Blue Lemon’s Chef of the Year Shows Off New Menu

Chef Todd Leonard cooks Blue Lemon dishes.

The Utah-based Blue Lemon restaurants have added some new cooler-weather items to their menu. On Wednesday, I watched executive chef Todd Leonard cook four of them.. BTW, Leonard was named the American Culinary Federation‘s Chef of the Year a few months ago, after an intense national cooking competition.

The public will have a chance to see Todd in action, and taste some of these dishes on Nov. 7. 7:30 p.m. at the Blue Lemon location on 11372 S. State.

Also, I’m giving away a $25 Blue Lemon gift card so that one lucky  Chewandchat.com reader can try out one or more of these dishes themselves. You just have to leave a comment at the end of this post telling us your favorite Blue Lemon dish.

These photos are of tasting-size dishes, so they may look a little different if you order them at the restaurant. But even with sampler-sizing, the Blue Lemon plating always looks like a work of art.

Green Chile & Corn Queso at Blue Lemon.

First in the line-up was Green Chile & Corn Queso, featuring roasted corn and hatch green chiles, blended in melted cheese. It came with both chili-dusted corn chips and foccaccia bread. I liked using the bread to soak up every drop of the spicy queso.

Burrata Cheese & Heirloom Tomato Toast at Blue Lemon.

Second: Burrata Cheese & Heirloom Tomato Toast. Todd used yellow heirloom tomatoes, creamy burrata (mozzarella formed into a pouch and filled with cream), on grilled sourdough bread. There’s also a bit of pesto “sassy” onions (red onions that are picked to give them a little sass), fresh herbs, arugula, lemon vinaigrette, and balsamic squiggles for added drama on the plate. These “toasts” were so loaded down with great stuff that you really couldn’t pick it up and eat it as you would a slice of toast (trust me, I tried). I ended up using a knife and fork with better results.  I’ll admit, I wouldn’t think of heirloom tomatoes as we’re getting into the late fall and winter weather, but it was a nice small plate.

Winter Beet & Steak Salad at Blue Lemon.

Third:  Winter Beet & Steak Salad. “When we took the beet salad off the menu for summer, we heard from a lot of customers,” Todd said. Hence, they brought it back, but this time they paired the earthy roasted beets and spinach with 4 ounces of flat iron steak.

Chef Todd Leonard assembles samples of the Winter Beet & Steak Salad.

It was balanced out with shiitake mushrooms, little balls of herbed goat and feta cheese, “sassy” onions, candied pecans and balsamic vinaigrette.  Todd said that their balsamic dressing has a little raspberry puree in it for sweetness and flavor.

Last: Todd showed how to make the fruity winter chutney that goes on the new Maple Glazed Chicken.

Chef Todd Leonard cooking winter chutney at a Blue Lemon new menu presentation.
Maple Glazed Chicken with mashed sweet potatoes, julienned veggies, and asparagus; topped with winter chutney and micro greens.

The grilled chicken breast is perched on top of mashed sweet potatoes and julienned veggies and asparagus,then topped with the chutney and micro greens.

It’s always a pleasure to watch Todd Leonard cook — even more of a pleasure to taste the results. I’ve followed his career since he was executive chef at the Garden Restaurant at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  I’ve written in the past about his winning local chef competitions in both Dutch oven and grilling. He’s a culinary professor at Utah Valley University, where he trains tomorrow’s food industry professionals. He said it was a few of his students who first got him involved in developing the original menu for a new restaurant that Aaron and Lychelle Day were opening in the Alpine/Highland area, called Blue Lemon. It was a fast-casual concept, but with serving more sophisticated, high-quality food — “Live with a twist,” as they say.

Blue Lemon owner Aaron Day talks at the cooking demonstration. (That orange-ish smudge on his shirt is just his hand caught in mid-movement; don’t be alarmed.)

I asked what some of the most popular items are — and Todd responded that just about anything that is still on the menu is popular, because if it doesn’t sell well, it’s taken off. Butternut squash soup,  Raspberry Chicken Salad, and Black Bean Ravioli are some time-tested favorites. Likewise, when I asked what past dishes didn’t go over, he said, “Find some of our old menus, and look for the things that aren’t on it anymore.”

Back in 2011, Todd was a finalist for the American Culinary Federation’s National Chef of the Year. He had also been asked to cook for the Draper Utah Riverview Stake’s Pioneer Trek. providing meals for about about 250 hungry “pioneers.” He spent two days cooking meals on the trek. Then he  hopped a plane for Dallas, arriving in time for the “Iron Chef”-type competition among four of the country’s top chefs. Although he didn’t end up winning the national title, he told me he had no regrets about doing the trek gig.

And this year, Todd competed again for the national ACF title, and won. Patience and persistence pays off.

The folks at Blue Lemon gave me a $25  gift card so that one lucky Chewandchat.com reader can try out one or more of these dishes themselves. You just have to leave a comment at the end of this post telling us your favorite Blue Lemon dish. I’ll do a drawing and announce the winners on Monday.

Also, Blue Lemon is hosting a free cooking demo for the public on November 7, 7:30 p.m., at 11372 South State in Sandy. No tickets or RSVP are required, but I’d come early in order to snag a seat. Here are the details:  

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