The Critic

The Critic

Yes, it's been forever. We've been on a break for the holidays..you know.. the famous four: Christmas, New Years, MLKJ day, and Groundhogs day. Okay, okay, it's just because the middle of winter has been dragging us down. It's time to get started again! We decided that we love trying new restaurants, and from now on, we will try a new one every other week. To make it interesting for all of you, I'll be critiquing the restaurants as we go along. For any of you readers who live in Salt Lake, we hope our comments are enjoyable and benefit your own dining pursuits. For those who do not, you'll have a perfect guide for the next time you come visit!

First on the List..

We were told that Settebello was a place that would not disappoint. Known for it's fresh, authentic cuisine, it seemed to be a favorite among many of our aquaintences. Given the recommendations, we thought it would be a perfect place our our first dining experience!

Settebello prides itself on creating pizzas that meet standards of the Vera Pizza Napoletana; in other words, pizza that tastes like you just stepped into Italy. Indeed, they do this well (not that I've ever been to Italy, but my imagination affirms this is true). The strength of Setebello proves to be its ability to turn a simple, margherita pizza into something splendid. I ordered my pizza topped with toasted pine nuts - a combination I have never considered before, but would eat again in a heartbeat. Unlike most American pizza places, Settebello seems to operate by the "less is more" philosophy. Although my pizza lacked mounds of cheese and other toppings, it more than made up for it in perfectly blended seasonings and fresh, robust flavors. A thin, flaky crust straight from the furnace put every other pizza place I've ever visited to wallowing shame. For dessert, we ordered a cup of hazelnut gellato. Cold and creamy, it was a perfect end to a delightful dinner.

The atmophere of the restaurant complimented the food. The highlight of the area is the firey brick oven used to cook each pizza. Here, you can also watch the chefs prepare your order. Like the pros that they are, they expertly toss their dough into the air and work it with their hands into a perfect circle before adding the colorful toppings. Overall, the area is warm and inviting. Red accent walls showcase sharp Italian photography, and long arches provide a simple, sophisticated touch. Lighting was neither to dim nor too bright. I didn't feel like I was struggling to see my food or my dining partner as in so many other Italian restaurants. Even my "cleanliness is next to godliness" grandmother would have been hard pressed to find a spot of mess anywhere in the building.

Setebello's was a little on the noisy side. We went on a Thursday evening and it was quite busy. Although I didnt' have to shout, the place had a bit of an echo that emphasized the many voices around us. Service was friendly and to the point. None of the staff we encountered were very talkative, but I didn't feel their conversation was missing. All service was unusually prompt. On a minor point, I do wish our server had reminded us of the daily specials and offered to split the check.
Considering the quality of the ingredients, the cost of the food was quite respectable. Ten to fifteen dollars will purchase an entree that could easily feed two people. I would recommend, however, to order the gellato directly from the adjoining restaurant instead of having them bring it to your table, as it cost significantly more to do so ($4.99 compared to $3.75).

Overall, Setebello is an excellent choice for an evening out. Even those who do not normally enjoy pizza may like to give this place a try. It's fresh ingredients and authentic Italian feel are well worth a trip downtown.

Rating Scale: Setebello Ratings:

Ambience: ****

Taste: *****

Service: ****

Noise: ***

Price: ****

~ratings based on a 5 star scale. Small stars are equivavent to half a star.

Goal #6 Go to California!

For several months, I (Rachelle K) have been trying to get to California for the first time ever. However, each time I have planned a visit, it has been canceled. I finally made it last week with the help of a few of my fellow Child Life Specialists! We had a absolutely fabulous time in San Francisco!

My first steps into California!
Here's a picture of all of us (Rachelle A, April, me, Haylee - Rachelle's friend from San Francisco - and Callie) just before seeing Wicked. It was a great show!

Like good little Child Life Specialists, we went to the Children's Hospital of Oakland on our vacation. Actually, it was to visit Rachelle's old friends and coworkers. It was fun for the rest of us too, to see a different aspect of Rachelle's life and to meet the staff there.

After a day at the hospital, we thought we'd cheer things up by visiting Alcatraz prison (ha, ha, we really know how to have fun on our days off :)

April looks happy to be behind bars!

This might look like a normal picture to you, but this is really a very special picture! The gentleman who took this picture requested that he take one of his own to keep as a "souvenier". Yes, out of all the diverse people in San Francisco, apparently we were considered interesting enough to take a picture of! He promised us repeatedly though, that he would never use the picture for a commercial, so we can rest easy.

Just hanging out and Lake Merrill..

Still just hanging out at Pier 39

And still enjoying each other's company in our hotel room, talking, laughing and sharing stories.

On Sunday we we went to the Muir woods to enjoy the Redwood forest. Even though it is only a few minutes from the Golden Gate bridge, you would never guess it when you are in the woods. It is so serene! It's amazing how tall and beautiful the trees are!








All in all, it was a wonderful weekend - a well chosen black book goal!

Goal #5: cheer at a football game!

Believe it or not, I (Rachelle the First) have never been to a football game before. Not pro, not college, not high school, not even pee wee. Rachelle A, horrified that I have not yet really lived, decided to take me to one of the Aggies games. The event was definately worth a black book entry!

Decked out in a new Aggies sweatshirt, I was able to attend my first game in style. Because Rachelle's dad is president of Utah State, we were able to enjoy the Presidents box. This was especially pleasant considering the cold, snowy weather we had all day (note freezing loyal fans in the picture below). We had an awesome view, tasty warm food, and the famous blue Aggie ice cream as the afternoon wore on. Best of all, Utah State won! Woo-hoo!

Touchdown!

Goal #4 Pie-Making!

I (Rachelle the 2nd) have always wanted to learn how to make a pie so I added it to my little black book. A few weeks ago, our good friend Angie agreed to take on the task of teaching me how to make a pie. Luckily, some other friends joined us for the adventure!

Angie was very excited about sharing her fabulous cooking skills with us. She even wore her famous "Angie's" shirt (acquired on a previous black book adventure) to look official.

Watch out Rachael Ray!

Kym and Rachelle follow Angie's instructions.

Step 1: "Add a crap load of flour...."

Mary Ann was "lucky" enough to partner with the novice cook. It took me a while to feel comfortable getting my hands dirty. But after some trial and error, we managed to make some pretty good looking pies.

The finished products. Not too bad!

Kym, Angie, Rachelle K., Mary Ann, Lindsay, and Rachelle A.

enjoying the result of our hard work! Yummy!

Thanks Angie!!

Next month: Bread-making

hike #3- Little Cottonwood and Sundance

It was a gorgeous day here last weekend, so Rachelle and I decided to get in another hike. Rachelle A. hadn't been to Little Cottonwood canyon in years, so we decided to head that way.

Then, because we wanted to get some more fall colors in, we decided to head to Sundance area and took the Alpine loop. As you can see, it was beautiful! It snowed just a couple of days later, so we were extra glad we had taken advantage of the warm weather.

Is this Sturgis?? Nope, UMF's annual toy run at Primary's. It's always fun to see thousands of bikers drive up to Primary's with loads of toys. It's a fun crowd!

Goal #3: Visit Bear Lake

For any non-Utahns who might be reading this blog, Bear Lake is a couple of hours from Salt Lake, and is known for it's Caribean-blue water. None of us had been there before, so we decided to head up for the day. It was a bit cloudy, so you can't really tell the color of the water in the pictures, but it was nice. I was impressed by the incredible clarity of the water. It was a little cool so we spent quite a bit of time hanging out on the beach. Here, Angie and I show off our snazzy sand castle - small in size, but big in awesomeness! :)

We also made sure to take advantage of the famous fresh raspberry shakes the area specializes in! They were fabulous!

Just for kicks, we stopped by Idaho before heading back to Salt Lake, another first for several people in our group.

Despite our yummy raspberry shakes, we were pretty hungry by the time we got back to Logan. Angie was thrilled to find a restaurant that shared her name, so we stopped there. If any of you pass through Logan, I would recommend it!

All in all, a good day!

Stay tuned for more goals ahead. We're taking a short break on Rachelle A's hiking goal for a couple a weeks, since she is moving next weekend. Rachelle K has run into a roadblock as well on her picture-a-day goal, since she lost her camera last week :(. I thought about getting out my crayons and markers and drawing a picture a day, but someone that doesn't have the same effect - my artistic skills haven't improved much since the 3rd grade. Callie also ran into challenges over the past couple of weeks, with her computer crashing the first week of grad school! Aargh! We will prevail!

The official Beginning

Welcome to the official site of the Little Black book club - we are a group of Child Life Specialists who have made a goal to get together at least once a month to tackle one goal for our lives - big or small, fancy or ordinary, silly or serious. This blog is a direct result of our first two goals - Rachelle K, a.k.a. "the Original" has decided to take at least one picture a day for a period of time yet to be determined, and then to keep a regular blog about it. Rachelle A, also known as "Rachanini" or "Rachelle the 2nd" has decided to complete every single hike in her guide book - hence the pictures in this post. We're looking foward to some good times together up ahead. After all, life is best spend making the best out of each and every day.

Hike #1: Silver
Lake

Hike #2: Doughnut
Falls