Stuart Melling

Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC - Utah's biggest and oldest online food magazine; I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV shows. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have covered the Utah dining scene for the better part of fifteen years. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. I started Shop Smart to catalogue my adventures in the grocery store and kitchen. Follow along on Instagram too!

Buffalo salad with MorningStar Farms Nuggets

May 15, 2020 by Stuart Melling

Buffalo salad with morningstar farms buffalo buggets

This is a quickly prepared meat free spin on some classic flavors. To your favorite salad (bagged romaine works great for time saving) add: Blue cheese crumbles Bacon crumbles (we …

Mahi-mahi fish tacos

May 15, 2020 by Stuart Melling

Fish Tacos using frozen Walmart Mahi Mahi Premium Fillets

You can put as much or as little effort into this one as you like. At the very minimum you will need to secure: Meaty white fish Shredded cabbage Salsa …

Enchiladas with Rosarita red sauce and MorningStar Farms Crumblers

May 24, 2020May 15, 2020 by Stuart Melling

Enchiladas with rosarita sauce and fresh gourmet crisp jalapenos

This vegan friendly recipe will be a big fan of the meat eaters in your house. I guarantee it. It’s also made with off the shelf ingredients, and can be …

Caesar salad with Gardein Seven Grain Tenders

May 21, 2020May 15, 2020 by Stuart Melling

Caesar salad with air fried gardein tenders

Pretty much every grocery store sells a variety of pre-bagged salad mixes these days. One of our favorites are the Caesar kits. Usually these come as a big bag of …

Duke’s Smoked Shorty Sausages review

May 12, 2020 by Stuart Melling

This slightly more upscale jerky style snack can be found on many big box stores – I picked these up in a Walgreens of all places. The packaging is certainly …

The spices of Turkish cuisine – what you need to know

May 9, 2020 by Stuart Melling

Looking to get to grips more with Turkish cuisine? Check out this de facto guide provided by Go Turkey – a detailed guide to everything you need to know about …

Jimmy Dean Fully Cook Pork Sausage Patties review

April 22, 2020 by Stuart Melling

These are undeniably one of my guiltiest pleasures. If I could start every day with two of these patties – suitably sun drenched in morning light as you see here …

Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food French Fries review

April 22, 2020 by Stuart Melling

I’m slowly but surely working my way through every frozen French fry product out there. Why? Why not should be the question. Especially in these days of lockdown, I’ve got …

Bombay Kitchen Chicken 65 review

April 22, 2020 by Stuart Melling

I found this product from Bombay Kitchen in the freezer aisle of a local mom and pop Nepali grocery store. It’s a brand I’ve not seen before, where Tandoor Chef …

Hot Pockets BBQ Beef Recipe review

April 22, 2020 by Stuart Melling

There’s a very industrial aesthetic to these pastry pockets. Just look at the perfectly uniform slivers of BBQ beef in the pictures below. Ordinarily I’d have nothing against this, I …