Restaurants in Cottonwood Heights

"A lot of our recipes come from family," explains owner Adam Wheaton. "Alicia's cheesecake is my wife's sister's, our italian stuffed mushrooms come from an aunt, my wife's mom…has probably put her hands or ideas into everything we serve." Working from these recipes and others, the chefs grill up steaks, broil lobster tails, and make tortilla chips, crab cakes, and barbecue sauces in-house. Additionally, they help to accommodate restricted diets by forging a number of dishes devoid of gluten and chicken thighs that show too much skin.

This commitment to family is a recurring theme for the steak house. When the Wheaton family's daughter, Madeline, was diagnosed with severe epilepsy at age 3, doctors said the condition would steadily worsen over time and would likely claim her life in her teens. To say she proved medical professionals wrong is an understatement—she has only demonstrated improvement since then and continues to exceed expectations. The Wheatons, of course, wholeheartedly rallied behind their daughter, naming the family's restaurant after her and partnering with local charities to help raise awareness of and fight against epilepsy.

The cooks at Thai Basil take diners on a culinary tour of Southeast Asia, bringing them the traditional flavors of Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Fluffy mounds of jasmine rice soak up the bright red and yellow sauces of thai curry dishes, and vietnamese pho beef noodle soup steams nearby. In the vegetarian section of the menu, fulfilling stir-fry options such as Buddha Delight—fresh veggies with tofu, soy chicken, or soy beef ($10.99)—bounce off the page with the verve of a child who's eaten too many pixy stix.

Modern Asian decor rich with reds and yellows sets a proper backdrop for travel-seeking taste buds, illuminating them with crimson pendant lighting and surrounding them with ornate room dividers. A friendly, attentive wait staff makes guests feel as though they are snuggled in first class, where water refills are limitless and peanuts are only rationed within reason.

Lacquered tables lit by sunlight from expansive windows gleam in Rice's modern dining room. Spicy aromas waft in from the kitchen, foretelling the arrival of entrees that blend the culinary traditions of Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States. Some of these flavors meld within the dishes themselves: combining grilled steak, asparagus, and eel sauce, the Cowboy sushi roll melts away boundaries between East and West, much like a blast furnace full of old compasses. But chefs also cook traditional Asian recipes, such as a Thai curry with coconut milk or Japanese udon noodles with tempura shrimp. And they're accommodating of other diets, too. Several vegetarian dishes incorporate soy chicken substitute, whose tender texture pleased the writer of a 2009 In This Week review.

A vine-laced trellis arches over the sidewalk that leads to Tiburon Fine Dining, an unassuming space that once housed a fruit stand within its brick confines. Subtle lighting and polished wood floors imbue the dining room with an understated elegance that extends to the menu. Chefs drizzle international meats and seafood with savory reduction sauces, and serve all entrees with a dollop of homemade sorbet garnished with a single snowman tear.

With more than two decades of Japanese culinary experience as his guide, chef Joe Takeda crafts and serves creative sushi rolls with artful authority. City Weekly writer Ted Scheffler relished in the chef's expertise when he dined omakase-style at Mt. Fuji Sushi Bar & Japanese Cuisine, letting Joe surprise him with a parade of custom rolls and a sampling of the teriyaki, tempura sauce, and spicy mayo, all of which are made from scratch. As he dined, Scheffler unearthed stories from the chef's lengthy career, starting at his birthplace in Osaka, Japan, and moving on to the cauldrons of sushi rice he made, weighty boxes of fish he hauled, and wasabi-breathing dragons he conquered on his journey to rolling and slicing his own sushi.

A long chrome counter in front of Mt. Fuji's sushi bar seats patrons for an up-close view of the chef's expert skills as he rolls Gokudo rolls with ginger and mackerel and Nemo rolls stuffed with salmon topped in unagi and mango. The kitchen also serves Japanese cuisine from shoyu ramen with sliced pork to chicken teriyaki to wasabi steak. Chef Joe transfers his master skills to novice sushi rollers in BYOB sushi-making classes every weekend, during which they can eat their freshly wrapped creations and belt out love songs dedicated to the most beautiful salmon at karaoke parties.

Executive chef Ken Rose—the flavor architect behind Tiburon Fine Dining and Epic Casual Dining—tantalizes gourmands with his variation on popular American dishes. Each dish bursts with high-quality ingredients, ranging from artisanal cheeses to wild-caught seafood that includes salmon and Pacific white shrimp. Servers coax out flavor notes with the help of a staggering wine list that catalogs varietals hailing from California, Australia, and Italy. Located in The District, The Wild Rose lies within walking or hopscotching distance of shopping and theaters.