On the west side, a new Vietnamese cafe serves pho and coffee

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Hello, Eaters! As fans of this newsletter know, I finished my big Redwood Road Challenge just before I went on maternity leave in October. But, in a way, the challenge never ends, because I’m always on the lookout for new local restaurants on Redwood. Recently, I spied one in West Valley City.

Soup & Sip, at 3430 S. Redwood Road, is a new Vietnamese restaurant and cafe in a refurbished bank. I checked it out last week, and here’s what I found.

The origin story: Soup & Sip is owned by Jeff Do and Jenny Ngo, who are both from Vietnam and also own several nail salons in the area. Jeff escaped from Vietnam on a boat, and told me he was even attacked by pirates on his journey. The couple’s daughter, Trisha Ngo, and her boyfriend, Thi Nguyen, help run the restaurant. The family opened Soup & Sip in December, and this is their first restaurant.

The vibe: An open, clean and airy space, with modern furnishings and lots of plants. The walls feature posters of spices and herbs used in Vietnamese cuisine.

The menu: “Updated” Vietnamese food made with quality ingredients, including appetizers, hot noodle soups, banh mi, rice plates and noodle bowls. To make your pho extra special, get the poached egg and bone marrow on the side. There’s also a variety of coffee drinks (featuring concentrated Vietnamese coffee made from imported beans in a phin, a traditional Vietnamese metal coffee filter) and fragrant tea drinks. To read about my order, scroll down to the “Dish and Drink of the Week” section.

The hours: Open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Tuesdays.

Live deliciously,

Kolbie

Food News

• If you’re looking for a romantic food-related activity for Valentine’s Day, Ritual Chocolate is hosting a truffle-making class on Thursday, Feb. 12, from 6 to 7 p.m., according to a news release. Learn how chocolate is made and take home hand-rolled truffles to enjoy. The class is $50 per person.

Openings:

• Sidecar Doughnuts is holding a grand-opening celebration for its first location outside of California, at the corner of 700 East and 2100 South (where By the Bucket: Hot Spaghetti to Go used to be). An event for Free Doughnut Day on Thursday will be from 7 a.m. to noon, and the grand opening will be Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Momomaru, a new sushi place focusing on hand rolls at 636 S. 200 West in Salt Lake City (across the street from Brewvies), is in soft-opening mode right now. Their current hours are Monday through Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m., and Friday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5 to 9 p.m.

• After a devastating fire all but destroyed the building last summer, the bar White Horse is finally ready to reopen its doors at 325 S. Main St. in downtown Salt Lake City. According to an Instagram post, the grand (re)-opening will be Jan. 29 at 5 p.m. “We can’t wait to welcome you back into the space that means so much to us,” the post read.

• La Lola Taco opened about a week ago near Fashion Place Mall at 6356 S. State St. in Murray, according to posts on Instagram. This Mexican restaurant, led by Michelin-rated chef Luis Perez, focuses on tacos, of course, as well as burritos, “paying homage to Los Angeles taco culture,” the website says.

• An Eater let me know that Lake Break at Northshore opened in December in Daybreak, at 4690 W. Boardwalk Road, Suite A105, in South Jordan. Lake Break is a nautical-inspired restaurant on the shores of Oquirrh Lake. Menu items include the Yacht Tower for $145, which includes oysters, jumbo shrimp, crab claws, lobster tail and octopus — but there’s more moderately priced things too, like burgers and fish & chips.

• Also in December, Nacho House opened a second location, at 7191 Plaza Center Drive in South Jordan, at Jordan Landing just south of Barnes & Noble, according to a Facebook post. Nacho House serves Tex-Mex favorites like chimichangas, burritos and, of course, nachos.

Has a new restaurant opened in your neighborhood? Let us know at food@sltrib.com.

Booze (and Drink!) News

• A new release for whiskey fans: High West Cask Strength, “a bold, masterfully blended whiskey that captures the rugged spirit of the Utah mountains,” a news release says. It’s a blend of straight bourbon and straight rye whiskeys, aged six to 10 years, and is now available at the High West Saloon in Park City and at the distillery in Wanship.

Dish and Drink of the Week

• When I visited Soup & Sip on Redwood, I had to try the new-to-me northern-style pho (pho bac), which the family told me features wider noodles and ginger, along with housemade broth that simmers for more than 16 hours. Nguyen told me they elevate the dish by adding thin slices of rare filet mignon, which cook in the hot broth.

I loved this pho, which was simply garnished with slivered green onions, a bit of cilantro and fresh ginger. I thought the broth was beautifully flavored, and didn’t need any sriracha or hoisin sauce to complicate things.

I also ordered the ca phe muoi, which is salt coffee, or rather, Vietnamese coffee that’s sweetened with a bit of condensed milk and has a sea salt cloud on top.

The family recommended I sip my coffee off the cup, instead of through a straw, which allowed me to drink in the sea salt cloud along with the coffee. And I’m glad I did: The saltiness combined with the sweet coffee was really dynamite. And speaking from experience, go slow — this coffee is strong!

I also sampled the jasmine tea with a sea salt cloud, Thai green tea with a sea salt cloud, and the Vietnamese milk tea, which were all delicious.