Faustina

A superb surprise in the suburbs of the Salt Lake Avenues

www.faustinaslc.com

454 E 300 S
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 746-4441

Price: $$$

I’ve heard about Faustina’s for quite sometime. If you drive down 3rd south it’s easy to miss since it’s somewhat hidden behind the trees.  (This is ignoring the fact that they have a huge sign). I was a little worried at first when I arrived (parking can be found a plenty in the rear). I went during their Lounge hours of 2:30-5pm. They provide an alacarte menu in addition to their main course items. Usually, you can select from the dinner menu which makes up a three course menu with salad, main dish, and dessert. I was given the discounted course with no dessert up front.  Somehow though I managed to spend more than the 25$ advertised when I ordered dessert regardless.

Now to the meal. Impressive and very fresh tasting. I ordered the  Linguini Diavalo featuring house-made linguini tossed in a spicy tomato sauce with parsley leaves and asiago cheese. I had them also add chicken.

The course actually began with an incredible house salad.  It had butter lettuce and mixed greens, tossed in a roasted onion and sherry vinaigrette, topped with beet crisps. The beet crisps was my favorite part of this salad. It managed to balance the vinegary flavor with a slightly salty/sweet crisp. I could have eaten these little morsels in a bag of regular chips watching Monday Night Football.

The Beet chips were incredible!

I’m often very hesitant to order pasta when eating out mostly because many chains overcook and often use prepackaged cisco pasta. This was not the case with the home made linguini.  It was incredible. It had a fresh and natural taste when often some linguini is very tough and has the taste of plastic. The noodles reminded me of fresh Chinese noodles (ramen, if you will) that isn’t straight but wavy.  The chicken was accentuated great and juiciness absorbed the flavors of the Diavolo sauce. The sauce had a mild flavor that was never overwhelming and the melted Parmesan added a creaminess to the sauce . The spice was just perfect for this Italian dish.

Freshly made linguini adds to the robust flavor

The meal was so impressive I decided to try out the dessert. My dessert was the Blueberry Souffle with a honey lavender sauce.  The dessert was very light and fluffy as Souffles should be but what stood out was the balance of egg/custard flavor. The lavender honey sauce was a surprise as my waiter stabbed a hole in the Souffle and drizzled the subtle sauce down the center. As I cut down the center of this airy delight a warm pool of the sauce and Souffle has coalesced at the bottom of the dish. I scooped this sauce up and drizzled it on the top and enjoyed the great warm flavors. I was surprised that lavender could be used so subtly.

Five minutes later, this was gone.

Overall, Faustina was a great experience. It’s nestled in an area of Salt Lake that is half comfort of the neighborhood but posh enough to be a place where you can take a date for a semi-formal meal. The restaurant was very serene and had a great jazz feel with the background music they had playing. I was there just at the end of the day when dusk had hit. They had a great patio and tea lights and I imagine a night time meal would have been a great setting.

A must visit

Friend Meter: Rachel, Tony, Elisa, Josh