Faustina's

We acknowledge birthdays in our office with 2 celebrations. During a person's birth month, we take them to lunch (our treat), as well as "birthday treats" complete with signed birthday cards for the birthday people and many interpretations of the word "treat". The former is done just as a department, the latter is done with the Actuary Department (The International and Actuary Departments have been on the same floor for many years now, and we all know each other quite well now).

Since my birthday is this month (4.5 days and don't you forget it!), I got to choose where to go, and they bought lunch for me. Tired of the same old haunts at The Gateway mixed with the occasional though somewhat frequent visits to The Garden (yes, my former place of employment), I asked for input. I got some excellent recommendations, one of which was Faustina's. It is on 454 East 300 South in Salt Lake City. Any item on the lunch menu is $10 and includes ice cream and berries for dessert. The dinner menu is $25 (and doesn't include dessert, but if it's your birthday - they will give you FREE dessert!) and I'm guessing larger portions of the same items on the lunch menu, as well as a few extra items.

I looked at the menu online and was immediately taken with the House-made Acorn Squash Ravioli with sweet orange browned butter sauce and butternut squash. Then I looked at the Chicken Cordon Bleu Panini which sounded fantastic. The Turkey Burger also caught my eye, served with cranberry sauce. I even saw that they had Sweet Potato Chips. Okay, those were really good! I finally decided to try the Chicken Cordon Bleu Panini and upgrade to the Smoked Sonoma Chicken Salad (for an extra $2) instead of the regular house salad. Wow. It was good. Our server Frederik recommended the Smoked Sonoma Chicken Salad. It had arugula, spring greens, apples, dried blueberries, goat cheese, toasted almond slices, smoked Chicken, and a balsamic reduction type dressing. It was really delicious. (It is also served as an entree). The fact that it came with dessert made the price seem not so bad. I'm still thinking about the ravioli...

Not only was the food delicious enough to keep me thinking about it today, but the surroundings were fun as well. The brightly colored paintings and metal "leaves" in the middle of the restaurant made it feel fresh and modern. They also have quite a bit of seating outside on the patio, which was lovely.

All around, it was a lovely experience, and it allowed me to tick one more new place off of my list. That was equally exciting. Okay, not equally, the food was pretty good. I think I'll have to drag Josh there on a Saturday afternoon sometime.