... that we like to pretend we're hip?

When Matt left the first law firm that he got a job at right out of law school, they were super amazing awesome and gave him a gift certificate to Forage in Salt Lake.  Matt had introduced the partners to this restaurant, but told them it was WAY too expensive for any normal human being to afford.  They remembered this conversation and gave us a HUGE gift certificate there so that we could enjoy it!  So sweet!

This restaurant is also of interest to the Harrisons because the head chef, Bowman Brown, worked at two different restaurants with Renee and Matt back in the day.  Weird coincidence!  Anyway, he is a super cool guy who started this restaurant with a friend, Viet Pham, who later went on to beat Bobby Flay on Iron Chef and is now on the Food Nework Star show.  Crazy.

Anyway, Forage is awesome.  They are all about local, seasonal food that they often harvest themselves from their own farm in Draper, or buy from nearby markets.  Their menu changes everyday based on what is available and the chef's whims.  It is supposed to be a food "experience," and let me tell you, it was.  19 courses.  6 juice pairings.  Three and a half hours.  Awesome.



Here are the seven appetizers:

Arugula Sorbet

Sparkling Rhubarb soda with sugar, salt, and coriander blossom on the rim.


Fried Potato with Chicken Liver Mousse


Fresh Radishes from their garden with house soured cream


Egg yolks cooked in chicken stock and garnished with fried breadcrumbs, chive blossoms, and a side of caviar


Pork Cracker topped with something that I can't remember but it was yummy


Coal (cheddar wrapped in beer batter and smoked)


With a side of bread and homemade salted butter.

And the seven main courses:

Turnips cooked in milk served with fermented honey sauce


Smoked trout with wild onion sauce


Green salad from their garden with a garlic and shallot dressing


Barley and oats with lovage and vegetable blossoms and a chicken broth

Roasted and mashed potatoes with coastal plants from the Great Salt Lake and fish sauce*


Idaho Sturgeon with peas and spruce


Lamb with spinach and buckwheat topped with an apple glaze**


And last but not least, the five desserts:

Sugar Snap Pea Ice Cream and Mousse with goat cheese and sorrel


Russian Olive Tree Blossom Ice Cream


Toasted elm seed crisp and crumble with aged lemon curd


Aromatic herb tea***

Chocolate Ganoche rocks with a black sesame candy shell (the two big rocks in the middle)


And let's not forget the juice pairings:

Cool Mint tea
Cucumber juice
Carrot Juice
Apple Juice
Beet and Black Currant Juice
Lemon Verbena Juice

Although I didn't love every single dish, each plate was so interesting and amazingly artistic that I couldn't wait for the next plate to come out.  And for the most part, it was delicious!!!  The flavors were incredible, the plating was beautiful, and the service was outstanding.  And at the end of the night, they sent us home with two tiny bottles of rhubarb jam.

Seriously, can it get any cuter than that??

This was probably the hipest, coolest thing we have done in a long time.  Probably ever.  Thank goodness it was a gift, cause we could not have gone there otherwise!  But it was super yummy and fun to pretend that we are high rollers for a little bit :)

*I would normally NOT eat anything grown "on the coast of the Great Salt Lake," but whatever.
**This lamb and glaze was AMAZING.  To.  Die.  For.
***Matt is making this face because I made him read this post on this blog which is probably one of the funniest things anyone has ever read in the history of reading.  Then I told him to pose like the picture at the end, and this picture happened.

I love fun date nights!