Utahns get a taste of the Caribbean at a South Salt Lake bistro, in an incubator for new restaurants

This article is excerpted from the Utah Eats newsletter. To get the full newsletter every Wednesday, subscribe at sltrib.com/newsletters.

Hello, Eaters! Square Kitchen Eatery opened last year at 2435 S. State St. in South Salt Lake, but I hadn’t experienced this place until last month.

It’s a mini food hall, where multiple participants in the Spice Kitchen Incubator program for emerging chefs set up shop as a last step in the business incubation process, said Emily Park, program manager for Spice Kitchen Incubator.

Entrepreneurs who sell their food at Square Kitchen Eatery are able to gain experience running a food business, test out a menu and build a customer base before setting up a brick-and-mortar restaurant, Park said. (Drunken Kitchen did this in January; they’re now partnered with Grid City Beer Works and run the food side of the brewpub.)

One of the newer chefs to be featured at Square Kitchen Eatery is Ynoelia Fabian, owner of Hispaniola Bistro. Spice Kitchen Incubator said it’s most likely the first sit-down Dominican restaurant in Utah.

Fabian is originally from the Dominican Republic, but she lived in New York City for three years. In 2009, she moved to Utah, because it’s a “quiet, beautiful and peaceful” place to raise a family, said Fabian, who’s the single mother of four children.

Plus, “you can have more opportunity for business,” she added.

Fabian said she started cooking when she was 8 years old, a few years after her mother died. While her father was at work, she would cook for her two brothers under the guidance of a neighbor, she said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fabian started a business in her Utah home, cooking Dominican food and selling it to her neighbors for “special occasions,” she said.

Fabian joined Spice Kitchen Incubator in 2024. Before she opened Hispaniola Bistro on Dominican Independence Day on Feb. 27, Fabian was busy going through the incubation program, attending Salt Lake Community College to get a culinary degree, raising her kids, working as a certified nursing assistant and cleaning houses.

Now, Fabian cooks at Square Kitchen Eatery, a former KFC location with a Dominican flag hung in the window, advertising her food inside.

She said her menu has been warmly received by customers, both by Dominicans who are longing for a taste of home, and Utahns who have perhaps visited the Dominican Republic and are wanting to learn more about the cuisine.

In the Dominican Republic, families always eat meals together, she said, sometimes inviting neighbors to eat, too. “It’s like a fiesta,” Fabian said. “... People never eat alone.”

Hispaniola Bistro’s menu includes entrees like mofongo de camarones, which is garlicky plantains with shrimp in a coconut sauce; small bites like empanadas and croqueta de pollo (chicken croquettes); and housemade drinks.

Fabian recommended I try a dish called la bandera (“the flag” in Spanish), which is a traditional lunch plate that’s considered a national dish of the Dominican Republic. To read more about it, scroll down to the Dish of the Week section of this newsletter.

Hispaniola Bistro is open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In addition to Hispaniola Bistro, you’ll find these food businesses at Square Kitchen Eatery:

• Rusty Birds (chicken, salads, wraps, sandwiches): Instagram: @rustybirdsslc

• Shiba Boba (tea and coffee boba drinks): Instagram: @shibaboba_slc

• Comfort Bowl (Japanese chicken katsu and teriyaki): Instagram: @comfortbowlutah

• Argentina’s Best Empanadas (Argentinian empanadas): Instagram: @argentinasbestempanadas

Live deliciously,

Kolbie

Dish of the week

When trying the traditional Dominican dish known as “la bandera” for the first time, the word “homey” kept coming to my mind. Hispaniola Bistro chef Ynoelia Fabian makes it with grilled chicken, fried sweet plantains, a green salad (dressed with a vinaigrette), creamy pinto beans and white rice that’s on the firmer side.

The chicken is juicy, with a bit of flavorful char from the grill, but I thought the best part was the beans, which were cooked in a tomato-based sauce. After seeing me eat all of the components of la bandera separately, Fabian suggested pouring the beans all over the rice and eating them together, which I’ll have to do on my next visit.

On the side, I had the passion fruit morir soñando, which can be translated as “to die dreaming.” A mixture of evaporated milk and passion fruit juice, this drink was so creamy, so fruity and so tropical — lovely on a hot, summery afternoon.