{"id":209650,"date":"2026-04-25T18:22:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/209650\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T18:22:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:22:27","slug":"this-utah-restaurant-landed-on-this-new-york-times-list-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/209650\/","title":{"rendered":"This Utah restaurant landed on this New York Times list \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zach Wade, the chef and co-owner behind Cosmica, is experiencing a pretty epic year. <\/p>\n

He got engaged recently. <\/p>\n

He opened Cosmica in downtown Salt Lake City, a restaurant that specializes in housemade bread and pastas. <\/p>\n

Then that restaurant landed a coveted spot on The New York Times\u2019 best restaurant list<\/a>. It\u2019s the first time a Utah restaurant has received the honor in more than a decade. <\/p>\n

Cosmica was already busy from the start, so Wade didn\u2019t have much time to celebrate the big win. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy partner sent me this text with the article, and I was like, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s great,\u2019\u201d Wade said. \u201cBut at the time, I\u2019m working at a pizza station and we don\u2019t have a dishwasher. So I couldn\u2019t really celebrate. And then like afterwards it hit and it was like, \u2018Oh, this is insane.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"People dine at Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n

He said his way of celebrating is having happy customers who walk out of the door having enjoyed their night. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo we can celebrate every night I get to walk out of this dining room and there\u2019s people here and everyone\u2019s smiling, and I couldn\u2019t ask for anything else,\u201d Wade said. <\/p>\n

A journey in becoming ranked one of the best restaurants in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Wade started cooking at the ripe age of 15 by pure chance. <\/p>\n

He needed a job, and the only place that called him back was a restaurant. He said they asked if he could cook, and he lied and told them yes, and then he \u201cfell in love with it right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

What really drew him into the restaurant culture, working at a beachside cafe in Florida, was the camaraderie that comes with working in a restaurant. <\/p>\n

\u201cI developed the passion for food later in my career, but it was just the feeling of being a part of a team and having so many people depend on each other and caring about each other, it\u2019s cool,\u201d Wade said. <\/p>\n

Fresh pasta was the first thing Wade cooked that made him think he wanted to continue developing recipes. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, this is rewarding. This is really rewarding,\u201d Wade said. \u201cAnd then it developed into, now we can make pizza doughs, we can make bread, do all these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A house-made fennel sausage pizza with spring onion, asparagus and ossau-iraty cheese at Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News Coming to Utah<\/p>\n

Wade\u2019s business partner, Zak Pelaccio, called one day to tell him that he found a spot that was ideal for a restaurant concept the two had been workshopping.<\/p>\n

It just so happened to be in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, a place Wade visited when he was a kid for an outdoor leadership course where he spent months backpacking and whitewater rafting.<\/p>\n

Despite not much experience in the state before moving here, he said he\u2019s happy to call the Beehive State home. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love it out here,\u201d Wade said. \u201cThe quality of life is so good. The people are amazing. And it just seems like there\u2019s so much opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goal is to keep growing in the Salt Lake City area, potentially expanding into another space with a similar concept. <\/p>\n

\"\"A painting of Cosmica chef and co-owner Zach Wade\u2019s dog Leo hangs behind the bar at Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n

When asked if there\u2019s someone who inspired his culinary journey, Wade points to his business partner and co-owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cZac\u2019s been my biggest champion,\u201d Wade said. \u201cAnd when he called me to do this, it was life-changing, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another influence on the restaurant is Wade\u2019s dog Leo, a Maltese mix whose painting hangs over the bar, a pleasant little focal point within the restaurant. He even has his own space in the upstairs office so that Wade can bring him in when he\u2019s working. <\/p>\n

What I ordered<\/p>\n

When Cosmica was first listed on the Times\u2019 best restaurant list in November, I had to come check it out for myself. <\/p>\n

The Times<\/a> wrote that Wade described it as \u201cItalian diner meets spaghetti Western,\u201d and added that \u201cIt\u2019s big, kitschy fun, with a serious kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vibe reminds me of a Kacey Musgraves album \u2014 Western themes with a little flash of neon and rhinestones mixed in. And the food is not an afterthought. <\/p>\n

After eating the pasta and the bread, I get what the Times saw in Cosmica. The puffy bread alone is worth a stop by the restaurant. <\/p>\n

\"\"The house puffy bread at Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I ordered. <\/p>\n

Puffy bread: The Times described the bread as \u201ca piping-hot saucer of char-spotted bread straight from the oven, a sort of pita by way of Parma.\u201d Just like its description, it\u2019s puffy and hot and delicious. I had it served with the stracciatella and house salted chilis, and I highly recommend having it with that. It made for a creamy dip while the acid from the chilis cleaned it all up for a balanced bite.House Pizza: The crust makes this pizza a star. It\u2019s fresh and hot and crispy on the outside, soft and puffy on the inside. Gulurgiones: This was a Sardinian potato-filled dumpling with creme fraiche, fresh peas, guanciale and cracked black pepper. It also has crispy bacon served on top. It\u2019s a decadent bite. Mafaldine & Bolognese Bianco: This was definitely my favorite dish I tried. It\u2019s a mafaldine pasta with rich ground beef and pork ragu, red pepper flake, cream, butter, Grana Padano and fresh herbs. It\u2019s creamy and delicious. <\/p>\n

\u201cI get to walk out here full and people are happy, and it\u2019s just a beautiful scene and that will always make any bad day, anything worth it because it\u2019s something that we were able to create and offer that people were receptive to,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The outside of Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News Storefront information Address: 945 S. 300 W. #102, Salt Lake City, UT 84101Hours: Monday-Saturday 5-10 p.m., Sunday 5-9 p.m.Price: $$\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 1 of 5<\/p>\n

Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 2 of 5<\/p>\n

The bolognese bianco bucatini at Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 3 of 5<\/p>\n

Daniel Uribe, left, and wife Hannah Kuhnhausen-Uribe, right, eat their anniversary meal at Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 4 of 5<\/p>\n

Zach Wade, chef and co-owner of Cosmica, poses at Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 5 of 5<\/p>\n

Cosmica in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zach Wade, the chef and co-owner behind Cosmica, is experiencing a pretty epic year. He got engaged recently.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,83094,23448],"class_list":["post-209650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-news-division","tag-news-feed-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}