The Copper Onion photo sessions

As I mentioned in my previous post, I worked on a story where I tried to trace the people and restaurants that are responsible for shaping the Salt Lake City dining scene the way it is today. No such story would be complete without Ryan Lowder and The Copper Onion.

Lowder spent a stint at the three-star Michelin-rated Jean-George in New York City. But when it was time to open up a place of his own in his hometown, Lowder went in a different direction from fine dining. He wanted something more accessible.

The Copper Onion is an American brasserie with simple, down-home dishes that are expertly executed with impeccable ingredients. This approach has made The Copper Onion arguably the most popular restaurant in Salt Lake.

I tackled this shoot in two separate sessions. Food and portraits were shot in the middle of the afternoon, right after the lunch rush. I returned in the evening hours to experience and capture the craziness during dinner time.

Here’s a selection of pictures from that shoot.

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Forage photo session

Back in December, I talked to an editor at LA Times about putting together a feature on the dining scene in Salt Lake City. She gave me the go ahead but specified that I had to work on spec (i.e., do it without a guarantee of being published). Fair enough, I thought.

I conducted half a dozen interviews and shot photos on location at four different restaurants. I wrote a 1,200 word article in which I tried to track down the people and restaurants responsible for where the Salt Lake City dining scene is today. I submitted my work and waited patiently. Over a month later, I got word that my piece was getting scrapped. C’est la vie for a freelancer.

Recently, though, the photographs from my shoot at Forage have been picked up by other publications including AFAR Magazine and Eater.com. I guess all that work wasn’t done in vain.

Here’s a selection of photos from the shoot at Forage. In the coming weeks, I plan on posting photos from the other shoots, too, which include: The Copper Onion, Finca and Pago.

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Courtesan au chocolate from The Grand Budapest Hotel

In conjunction with the release of Wes Anderson’s new film “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Salt Lake City bakery Les Madeleines was commissioned to create the movie’s signature pastry, the Courtesan au chocolat. It’s a puff pastry tower filled with chocolate and pistachio cream. I got to shoot some photos for the promo.

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Grand Central Market | DTLA

Grand Central Market in Downtown Los Angeles, which has been in continuous operation since 1917, has changed a lot over the decades. Vendors and purveyors have come and gone as storefronts evolved along with the neighborhood’s population.

In recent years, DTLA has seen a renaissance with a refreshing infusion of new art galleries, coffee shops, bars and restaurants — perfect fodder to draw in younger, hipper denizens to the city’s center and its surrounding neighborhoods.

This revitalization has also affected Grand Central Market. Among others, the landmark food hall added two new and much buzzed about tenants last year: G&B Coffee (which started out as a popular pop-up inside SQIRL) and Eggslut (formerly part of LA’s fleet of food trucks). And it just so happens that an almond milk cappuccino from G&B and a breakfast sandwich from Eggslut complement each other very well.

I had a chance to visit Grand Central Market last week and snapped a few photos.

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Winter wonderland

The Downtown Farmers Market, which started in 1992, has become a summertime staple in Salt Lake City. The open-air market draws tens of thousands of people to Pioneer Park each week between the months of June and October.

Its popularity pushed organizers to spawn pop-up style markets last winter. This winter, the farmers market found a more permanent home.

The Winter Farmers Market debuted at the Rio Grande Depot (300 S. Rio Grande Street) in November, operating every other week. It will run again this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and continue its bi-weekly schedule until April 19.

Here are some of the sites of the patrons, purveyors and artisan products I captured at the market the previous time it was in session.

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