This is my review of Utah’s first and only Michelin starred restaurant “Monte” which I went to a few weeks ago. They focus on using mostly local ingredients and say that the courses change with the season.
Vibe:
It’s actually quite a unique vibe, basically the building is a distillery, but a few nights a week they open it at night and have a fine dining restaurant in one of the rooms. It’s a bit unclear you are in the right place when you arrive as there’s no big sign or anything, and you enter through the unassuming distillery entrance (with no people there during the evening), and then walk through another room to get into the restaurant room. Once you get there it’s pretty cool, though its dimly lit and there are only a few tables and a bar. But its next to some cool spirit aging barrels, as well as having a view of the next room which has a bunch of the distillation things going on. There are also several interesting stained glass windows, and the servers are also all in nice full suits. So it really is a very unique vibe and ambiance.
Service, etc:
The service is decent, and they are all nice and try hard. However if you are used to a lot of fine dining some things are almost comical, such as being asked to help move plates out of the way every single time new things are brought to the table. Also the servers were pretty quiet volume wise, so it was extremely hard to hear their detailed explanations of the dishes.
Price:
There are 2 different menu options: a “short” menu for $120, and a “long” menu for $180. I think the short menu (which is what I went with) was actually great value, though the big menu which only says it adds a ceviche and a predessert (though also seems to add another dessert in practice?) definitely did not seem to be as good of a value. I also saw the table next to us which got the long menu, did not finish one of their extra dessert dishes, which seemed to be some kind of shaved ice that they made tableside using some antique machine.
They also offer adding truffle or caviar to any dish of your choosing (lol) for a $50 supplement, which I personally would never recommend to do at any restaurant. They also let you substitute the venison for a5 wagyu for a $120 supplement, which I also never do at any restaurant as I’m a bit bored of wagyu at this point and it’s just not worth it for me.
When I went a few weeks ago before they got their star it was quite easy to book. Now that they got their star I checked again, and they seem to basically be completely booked through the end of the year.
Food:
Overall the food was good, and I do think this was the best food and fine dining experience in Utah. Maybe “Table X” in Salt Lake City is the most comparable, but other than Table X’s bread/butter course (which actually was very good), I think that Monte was indeed just better at everything else.
That being said, compared to other one star restaurants elsewhere, Monte would definitely be at the lower end of that spectrum. They are also not doing anything especially groundbreaking or different food wise. But I have no problem with their star, it indeed is the best restaurant in Utah I have been to, the food is good, and it has a very unique ambiance. So I think if you are in the Salt Lake City area it’s totally worth checking out, though it’s not a “must visit” or something to plan around.
(As an aside there are 2 restaurants in Arizona which I do think are absolute must visits for any fine dining fans, and were totally robbed of even a mention in the Michelin guide, so I will post my reddit reviews of them soonish.)
I won’t rate individual dishes as my rating system is quite tough for higher ratings. But I’d say on average I’d give the food about a 6.5 which is a solid score. My favorite dish was the rabbit ravioli which was in basically like a Tom Kha sauce, though all the mains were solid. My least favorite was the blue cheese cheesecake, which I don’t think was part of the short menu, but they generously gave us because we were celebrating something. Though they forgot to add honey to it for the first minute so it just wasn’t sweet enough at all, and even after they added honey it still wasn’t sweet enough for me.
Courses:
Beet meringue with caviar (pic 2)
Mushroom tart (pic 1)
Heirloom tomato (pic 3)
Breads and butters (pic 4)
Trout (pic 5)
Rabbit Ravioli (pic 6)
Venison (pic 7)
Gelato (pic 8)
Blue cheese cheesecake (pic 9)
by NeighborhoodOwn9835