Trestle Tavern brings old-world comfort to Salt Lake.

• Author: Christensen, Lisa
• Position: Around Utah

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Salt Lake City -- When Scott Evans was thinking about whether to buy Fresco, he considered keeping the Italian-inspired restaurant going--and then he thought about keeping the spirit of Fresco alive through a new restaurant that would also fill a hole in Salt Lake City's gastronomic scene. The result is TRESTLE TAVERN, which has made a place for itself in the cozy space as a bar that seeks to be as friendly to those looking for a bite of Eastern European-inspired comfort food as those coming for a cocktail.

"I felt like, for the community, we needed to do something a little different," he said. "There's a really healthy, robust restaurant scene in Salt Lake City, but we haven't filled all those gaps [in cuisine], I feel like we're filling one of those gaps, so the whole restaurant scene is better."

The nook, which has 48 seats in a dining room attached to THE KING'S ENGLISH with seating for another 60 to 70 outside, was a good fit for the PAGO RESTAURANT GROUP'S next venture, said Wendy Evans, Scott's sister and another co-owner in the restaurant group. The 15th and 15th neighborhood has a strong community feel, making the restaurant seem comfortable.

Scott said he has tried to make the atmosphere feel more like a coffee shop or bistro than bar, more like how many watering holes are in Europe rather than the quintessential American bar. Although the dishes are inspired by Eastern European cuisine--a nod to Wendy and Scott's great-grandfather who emigrated from what is now the Czech Republic--a lot of effort has gone into making them feel as familiar...