breath in.  Restore can be more renewing than a nap yet more energizing than a cup of coffee.  Really, what that class does for your body and mind is absolutely beautiful.  I think of the amount of stressed out folks out there who could really benefit from an hour or two of these classes every week.

After class we often pick up a smoothie at Cafe Supernatural, attached to Prana Yoga, as they are only $5 after any yoga class!  They have lots of delicious combinations like Prana, with green apple, cucumber, spinach, lemon and juniper berry or Intuition with banana, blueberry, black currants, almond milk, lavender, and agave.  Leaving the studio, I’m feeling completely revitalized mentally and physically.

I will say that locals are catching on.  The restore class at Prana often fills up, as more and more folks are desiring to catch some true restoration.

Prana Yoga
Cafe Supernatural
$5 smoothies after any yoga class

After a few enthusiastic local foodies had twitter chat about sweet potato pie, our very own Penny Anne’s Cafe in Salt Lake created their own version of Sweet Potato Pie.  A few of us hungry tweeters came to try it our for ourselves and we devoured each of our slices.  Let me just tell you, this may be one of my new favorite Thanksgiving Pies. And lucky for all of us in Salt Lake, if you don’t want to make pies from scratch this year you can still order pies from Penny Anne’s until Monday.  So get your orders in quickly.  And if you are feeling a little more domestic, here are a few recipes for my top Thanksgiving Pies on Vintage Mixer.

Penny Anne’s Cafe
Monday – Saturday 7am – 4pm
1810 S Main Street
801-935-4760

These are my current local obsession: Shishito Peppers from Finca.  If you haven’t had them yet you must and if you haven’t been to Finca yet that is also a must!  Finca has surpassed my expectations of restaurant food in Salt Lake City and although I’ve already been there a handful of times, I can’t wait for a chance to go back.  And when I do, I’ll be ordering up another plate of these bright and spicy shishitos!

Here is my full review on Finca.

There’s a new hummus out on the SLC market that I’m super pumped about.  Laziz hummus is a traditional Lebanese hummus, which I found to be more smooth and citrus-y than traditional hummus.  A local entrepreneur and health food advocate, Moudi Sbeity, sought to honor his Lebanese roots and and serve the local community by providing this special hummus to the public. He created his brand name from an Arabic word, Laziz,  meaning tasty, enjoyable, pleasant, and all around good. And it is just exactly that.  Also, he gave me some traditional recipes to use the hummus in that I’ll be sharing really soon.

If you’re interested in contributing to Moudi’s vision of providing quality and healthy food to the locals of Salt Lake you can read more about his story and donate online: Laziz on Kickstarter. I’m excited to see where this delicious hummus takes Moudi in his culinary journey!

I have a new addiction. Pistachio Macarons from Tulie Bakery.  It doesn’t help that this cute little bakery is walking distance from my house either.  And their macarons are only $1.25.

Some weekend mornings call for something sweet and rich for breakfast. A splurge that’s unregrettable. The Kouing Aman pastry from Les Madeleines is the perfect pastry, sweet, flaky, crisp and doughy, all at the same time.  I wish I could have one right this second… wait, maybe I can… I’m actually currently on my way to France.  I’ll let you know if I find anything similar while I’m there!  For all of you in Salt Lake, go grab one of these and I promise you’ll feel like your sitting at a cafe in France.