February 1, 2009
My family and I spent Saturday enjoying some of the best of what Salt Lake has to offer . . .
Jordan River Parkway
First, my husband and I bundled up, grabbed the dog, and headed out for a walk along the Jordan River Parkway. There are miles of trails and parks along the Jordan River, which runs from Utah Lake north to the Great Salt Lake, but some of the nicest are in Murray and can be accessed from a trailhead at 600 West 4800 South.
Murray was the first city to look at the Jordan River as a scenic and recreational asset rather than a sewer or dumping ground, and they have a well-developed recreational area on their portion of the riverfront, including paved trails, parks, equestrian trails, wetlands boardwalks, and bird watching platforms. Other cities have followed Murray's example. The Salt Lake City Council recently applied for federal grant money to finish a section of trail along the river from 1800 North to Davis County.
A couple of weeks ago I attended a presentation by Envision Utah, an influential urban planning organization that recently published a document called Blueprint Jordan River. The blueprint imagines the river as a Central Park-like oasis in the midst of increasing urbanization. The Salt Lake County Council and a number of city governments have endorsed the blueprint, and it will be interesting to see how the riverfront develops over the next several years. You can find more information on the Jordan River Parkway at http://www.recreation.slco.org/parks/html/jordan.html, and about Envision Utah at www.envisionutah.org.
Himalyan Kitchen
After our walk we had lunch at the Himalayan Kitchen, possibly Salt Lake's only Nepalese restaurant, located at 73 East 400 South. The food is essentially the same as you would find at an Indian restaurant, with some Chinese influences. We had the excellent lunch buffet, which includes tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, and an incredible variety of vegetable dishes. I ended up having a vegetarian lunch because my plate was full before I got to the chicken. My favorite vegetable dish was the rich, slightly spicy Baygan Bharta, roasted eggplant and onions.
My favorite menu item by far at the Himalayan Kitchen is the Nepalese Chicken Chili, spicy stir-fried chicken with onions, garlic, ginger and tomato. Being absolutely unfamiliar with Nepalese cuisine, I was hesitant to order this dish, especially when I found out one of the ingredients is ketchup. However, I absolutely loved it, and I have dreamed about it (literally) ever since.
Himalayan Kitchen is known for having excellent food, but the ultra-simple atmosphere has always left a little to be desired. The owner, Rabi, informed me that within the next several weeks the restaurant will be moving to a larger, renovated location at 777 South State St., formerly Bob's Magazines. I'm looking forward to visiting them at their new location and eating some more of that chicken chili. Find out more at www.himalayankitchen.com.
Junior Jazz
After lunch, we went to our daughter's Junior Jazz game. Junior Jazz is sponsored by, but not run by, the Utah Jazz organization--it's essentially a franchise, and teams are administered by various city and county recreation departments. Young players get two free tickets to a Jazz game, and they are invited to player appearances throughout the season. In Salt Lake City, boys and girls can
sign up for Junior Jazz at the Jewish Community Center; the Salt Lake Boys and Girls Club; the Sorenson Center; the South Salt Lake recreation department; or the East Millcreek, Redwood, Northwest, or Central county recreation centers. There are more than 65,000 young players in the Junior Jazz organization throughout Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Montana. You can find a complete list of Junior Jazz programs at http://www.nba.com/jazz/community/Jr_Jazz_Index.html.University of Utah Basketball
After the Junior Jazz game (my daughter's team won, by the way), we went home and watched the University of Utah basketball team's thrilling, down-to-the-wire win over TCU. This was the team's second exciting win of the week--they beat BYU in overtime on Tuesday. The Utes are in first place in the Mountain West Conference, and in the last two games they've exhibited some toughness that I haven't seen from them in the past couple of years. This Utes team is the best they've been since 2005, when they finished 8th in the country and Andrew Bogut was the number one NBA draft pick. If you've never attended one of the games in person, it's definitely worthwhile. The games are generally entertaining and much cheaper than a Jazz game. The Utes play at the Huntsman Center on the University of Utah campus. For schedule and ticket information, see http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/utah-m-baskbl-body.html.
