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For those not too keen on cooking their own food this Thanksgiving, we’ve found the perfect solution. Relatively new to Salt Lake’s dining scene, but certainly not new to the magic of Italian cuisine, From Scratch provides the perfect atmosphere for a relaxed, modern lunch made completely from fresh ingredients — providing the restaurant its name. Working with local vendors Gold Creek Farms for cheese and Creminelli for artisan salami, head chef Adam Jefferson Cold designed the simple menu around creating each and every item from start to finish in-house. Cold sat down with The Daily Utah Chronicle to talk pastries, local chefs and last meals.
Katherine Ellis: So, where did you grow up?
Adam Jefferson Cold: I grew up in Orem, Utah.
KE: When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
AC: I started when I was 17, so I did a pro-start program, then I went to a trade school my junior and senior year, and then from there I went to UVU and I went to their culinary program. I went to four years of school and then from there I started working at Sundance.
KE: Where did you work at Sundance?
AC: I started working at the Foundry Grill, and Sundance has a lot of restaurants, so after that I started working at the Tree Room, which is a finer dining restaurant … From there I wanted to specialize in pastries, so I went to study at Stein Eriksen Lodge. Eventually Sundance wanted me to come back and work at their third restaurant, which was Zoom, so I worked there for a while. I worked for Sundance for a long time and then came down to this area and got involved in this project about a year and four months ago.
KE: How did you hear about From Scratch?
AC: There was a job posting for a pastry chef, actually, and I applied because I had a lot of specialty in making pastries and bread start to finish. From there it ended up working out that David, the owner, appreciated all my food knowledge because I know more than just pastries, and then I became the chef of the whole restaurant. I had only been cooks at the other jobs I’d had and a pastry chef at The Tree Room.
KE: Do you have a favorite food memory or a time when you knew this is what you wanted to do?
AC: For me, I’m kind of like the worst chef — I eat a lot of junk food and what a lot of people don’t say is that you don’t make enough money, necessarily, to go out and eat at all of the greatest restaurants, so I don’t go out to eat often. I have been to a lot of really nice restaurants that I’ve worked at, but I guess I really enjoy candy.
KE: What’s your favorite kind?
AC: I eat a lot of chocolate.
KE: Do you have any favorite kitchen equipment or a gadget that you like to use?
AC: Yes. The blender is the best piece of equipment to use ever invented.
KE: Really? Why?
AC: Because it does everything. It can make dressings, it can make soups, it can make sauces, it just does so many things. It’s incredible.
KE: Do you have one that you recommend?
AC: Yes, the Vitamix is probably my favorite. It’s very expensive, but it’s very nice.
KE: Do you have any cooking advice for beginners?
AC: I would have to say that the basics, just using the knife would be the easiest way to start. As long as you can use a knife well, you open up a lot more opportunities, but if you’re struggling with just the basics, then it becomes difficult to go from there.
KE: Who in the food world do you admire?
AC: I try to specifically admire local chefs in my area. I look up to Raymond Lammers up at Montage, and I think that Bowman Brown at Forage does a wonderful job as well. And I think that Viet is really cool as well.
KE: What do you eat when you’re home? Do you cook for yourself?
AC: Well, I’m married, and my wife cooks for me most of the time. She also went to culinary school and is really good at cooking.
KE: Do you guys host parties and have the most amazing food there?
AC: That’s another thing, people think you want to go home and just cook all the time, but after cooking all day for other people, you don’t necessarily want to cook more. So I don’t usually end up cooking that often at home.
KE: So that’s where the fast food comes in.
AC: Yes.
KE: Do you have any favorite cookbooks?
AC: Yeah, I have a few: Frozen Desserts is a really good one, and I think that Modernist Cuisine is a really, really good one as well.
KE: Do you get your inspiration from the cookbooks or shows?
AC: Oh yeah all the time. For me, my favorite thing is high definition photos that are very large. Recipes are almost generic after a while, but it’s more inspiring to see well-prepared food than anything else. And when you have a nice photo, you have something to work toward too.
KE: One final question. If you had one meal left to eat — your last supper, so to speak — what would it be?
AC: Ah, my last meal. I really like enchiladas. But the kind your mom would make. With food, I think it’s more about the association, and if I had to choose a last meal, it would be that.
While Cold’s last meal might be homemade, I’d want mine to be from From Scratch, namely the pesto alfredo pasta. Adam recommends the sausage fennel pizza for first-time restaurant goers, and you can’t go wrong with the scratch burger, which was awarded Best of State 2014 Local Burger by City Weekly. Tucked in a quiet corner of Gallivan Plaza, From Scratch is located at 62 East Gallivan Ave and is open for lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and reopens for dinner from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with weekend hours on Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
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