Heading to the Hospital

I remember watching the tv program "The Best of" on the Food Network in which Jill Cordes was doing a segment from a cafeteria. Not just any cafeteria, but one in a hospital. And not any hospital but at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. It sounded different and the reviews on the Internet were pretty positive. This sounded like a non-typical place to go to eat and something that piqued my interest.


The cafeteria is called The Point and is located on the 6th floor and is open to the public. The hospital itself is a fairly new building with nice aesthetic features on the outside as well as the inside. They had a nice lobby that seemed more like a comfortable library than a medical institution.

I was wondering if I was in the right place but when I got off the 6th floor the menu board is right near the elevators. The cafeteria was set-up as most cafeterias where you get your tray and walk along the serving stations. They had your typical burgers, sandwiches, soups and wraps as well as some specials. The special I chose was the Sambuca seared pork tenderloin. The dish consisted of an anise flavored pork tenderloin served with roasted garlic mash potatoes, fresh mixed vegetables, and natural jus. All that for only $7.00.


Once I got my food I went to the table area and this was not your typical cafeteria. They had a large screen tv on the wall, a piano, and some couches to relax in as you listened to the music. The eating area was surrounded by windows and the view was very pretty. The building looked out towards the mountain range on one side and on the other side you had a view of downtown Salt Lake City.


As for the food, it was really, really, good. The pork loin was tender and the sauce added some sweetness to it. The vegetables were fresh, not canned and consisted of steamed broccoli, yellow squash, and carrots. It was fine dining where you had to clear your own table. I would highly recommend this place.
I have to say that I was kind of surprised by the quality of the food as the prices are quite reasonable and restaurants highlighted on "The Best of" are not always that good. I found out the hard way that many places that they showed were big on the story of the place and not so much on the taste of the food. My experience was that it was a 50-50 proposition as to whether a place was good or not.

After lunch I drove downtown to see Mormon's Temple Square. But I soon found out that parking was kind of tough to find in that area. I decided to go to the state capitol instead. The capitol building is quite large and ornate on the inside. I was surprised by the opulence in the place, especially when you consider that the state's legislators only work 45 days a year. The building is on par with the state capitol of Texas in Austin. Now one can understand Texas having a fancy building, but Utah? Where did they get all that money to build something so big and used so little.
I wasn't hungry but I did take a peek at the cafeteria in the capitol. It was more of your typical cafeteria style set-up and food. But I did feel more at home as they had White Castle cheeseburgers in the vending machines.

After walking around the capitol I found out that Temple Square was within walking distance. It was pretty hot outside but I had a good parking spot and decided to walk.

The Temple Square consisted of many building that are part of the Mormon church. Many are opened to the public but not all. Surrounding the area was a gate and there were quite a few beggars just outside the gate. At one point a well-dressed businessman walked past one of the beggars and stopped to talk to her when she asked for money. He said that she knew that he worked there as they have seen each other pass by everyday for the past few weeks. He said that if she really wanted help that she knew where his office was and if she came up to visit him, he will try and help her out. But she refused and so he kept walking.

On the grounds was a museum on the history of the Mormons and how they ended up in Salt Lake City. The history is quite interesting and the exhibits were well done, though they do gloss over a few historical points.

Also near by is the church's genealogy research library. This is also open to the public and they provide lots of resources for you to trace your family's roots. They allow you access to their compilation of historical documents as well as to their database. The place was quite busy and all of it is free.

For dinner I chose to go to Navajo Hogan. It is kind of a hole-in-the-wall place that served what they called Navajo tacos. What it was, is a chili salad in Indian fry bread. I have been hooked on Indian fry bread since the first time I had it in North Dakota. When I got to the place, there was a sign on the door saying that they had stepped out and will be back at 5pm. I had about 20 minutes to kill when I decided to go to a Crown Burger restaurant that I had passed about 5 blocks back.

I was interested to try the place that had invented putting pastrami on hamburgers but I was also still going to get my Indian taco, so I ordered a smaller burger. The burger was
pretty good but just a little bit better than the burger I got from Apollo the day before. The pastrami really didn't add a whole lot to the flavor but what really stood out was that these burgers are char broiled and you really taste the difference. Too bad Burger King's burgers don't taste like this anymore.

I went back to Navajo Hogan and got my Navajo taco. The lady made the fry bread to order and it only took a few seconds in the oil to cook. She then put the chili, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese on the fry bread. Though they call it a taco, it is more like a salad on a thick piece of greasy bread. It was pretty good with the freshly made fry bread and the fresh vegetables, but the chili was pretty pedantic. It is a place that I would go to when I wanted some Indian fry bread, but mostly because it is hard to find fry bread almost anywhere.