Dining Guide 2023 

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• Courtesy Photo
• Tripp Mims, Mims Bakery

Salt Lake City pop-up dining
An introduction to local establishments exploring a new trend.
By Aimee L. Cook

Salt Lake City is embracing the culinary pop-up trend with enthusiasm. Pop-ups provide an exciting way to experience food and culture, as entrepreneurs, chefs and bakers create "events" with limited time frames and locations throughout the city, allowing diners to sample unique cuisines and share an interactive culinary journey. Here are just a few to look for: Yamo Foods: Meaning "mother" in Syrian, Yamo was created by daughter Luna Nasser and her family in July 2022 to share their culture with Utahns. The family moved here 10 years ago, and to make friends, they'd share their food, using family recipes for hummus and muhammara, a red pepper walnut dip. And Luna recently added Olive Za'atar Crush—an olive spread made from Nablus green olives—to their offerings.

"No matter how different you are or how awkward it is, if you have a plate of food in front of you, the awkward melts away," Nassar says.

Orders can be made through Instagram @yamofoods or picked up at The Neighborhood Hive (2065 E. 2100 South, SLC).

Xiao Bao Bao: Romina Rasmussen (formerly of Les Madeleines fame) and the Yee brothers have created a nostalgic line of bao based on their fond memories of childhood foods in Asia. Flavors include chicken curry, BBQ pork and an eggplant base that is vegetarian-friendly. "Just don't call them buns," Rasmussen quipped.

Pop-ups occur at the former Les Madeleines location (216 E. 500 South, SLC) and bao can be purchased frozen—along with kouign-amann—at The Neighborhood Hive (2065 E. 2100 South, SLC). Follow @xaiobaobaoslc on Instagram for updates.

Mims Bakery: Tripp Mims and his late wife, Thy, started baking bread and selling it in 2019. Tripp—a professional chef furloughed due to COVID and hobby baker—has perfected the sourdough artisan bread recipe and turned the hobby into a sustainable business. "I wouldn't have what I do without Thy; it is like this gift that was left for me," Mims said. "I offer sourdough bread and cookies—and sometimes sourdough donuts that are very labor intensive."

Bread can be ordered through the mimsslc.com or picked up at The Neighborhood Hive (2065 E. 2100 South, SLC) while supplies last. Follow @mims_bakery on Instagram.

Tomodachi Bake Shoppe: Professionally trained pastry chef Megan Warner launched this micro-bakery in 2022. Her beautifully laminated dough and unique Japanese flavor profiles create delicious pastries, cakes and cookies you won't find anywhere else. Try the miso chocolate chip cookies or the black sesame kouign-amann.

"The flavors are nostalgic to me, things I grew up eating," Warner said. "They were hard flavors for me to find in Utah; we would always have to go to Las Vegas, where they had a big Asian market where I could find ingredients. I knew I wanted to incorporate those flavors into baked goods to try and introduce them to people, so they become more familiar with them."

Orders can be placed through the tomodachi-cakeshoppe.com or picked up during the weekly pop-up Saturdays at 3619 S. 900 East, 12 noon to 3 p.m. Follow @tomodachi_bakeshoppe on Instagram.

Blatch's Backyard BBQ: Did you know vegan barbecue was a thing? Christopher Blatchford is slinging vegan BBQ from his cottage kitchen, and no flavor is sacrificed in his brisket or crafty side dishes, such as the Cuban-inspired black beans. His fermented handmade hot sauces, like the Jamaican Red, are other popular offerings that you can drop in and pick up on Wednesdays and Fridays. Preorders are also accepted and appreciated for the combo meals.

"I started with regular barbecue and offering some vegan options, but I am a flavor snob, so I wanted to make some vegan things that tasted good," Blatchford said. "My brisket has anywhere from 12 to 14 different kinds of smoked mushrooms that I grind into a powder and then add seaweed, garlic and herbs."

For ordering information, follow @blatchsbackyardbbq on Instagram.

Baby's Bagels: Why not share what you love, like Koby Elias does? Elias grew up on the East Coast and wanted to bring bagels, his favorite, to Utah. His bagels are boiled and baked, then topped with the classic poppy seed, everything spice, sesame and salt.

"We are always experimenting with flavors, but mostly on the cream cheese side—we generally have a lot of seasonal cream cheeses," Elias said. "We pick a lot of local ingredients from our fellow farmers market vendors."

You can find Baby's Bagels at the Downtown Farmers Market on Saturdays and can pick up preorders on Sundays. For ordering information, follow @babys.bagels on Instagram.

Central 9th Burger Night: Monday evenings—starting at 6 p.m.—are burger nights at Central 9th Market, and for anyone who has stood in line only to have them sell out before your turn is up, the disappointment of not scoring one of the 100+ smash burgers that night is real. The burger master, Jozef Ezra, is the main guy at the flattop; he's coming up with the weekly specials and feeding the masses.

"Burger night started back in high school when my calculus teacher said if I didn't study, I would be stuck flipping burgers. I aced the class but I never did study, so I guess he was right," Ezra said. "The 'smash burger' style comes from eating burgers in Los Angeles and its environs. At the time, there was a once-a-week backyard burger pop-up called Burgers Never Say Die, which gave me a love for the style and format, so I have to give them credit."

Find Central 9th Market at 161 W. 900 South or follow @central9thmarket on Instagram for updates.

The Neighborhood Hive: Conceived as a space for local purveyors to have a place to sell their goods year-round, this ongoing pop-up, of sorts, makes shopping local simple. It even provides another location for established small businesses like The Kings English for the public to see and buy their products.

"The Neighborhood Hive (2065 E. 2100 South) is a collaboration between three small businesses—The Bean Whole, Hello Bulk Market and Olio Skin & Beard Co.," said Tiffany Rainwater, co-owner of The Bean Whole. "We were kicked out of our original spot when the Blue Plate Diner closed, but we wanted to stay in the area. So when this space became available, we figured we could work together and lease spaces or shelves to our others. We wanted to create a space for people starting in business without all the risk."

Find more information at theneighborhoodhive.org.