After spending six weeks in Salt Lake City, The Mist restaurant project will — as its name suggests — disappear this week.
The pop-up restaurant that Chef Gavin Baker launched Jan. 19, with the help of several culinary students and four local chefs, will conclude Sunday, Feb. 26.
By the end of its 26-night run inside the former Metropolitan restaurant, Mist will have served about 900 diners. For many guests, the 16-course Mist feast was their first experience with molecular gastronomy, which takes ingredients and manipulates them using the tools of science.
The result was a string of unexpected — some might say weird — food elements, including a seared scallop topped with mushroom foam, a barley gelato sphere on a stick, and lychee and passion-fruit mousse encapsulated in a sugar shell with a base that included Pop Rocks.
The unique Mist offerings left some Salt Lake City patrons dazzled, and others unimpressed.
"The whole experience was exciting," said Nancy Trunnell of Park City. "You could see Gavin’s work and perfectionism on every plate." Trunnell attended Baker’s first Mist dinner in Park City in 2008, where he served 12 courses, but thought the 2012 version was more impressive than the first.
"There were more courses, but also more complicated dishes," she said. "He’s truly doing some unbelievable things."
Josh Blumental, of Holladay, who selected the vegetarian option, wasn’t as complimentary. "Personally I hated it. It’s so plastic and bourgeoise," he said. "He took food and denatured it. He took the soul of it, added ego, and put it back together in a shot glass."
Unique serving dishes were as much a part of the mystique as the food, as diners were served courses on metal sporks — combination spoon and fork — wooden sticks, ceramic tiles and the afore mentioned shot glasses.
Each course also followed its own theme. Course No. 3, for example, featured duck in three incarnations: as confit with barley risotto, a foie gras parfait and steeped to create tea. Similarly, course No. 5 featured beets roasted, pickled, crisped and served on a beet gelee.
Keeping track of the meal may have felt overwhelming, except each place setting included a set of artfully designed index cards with drawings of all the meal’s elements. The cards allowed diners to keep track of what was on each plate and what was coming.
For some, the cards also served as a souvenir for the evening. "I’m probably going to frame them," said Anne Rice, a Salt Lake City attorney. "They are beautiful and a reminder of what I had."
For the most part, the experiment, which Baker wants to take to other U.S. cities, can be called a success. It sold out by Feb. 1 and was extended three nights to accommodate curious diners.
Even though tickets cost $150 per person (not including tax, tip or wine), it’s difficult to see how Baker made money on the endeavor.
"There were so many servers that did such a phenomenal job and so many people in the kitchen helping. I don’t know how the guy made any money," said Amy Wolfe, Blumental’s wife.
That’s especially true, considering the months Baker spent practicing each dish in a test kitchen set up in his Salt Lake City home.
When we posed the question to Baker, he said "no comment."
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