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

Hello, Eaters!

Something Wicked is a new Halloween pop-up bar housed inside Studio at Soundwell, at 149 W. 200 South in Salt Lake City, and last week I got to check it out and meet with the creative minds behind the project.

This is Courtney Mortensen’s eighth pop-up bar she has designed, a process she calls “extreme crafting.”

For Something Wicked, Mortensen said she wanted to create something that felt like “walking into a weird old video store,” so you’ll see a lot of classic horror movie imagery, with a big emphasis on comic books and pop art.

Anything themed around horror movies is right up my alley, so Mortensen was speaking my language.

The origin story: Normally, Studio at Soundwell is a bar that offers craft cocktails and scratch-made pizza. But during Halloween and Christmas and other special days, Mortensen goes all out, creating pop-up bars for the occasion.

Mortensen said she wanted Something Wicked to be the opposite of what she designed this year at Ivy & Varley, Studio’s sister bar. Called Fright Club, that pop-up has a “classic spooky, haunted mansion, haunted forest” feel, she said, so for Something Wicked, she went the other way and made something more lively and nostalgic Halloween.

The vibe: Classic horror movies, with a display behind the bar of VHS cases, a red corded phone, lava lamps, and old TVs. Large modern TVs play scary movies (when I was there, it was “Halloween”), and there’s a big pop art piece of Ghostface on one wall. Red LED rope lighting is looped over and over on the ceiling, which reminded me of pools of blood (eek!). Jack-o’-lantern lighting over the bar is a real mood setter. If there was an altar to the world of horror movies, this is it.

Nightly programming adds to the fun, with attractions like bubble magic, “scare-oke,” DJs, tarot and even a craft hour.

The menu: Pizza, salads, bites and a couple of desserts, most of it Halloween-themed in some way, like the Boneyard, which is chicken wings served with black barbecue sauce, orange buffalo sauce and beet red ranch on the side. Chef Jason Fredrickson (pictured above) came up with all the food, and said just about everything in the kitchen is made from scratch, including all the pizza dough and sauces. (They can do gluten-free pizza and vegan cheese. No extra cost for gluten-free.)

It wouldn’t be a party without drinks, and beverage director Cam Quantrell really brings it. These are ooky-spooky craft cocktails, served with garnishes like Jell-O brains and lychee eyeballs, in themed drinkware (which you can buy; don’t steal it). To read about my order at Something Wicked, scroll down to “Meal of the Week.”

The hours: Monday-Friday, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Saturday-Sunday, noon to 1 a.m. Something Wicked runs through Nov. 1.

Live deliciously,

Kolbie

Food News

• The 14th annual Park City Dine About is underway through Halloween, and features nearly two dozen Park City Area Restaurant Association restaurants, according to a news release. During the Dine About, diners can order two-course lunches for $15, $20 or $25 per person; three-course dinners for $30, $45 or $65 per person; and après specials with $20 cocktails and small plates at participating restaurants. It’s a wallet-friendly way to try a restaurant that might normally be out of your reach. To see the list of restaurants, visit ParkCityRestaurants.com.

• Get out while the weather is still nice and head to the Utah City Food Truck Rally, happening every Friday through Oct. 30 from 5 to 9 p.m., according to the website. Each week features a new lineup of 10 food trucks. The event will be held at 260 W Bend St. in Utah City, which is a walkable development in Vineyard, on the shores of Utah Lake.

Openings:

• To celebrate its new location in Provo, Bonrue Bakery is holding a grand opening party on Saturday at 1545 N. Canyon Road, according to a news release. Formerly known as Farmstead, the southern Utah-based bakery is known for its breads and pastries, like croissants and kouign amann. The party will feature a 9 a.m. ribbon cutting, an appearance from BYU mascot Cosmo, free stuff for the first 200 guests, and the bakery’s fall menu. The location also has a drive-thru for baked goods on the go. New locations are also planned for Orem and Spanish Fork.

• Also Saturday, Rockwell Ice Cream is holding a grand opening celebration at its new Daybreak location, at 5446 W. Center Field Drive, Suite 110, in South Jordan, according to a news release. There’s going to be candy-making demonstrations, drawings, free samples, live music and $2.50 scoops all day.

• In case you haven’t gotten a sandwich at Caputo’s lately, a new business is going to be opening up shop in the old Aquarius Fish Company space. Heritage Craft Butchers has put up a sign on the door that says, “Craft is coming downtown.” The sign also says, “Premium cuts, honest sourcing, local heritage, timeless quality.” Heritage Craft Butchers also has a location in Orem, at 1560 S. State St.

• In national chain news, a new McDonald’s has opened in Tooele at 2547 N. Main St., and a new Marco’s Pizza is slated to open in Centerville at the beginning of 2027 at 356 W. Marketplace Drive.

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

Booze (and Drink!) News

• Notes, the cocktail lounge in the bungalow at 346 E. 900 South in Salt Lake City, has reopened, according to an Instagram post. Notes is a moody, vibey spot lit by candlelight where you can enjoy a drink before or after a dinner at, say, the nearby Manoli’s, or Veneto, or even Nona Bistro, located behind the bar.

Meal of the Week

For dinner at Something Wicked, I went with the Blame It on the Spirits pizza ($17), made with red wine salami, cognac mushrooms, vodka sauce, mozzarella and basil, and finished with garlic oil and Italian seasoning.

Ooh, I loved this boozy-but-not-boozy pizza. The mushrooms were my favorite part; cooked with butter, thyme and cognac, they had such a rich flavor. Vodka sauce on pizza was new to me, and the extra decadence of that sauce really made the pizza.

To drink, I got the Casket Case ($15) cocktail, which is essentially an Old Fashioned served in a wooden casket that pours out actual smoke when you open it. To make the smoke, Quantrell said they infuse wood with Jameson and black cardamom, and then make shavings out of it, which they burn. So that smoke smells amazing. The cocktail itself was very spirit-forward, and went well with the pizza.

For dessert, I got the Scary Pie ($11), which is a berry pie served in a skillet with a scary face cut into the crust. I liked that this pie wasn’t overly sweet, but the crust did stick to the skillet, making it hard to pry all the pie out of the pan. I was glad it was served with whipped cream; it helped temper the tartness of the fruit.

— Newsletter written by Kolbie Peterson, The Salt Lake Tribune’s food and drink reporter. The Tribune pays for all of the food written about in this newsletter.