This is part 2 of 3 posts with photos and story of our #PCprogressive Dinner with Washington School House Hotel, Libation SLC, World Kitchen Specialty Foods, Shabu and Reef’s.  Search the #PCprogressive hashtag on Instagram for more photos.

Read about our first stop at Washington School House Hotel by Mary McIntyre.

After leaving the school house with a few bites and some great wines presented by Francis Fecteau, we meandered our way down in the lower levels of Main Street’s belly into Shabu.

It’s important to note, before we go any further, that Shabu is offering $25 off when you spend $75 or more through the shoulder season.

Our second stop of the evening is owned and operated by two brothers – Kevin and Bob Valaika (read more about them here). One manages the front of house (Kevin) and the other makes his home nightly in the kitchen as the executive chef (Bob).  Located on Historic Main Street, Shabu opened in 2004 and has become well known for its unique take on Asian cuisine.

The atmosphere is dark and cozy and decorated with bold, exciting sculptures and artwork.  It’s easy to walk down Shabu’s stairs and feel like you’re away from all of the hustle of Main Street.  It’s like you’ve entered an inviting dining room with great flavors both from the bar and the kitchen that’s hidden away.  I’m not even sure if this description does Shabu’s environment justice.  It’s honestly something you have to experience.

For our Park City Progressive Dinner, Bob made us a Miso Glazed Black Cod with Asian noodle egg foo yong and wok vegetables. Beautifully prepared, the cod was perfectly flakey, savory and sweet.

We’re honored that Shabu would take the time to host us and look forward to sitting at their table during the shoulder season and beyond.  We hope you’ll round up a crew and head that way soon.

Next stop: Reef’s.

SLC Mixers in collaboration with Salt Lake Magazine celebrated a few local cheesemongers at The Grand America hotel.  Each monger was charged to find the cheese the best told his story and represented his love for and interest in cheese.   Who was on the roster?  (Left to right from above photo) Steven Rosenberg of Liberty Heights Fresh, Andy Fitzgerrel of Whole Foods Market in Sugar House, Matt Caputo of Caputo’s Market, Jamey Chelius of Caputo’s on 15th.

Here’s what they chose:

Jamey Chelius – Robiola Bosina by Caseificio dell’Alta Langa
Steven Rosenberg – Snow Canyon by Rockhill Creamery
Matt Caputo – Ossau Iraty by Onetik (aged in Caputo’s Cave)
Andy Fitzgerrel – Midnight Blue by Avalanche

We also had some incredible bites from the Grand America’s Chef de Cuisine Thomas Call and Pastry Chef Jeffery de Leon.

As an added bonus, Ruth Lewandowski Wines gave us the inaugural tasting of its Boaz (100% whole-cluster-fermented carignan) and Chilion (100% cortese) as well as his Mahlon, which we’ve feature in the past.

SLC Mixers is an extension of SLC Foodie.  Where SLC Foodie hopes to push you to locally owned restaurants and producers, SLC Mixers aims to build relationships with people behind the food.  A group of 50 folks gathered on the Garden Cafe patio at the Grand America to do hang with the guys who have been giving cheese advice for some time now (Steven Rosenberg has been in the specialty food business at Liberty Heights Fresh since 1993).  Ideally, the take away from the event was not only beefing up cheese knowledge, but also getting to know these guys a little bit.

We hope you’ll join us at future SLC Mixers.  We’re starting to work on our July event at La Nay Ferme now.  More to come soon.  In the meantime, enjoy some photos from Meet the Cheesemongers on the beautiful patio at the Grand America.

Read more from Mary Malouf at Salt Lake Magazine here.