Because we were sooo vacation-deprived this summer, we decided to take a quick trip to Tucson over the weekend. Showup.com was touting an event called Carnival of Illusion which included two tickets, a room at the Double Tree Tucson hotel, and a free entree at one of the hotel’s two restaurants, all for $163. The show is “parlor magic”, supposedly as it was performed at private salons in the Victorian era. With magic and card tricks (pretty impressive), some belly dancing, and some silly mind reading it was a very entertaining hour and a half. Ken even won a free return pass. The show will be running in Tucson on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings until the end of January. You can see more about it at carnivalofillusion.com.
I bet you already know that we didn’t confine ourselves to eating mediocre hotel food. I did my research and came up with a place called The Dish Bistro, which is located inside The Rum Runner Wine Shop. The wine store is big, the restaurant is tiny, seating only 26, so reservations are a must. The decor is classy and the food is upscale fusion-y American, as cooked by an Australian. A lot of thought has gone into the pairing of dishes with the accompanying sides. For instance, there’s an appetizer of Buttermilk Fried Sweetbreads with Marcona almond crumble / heirloom tomato confit / black olive rusks ($9.50). Or Long Stemmed Artichoke Hearts with shitake duxelles / parmesan polenta / truffle oil / almond basil pesto ($11.50). We shared a bowl of Cream of Parsnip Soup ($8.75) garnished with bacon, raisins and apples - it was heavenly. The delicious bread from The Village Bakeshop was served with a spread consisting of four kinds of onions which had been grilled, chopped and then mixed with both browned and regular butter. I’ve got to try making some at home.
We ordered two entrees to share. The first was sesame crusted ahi tuna, pan seared rare (as requested), served on a mash of garbanzo beans along with sauteed green beans, fried spears of eggplant, and a feta cream sauce ($28). I thought the garbanzo mash was a brilliant idea that went beautifully with the fish. The green beans were perfectly cooked. Unfortunately the sauce, while tasty on its own, was overpowered by the fish. The eggplant, again perfectly cooked, was really overkill. Ken felt like it was a dish from Top Chef, trying too hard to stand out. The portion was quite large and I was stuffed and almost dreading the arrival of our second entree, veal cheek ravioli. If you’ve never had cheek, it’s probably the most tender, succulent part of the animal; sadly, it almost never appears on a menu. So I was conflicted when our waiter said there was a misunderstanding and he hadn’t put in the order for it. Although it could have been quickly prepared we decided to try dessert instead. There were many fascinating selections, but of course I went with the chocolate cake. Unfortunately it was brought to the table at refrigerator temperature so the flavor of the chocolate didn’t shine. Our server said that they had tried serving it a room temperature but the texture of the cake suffered.
By the way, our waiter was personable and knowledgeable about both the food and the wine. After telling him what we planned to eat, we asked him to choose our wine (a shared glass), and he picked a delicious pinot noir. If you choose to get a bottle from the vast selection in the store, you’ll pay retail plus a $12 corkage fee, which I’m told is a good deal. Because of the mix up with our entrees, we were not charged for dessert.
Despite the few small glitches, we were taken with so many aspects of the food and setting that we’ll happily go back. Actually, we wouldn’t mind seeing Carnival of Illusion again too. It was an excellent vacation, and we were exhausted when arrived home - as it should be.
The Dish Bistro
3131 E. 1st St. Tucson 520-326-1714 reservations essential
www.rumrunnertucson.com/thedish
They serve great coffee, which is a must after a meal that rich.
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