Restaurant Review: Urban Hill and Post Office Place Chef Collab 

• Alex Springer
• Duck roulade on farro risotto

While there is some pretty fierce competition among our local chefs, it's all driven by a deep, mutual respect for one another. Sometimes you get lucky enough to see that respect first hand, and it's something that the Urban Hill Chef Series (urban-hill.com) will be showcasing this spring. These events will feature a chef collaboration between Urban Hill Executive Chef Nick Zocco and another local powerhouse in the restaurant scene, and I got a chance to attend the restaurant's kickoff event this month. It was an evening that saw Chef Zocco join forces with Chef Brendan Kawakami, the Executive Chef at Post Office Place (popslc.com). It's a rare thing to see in the wild, but there's nothing quite as inspiring as seeing two hardcore culinary talents put their heads together.

Fans of our local restaurant scene should no doubt be familiar with both restaurants. Chef Zocco of Urban hill was a James Beard Award finalist in 2024 and a semifinalist this year. His work with Urban Hill has become widely lauded by locavores as some of the best our state has ever seen. Under the leadership of Chef Kawakami, Post Office Place was a James Beard semifinalist in 2023 and has continued to create an innovative and singular experience for its visitors. The chefs were joined by beverage manager and sommelier Katie Forstner and pastry chef Jane Bayle, both from Urban Hill. With talent like this helming our own personal dinner party within Urban Hill's sleek dining space, it was definitely an evening to remember.

I got there a bit earlier than anticipated, which gave me some time to peruse the menu while having a pre-game cocktail at the bar. It's a six-course affair that comes with an optional wine pairing. If you're planning on going to one of these events, however, there should be nothing optional about taking advantage of Forstner's expert-level wine curation. Each course represents an interesting contrast between the two chefs, and I thought that was best demonstrated with course number one.

It was a gem-like scallop aguachile topped with gorgeous slivers of mango, kumquot and jalapeño, which was paired with a rich lamb tartare and a bit of adobo. Both dishes succeeded handily in waking up the palate–the scallops had a luscious texture, and the sharp notes of citrus and capsaicin do wonders on the tongue. The lamb tartare was texturally similar, but where the scallops were light and breezy, the lamb was deep and unctuous. It was a great way to kickstart the evening.

Up next was the white asparagus and mushrooms, which seemed to be the best representation of Chef Kawakami's aesthetic. The centerpiece of this dish was a silky sixty-degree egg served in an impossibly complex smoked dashi broth. It had strong ramen vibes, and that sous vide egg was melt-in-your-mouth fantastic. It was sprinkled with some crunchy wasabi popcorn to contrast with all that ethereal silkiness. Flavor-wise, this dish was packed with enough complexity to be interesting without upstaging its subsequent courses.

It was course three that ran the risk of completely stealing the show. It was composed of two croquetas made with sweet peekytoe crabmeat. These were lovely–golden-brown crispness on the outside and a smooth crab cake texture on the inside. When you slid a bite through the muhammara, saffron aioli and lemon chimichurri, you got a lightning bolt of acid that you could feel in your knees. This was also paired with my favorite wine of the evening–the 2022 Maturana "Naranjo" Torontel from Maule Valley in Chile. Absolutely decadent.

The fourth course was a duck roulade on top of a farro risotto which digs deep into an autumnal flavor profile that was punctuated by figs and cherries. The farro risotto was an absolute bombshell–it's a bold move making a risotto with farro, but the texture was absolutely perfect. This was a good set up for the final savory course of the evening, which was a bavette steak topped with a bone marrow bearnaise and served with coal-roasted celeriac. The highlight here was that bearnaise–bone marrow was meant to be turned into a steak condiment, and these layers of savory flavors are exactly why.

The dessert course really ended things with a bang, which I think is rare for chef-focused events like this. Pastry chef Jane Bayle really swung for the fences with her strawberry Charlotte, which was a vanilla sponge cake layered with strawberry mousse and topped with vanilla chantilly. This was a dish that absolutely screamed springtime with fresh strawberries at the forefront and a velvety texture to finish.

I'll always be enamored with Urban Hill and Post Office Place individually–both restaurants are doing great things for Downtown Salt Lake. Getting the chance to taste a curated menu from Chefs Zocco and Kawakami was truly a convergence of great culinary minds, and I can't wait to see what future collaborations will be serving up.