Provisions — Restaurant in Millcreek

So this is a bit late - but it's relevant. Background: We went there for their valentines day tasting menu and we met the owner/partner Mike at their other restaurants (Dirty Bird and Ginger Street). He's a great guy and the restaurants are all together pretty decent. They have good quality and food. BUT - This occasion we were super stoked to go to Provisions because we've been to their other food joints and this was supposed to be the nice one. Our experience was very disappointing in many ways (and decent in a FEW ways. We had a pleasant time, but mainly because neither my wife nor I wanted to spoil things for ourselves and nearby diners by making a scene - we're pretty timid people when it comes to asking for refunds/remakes, etc.) Okay here it is: So first off, the second or third tasting course was very salty. The first dish was decent (seafood dish I think), but nothing spectacular. The salt was literally clumped together (not rock/sea salt, but granular salt) and while the first bite was good, the second bite totally threw me off. But both my wife and I were still eager to try the next course. The next course had leeks in it - and CRUNCH first bite there was grit. Second bite too. So - we politely told our server that it was gritty. Guess what she did? "Oh really? That's interesting" and walked away.

What? I'm personally super against entitled attitudes - so that's why we were super polite in asking, expecting a remake or at LEAST a basic apology, like "I'll let the kitchen know" - that would have been enough. I do not want a refund, I do not want a comp, I am not asking for a free meal. I'm literally telling them because I don't think it's proper to charge people $75 for gritty food and not know/care about it.

I've cooked a lot with leeks and anyone who has will know that they are notoriously gritty - but even then, my wife's bit had a tiny pebble in it (like a fresh ground pepper sized piece)

That reaction was what took the shine off of the evening for us. The other courses lost their appeal - and the Foie gras was super salty as well, the outside of the bite was crusted with too much coarse sea salt that it unfortunately ruined what would have/should have been the highlight course.

The steak was good, the dessert was super fresh and amazing and are the only reasons why this is not a one star review.

Took a while for me to write this review becuase typically I don't like to whine and complain about stuff - but hear me out: If you are a premium restaurant, and have a special occasion dining menu, then your service and experience on those days should be exceptional.

I don't complain about a soggy quesadilla at cafe rio or something because I don't care and that's just quick easy dining - but if you position yourself as a premium restaurant, expect that the reviews will be more sensitive. My wife and I are not rich people that just throw away $180 for two people like nothing - that's super nice dining by our standards. So disappointing. We should have been driving away talking about how amazing the strawberry dessert was - not about how gritty the scallops and leeks were.

I would like to try Provisions' normal menu and see how they execute that - but it will take me a while before I'm...

My wife and I dined at Provisions on July 14, 2018. It was an overall great experience that fully merited 5 stars; some details are below.

Wait staff was uniformly well-informed, pleasant, and good at their jobs.

Provisions is tapas-style dining; you probably want 2-3 small plates per person, or 1 large plate and 1 small plate. My wife and I split 3 small plates and 1 large and it was just about perfect.

The wine list was surprisingly decent for Utah. Restaurants here suffer a bit under the DABC encumbrances.

A lot of the menu items are seasonal.

Not terribly busy on a Saturday night.

We had the grilled peaches, duck rolls, calamari, and rabbit pappardelle, with the chocolate cake for dessert.

The grilled peaches were the stand-out surprise (see the first photo). This is one of those dishes that, on paper, has no right at all to work, but it was absolutely delicious. Think of a caprese salad, but substitute the tomatoes out for peaches and use much higher quality cheese. I would order this dish again in a heartbeat.

The duck rolls were good, but the duck was a hint dry. In fairness, it's nigh-impossible to get duck perfect, and this is a very minor complaint for what was an otherwise very enjoyable dish.

The calamari was breaded-and-fried with a thai chili pepper spice blend and a sesame hot sauce. I enjoyed it, though the spiciness could have used a little bit of something to offset it.

The rabbit pappardelle was, along with the peaches, the stand-out dish of the evening. Pasta was clearly home-rolled and delicious, and the rabbit was juicy while still retaining its gamey taste - no small feat considering how easy it is to overdo rabbit. Those that dislike gamey foods probably won't like this, but it was almost perfectly balanced.

The chocolate cake was rich, though the method they use to melt the chocolate will leave a bit of a char taste. If you don't like that (it's what you get with a slightly burnt S'Mores or overdone creme brulee), you might want to avoid this dish.

Pacing throughout the course of the meal was excellent; we spent about 2 hours dining and never experienced a gap of more than 5 minutes between plates and never had overlapping courses. As mentioned, the wait staff know what they're doing.

Parking is somewhat limited.

I'd come here again in a heartbeat. I'm not a big fan of the downtown restaurants, but a lot of the places in the suburbs have not really kept an eye to quality (La Caille, for example). I do appreciate places that rotate the menu each season , so I'm looking forward to...

On a Thursday night, this restaurant isn't too busy, but parking is terrible. The parking lot is pretty small so good luck looking for a spot! My friend and I had reservations at 8pm and there were only 2 spots available.

This is a "must try" in Salt Lake City for tapas! Wide selection of small plates and great taste! Service is fantastic and servers came around often to fill up water and ask if we needed anything extra. We ordered the steamed buns with pork belly, the mushroom arugula salad special, and the pork shank. Let me start with the small plates.

The steamed buns are so good! Has a couple pieces of thinly sliced pickled cucumber, a thick slice of pork belly, scallions, and a honey hoisin spread for $11.00. There were only 3 sliders, but I could've had 20 more! It was so delicious and perhaps my favorite of the night.

Ooooh the mushroom and arugula salad with katsuobushi, which they call tuna jerky. You can see in my video that the flakes of tuna are dancing! It was a little scary at first, but the server told me that it was reacting to the heat of the mushrooms and warm arugula. The flavors of the katsuobushi is so good and flaky! It has the texture of sweet and savory in a tiny little bite! It was a daily special so I don't know if they will have the same when you order it. I originally wanted the mushrooms with the fried poached egg that I see all over yelp, but they don't have that anymore. They tried their best to mimic the same dish by using the same mushrooms, using truffle oil and adding a fried poached egg .

Now the wood roasted Kurobuta pork shank. Wow. Meat was so tender that it fell off the bone. The cubed apples were a nice sweet texture with smoked pork jus sauce. I forgot there was a spread of pureed sweet potatoes on the side as it looked like it was part of the color of the plate. Kale were sautéed and laying underneath the pork. Although the large plate was good, the tapas were even better!

Alcoholic drinks. Everyone knows I'm a sucker for martinis, but I didn't like that pumpkin spiced martini. It tasted like some sort of spiked eggnog in a martini glass. Don't get me wrong, I love me some eggnog, but it wasn't what I expected. The server kindly took my drink away and gave me a really dirty martini with kettle one vodka. I wish it was a little more dirtier, but i didn't want to be a pain.

I wanted to try the spiced beignets, but they ran out. That just means I will get to try them next time! I'm definitely coming back here again and...