Men Who Like to Travel - David Latt

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 Pantry is a good plac

I stopped in London to search out affordable and interesting places to eat.  Long disparaged, English food has had a renaissance with innovative chefs following global trends in the pursuit of locally sourced, farmers market fresh ingredients.  Ottolenghi My wife's cousin who lives in Switzerland insisted that when we were in London, we had to go to Yotam Ottolenghi' s food shops selling ready-made or, as the English call it, "take-away" salads, mains and desserts. I visited the Belgravia Ottolenghi at 13 Motcomb Street (there are others in Noting Hill, Islington and Kensington and a small sit down restaurant called Nopi near Oxford Circus). Ottolenghi is a showman who puts his flashiest products in the front window. The tarts, cup cakes, muffins and cookies are drop dead gorgeous. Just inside the shop, farmers market fresh salads are displayed in large oval bowls on elevated platforms, the better to grab your attention. Almost as an afterthought, the few

Japan's imperial capital for over a thousand years, Kyoto is home to antique temples, historic public buildings and meticulously landscaped gardens and parks. Our traveling foodie, David Latt, takes us along with him as he explores Kyoto, starting with the tuna auction at 5:30 in the morning. No matter how early it starts, I have to see the tuna auction at the  Kyoto Central Wholesale Market . With my guide, Toshiro (“Toby”)  Sugihara , we walk through the cold concrete and steel building to find groups of men in heavy coats watching auctioneers flailing their arms around as they shout out prices. The buyers don't respond to the auctioneer until the price is right. Then a barely perceptible nod gives the auctioneer the sale he wants and he's on to the next fish. The most exclusive, expensive restaurants and sushi bars buy up the highest quality tuna. Before he became a tour guide, Toby was a sushi chef so he knows his tuna. He bends over a beautiful fish and points