Men Who Like to Travel - David Latt

What kids don't love dinosaurs, those long dead monsters, some the size of small buildings, others, like the raptors made famous in Jurassic Park , small, ferret like and deadly. Recently we sent David Latt to explore the new Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City and to check out the football field sized bone wall in Dinosaur National Park near Vernal.  What he found was awe inspiring and beautiful, but the story begins with his sons. When my sons were young, we loved to read dinosaur books. They turned the pages pointing at the scary tyrannosaurs rex attacking a hapless three-horned triceratops or a silly looking long necked brontosaurus eating the leaves off a tall tree. Wide-eyed, they asked the obvious question, "Are dinosaurs real?" Those oddly shaped monsters didn't look like the lions, tigers, elephants and zebras we saw at the zoo. Without the fossil record, nobody would believe dinosaurs ever existed. Recently I was offered a tour of dinosau...

Better known for adventure activities and skiing, Utah now has quality restaurants with classically trained chefs who pride themselves on their pursuit of local ingredients. This summer, we sent our traveling foodie, David Latt, to check out the scene and give us a report. He started in Salt Lake City with a meal at a quintessential Mormon restaurant. Utah's Pioneer Traditions To listen to executive chef David Bench talk about cooking, everything he knows he learned from his mom.  The restaurant where he is executive chef, the  Lion House Pantry  (63 East South Temple, Salt Lake City 84150, 801/539-3257), has the low-ceiling-feel of an old fashioned English inn. But this isn't London, this is Utah and the Lion House Pantry is the main restaurant in  Temple Square , the complex of historic and modern buildings that make up the headquarters of the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City. To understand the new trends in the Utah food scene, the Lion House Pantr...

The Sundance Film Festival  screens hundreds of films from January 20-30. Local insiders know that during the festival, the slopes are less crowded than usual. While filmgoers crowd the theaters, restaurants and bars, skiers enjoy shorter lift lines and uncrowded runs. I don't ski but I do eat. For those who are going to watch films, here are some suggestions about where to eat.  With heavy snow falling in Atlanta and New York City where it isn't wanted, there's comfort knowing that snow is also accumulating on ski slopes, where it belongs. At the foot of Utah's Wasatch Mountains, dozens of world-class ski resorts are within easy driving distance of Salt Lake International Airport. The mountains make an impression the minute visitors land at Salt Lake International Airport. In summer or winter, the white capped peaks are evidence that this is rocky mountain country or, as the state logo has it, "Life Elevated."  Salt Lake City itself is over 4,000 feet, s...