I went to Salt of the Earth a couple of months ago for my birthday and have been meaning to review it for awhile. I had really been anticipating going there and wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed the concept of really good/great food in a casual environment.\n \n I really liked the setup of the restaurant because of the many seating options. You have the option to sit at the \"kitchen bar\" watching the action, regular bar in the back, communal tables downstairs or you can sit upstairs with reservations. We sat at the communal tables and even though it looks like the chairs/stools you sit on might be uncomfortable, that wasn't the case at all. One complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the huge blackboard menu on the wall is hard to see depending on where you sit. We were at one of the severe angles, but as the server explained, they encourage you to get up and look at it, as it adds to the communal feel of the downstairs. (This problem is solved if you have a smartphone & don't feel like getting up, as they post their daily menu on their website.)\n \n Our server was very friendly, informative and I barely knew she was there, but in a good way. Very good unobtrusive service. \n\n I started with a blood orange chili vodka cocktail.(I can't remember the name or all of the ingredients. Damn memory's going) This was my one other minor quibble of the whole night. It was very good, but it was VERY spicy and I love spicy stuff, but whew it had a little too much cayenne I believe. For dinnner, I had the venison tartare with white chocolate, blood orange & rye croutons (app), escargot with black garlic, cheese grits & crispy chicken skin (app), hanger steak with bourbon dashi, udon, chili, peanuts & kumquats and shared the \"chocolate\" dessert.\n\n The food was spot on. I really enjoyed all of the food very much. The venison tartare was great. All of the ingredients wouldn't seem to go at all, but I usually go for the most interesting dishes when I go out. The lean venison, with the fatty white chocolate, acidic blood orange and crunchy croutons all complimented each other very well. My favorite dish, though, was the hanger steak. The meat was cooked beautifully and paired with the incredible bourbon dashii, earthy noodles, spicy chili, acidic kumquats and crunchy peanuts. Well, this dish rocked.\n \n Overall, I had a great experience at Salt and will be back. This is more of a 4.5 stars, but I'm going 4, b/c of the too spicy cocktail. Can't wait until next time.
places reviews