This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I'm happy to admit I love everything about the fancy-pants dinner experience: a dizzying array of cutlery that demands an understanding of the critical nuances between the demitasse and dessert spoon; starched white tablecloths that glare admonishingly well in advance of the inevitable accidental spill; an army of waiters elegantly gliding about the room, wielding dangerously French-named items like amuse-bouche and petit four. I'm a sucker, I can't help myself.

Sadly, my surname isn't Rothschild and such indulgences are few and far between. Even if money were no object, time is a yet more precious commodity. I rarely have time for four-hour dinner extravaganzas. Obviously, it's not just me either, based on the abundance of quick service restaurant (QSR) concepts scattered around the land. You can now add one more to the list — the recently opened Zao Asian Cafe in Salt Lake City.

Food at Zao is quick. These guys could probably compete quite healthily on the Bonneville Salt Flats. I've spent greater periods of time being bedevilled by the mocking complexities of vending machines than the time it takes to order and eat at Zao. Fast with a capital whoosh.

(No surprise that Zao's owner is Dave Duffin, a Brigham Young University graduate who also launched two other quick-serve concepts — Zuka Juice and Rumbi Island Grill — which he has since sold.)

Food this speedy usually means a concession to either the mass-produced or the nutritionally dubious. Zao's expediency doesn't translate in either manner — a double bonus. Drawing on a range of influences from Southeast Asia, the menu is as palatable and fresh as it is swift.

Items are ordered, arranged and paid for in the typical QSR fashion. Start at one end of the queue and work your way down the line to check out. Maybe pour yourself a fountain drink as you take your food to your seat and chow down. Even the self-service soda fountain at Zao is a pleasant change from the norm — stocking Maine Root "fair trade" soda ($1.75). Thai iced tea ($2.75) and Vietnamese iced coffee ($2.75) are also available.

At Zao Asian Cafe, diners begin by selecting from one of four main menu items: Vietnamese-style banh mi sandwiches, Zao tacos, noodle bowls and salads. From there, a choice of proteins are offered: chicken (grilled, $6.95), meatballs (chicken and pork, $7.50), steak ($8.95) or organic tofu ($6.95). Pleasingly for such furiously fast food, you won't be asked if you "want fries with that." No, it's much more likely you'll be asking for an extra splosh of hoisin or a blast from a flurry of sliced jalapeño.

The nimble preparation dictates that dishes draw from a similar set of pared-down ingredients. You'd be hard-pressed to call any item a perfectly authentic example of its ilk — but it would be miserly to suggest the renditions aren't acceptably enjoyable in their own intended right.

Bowls offer white or brown rice or rice noodles. Add to that meat or tofu followed by smoky wok-seared vegetables, pickled carrot and daikon, ginger scallion, cilantro, crushed peanuts and crispy shallots. Finally there's also a choice of three sauces: sweet soy (teriyaki with garlic and ginger), fresh green curry (coconut milk, herbs, spices) and chile lemongrass.

Tacos offer a lighter choice, a trio of flour tortillas with your choice of protein (choosing one of each if you can't decide is fine) plus a romaine salad mix, Korean red sauce, chile-lime aioli, pickled carrot and daikon, ginger scallion and cilantro. Salads afford another lighter option, comprising similar ingredients albeit in reconfigured proportions.

My favorite item of the bunch was the delectably filling banh mi, which, in addition to the choice of protein, loads chile-lime aioli, house hoisin sauce, cucumber, pickled carrot and daikon, ginger scallion, jalapeño and cilantro onto a toasted French baguette. This couldn't be more different from a regular fast-food sandwich — twice the flavor and none of the resulting sluggishness or shame. Don't tell me you've never tried to furtively sneak a quad-stacker out of BurgerWorld while no one was watching. I know.

You'll still find me mesmerized by fine dining whenever funds and time allow, and Zao Asian Cafe is anything but; I'm quite certain I wouldn't receive a scolding for improper use of the handily located bottles of Sriracha, nor is the cutlery any more challenging than plastic flatware tends to be.

However, if I happen to be in the vicinity, in need of something sustaining, affordable and quick — you'll find me here.

Stuart Melling also writes at http://www.theutahreview.com and can be found on Twitter @gastronomicslc —

HH

Zao Asian Cafe

Food • HH

Mood • Hhj

Service • HH

Noise • bb

Asian tacos, rice bowls, noodles and banh mi sandwiches served at lightspeed.

Location • 639 E. 400 South, Suite B, Salt Lake City; 801-595-1234.

Online • zaoasiancafe.com

Hours • Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Children's menu • Yes

Prices • $

Liquor • No

Reservations • No

Takeout • Yes

Wheelchair access • Yes

Outdoor dining • No

On-site parking • Yes

Credit cards • all major