Eva

He said:

Eva restaurant is located about as deep downtown as you can get, with the light rail running in front and a sidewalk bustling with people. I only spied one empty table as we entered, but our reservation had held it just for us.

The dining room was small with a row of six-person tables along one wall, and a row of two-person tables along the other. A long, narrow hallway extended past the kitchen. Kathy observed that the hostess occasionally led people down the hallway, so I investigated and found a second dining room in the back.

Our table was small and close to the others on either side, making us unwitting interlopers in nearby conversations. Despite that, Eva managed to exude plenty of charm. A few dozen antique plates hung artfully on the wall behind me. Evidently, they once belonged to the chef’s great-grandmother, for whom the restaurant is named. Chef Charlie Perry learned to cook from his Great-Grandmother Eva Coombs, always by her side in the kitchen.

A triptych of impressionist landscapes hung on the wall in front of me. They mesmerized me throughout our entire meal. The broad brush strokes must have been three to four inches wide, leaving the scene devoid of details. Yet somehow the artist managed to convey a very specific impression. I could “see” a sky with clouds over a landscape with hills, water, and vegetation. I didn’t realize I was fond of impressionism, but I enjoyed how the paintings communicated so much with so little. I appreciated the space they left for my own imagination.

Eva restaurant serves small plates, also known as tapas. The menu calls them “Mediterranean style shared plates for family style dining.” I’ve come to enjoy small plate menus, as they allow sampling of many different flavors. However, they come with a particular challenge: I wanted to choose all the options!

The waitress suggested that two plates per person would probably provide the right amount of food for dinner. We had wanted the cheese board, but I think the waitress misheard us, as she brought the bread instead. That’s okay; it meant Kathy would have room left for dessert later. The bread—baked at the chef’s other restaurant down the street, Eva’s Bakery—was a baguette served warm, which I liked, and served with Manchego butter.

Next, we ordered Warm Olives & Chorizo. I’ve often encountered Mexican Chorizo, made from uncured ground pork, but I am less familiar with Spanish Chorizo, made from cured, chopped pork. Served in thin slices, it was far milder than the Mexican variety. I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure it was a necessary enhancement to the olives. We could have ordered the dish without the Chorizo.

The olives, on the other hand, were incredible. I found at least four different varieties of olives, from tiny, half-inch black olives to large green olives over an inch and a half long. Those large ones were my favorite, pulpy and briny. All the olives were unprocessed, some still with stems. Among them, we found some roasted garlic cloves, a sprig of thyme, and a strip of orange zest. Oh, and plenty of the Peruvian sweety-drop peppers that Kathy and I enjoy for their crunch and tanginess. The bowl was so large that we hardly made a dent in it, even though I thought we ate quite a few olives. The olives were certainly a hit with us.

We also ordered the “Fig and Pig” pizza, featuring arugula pesto, mozzarella, prosciutto, and fig jam. This was another great choice. The hand-rolled dough was cooked just right, with a delightful cornicione, or outer crust, that bubbled nicely and turned golden without over-charring. There was plenty of mozzarella cheese. I would have loved fresh figs, but of course, those won’t even come into season for at least another month. The fig jam was delightful, nonetheless, and nicely complemented the salty prosciutto.

Our final selection (before Kathy decided to add a dessert) was Eva’s steak. We probably hadn’t read the menu closely, or else we would have noticed it came with chili-roasted fingerlings. Thankfully, Kathy didn’t find them too spicy. They did add a nice robustness to the tender steak, which was the real star of this dish. Ours was cooked to a perfect medium-rare.

Kathy wanted to add the Warm Banana Bread Pudding that came with caramel and custard ice cream. The banana bread—also from Eva’s Bakery—came drizzled with a caramel sauce that wasn’t over-sweet. A generous scoop of ice cream topped the bread pudding, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar to finish.

She said:

Going to downtown SLC on a Friday night has been proving to be pleasant and a lot of fun. I’m a people-watcher by nature, so I enjoy getting to see so many kinds of people taking advantage of the shops, boutiques, bars, and restaurants. Teenagers on scooters, couples walking hand-in-hand, joggers, cyclists, light-rail riders, first-date encounters, men and women in business attire, and so many other interesting folks. On this warm night, people were out in droves, and it made me happy.

Anyway, Eva welcomes patrons to enter its door by having installed a cheerful, bright yellow canopy overhead. Being on South Main Street, it was tucked between a bar and a taqueria, so the canopy bearing its name made it easier to find.

Upon entering the premises, I had a lot to take in: beautiful, scuffed-up golden oak hardwood floors; a charcoal-colored wall adorned with lovely porcelain plates in varying sizes and colors, impressionist paintings, wooden chairs with dark-colored leather seats; modern, deep-bronze metal light fixtures; and a long booth bench along one wall to serve as seating for several tables for two people each. When asked, the waitress told us that the collection of plates on the wall opposite me came from the restaurant proprietor’s great-grandmother. A couple of tables behind Brian caught my attention because they’d been crafted from heavy-looking black cast iron frames, topped by thick, walnut-colored wooden slabs. I asked about their origins and our server told me that they’d been commissioned when the restaurant first started, but she didn’t know who the furniture maker was. But she agreed with me that they were cool.

Anyway, Brian and I each ordered a diet Coke and I was a bit surprised when we were brought cans. However, we were provided with tall glasses filled with ice and given straws. Also, a clear glass bottle filled with room-temperature water and two tumblers sat on our table, so we had plenty to quench our thirst.

Our food continued to come at nicely timed intervals. First came the warm bread and whipped butter. It tasted great.

Then we were served the olives. They were served warm in a silver bowl. There were at least four kinds of olives, some roasted garlic cloves, sweety-drop peppers, orange rinds, and slices of chorizo. The olives were briny, tangy, and delicious—just perfect! The only criticism I have is that the olives had not been pitted, so it was a bit awkward and inelegant eating around the fruit and discarding the pits while sitting at a public table.

Next up was the Fig and Pig Pizza. It was positively delicious. All of the ingredients—the pesto, prosciutto, fig jam, mozzarella—melded together into a perfect, delightful combo of flavors and textures. I thoroughly enjoyed eating it.

Once we’d tucked into the pizza, a server brought us the steak and fingerling potatoes. The meat was tender, juicy, tasty, and satisfying. The fingerling potatoes were perfectly cooked. Although the sauce was a bit on the spicier side, that kick of flavor and heat was an enhancement that didn’t deter me from digging in and eating them.

All of the food was beautifully arranged on various types of white stoneware dishes, works of art—and all of it was mouth-wateringly wonderful. Plus, the serving sizes were satisfying, but I still found room to order dessert. Yay!

The banana bread pudding was a revelation in the culinary magic of baked goods. It was served in a pretty white dish with scalloped edges. A thick, round, rum-soaked slice of banana bread sat at the bottom of the bowl and was topped with warm caramel and a generous scoop of creamy vanilla frozen custard. It was so lip-smackingly good that I kept scooping up bits of it in my spoon until I couldn’t take one more bite.

I enthusiastically recommend Eva’s! ☺

Conclusion:

Sample a variety of flavors with Eva’s small plates, friendly service, and cozy ambiance.