College memories get better with time. The fun experiences—athletic events, social activities and spontaneous road trips—are what we remember, replacing our memories of stressful project deadlines, final exams and overall anxiety. Sadly, one memory that often remains is of raiding vending machines or trying to find a meal among bad student-union options.
Well, now, more than a decade later, I'm returning to the University of Utah—not for an advanced degree or a football game, but for Fiana Bistro.
Fiana is the brainchild of Brandon Price and Chaz Costello, two creative culinary minds who opened the bistro in the Sorenson Biotechnology Building in late 2012.
This isn't a place where you have to settle for processed options. You have your choice of freshly made pizzas, sandwiches, salads and daily specials. Get that sandwich on a baguette, brioche, French-style sourdough or whole-wheat bread studded with fennel and caraway; all breads are made in-house, even the pizza dough.
Fiana also gets 70 percent of its vegetables—radishes, sorrel, heirloom tomatoes, kale, chard and more—right on campus, from the Sustainability Resource Center. These veggies provide freshness that you might not typically associate with campus food. The Kale Caesar salad is packed with flavor—recently picked kale sprinkled with Parmesan in a creamy dressing—and paired well with the New York Doll pizza, with pepperoni, roasted red peppers, onions and fresh mozzarella.
Price and Costello have made Fiana a destination eatery on campus, not just something you rush through before your next class. It's working-class gourmet: affordable, high-quality, unprocessed, from scratch and hyper-local. Even if you've earned your degree, it's time to return to the U—for studies of the culinary variety.
FIANA BISTRO
36 S. Wasatch Drive
435-671-7158
Facebook.com/FianaBistro