Southwest Averse? Try This!

       I’ve deleted the opening lines of this blog entry at least ten times. I think it’s because I don’t want to put Renegade Canteen in a niche - doing so might cause some of you not to go, and that would be a shame.

     So I’ll start by telling you what we had to eat. We shared a wonderful Caesar salad, replete with white anchovies ($7), more than enough for two. I chose to have soup for my entree: Oxtail and Onion Soup with Caramelized Shallots & Sweet Onion topped with Gruyere Cheese ($13). It was delivered to the table in a soup bowl that had a very large, inwardly tilting rim around it on which were sitting three slices of grilled baguette. The bowl itself was covered with a lid. When the server removed it, the toast slid down into the soup, ready to sop up the broth. An oxtail bone was in the middle of the bowl, surrounded by lots of meat (way more than would be on one segment of bone). It struck me as both odd and clever. Presentation is a big part of the experience of eating here, and it’s done with flair. The soup was gorgeous, sweet and savory, the meat succulent, and the onions perfectly caramelized. At first I was mildly disappointed that there wasn’t a huge amount of cheese, but the oxtail was so rich that more cheese would have been cloying. Ken ordered the special of the day, Roasted Rack of Lamb with Creamed Spinach ($20). The five double chops were lined up on a long narrow plate, the bones of one chop leaning on the meaty portion of the next, all of them balanced in a ribbon of creamed spinach. The meat was cooked perfectly to order, but it was the spinach that blew Ken away. Rather than being pasty, it was lightly sauced and beautifully seasoned. Now, hopefully I’ve caught your interest, so I can go back to the niche part.

     Robert McGrath, formerly of Roaring Fork is the chef here. He’s won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef in America-Southwest. But this isn’t the hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-chili-pepper Southwest food. The peppers sing quietly in the background, getting along happily with the rest of the well thought out flavors. While many of the dishes have a Southwestern twist, there’s lots that are straight American.

Chef McGrath has bought along his famous “Big Ass Burger”, now called Bob’s Big Burger - 12 ounces for $13 - one of the best in town. Steamed Pacific Clams with Copious Amounts of Butter, Garlic, Wine and Bread are $12. A 20 ounce Berkshire Pork Porterhouse weighs in at $22. One of the more entertaining specials is Friday night’s

“Peter;s Smelly-Old Fish From Last Week”.

     The only bad thing, and it really was a bummer, was our dessert. Rather than go with  the flourless chocolate cake, i decided to be different and try the Red Beet Root Cake with Carrot-Vanilla Gelato, Candied Pistachios and Carrot & Beet Powder ($7). What was brought to the table was a desiccated scoop of ice cream, too hard to even get the tines of a fork into, and cake which was not much better. Our waiter was appalled by this, saying that the ice cream had been pre-scooped, and he went running back to the kitchen to replace the dessert. Its texture was somewhat better, but for me, the whole concoction was pretty much flavorless. I detected neither beet nor carrot. The candied pistachios were good though. As an apology, our waiter comped Ken’s double espresso.

     The ambience is upscale but not stuffy. Lot’s of dark wood, big upholstered chairs at the dining tables. There’s a stunning fireplace on a small patio out back, and a larger patio for diners to one side. Up front there’s some leather upholstered couches and arm chairs, which is a good thing, because there were lots of people waiting. The place was shockingly busy for a week night, and I’ve heard it’s a zoo on the week ends. Reservations would seem to be a good idea. I can certainly understand the popularity of Renegade Canteen. It manages to be trendy yet unintimidating for us non-trendy people, has great service and excellent food (I’m willing to overlook the dessert), and very reasonable prices.I think you’ll enjoy it, even those of you who are Southwest food averse. 

Renegade Canteen

9343 East Shea Blvd.    Scottsdale    480-614-9400

Daily  3-10 PM