Em's Salt Lake City

The holidays took us back to Salt Lake City and for New Years Eve we made reservations at Em's. We had previously eaten at Em's before moving to Denver, but not in several years. The prices looked good, and we had really enjoyed the atmosphere in the past. Again, the atmosphere was wonderful and warm. The restaurant is small enough that each room feels intimate, but with enough ambient sound to make it friendly. But the atmosphere was really the only impressive part of the meal. There was no bartender so our waiter needed to mix drinks and he did not know how to make several beverages ordered by people in our party. We also brought several bottles of wine and the corkage fee was $15/bottle--pretty expensive for Salt Lake City.

On to the menu. There were two separate menus. FULL menus. The regular menu and the specials menu were quite extensive. In a restaurant as small as Em's a menu that extensive is troublesome because you know that the dishes were not as carefully thought out. The chef went for quantity over quality. For example, every dish had the same side--an unimpressive brown-butter sautee of green beans and carrots. I ordered a lamb chop dish with a mint jelly. While the meat was tastily prepared the mint jelly was clearly spooned from a jar and haphazardly slapped on the plate. The dish had no harmony. Taylor ordered a beef filet with mashed potatoes. The cut was not very good and was, overall, forgettable. However, we each had a frisee salad which was tasty.

I hate to pan a restaurant like Em's because it is in a great neighborhood and the atmosphere is delightful. Furthermore, it is a small independently owned fine dining restaurant in a city full of cheap family restaurants and chains. However, the chef would do well to focus on several small dishes