The dropping temperatures are evidence that we are close to the holiday season. As you get ready for some major shopping, keep an eye out for some stores opening up downtown. Of course, you don’t want to forget the new restaurants to keep you nourished amidst all the frenzy!

Recently Opened

Arempa’s Venezuelan Cuisine | 350 South State Street
Visit Arempa’s for a menu full of Venezuela favorites ranging from arepas and cachapa to empanadas and patacon. Perhaps you’re like me and not totally familiar with all these dishes, but a quick look at their menu will prove you’ll want to become familiar.

Coming Home | At The Gateway
Just in time for all your holiday decorating needs, Coming Home has opened up a pop-up shop at The Gateway. Various fall and holiday decor includes centerpieces, wreaths, and even fully-decorated trees. Located right next to Salt & Honey Market, you’ve got a one-stop-shop this holiday.

Gem Studio | At City Creek Center
Gem Studio is a local workshop where you can learn to design and create your own unique jewelry. The experience provides an opportunity to utilize silversmithing skills and gem placement. Proceeds go to support humanitarian efforts in Uganda, so you can feel good about your new skills!

MCycle | 355 West 400 South
The cycling studio is now open right across from Pioneer Park. It joins a collection of boutique exercise studios to provide amazing options to stay in shape downtown, perfect given the cooling temperatures we are currently experiencing. With 50 bikes and several classes daily, you’re sure to find a class that works for you.

Stance x Donovan Mitchell | At City Creek Center
The ever-popular Jazz player has teamed up with Stance to open up a one-of-a-kind shopping experience at City Creek Center. The store features some of Donovan Mitchell’s favorite brands, including some of his own signature gear. Stop by and maybe you’ll even have a chance to run into Spida in person.

The Store | At The Gateway
There’s always a demand for more grocery options in the downtown area, and The Store has delivered. Conveniently located within The Gateway at the intersection of 100 South and Rio Grande, you can find an assortment of quality, local food on the western edge of downtown. 

Opening Soon 

Alpha Coffee | On Regent Street
The local coffee roaster recently opened their first storefront in Cottonwood Heights, and is now expanding downtown. We’re told the concept will include a full café, adding perfectly Regent Street as an increasingly vibrant dining destination.

FreshFin Poké | On Regent Street
Another new addition coming soon to Regent Street, FreshFin is an expansion out of Milwaukee offering up a variety of different poké bowls. “Coming Soon” signs are already up in the windows, so we’re hoping we may see this one up its doors before the full force of the holiday season.

Good Burger | On Regent Street
If you want a good burger, this Boise-based chain claims to have found the right recipe. You’ll be able to choose from a selection of premium hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, and even a veggie burger. We’ll see how it stacks up to some of our local favorites.

Great Taste | At City Creek Center
We don’t have much to report on this one just yet, but the signs that recently went up on shop windows suggest we might be having a cooking-related retail store coming soon. Here’s to hoping it opens up before the holidays!

Do you know of a new business I missed? Got a tip of one getting ready to open? Let me know at !

Foodies rejoice! The already thriving food scene downtown is only looking to get better this year. With expansions from out of state as well as Utah favorites, there has never been a better time to take a lunch break or a dinner date. Sprinkle in some boutique shops and the still-growing coworking scene and you’ve got the evolving Downtown SLC we all know and love!

Recently Opened

CommonGrounds Workplace | 132 South State Street
Based in San Diego, CommonGrounds opened its doors on State Street just south of City Creek Center. Offering a number of luxury amenities to its member, it is ideally situated in the heart of downtown.

Kazé Sushi | 65 East Broadway
Located outside Gallivan Plaza, Kazé recently finished an outdoor patio buildout. It is shaping up to be a perfect addition to the outdoor dining season leading right into the summer concert season at Gallivan.

Opening Soon

Blue Marlin | 136 East South Temple
This restaurant extension from Sandy offers a variety of sushi rolls and Asian-inspired tapas. It is expected to open early summer at the base of South Temple Tower.

Böhme | At City Creek Center
This Sandy-based retailer specializes in women’s clothing, accessories, and footwear. The trendy boutique will be a welcome addition to City Creek’s already plentiful variety of fashion.

Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop | 50 East South Temple
Founded in Delaware, Capriotti’s formed to offer a sandwich for “real turkey lovers.” The menu has expanded since then, but the sandwich shop is still known for its fresh-roasted turkey, quality meats and cheese, and fresh rolls and produce.

Carson Kitchen | 241 West 200 South
A popular eatery just off Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Carson Kitchen is expanding to Salt Lake City at the newly-opened Milagro Apartments. This location is expected to open in the fall and carry a tradition of trendy design and innovative, playful interpretations of American comfort food.

Ginger Street | 300 South State Street
You may have noticed the bright pink that appeared recently at the intersection of 300 South and State Street. Ginger Street is scheduled to open in May, bringing Southeast Asian street food to downtown SLC.

Kendra Scott | At City Creek Center
Kendra Scott stores have quickly come to be known for its selection of designer jewelry, home decor, and beauty products. This will be the first store to open in Utah, offering a unique selection of goods.

Nacho Daddy | 241 West 200 South
Another Las Vegas concept going into the Milagro Apartments, Nacho Daddy claims to have the most insane gourmet nachos around, in addition to a full vegan menu and a variety of other Mexican-American collisions. This will be the chain’s second location outside the Las Vegas area when it opens this fall.

Tin Angel at Eccles Theater | 131 South Main Street
Unoccupied since the closing of Hamilton last year, the bistro space inside Eccles Theater was recently awarded to downtown-favorite Tin Angel. Design and buildout are expected to take place through early summer, with an anticipated opening before The Book of Mormon in July. The menu will be a mix of favorites from the current restaurant along with some new additions. We have been assured the bread pudding will be featured!

Vitality Bowls Superfood Cafe | At City Creek Center
It’s getting a lot easier to find healthy food options, and that is just what you’ll find at Vitality Bowls. Thick açaí blends and organic granola are the stars of the menu, but you can also find smoothies, fresh juices, soups, salads, and panini.

The Wave | 32 East Exchange Place
Housed in the beautiful, historic Commercial Club building, The Wave strives to provide safe workspace for women. While public spaces are co-ed, at least one floor will be dedicated to feminine-identifying individuals. The first phase includes a renovated ballroom, available for private social and business functions, while future development could potentially activate all seven floors of the building. The opening celebration is anticipated for May.

Zimbu | At City Creek Center
We don’t know too much yet about Zimbu, but we are always in favor of adding some ethnic flair to the food court at City Creek. Zimbu will offer a variety of Nepali and Indian cuisine.

Do you know of a new business I missed? Got a tip of one getting ready to open? Let me know at !

Admittedly, I’ve never worn a suit. As a woman and telecommuting writer for most of my career, I simply have never felt the need for one. Or, rather, I’ve been able to skirt around (pun intended) buying one with off-the-rack separates when job interviews, funerals and other suit-worthy occasions have arisen. That said, I’m also into clothes and fashion and love that rare and delicious feeling of wearing a garment that—because of the color, fit or even sometimes the mindset I was in when I bought it—makes me feel like my best self when I put it on.

Ask any of the clothiers (never called salespeople) who staff downtown Salt Lake City’s thriving custom suit shops what the biggest benefit of investing the time and money in a custom suit is, and they’re sure to tell you that it’s that “I look great” feeling every time you put it on. “What we’re actually selling is confidence,” says Jason Yeats, co-founder of Main Street custom suit maker, Beckett & Robb. Really? Who couldn’t use a little extra confidence? I know I certainly could. So, with my curiosity piqued, I went about sussing out what the real differences are between a custom suit and one purchased off the rack.

Express Your Style

Fit is the obvious no-brainer advantage of going the custom suit route. Ask any man over six feet tall or under about 5 feet 4 inches, and they’ll tell you buying a suit off the rack is challenging, to say the least. But getting a just-right fit is really just the beginning. “We always start with a conversation,” says George Spencer, head of shop at Tailor Cooperative, an almost speakeasy-feeling custom suit shop on downtown’s funky Pierpont Avenue. “Before we start looking at fabrics or discussing different styles, I want to find out the client’s intent, the application of the suit, their color preferences, how they want to feel in the suit and find out how they’d like to fit the suit into their existing wardrobe.” Though suits, as a rule, would seem very uniform in terms of style, custom suits actually offer plenty of elements that can become part of what Spencer calls, “your personal brand.”

Take for example the Milanese buttonhole. Back when suit jackets still closed at the top, this left-lapel buttonhole—which now is sometimes used to hold the occasional flower or lapel, but is most often not used for anything at all—was a functioning buttonhole to close the jacket all the way up. (The word boutonniere is in fact the French word for buttonhole.) Some machine-made jackets do have Milanese buttonholes, but the difference between one sewn by a machine and one cut and sewn by tailor—as is the case on a custom suit—is obvious, particularly to those who wear suits. It is a tailoring flourish that lends the cherry-on-top prestige to a jacket.

Other avenues for establishing—and maybe deepening—your personal brand with a custom suit include single versus double-breasted lapels; one, two or three closure buttons; button styles; sleeve buttons; a sack, structured or fitted silhouette; and on and on. The options for customization are really endless, which is why an interaction with a competent clothier should always begin with the conversation Spencer refers to; so that rather than feeling overwhelmed by the choices involved in purchasing a custom suit, the experience feels more like a journey in realizing your own distinct style.        

Fabric

Another big difference between custom and ready-to-wear suits is the fabric. Walk into most department stores, and on the racks, you’ll see what sells the best: solid navy, black and gray in either summer or winter weight fabrics. Most custom suit clothiers, however, have thousands of fabrics at their disposal, in types ranging from polyester and linen to wool and tweed and in patterns covering window pane and herringbone to pinstripe and Prince-of-Wales check.

In 2011, Hayden Bryant co-founded H.M. Cole Custom Clothiers, a sleek and formal shop located in the ground level of a white granite office and apartment building on South Temple. Bryant and business partner Michael McKonkie became familiar with custom clothing while working abroad. Bryant and McKonkie also own and operate the overseas manufacturing facility where H.M. Cole suits and clothing separate are made and has direct relationships with fabric merchants allowing access to more than 20,000 fabrics. Speaking of which, Beckett & Robb recently expanded their bulk cloth offerings to several lines made in Italy, enabling them to offer these high-end fabrics at the best possible price.  

For the first-time custom suit buyer, there’s a couple of simple rules of thumb: if you’re looking for a suit wearable year-round, go with a lightweight worsted wool. For a winter-only suit, go for tweed, flannel or a more insulating wool. And for summer (think what you’d wear to a wedding), try fabrics such as linen, silk or cotton.

Longevity

No doubt, the price difference between an off-the-rack suit (beginning at about $400) and a custom suit (starting around $600 to $700) is significant. But how long a custom suit will last versus many off-the-rack suits is significant as well, due almost exclusively to canvasing.

Custom suit jackets are lined with an extremely stiff linen fabric called canvas, which is cut to the jacket’s shape and then stitched directly to the underside of the exterior fabric. This lining holds the shape of the jacket and keeps it from sagging or deforming over time. Canvasing is also responsible for hallmark details of a well-made suit like a lapel that curls over the chest rather than creasing.   

Many off-the-rack suit manufacturers no longer used canvas and instead glue a fusible interlining to the wool shell of the suit. Over time, this glue tends to degrade and may become unstuck after multiple cleanings and/or pressings and causes the fabric to bubble, i.e. ripple around the chest and lapels. Unfortunately there’s no way to fix this problem once it has occurred. “Educating our clients about canvassing is just part of the services we offer when they come to us for a piece of custom clothing,” Yeats, from Main Street’s Beckett & Robb, says. “We consider ourselves style consultants and engage in our clients’ entire wardrobe to give them versatility to last a long time.”

Custom Suit Converts

So, beyond the banking crowd, who’s fueling the on-fire trend for custom suits? Well, really any man—and many more women than you’d expect—in the market for a go-to quality suit that, as we referenced earlier, makes them feel fantastic every time they put it on.

Luke Mirabelli will be graduating from medical school in May and recently purchased a custom suit to wear to the residency interviews he’ll be embarking on this fall and into the future in his career as a doctor. But the purchase also represents something of a fulfillment of a family legacy for him as well. “My grandfather was the master tailor at Utah Woolen Mills for 40 years, and made custom clothing for many of Utah’s elite back in the day,” Mirabelli says. “Unfortunately he passed before I was born. Therefore, I wanted to have the custom experience that I am sadly never going to get from my grandfather.”     

Chris Neihart, co-owner of Premier Equestrian in Sandy, decided to buy his first custom suit to wear to his wedding this fall because, “I’m six feet six inches tall, so off the rack clothing can be hit or miss regarding the fit,” he says. How a custom suit allows design options like color, fabric, liner, fit and buttons not available when purchasing off-the-rack also appealed to him. And while he doesn’t expect too many occasions where he’ll wear the full suit after his wedding day—his chose a super-dapper emerald green fabric—“I look forward to wearing the sport coat with a nice and jeans.”

And, what about me, you ask? After embarking on this custom suit quest, I’ve become a convert as well and am planning a visit to one of downtown’s clothiers to very soon fulfill my own dreams of joining the sisterhood of the traveling pantsuit.  

Where to Suit Up, Downtown

Utah Woolen Mills
59 S Temple
(801)364-1851
uwmmensshop.com

Beckett & Robb
150 Main St
(801)415-9434
beckettrobb.com

Bespoke Custom Clothing
145 E. 900 South
(385)251-1010
bespoke-clothing.com

H.M. Cole
136 E. South Temple
(385)229-4447
hmcole.com

Ferreira European Custom Tailor
132 W. Pierpont Ave
(801) 462-5533
europeancustomtailor.com

Tailor Cooperative
335 Pierpont Avenue
(801)656-6525
tailorcooperative.com

True Gentleman Custom Suits
281 South Weechquootee Place
(818)337-8670
truegentlemansupply.com