A large catalog company (I can’t say which one but you know it) recently approached me about using this very cool Utah home for their cover. After I made the photos a while back for architect Hank Louis and the home owner, I had kind of forgotten it. The home is so unique and a practical reuse of materials that I was happy to show it again.

“There was nothing between the street and the front door, making the property look smaller, not larger,” says landscape designer Dean Anesi of The Urban Garden Company in SLC. By adding curved short walls and adjoining plantings as well as the curved gardens that replaced the straight-lined beds that ran across the foundation, he and landscape contractor Willie Eschenfelder increased the perceived depth of the property while disguising the overwhelming parallel lines created by the street, house and sidewalk.

BEFORE: Because there is so little between the street and the house, they eye perceives the front yard as shallow.

Capped brick pillars and curved walls welcome visitors into the landscape. They also unite the front of the property with the house by repeating its brick construction.

I guess I’m just ornery. But I’m tired of City Creek bashing. It’s just a mall, after all, and not much better or worse than most other malls, except for the weird overlay rules from the LDS Church—no alcohol, no tattoos, no Sunday shopping—which they claim aren’t theirs.

The food is generally awful, like it is in most malls, including Gateway, the mall that killed downtown and instigated the Church to build a new mall downtown to replace the old downtown malls that Gateway replaced.

Are you following this?

Anyway, I’m glad to be able to buy a Clinique lipstick downtown. I go see movies at Gateway. And I’m glad both places have at least one decent option when it comes to food.

If Gateway goers can work up the courage to cross 400 West, they’ll be rewarded, like I was with a terrific sandwich at Pallet: Grilled cheese made with Beehive cheddar, red pear, arugula and honey. My lunch buddy had a club: house-roasted turkey, artisan bacon, tomato and avocado on toasted artisan bread.

If City Creek shoppers fight their way past the Sbarro lines, they can lunch on a porchetta sandwich–roast pork and green garlic sauce on bread baked before your very eyes, with a side of curried Israeli couscous, at Bocata.

Or a caprese, with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. Or a BLT.

And a pear salad with pecans.

I’d eat it more often if it wasn’t in a mall, but this is good food.

So quit your bellyaching, as my grandfather used to say, and enjoy your lunch.

This post was originally published on saltlakemagazine.com.

Do you have tight dining quarters? Challenged by a wide but shallow dining area, designer Lynsey Humphrey with Alder & Tweed created a window-front bench that adds as much flair as floor space to the room. Why her treatment works:

1. Requiring less depth than a table surrounded by chairs, this set-up takes up less square-feet.

2. Unlike tall chairs, the bench’s low back doesn’t act as a visual obstacle blocking the mountain views.

3. Humphrey designed the bench’s back with a pitch for comfort.

4. Built-in drawers add storage space to the bench’s base.

5. The bench seat extends 12-inches beyond the length of the table at each end, making access easier.

6. An above average seat height accommodates children. “Children tend to sit on the bench while adults take the chairs,” says Humphrey.

7. A custom, commercial-grade cushion and drapery fabric wears well, and its reverse-pattern adds interest overwhelming the space.

What do you get when you combine an interiors student, a fashion student, professional design and architecture firms with materials like wall coverings, carpet backing and floor tiles? Answer: Haute couture that’s the equivalent of Project Runway on steroids.

This year’s Fashion Remix runway show impressed us with creations ranging from wedding attire to evening wear. Equally as impressive were the models (actual members of the creative team) that barely batted an eye at the 30-pound gowns they sported in 4-inch stilettos.

For more information on IIDA Fashion Remix, click here.

I’m often impressed with the level of design and construction I find in Utah. This week, I photographed an office in Sandy built by Brian Hennessy of Hennessy Construction with interiors by Midwest Office. It’s another example of the high quality work local firms can produce.

Transform simple clear vases into boldly patterned containers by inserting cut-to-fit pieces of wallpaper inside. Place a smaller container inside the paper-lined vase to hold water and fresh-cut flowers.

Cut floral wallpaper or wrapping paper into colorful, disposable placemats. Mix and match to create a casual, charming setting.

Shop Talk: For great wallpaper, check out Walls—The Colour Store, SLC

For unique wrapping papers, try Tabula Rasa and Cabin Fever at Trolley Square in SLC

We decided to go around 7 p.m., knowing we were likely to be joining crowds, and sure enough, the entry was jammed with people waiting for tables.

It turns out, this was the busiest night yet at Finca, Scott Evans’ much-anticipated Spanish restaurant. As soon as one party was seated, another group showed up at the door.

In other words, a nightmare scenario for a new restaurant.

Sometimes, in the restaurant business, nothing kills like success. Word spreads about a great little place, everyone shows up at once, the kitchen is in the weeds, rushes the cooking, runs out of food, service is overwhelmed, slow to deliver anything, in a rush to get to the next table, customers get frustrated and turn rude and the eager crowd leaves disillusioned and determined never to return.

Restaurateurs keep their fingers half-crossed for a slow opening.

But at Finca on Saturday night, it was full speed ahead.

Strangely, and slightly wonderfully, everyone seemed to be taking the chaos in stride with a smile on their faces. Bar manager Scott Gardner was taking drink orders for the people waiting, and took time to explain the construction of each drink with its delivery–the Reformer, his own invention, featured a lemon-rimmed glass with amontillado as the base flavor. I had cold cava from the exclusively Spanish wine list.

Executive chef Phelix Gardner was expediting with a smile on his face, as his cooks labored over the 700-degree plancha, and he kept the order slips straight as smoothly as a Vegas dealer. Our server Sam could have been a contender on Dancing with the Stars, his footwork was that fast and precise as he managed his full tables, explained Spanish food and made suggestions about the all-Spanish wine list.

Everyone in the place was just happy to be there.

I credit the grace under pressure to owner Scott Evans’ front-of-the-house experience. Like Pago, Finca is not a chef-run restaurant, it is a restaurateur-run restaurant. Evans has a vision, and knows how to make it real, keeping his eyes not only on the plate but on the whole experience.

Wisely, he concentrated on making every customer happy, instead of worrying about tying up loose ends.

Because Finca, sister restaurant’s to Evans’ Pago down the street, isn’t really quite finished yet. There’s still construction going on at the entrances, the dining room demands the acoustic adjustments coming soon, and one seating area isn’t finished.

Even the menu is still truncated–right now, it’s just hot and cold tapas and a brief list of raciones. More complex dishes–house-cured meats, paella, baby pig–are still to come. Lunch service starts this week; that, added to Finca’s unusually late evening hours (open until midnight on Friday and Saturday) will keep the staff’s plates filled, so to speak, while they get the service rhythm down.

But the menu fits a fast-paced restaurant and the food has an authentic Spanish flair and flavor, even if every dish wasn’t pure perfection. The tortilla, one of Spain’s most famous tapas, was one of the best I’ve had–the potatoes are poached in olive oil for more than an hour, then layered with Clifford Farms eggs. The result is a melded wedge of mouth-filling Day-Glo sensation, startlingly different from the pallid slabs so often served. Albondigas, lamb meatballs with a spicy tomato sauce, were just as good, the sweetness of the lamb balancing the tart tomato so much better than beef.

Mussels came in a chorizo broth with bits of ham and lemon–great flavor but I wished it had been a little more concentrated, maybe reduced a little? Vegetables on the plancha were a revelation–the fast flash and shimmer of caramelization seemed to boost the umami in cauliflower and brussels sprouts.

Octopus, not so much. One piece was beautiful tender, the other tough as vinyl. Shrimp, with preserved lemon, presented with a dramatic flash of preserved lemon and char, but finished with too much salt. Sturdy halibut cheeks and the rare steak suffered slightly from toughness (the fish from over cooking, the meat from overly thick slicing?) but the flavor was undeniable and the caramelized carrots with one and fried potatoes with the other made these plates more than protein stars.

Our unflappable server Sam recommended two wines, made by brothers, and beautiful in comparison as well as alone: Camins del Priorat from famed winemaker Alvaro Palacios was silkier, softer, more floral, plummy on the palate; his brother’s wine spicier, more zin-like.

Spanish sipping wines, for before dinner, after dinner, midday and midnight, are famous, and Scott brought over a bottle of his exclusive Aleta Alella Dolc matara, a sweet mourvedre for us to enjoy with our avocado panna cotta and beet chocolate torte. Yes, that’s what I said.

So—first crop at Finca, our Utah Spanish-style manor farm–like Pago, I expect this restaurant to grow into itself and from a good beginning to become far more complex and delicious than it is now in its infancy.

These days, we’re all aching for a change of scenery. Winter is past and spring’s arrival can’t come fast enough. It’s precisely this time of year that we also want a change inside our homes. Trust me, even home accessory retailers take notice of our desire for new surroundings. They actually experience a slight rise in sales during the early spring months. So, what to do during these transitional months? Why not cheer on Mother Nature on and welcome spring into your home! Here are four easy ways:

1. Flowers are obviously the easiest way but, don’t think that you have to get a fresh arrangement from a florist every week.  Get a bunch of tulips from the grocery store and put them in an antique mason jar or an old glass vase.  Want something to last a little longer?  Get a potted daffodil from the garden store and wrap a scrap of burlap around the plastic pot to make it more decorative.  A collection of potted blooming plants will bring a fresh look to any space.

2. ‘It’s just a pillow,’ is a motto around our office, but it is amazing how much pillows can add to a space.  Try switching out your pillows for something brighter – something with a big pattern to bring in a new energy.  They will instantly transform the space!

3. Chotskies, knick knacks, accessories – we all have them.  Switch some of them out for something brighter or just move them around a bit.  Try a different arrangement on the mantle or entry console.  People will notice something is different, but will most likely not know what.  It is an easy and inexpensive way to update a space.

4. A fresh coat of paint – now for some this might be huge.  Don’t stress!  A coat of paint does not cost a lot and can be easily changed.  Try an accent wall – paint the inside of a bookcase – get creative and paint something decorative in the kid’s room.  The sky is really the limit with this one.

Matthew Dickamore is the Creative Director for Denton House Design Studio in Salt Lake City. www.dentonhouse.com

Images courtesy of (from top): Cape Race Cultural Adventures, Studio Ten 25, Tamar Schechner, Renewal Design Build, Camilla Molders Design, The Lettered Cottage

Last week, we were in LA with photos of a Frank Lloyd Wright project.  This week we’re home and showing the local work of an LA designer.  Beth Ann Shepherd recently completed another project at the Montage in Park City.  Her last project there was the cover shot on the winter issue of Utah Style.   Her work is so clean and the colors so subtle that they’re a bit challenging to photograph. My job is to bring out subtle detail with out over lighting them, but I’m always up for the challenge.