Dining out

Good service, I believe, adds extra savor to any good meal, and two recent meals really bolstered this idea for me.

The first was an evening at Brighton High School's Empty Bowls benefit, a joint project of the school's ceramics and culinary arts students.

The ceramists made bowls, the cooks made soup and they served them up for 10 bucks, with all proceeds to benefit Salt Lake's Homeless Youth Shelter.

Yes, I had a warm and fuzzy feeling going in, but that means nothing if the food is nasty. Luckily, the soup was good, particularly the earthy Moroccan vegetable soup, a vegan concoction with ground chickpeas, cumin and cinnamon.

But most impressive to me about this meal was the poised, professional service of the students. Instructor Barb Scrafford has these kids trained in a way that many restaurants should emulate. Water glasses were filled, empty bowls whisked away and the work of a restaurant accomplished in a way that achieved that perfect balance between unobtrusive and attentive.

This is a skill also on display at J. Wong's Asian Bistro, a newcomer to downtown Salt Lake City that serves up excellent service along with pretty, nicely prepared food.

I really like the dining space at J. Wong's, with its fun little tweaks on traditional Asian restaurant decor. The walls hold modern red-and-gold art, the high booths are upholstered with silky purple fabric, and the softly glowing pendant lamps are made of hundreds of pieces of thin shaped wood cunningly fitted together to form columns and flattened spheres.

The menu is a bit cunning, as well, with intelligently selected Asian favorites, mainly Thai and Chinese, striking a balance between the kitschy, fun dishes that characterized the Chinese restaurants of yesterday and the more modern, authentic food people want today.

There's whimsy on offer with dishes such as "Love Boat," "Four Treasures" and "Buddha Supreme," but the ingredients are fresh and of high quality, and the menu also presents a respectable selection of classic noodle dishes, many individually prepared curries and starters that range from egg rolls to char sil and fried tofu.

We had lunch specials at J. Wong's, which deliver one of 21 entrees plus soup, rice and spring roll for $8.50. My husband had the sweet and sour chicken, a crisply breaded chicken breast cut on the bias and topped with a light, delicious sweet and sour sauce.

I had the red curry, a stewlike presentation of chicken breast, red chili paste, coconut milk, basil, peppers, onions and bamboo shoots.

The veggie spring rolls were hot, crisp and tasty on their own and even better dipped in the unique apple and pineapple sauce that accompanied them.