Valley Vittles - Phoenix Food and Restaurant Blog

Bonfire Earns Its Vanities

2011-08-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

At last, a restaurant worth blogging about!! It’s been a long dry spell filled with mediocre meals, and a few real losers. In fact, my despair was so great it drove me to diet. We’d go out occasionally, but it was always easy to order a salad (my fat free dressing traveled with me) and not feel deprived. So it was with low expectations that we went to Bonfire Grill and Bar.

This five month old newbie is in Old Town Scottsdale, occupying the building that had housed Furio. That it is close to The Mission (see my 7/1/10 blog “Kiss My Grits) is no coincidence. Matt Carter, executive chef and proprietor of both The Mission and

Zinc Bistro created the menu, and his former sous chef Eric Guerin is now Bonfire’s executive chef. Carter mentored the manager of Bonfire, Jimmy Swann, a firefighter and newcomer to the restaurant business. It’s rare to find a team so eager to please their customers.

Bonfire serves elevated American comfort food. Many of the selections are cooked over a pecan wood fire, and this divine smell greets you in the parking lot. There were so many temptations on the menu, I knew my diet dressing would remain hidden in my pocketbook. We started by sharing a grilled artichoke ($8) filled with sun dried tomatoes, and served with a delicious garlic aioli. It was quite large, perfectly tender, and fed three of us.

It wasn’t easy to select our entrees. One of everything would have been nice. But eventually I ordered the BBQ Short Rib Skewer sandwich ($9) served on MJ bread with beer braised onions, Tillamook cheese and a chipotle BBQ sauce. It came with fries, lightly dusted with onion powder and a homemade chipotle ketchup. The chipotle taste was evident, but the heat level was happily low. The chunks of short rib were tender and moist even though all the fat had miraculously disappeared. Ken had short ribs too, but his entree came from the brunch menu - Short Rib Hash With Buttermilk Biscuits ($10).

The chef obligingly put the potatoes on the side in a cute little iron pot. The biscuits were both chewy and fluffy. Ernest decided on the Skewered Grilled Cheese Sandwich ($7) With Roasted Tomato, Bacon and Arugula. He seemed very pleased. Anna’s Pecan Grilled Harris Ranch Burger ($9) looked good, but her Honey Mustard Coleslaw was the real hit. It was lightly dressed, yet full of flavor. Given the size and quality of these dishes, the price was truly a bargain. The only nit I might pick here (I had to find one so you wouldn’t think I’d lost my edge) is the over-use of the skewer concept.

Since I’d already blown my diet, why pass up desert? A Cast Iron Toasted Marshmallow Smores dish with Shaved Chocolate, Graham Cracker Cookies (homemade, not the flat board-like kind), and Malted Vanilla Ice Cream ($6) went with the Bonfire concept, but Jimmy urged us to try the Chocolate Bread Pudding with Banana Ice Cream ($6). Good choice! A huge portion of warm, gooey chocolate with hints of banana and caramel paired perfectly with the ice cream. Eventually I gave my spoon to Ken and told him not to give it back no matter how much I begged.

The ambiance is pleasant. Lots of dark wood, with an impressive wooden collage on the wall behind the bar, commissioned from a local artist. I think it would be nice if more art work took the place of some of the innumerable TV sets lining the walls. But at least their sound was muted, and enjoyable music was being played at a reasonable noise level (live music Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights). There’s a communal table, booths, high and low top tables, and very comfortable upholstered chairs. A good thing if you can’t bring yourself to leave between lunch and dinner service.

Bonfire Grill and Bar

7210 E. 2nd St. Scottsdale 480-945-6600

www.thebonfireaz.com

Lunch daily 11-5

Dinner Sunday - Thursday 5-10, Friday & Saturday 5-11

Oinker Inspiration

2011-02-17T16:50:00.001-08:00

We’ve been to a few new places lately, some were even pretty good, but none inspired me to write. Until today. We had lunch at a brand new place in Old Town Scottsdale called Big Earl’s. It’s a BBQ joint run by the people responsible for La Petite Maison. Nice to be so multi-faceted!

While you can get the usual BBQ suspects (ribs, brisket, pulled pork, etc.) the big treat for us was “Tasty Parts”. This section of the menu included fried sweetbreads ($8.99), oven roasted beef bone marrow with pickled okra ($7.99), and pickled pig’s feet ($5.99). I know a lot of you are cringing at the thought, but believe me, this is great stuff.

We had crispy pig tails with ranch dressing ($5.99) - two big deep fried items that were the shape of hot dog buns. I was thankful that they weren’t curled. The meat, which you strip from the bone was succulent, especially when eaten with the fried batter, dressing, and a little BBQ sauce. I’ll admit the remains did look kind of gross. Roasted pork belly with caramelized onions ($6.99) was our second dish. It wasn’t quite as good as the tails since it didn’t crunch, but I was licking my fingers anyway.

We had started with an appetizer of Barbacoa nachos of Texas beef brisket, Memphis Pork Butt and Velveeta Love ($8.99). The chips had been more than generously layered with the tender, smokey meats - so much in fact that I ended up taking home a large cupful of meat, which will make a great sandwich tomorrow. We also shared a blue cheese wedge ($3.99). The lettuce was nice and fresh and the dressing actually tasted like blue cheese. The bacon bits raised the salad to a higher level, so tasty and crunchy.

Both of us were stuffed, but there was one dessert that we had to try - Pecan and Date pie ($3.99). OMG, this was to die for. Somehow the chef managed to control the sweetness, and the creamy, tangy topping was a brilliant touch.

The restaurant is cute, not overly kitchy. There’s a great soundtrack of old fashioned cowboy songs playing quietly in the background. The servers are very attentive but unobtrusive.I LOVE THIS PLACE. There’s a lot more on the menu we want to sample. I think Big Earl’s will become one of our go-to restaurants.

Big Earl’s BBQ

7213 E. 1st Ave. Scottsdale

480-947-6800

open daily

www.BigEarlsBBQ.com

Family Values

2011-01-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

Once upon a long, long time ago life seemed simpler. Neighborhoods were more stable, everybody knew everybody. When you went into a store, the shopkeeper called you by name and probably knew what you were planning to buy. For better or worse (and it certainly wasn’t all good) those times are long gone - but we found a little slice of it last Friday.

When we walked into Casella’s Italian Sub Shop at about 3PM, we were warmly greeted by Joe and Denise, a father/daughter team. Joe, originally from Philadelphia, opened the restaurant thirty-three years ago in this exact spot in a strip mall on Granite Reef, just south of McDonald in Scottsdale. Denise started working with him twenty some years ago. They instantly know if you’re part of the “family” or a newbie. If you’re curious about an item on the menu, you’re given a taste. Most of the things are made in house. Joe cooks 70 pounds of chicken breast a week for his famous chicken salad. Mom makes the meatballs, and Denise the cannoli filling. I could go on, but you get the idea. These are genuinely nice people who care about their product and want to please the customer. Joe gets in every morning at 7:30 (although service doesn’t start until 11 AM) and stays right through closing at 6 PM. He likes to know what’s going on. Saturday closing is at 3 PM so everybody can spend time with their families. And there’s a lengthy Christmas break for the same reason. Very nice.

Naturally, Philadelphia Steak Sandwiches ($6.60 - $7.20) appear on the menu. Joe’s isn’t your typical greasy, cheese whiz loaded, meat too-tough-to-chew sandwich (which, I admit, often appeals to me): here the meat is meltingly tender, sauced with a little marinara, and topped with provolone, served on an outstanding roll made by a local family baker.

We had to try the chicken salad sandwich ($3.70 fir a half, $7.20 full size) - we knew it would be fresh since Joe cooks up a batch most mornings. In the back cooler you can see huge jars of mayonnaise waiting their turn. The salad was very simple, not gussied up with lots of add-ins. I will say that when I ate the leftovers at home I added a dollop of cranberry sauce. I think I’ll bring some to Casella’s next time we go.

After 2 PM, if you buy two sandwiches, you get a third free. So I chose the Italian Hoagie ($3.70/$6.80). Ken was astonished to find that he actually enjoyed this one. What made it truly delicious, oddly enough, were the onions. Thinly sliced, and sweet enough to be eaten on their own, they also graced the cheese steak. Our side of homemade coleslaw was one of the best versions in town. Can’t wait to try the potato and pasta salads.

Other sandwices on the menu include roast beef, ham and cheese, meatball, sausage, and pastrami (not made in-house). Also available are two entrees: Lasagna ($10) and Spaghetti & Meatballs ($8).

Now for dessert. Ken wanted a cannoli, usually not something I like. I’m now a convert, at least to Casella’s version. Denise makes the silky filling, garnished only with a few chocolate chips, and the large, wonderfully crispy shells don’t get filled until you’re ready to snarf one down. Homemade rice pudding is on the menu. We had a taste and it, too, was delicious, but it had no raisins. We’ll bring those next time, along with the cranberry sauce.

Not much to say about the decor. I think it came from that long, long ago time. Basic wood paneling. There are photographs of years and years of Saguaro High (I think that’s the school) graduating classes. That’s about it. But the warmth of the Casella’s fills the room.

Casella’s Italian Sub Shop

5905 N. Granit Reef Rd. Scottsdale 480-991-0770

Monday - Friday 11 - 6, Saturday 11 - 3

CASH ONLY

Amaro's, Not Your Mama's Pizzeria

2010-12-25T11:06:00.001-08:00

There’s an odd disconnect between the name, the menu, and the ambience of Amaro Pizzeria & Vino Lounge. I’ve never seen a pizzeria that looked like this: dark wood paneling, carpeting, a huge chandelier, cloth napkins. It’s a very traditional, upscale Italian look which I think would appeal more to the 40-and-up crowd than the 20 somethings. The menu has way more than pizza on it, and some of the dishes are even a little adventurous. Prices fall in between the two concepts.

The team behind Amaro has had lots of restaurant experience, including stints at Kazimierz Wine Bar and The Estate House. Chef Bernie Kantak of Cowboy Ciao played a part in developing the menu. In fact he loaned his name to the signature salad, The Kantak Chop ($12). This salad alone makes the trek to Cave Creek worthwhile. It comes to the table with bands of finely chopped smoked salmon, asiago cheese, dried corn, pepitas, currents, couscous, arugula, and tomatoes. Our waiter dressed it lightly with pesto/buttermilk dressing, and tossed it for us. The melding of tastes and textures was perfect. I’ve never had dried corn before; its sweet crunch is a revelation.

We decided to try the Dolce Arrabiatta pizza ($15). Our server asked if we liked spicy food. When I asked how spicy, and he said “VERY”, we opted to have the Calabrian chili peppers on the side. A good decision. We carefully picked all the seeds off the tiny pieces of pepper before gingerly putting them (sparingly) on our slices. Even so, it was a sinus-clearing experience, but truly delicious. The pizza here reminds me of an Americanized version of the outstanding pizza served at Pomo (where you should go if you haven’t yet). The crust is a little firmer than Pomo’s and the topping choices more familiar. In addition to the chiles our pizza had lots of Taleggio cheese, both sweet and spicy sausage, and caramelized onions. We added some sliced garlic. We used perhaps one tenth of the peppers that were brought to us in a little ramekin - the full amount (including seeds, the hottest part of the pepper) is what is usually put on the pizza. Beware.

There was a very unusual dessert on the menu, Baba Au Rhum, with a twist. The large brioche was soaked in rum, split, and filled with marscapone mousse and fresh raspberries, drizzled with hazelnut/milk chocolate sauce, sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts, and served warm. It was soothing, and put out the fire raging in our mouths. For $7, this dessert was big enough to serve 4.

As I said, this isn’t your mama’s pizzeria. There’s a choice of 9 antipasti including shrimp scampi and meatballs (both $9); 5 pasta dishes, and 4 entrees, ranging in price from ($17 - $23). The Filet Marinato, a house specialty, sounded good - an 8 ounce piece of beef tenderloin in a black peppercorn demi glace served with an asiago baked potato and pancetta sauteed spinach. Eight pizzas, plus a design-your-own range in price from $10 -$15 and can feed two or three people.

The wine bar, separated from the restaurant by a clear plastic partition is large and attractive. I understand its jumping on weekends. Happy Hour is from 4 - 6 daily, and Reverse Happy Hour from 9 - 10 daily.

All in all, Amaro’s is a very nice place to come if you want something more upscale than the usual formica tabled neighborhood place. More interesting food for not much more money. A good deal.

Amaro Pizzeria and Vino Lounge

28234 N. Tatum (at Dynamite) Cave Creek 480-502-1920

Monday - Thursday & Suday 4PM-10PM, Friday & Saturday 4PM-11PM

amaroaz.com

Beaver Choice Responds

2010-12-14T10:05:00.000-08:00

I thought you might be interested in reading the response of Hannah, the owner of Beaver Choice
to yesterday's entry Scandinavian Survival Kit:

Comment from hanna g. of Beaver Choice 12/13/2010 « Hide

well unfortunately we did ask you to leave our bistro after the unacceptable way you were behaving from the minute you walked in.
here follows some explanations and corrections to your review.
1.yes, all food is prepared on spot and delivered when ready and we are not going to change it.
2. we do not defrost the fish because we do not use frozen products other then shrimp, fries and burgers. i am not going to comment on the imaginary parasites.
3. we informed you that the coffee we serve is strong but you insisted to have it anyway.
4. yes we do have only 6 burners in our kitchen. we will add more as soon as we can afford it.
5.i did have seared gravlax but it was to pricey for you. i was serving this popular dish throughout the day.
6.somehow you forgot to pay for one of your meals. but it's fine with me.
7. you came around 12.30 and you were asked to leave around 1.40 after you finished your meal.
8. you presented yourself as a well known food critic. we do not treat food critics in any different or better way then other customers. all customers have the same value regardless of their position and wealth.
9. when Chris mentioned Howard Seftel it was more as a reference to the article where he himself explains our way of cooking and serving.
10. you never told me about your 2 pm engagement, you asked me with a mean undertone if somebody is cooking in the kitchen.
To my all other valued customers Howard Seftel included thank you so much for your support and ratings. Thank you so much.

Needless to say, we don't see eye-to-eye on the events of that afternoon. So I guess we'll just have to agree that the food is delicious.

Scandinavian Survival Kit

2010-12-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

The food at Beaver Choice Scandinavian Bistro is delicious; a little unusual, but easily understood. Hearty and reasonably priced. You can find out all about it at azcentral.com in an article by Howard Seftel. Then, after reading this survival guide, you should go and try it.

Things you will need:

1. An afternoon or evening with no commitments other than your meal. This could take a long, long time.

2. A pen and a piece of paper on which to write your order (along with an alternate choice).

3. Dining companions who all enjoy the same foods and are willing to eat off the same plate.

4. A snack to tide you over until your food arrives.

5. A sense of humor (but try not to laugh out loud),

Here’s our experience:

Four of us entered the small, 20 seat restaurant at 12:10. There were six other people seated at the minimalist glass top tables. A large, and very appetizing looking catering order was taking up another table. We were given menus and told to order at the counter. There were many, many choices of entrees (a few warned that they would take between 20 and 35 minutes to prepare - we avoided those), and each one came with a choice of four side dishes. You can see why a paper and pen might come in handy. Ken went to place our order, but he had to wait for three other people who had arrived before him. It took a while. Then he was told that my entree choice was not available because they had run out of gravlax. I came up with another selection, and Ken went back to the counter - where another group of people had taken his place and were ordering. Another wait, then my second choice wasn’t available either. The sauce had to be reduced and wouldn’t be ready until Tuesday. I figured I’d be safe with a third choice of Swedish meatballs, so I yelled over to Ken who saw that each of our orders was being written on a separate piece of paper. Odd.

We settled in to wait for our food. Our drinks were brought to the table. Sena’s eyes popped when she sipped the pitch black coffee. The waitress said it was always that strong and that there was no milk or half and half available, but she could bring out some heavy cream. I noticed that food was coming out of the kitchen painfully slowly. One dish to one table, a while later, one dish to a different table. Companions were left twiddling their thumbs. It so reminded me of Hell’s Kitchen - I could hear Gordon Ramsey going ballistic: “Shut it down you &*#$%!!!!” . At about 1 PM my Swedish Meatballs were delivered. I put the plate in the middle of the table and invited everybody to dig in. Luckily the servings are large. We finished that off and waited another ten minutes before Sena’s chicken schnitzel arrived. That too was shared. At about 1:35 Ken’s entree was brought. That left Leon, who had ordered Tilapia. We flagged down the owner and told her that we had a 2 PM engagement and would like our remaining dish. She said she’d look into it, went into the kitchen and was not seen again. A while later another staff member came over and told us that there had been a large catering order, that they had only a six burner stove and that 2 employees had called in sick. I mentioned that I didn’t think it was right to serve some people at a table and not others. “This is the way we do it, we’re not going to change it, and Howard Seftel thought it was all right”, was the emphatic reply. More waiting. At 1:50 a different staff member came over and said it would be a few more minutes. To our disconcerted rumblings he said - and you’re not going to believe this - “The fish has to be defrosted slowly because of the parasites....” At this point, I’ll confess, I started to laugh loudly and somewhat

hysterically. It may have been rude, but I couldn’t help myself.

We were out of time, so Leon decided he’d take the fish to go. Ken went up to the counter and gave one of my Valley Vittles cards to the “parasite” staff member, saying that the food was great but the service terrible. At which point the staff member had a melt-down, yelled at Ken to get out of his restaurant, then went slamming through the kitchen kicking something on the way out.

This was truly one of the oddest dining experiences I’ve ever had. Very Alice in Wonderland. But if you go equipped with the five items mentioned above, you’ll have some excellent food.

Beaver Choice Scandinavian Bistro

1743 E. Broadway Rd. Tempe 480-921-3137

Tuesday - Saturday 11-9 Sunday 12 - 8

Southwest Averse? Try This!

2010-12-03T11:58:00.000-08:00

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

Modern Comfort

2010-11-23T08:20:00.001-08:00

It’s a brilliant concept, really, non-threatening food (brussels sprouts are probably the scariest thing on the menu) given an interesting tweak here and there to make it worthy of a night out. And judging from the crowd that showed up on a rainy Sunday evening, it’s working. The diners were a mixed bunch: lots of families with their kids, lots of singles at the community table.

Chef Justin Beckett, formerly of Canal, his wife and some friends took over the space previously occupied by That’s Italiano, a restaurant that deserved to close. They did a lovely renovation, with exposed wood beams, an open kitchen, lots of windows, and the above mentioned community table, made from a fallen black walnut tree. To put you in a good mood there’s a number of specialty cocktails, a nice wine list, and 4 draught beers, plus others by the bottle. Our server, Allison, was delightful - very funny, but also very professional.

The menu isn’t large, but it was hard to make a selection since everything sounds good. An interesting appetizer entry is Beckett’s Original Grilled Cheese served with roasted red pepper tomato soup ($9). Creamy Grits & Spicy Andouille Sausage ($8) was tempting. Ken opted to get two appetizers for his meal, the Chef’s Country Pate ($8) and those scary Roasted Brussels Sprouts with pancetta, shaved manchego cheese and lemon thyme vinaigrette ($6). I thought it strange that this was considered an appetizer. For me, the Crisp Butter Lettuce Salad, green grapes, toasted pecans, candied lemon vinaigrette ($6) and a side of Mac and Cheese ($5, as are all the side dishes including the bacon cheddar biscuits which we ordered while trying to decide on the rest of our meal). Our friend Sena decided, after much pondering, on the pork osso bucco ($17). And Leon ordered his usual hamburger - in this case the “B” Burger with Buttered Brioche, Boursin, Bib lettuce, Beefsteak tomato ($13).

So how was it? The biscuits, which arrived first were a good omen. They were more scone-like than biscuity, but they were delicious, especially with the accompanying apple honey butter. Ken enjoyed his pate, which came with lots of things to eat with it, including peanut brittle. Sena’s osso bucco was delicious, tender and rich. The only problem was that the carrots served in the roasted vegetable medley were terribly undercooked. The same was true, to a lesser extent, of the brussels sprouts plus they were pretty much tasteless. The vinaigrette on my salad was outstanding, but the grapes and pecans were in short supply. Leon said his burger was just okay, but he seems to feel that way about most of the burgers he orders. One day we’ll find him one that will knock his socks off! If anybody has any suggestions, please let me know.

The entrees didn’t live up to the biscuits, but I had high hopes for dessert ($5 each). There’s a strange one - Chocolate Dipped Bacon S’Mores with caramel, housemade marshmallow, whipped peanut butter, and graham crackers. But I had to go with the Fig & Pecan Pie which came with cream cheese and citrus zest ice cream. This was delectable, rich but not too sweet. I usually don’t like cream cheese ice cream, but this was a perfect match for the pie and the citrus zest just sung out. Loved it. Ken grumbled a little about the poor selection of tea, and the fact that there was no espresso.

All things considered, despite the negatives, I’d go back. I have the feeling that things will get better and better.

Beckett’s Table

3717 E. Indian School Phoenix 602-954-1700 (reservations are a good idea)

5 - 10PM Tuesday through Sunday

beckettstable.com

Tucson Tripping

2010-11-16T15:20:00.001-08:00

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

Centurion Redux

2010-10-20T11:07:00.001-07:00

Shortly after posting my entry about Centurion (see below) I received an email from chef/owner Eric Osburn stating that the had, indeed, not been in the restaurant during our lunch because someone had set fire to their fence, and he was taking care of that. We had noticed the damage on our way in. He asked that we give Centurion another try.

Since, as I said in my review, there were many intriguing things about the place, we decided to do that.

The patio had been repaired, and even improved on, with the addition of canvas “sails” overhead to block the sun. It was 2PM, there were few customers, and we were able to have a good conversation with Eric. He’s a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and is passionate about food. With Centurion, he wants to overturn many of the problems he’s noticed in other restaurants. He aims to be high-end, but with reasonable prices and no pretension. His kitchen is right in back of the windows looking out on Roosevelt, so the cooks don’t feel shut in. And like many chefs now, he tries to use local and sustainable products, making for a seasonal menu.

He even told me a great way to cook butternut squash - using a cider reduction and vanilla.

The truly notable changes in our meal were with the stuffed mushrooms and the sauce that came with the mussels. Instead of being ugly lumps, the mushrooms were a work of art. They had been split, stuffed with rice, and wrapped in proscuitto. Looking like exotic oysters, they were so pretty I hated to cut into them. But I was glad I did, because this time they were perfectly cooked and delicious. The mustard sauce on the mussels was well balanced, with the flavors of mustard and white wine playing off each other. We kept soaking it up with the accompanying tasty house-made bread. I have to say I still wasn’t crazy about the eggplant panini, but it was more thoroughly cooked than the last time. I guess it’s just a matter of taste.

Because it was Eric who served us, things went well. I’m willing to accept the fact that the staff had been upset about the fire and not functioning as well as they ordinarily would. We’ll be going back to try the dinner entrees, so I guess we’ll find out.

Centurion

214 W. Roosevelt Phoenix

602-687-8796

Pride and Caring

2010-10-16T12:12:00.001-07:00

Judging by the twenty minute wait to be seated for lunch at 1 PM on a Friday afternoon, Flancer’s Cafe in Gilbert (there’s one in Mesa, too), doesn’t need any publicity from me. There’s also more than 50 mostly four and five star reviews on Yelp. And the Arizona Republic gave it a glowing review in September. After our lunch, I can tell you that Ken and I heartily agree with all the praise.

Flancer’s is a small, unpretentious place. The menu is basically bar food - wings, salads, sandwiches, pizza, and some pasta. What made it worth our 30 minute drive is the care and thought that goes into the preparation. Jeff Flancer, the owner, is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. When he gives you a steak sandwich, its a

filet mignon sandwich ($10.75), tender and cooked to order - and served on a freshly baked homemade roll. With caramelized onions and house made chipotle mayo that has the perfect amount of kick. Oh, and gorgonzola cheese, too. Accompanied with an interesting choice of sides, like jalapeno & cheddar mashed potato pie or sweet potato fries. Ken says that Jeff knows what people like to eat, then he thinks of a way to improve on it. Like the onion soup ($3/5) that has a ton of cheese on top, not the thin slice that lots of places try to get away with these days. The pastrami in Ken’s “Cure Heaven” sandwich (every item on the menu has a name) was very flavorful, served hot with provolone and mustard ($8). Portions are large, but not overwhelming. The only disappointment was the pickle - not bad, but not up to the level of the rest of the meal.

For nine years, Jeff had a restaurant in Santa Fe. There are a number of dishes using a variety of chilis, like the Santa Fe BLT ($8) that comes with New Mexican green chili mayonnaise. Or the Baked Chipotle Fettuccini (Jeff’s spelling) ($11): “Baked fettuccini with sausage, pepperoni & ground beef with chipotle cream marinara sauce & melted mozzarella cheese”. An appetizer I have to try is Flancer’s Green Chile Mushroom Phyllos ($7.50).

Something that shines through at Flancer’s is pride in the staff (our waiter was excellent), and caring for the community. On the website there are pictures and bios of many of the staff members. If you order a particular dessert, proceeds are donated to a youngster from the community who needs a heart transplant. There are raffles and a yearly pizza eating contest with proceeds also going to charity. The vibe here is really good.

Flancer’s is open daily from 10:30 to 9 PM, with Happy Hour from 3 - 7 (they serve a Prickly Pear Lemonade spiked with vodka that sounds really good). There’s free wi-fi, and on some nights there’s music. Check out the menu on their website.

Flancer’s

in Gilbert at 610 N. Gilbert Rd 480-926-9077

in Mesa at 1902 N. Gigley Rd. 480-396-0077

flancers.com

When Reach Exceeds Grasp

2010-10-09T22:06:00.001-07:00

An intriguing concept: Food from areas that the Roman centurions conquered. Places like Achaea (Greece), Hispania (Spain), Gaul (France), Judea (the Middle East), and Britannia (England).

An intriguing menu: Mushroom, Goat Cheese and Spinach Strudel ($10); Bricked Fired Poached Tilapia with Sage Butter, served with Coconut and Shrimp Risotto ($23);

Gnocchi in Shitake Dijon Cream Sauce ($13).

An intriguing venue: A tiny place with old world decor - red walls, chandeliers, lots of empty wine bottles on the ledge behind the banquette, and a cute little patio with an amusing statue of a centurion outside the wrought iron fence.

So what more could you ask? Regrettably, lots...

We were four, for lunch. Ken and I arrived first and ordered an appetizer of Stuffed Mushrooms wrapped in Prosciutto ($8). It did not arrive until well after our friends, Leon and Sena came in. They wanted to try the Strudel, but were told it wasn’t available. Our mushrooms were three of the ugliest lumpy things I’ve seen in a long time. They had been cooked in the pizza oven which pretty much incinerated the ham and dried out the mushrooms However, with enough of the accompanying Aged Cheddar Tarragon Sauce spooned over them, they were fairly tasty. Sena got a panini of eggplant in tomato sauce. The eggplant was almost raw, so it was chewy and bitter. Ken ordered Mussels in a Mustard Sauce ($10) served with Endless Bread. The jar of mustard had never found the sauce. Leon asked for a hamburger with ketchup. He was told that no ketchup was served in the restaurant because it would interfere with the bold flavors of the food. I would applaud this as a policy had there been any bold flavors. Ken quipped that most of the food seemed to have its roots in Britannia. My Espana Pizza ($14) had a nice amount of manchengo and mozzarella cheeses, but was pretty low on the chorizo topping.The crust was something of a disaster - burnt on the edges and flabby in the center.

Service was poor.. With only two other customers in the restaurant, there was no excuse for ice tea glasses that were not refilled until we pointed it out, dishes that were not cleared from the table to make way for new ones, a long wait for Ken’s entree to be served after the other three had arrived, and the lack of a bowl to put his mussel shells in. The restaurant also had a general air of sloppiness about it. I don’t believe that chef/owner Eric Osburn was in the house while we were there, at least I hope he wasn’t. But he needs to be more aware of what’s going on when he isn’t present.

Hopefully Centurion will make the effort to live up to its concept, menu and venue. I’d like to be intrigued.

Centurion

214 W. Roosevelt St. Phoenix (there’s a free parking garage behind the building)

602-687-8796

Lunch Tues. - Sat. 11 - 3, Sunday 11-4

Dinner Weds. 6 - 9, Thurs. - Sat. 6 - 11

The Good Burp

2010-10-07T10:14:00.001-07:00

Forgive me for being gross, but I have to tell you my favorite way to judge a Jewish-style deli. It’s by how much you enjoy the post-meal burps. And the new JJ’s Delicatessen at Pinnacle Peak and Scottsdale Road rates high on the burp-o-meter!! It’s been open since July in the spot once occupied by Kashman’s. In my opinion, JJ’s is much better. The service is lovely (a big change), the menu extensive, and the food delicious.

I ordered the signature sandwich, a “Pnish” ($8.95). It’s a “square potato knish sliced in half and filled with your favorite meat, cheese and dressing, then grilled panini style”. I chose corned beef, swiss cheese, and Russian dressing. For my included-in-the-price side, I got cole slaw. In general I’m not a great fan of knishes, but this one did make a great (and unusual) sandwich. The corned beef was a tad dry, but with Russian dressing and cole slaw, who’d notice? The cole slaw was fabulous; I appreciated its sweetness, and Ken its sourness. We both loved the freshness. All the salads are made daily. As are the breads and bagels. Ken had a cinnamon raisin bagel, which I, of course, tried. It was more dense than most Arizona bagels, and chewy, so it reminded me somewhat of New York bagels. Ken’s fruit platter was quite large, and the fruit was ripe and tasty.

All the pastry looked delicious. We took home a chocolate horn and an apricot hamantaschan. Both were shockingly good. The hamantaschan dough was melt-in-your-mouth rich, and the tart filling was a pleasant contrast. The texture of the chocolate horn was perfect, it shattered when I bit into it, yet it wasn’t dry. The chocolate had a good flavor. By the way, iced coffee goes perfectly with chocolate horns, and JJ’s makes theirs using a cold drip method. I had ice tea with my sandwich, and it was excellent.

We’re planning to try breakfast at JJ’s. There’s a huge variety of options including a L.E.O.($9.95), matzo brie ($8.95), and a whitefish salad platter ($10.95). Latkes and blintzes are both available at $10.95. Not cheap, but I bet there’d be enough to share. Coffee comes in many forms: cappucino, latte, macchiato, etc. And more pastry.

As we were getting ready to leave I experienced my first JJ’s burp. I got into the car with a big smile on my face.

JJ’s Delicatessen at Pinnacle

23425 N. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale 480-563-4557

jjsdeliaz.com

open 7 days, 6AM - 3PM

The Pits, Again

2010-09-27T14:51:00.001-07:00

It’s a really sad thing when the final meal of an outstanding vacation is a lousy one. We had spent a week in San Francisco, foodie nirvana, dining on Indonesian, Basque and Moroccan cuisines. On the last leg of our journey we reached Phoenix at about 1PM. We were tired, hungry, and hadn’t been able to find the restaurant we were planning on going to, so as a default we ended up at Thee Pitts Again, a BBQ joint on Bell Road at about 57th Ave.

When Thee Pitts Again had first opened it had been pretty good, with a few out-of-the-ordinary entrees, like smoked turkey, available. Over the years, I felt it had gone down hill. This visit more than confirmed my opinion. The place was almost empty. We sat on the side usually reserved for groups (tables and chairs as opposed to booths). It felt like a nursing home dining room, trying to be kindergarten cheerful. I became more depressed by the minute.

We decided to share a slab of ribs - ordering potato salad and fresh fruit as our sides. Our dishes arrived almost instantly, really not a good sign. Especially since it looked like nursing home food. The ribs were on one plate, with pools of orange fat and a lone piece of decorative kale. They had a slightly off smell, but the taste was even worse. Either they had been reheated on a dirty grill, or they had spent a lot of time absorbing odors in the refrigerator (or both). YUCK. The potato salad had turned grey with age and was inedible. It matched my mood. The corn bread was served with margarine... What more can I say?

A few years ago Thee Pitts Again had made it onto the Food Network show Diners, Drive Ins & Dives. The chef/owner had won many prizes at BBQ cook-offs. Too bad there was no competitive spirit in the restaurant. It sure was a loser.

Thee Pitts Again

5558 W. Bell Rd. Glendale

NASA Should Do So Well

2010-09-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Have I got a place for you un-health conscious, frugal foodies out there! Rocket Burger and Subs serves up huge sandwiches and fried delights for astonishingly low prices, and much of the food is home-made. There’s also an enormous section of unusual soft drinks; for instance, there’s over two dozen brands of root beer to choose from. Dennis, one of the owners worked for A&W for 8 years, so he probably has root beer running through his veins by now.

I saw Rocket Burger in a listing of new valley eateries, then did a little research. The reviews I saw were all stellar, so I knew we had to give it a try. It doesn’t look like much, inside or out - it’s in a little strip mall tucked behind Churches Chicken at 35th Ave. and Cactus. But it’s clean, and everybody is helpful and pleasant. Ken gave a happy whoop when he saw Cheese Curds ($2.49/$4.49) on the menu. We decided to get an order while waiting for our friends Randy and Marty to join us. The curds came quickly out of the kitchen, piping hot, served with some tasty homemade marinara. They were a touch greasy, as they should be, and the oil was fresh. Marty and Randy arrived in time to save us from ourselves by helping to finish off the curds. Then we took a while trying to make our selections from the extensive menu. Eventually Randy and I both went for the New Yorker: pastrami with homemade slaw and thousand island dressing ($2.99, $3.99 or $4.99). Ken had a homemade-meatball sub, with more of that good marinara and some provolone. It was the same price structure as our New Yorkers and all the rest of the entries under Classic Subs and Sandwiches. Marty went with a double burger ($3.89, the singles are $1 less). He could have opted for a Rocket Burger - !0 inch sub with three burgers and the fixings in either plain, cheese, bacon, teriyaki, or chili style ($4.99 to $5.99). Of course we had to try the fries and onion rings.

Again our food arrived quickly, served in plastic baskets. It became very quiet, except for the occasional growl of pleasure. The onion rings ($1.99) had been dipped in a thin cornmeal batter which made them nice and crunchy. The handcut fries ($1.49) were skinny, the way I like them. Randy thought they were undersalted, but I thought they were fine - our usual disagreement. At any rate, they disappeared quickly. Unlike the sandwiches. They were so big that we all ended up taking half of each sub home. The slaw on the New Yorkers was delicious, as was my whole wheat sub roll. The meat balls were nice and tender, and there was plenty of cheese on top. Randy had found a bottle of ginger beer imported from Australia that had a wonderfully refreshing true ginger taste. There seemed to be actual pieces of ginger in it - instructions on the label said to invert the bottle before opening. It never did tell you to turn it right side up again - the Aussies give us more credit than we deserve.

Other food items available: Hebrew National hot dogs in several styles ($2.49), Pizza

Bread with various toppings, Gyros ($3.69), salads ($1.99 - $3.99), a fish sandwich ($2.49) served with homemade tartar sauce. And lots more. I don’t know how Dennis and Steve manage to turn out food of this quality for so little money, but I surely do hope they continue and prosper!

Rocket Burger & Subs

35th Ave. and Cactus 602-993-0834

therocketburger.com

Seasonal Subtlety

2010-09-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Back in the gold rush days before the real-estate bubble burst, we went to Fiamma Restaurant in the Mondrian Hotel (or was it called the James Hotel?) for a post theater dinner. The driveway was lined with hummers, manned by twenty-somethings in their $200 jeans, all screaming for attention. It was no better inside: the noise was deafening, the service poor, the food downright bad and the prices outrageous.

How things have changed! The hotel is now The Theodore, and the parking lot, when we arrived at 6 PM on a Saturday, was deserted, as was the lobby. As, indeed was the restaurant, although by 7:30 (the hour when people more civilized than we go out to eat) several more tables were occupied. Service was outstanding, the food excellent and reasonably priced. Under Chef Comer Smith the seasonal menu is Italian, with the emphasis on local and sustainable ingredients. The pasta is made from scratch daily, and it tastes like it - toothsome and fresh. Gelato is also house-made.

The menu changes frequently and I forgot to write down the descriptions and cost of our entrees, so please forgive any errors. Ken had the special of tuna and olives in a tomato sauce with big fat spaghetti (I don’t know it’s technical name). From his first bite he raved about the quality of the pasta. The serving size was generous. I ordered braised pork shoulder with brussels sprouts served over polenta with gorgonzola ($20). The combination was divine as was the rich sauce served on it. I had read that the truffled mac & cheese ($6) was good, so I had to give it a try. At first I thought it was bland and under truffle-oiled, but after a few forkfuls I could appreciate the subtlety. I forced myself to leave a bite or two so I’d have room for dessert. Panacotta ($8) was one of the choices, and something Ken loves. It was a peach version, served atop a disc of white chocolate and accompanied by a limoncello granita. I had the intriguing sensation of being able to taste the colors. This truly is food made by a thoughtful chef.

I looked on line at some of the past menus so I could give you a few more examples of the cuisine and the prices. One of the appetizers was Polpettine Siciliano ($10): little meatballs with raisins, pinenuts, tomato sauce and baked ricotta salata. Braised Oxtail Tortellini ($17) served with tomato sugo and parmesan crema was something I have to go back and try (I think it was on our menu). Jumbo Sea Scallops ($26) with blood orange and fennel caponata didn’t sound bad either. Pizzas ($14) are made in a wood burning oven.And, of course, here’s the best part - you guessed it! - Ciello (pronounced chee-EL-oh) is on Restaurant.com.

I have to comment here about the decor of both the hotel lobby and the restaurant. If I thought Athena (see below) was over-the-top, Ciello takes the cake. Actually you feel like you’re inside a wedding cake, all white and rococo, although there is some odd rooster art left over from a previous incarnation. The mishmash of styles - huge steer heads and abstract sculptures - was a great conversation maker.

Ciello at Hotel Theodore

7353 E. Indian School Rd. Scottsdale

480-308-1131

Dinner Tuesday - Saturday 6-10

Gifts From the Gods

2010-09-01T10:07:00.001-07:00

About three weeks ago the Greek gods decided to take a break from their endless squabbling, descend from Mt. Olympus, and pay a visit to us mortals. Fortunately they landed in Phoenix, and they came bearing gifts. These can be sampled at Athena Greek Cuisine, a new restaurant in the shopping center at Mayo and Scottsdale Rd.

If the Scordalia ($6) isn’t heaven sent, I don’t know what is. This spread, made from bread, almonds, potato, olive oil, white wine vinegar and GARLIC is jaw-droppingly good. It has a mellow, almost sweet taste and is good smeared on anything, but especially on the Greek Sausage appetizer ($7), another gift. In fact, all the appetizers we had were delicious. Ken chose Grilled Octopus ($12); Pat had Greek Style Wings ($9), which had been marinated in olive oil, parsley, oregano and lemon (these were even better cold the next day). Marinated Beets ($7) were refreshing. Meg, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for introducing us to Athena, says the Fried Smelts ($7) are tasty too. It’s so nice to have out-of-the-ordinary menu selections available. And the servings are surprisingly large, great for sharing.

The entrees don’t reach the sublime level of the appetizers, but for the most part they were good and reasonably priced. Meg and I split Moussaka ($13). It was as good as any I’ve had in Phoenix, but there was nothing to lift it out of the ordinary. Stewed green beans were served with all the entrees, and these were a nice foil for the richness of the moussaka. Ken had the Combination Plate ($15) which had Pastitsio, Moussaka, Dolmades with Avgolemono Sauce, and Roasted Leg of Lamb. I thought the lamb was

overcooked (but that seems to be the norm for Greek restaurants) and tasted curiously liver-y. Pat was disappointed with her Greek Spaghetti ($12) which was way too salty.

We were quite full, but Pat, being half Greek, felt we had to sample the Galaktoboureko, a filo and custard concoction. The custard was pasty, rather than

silky, and the lemon sauce needed some zest to wake it up. But it was nice to see something besides Baklava on the menu (in fact there were a number of Greek desserts).

I loved Athena’s decor. It’s happily over the top. There’s a statue of Athena centered in the doorway, an aqua back-lit frieze on one wall, a white bar framed with Greek columns. The white painted wooden chairs (which Ken said were not very comfortable) look great against the dark floor. The only jarring note is the two TV screens flanking the bar. If you go on Athena’s website you can get a virtual tour of the restaurant, and also check out the menu.

Our waiter Chris and his “shadow” were both very pleasant and seemed familiar with the menu. There was a huge amount of staff for the number of patrons, but better too many than too few. Given that Athena has been open only for a short time, I find it easy to overlook the shortcomings - in fact we’re planning to return this weekend. We’ll probably stick to the appetizers, but believe me, that’s no sacrifice!

Athena Greek Cuisine

7000 E. Mayo Blvd. Phoenix 480-502-4466

athenagreekcuisine.com

daily, 11AM-midnights

Sensibly Seasoned Southwest

2010-08-24T15:37:00.001-07:00

Do you remember Richardson’s, probably the best known Southwestern restaurant in Phoenix? It closed a while ago without our ever having been there - the wait was always too long, and I was leery because I had heard that the food, while good, was very, very spicy hot. So I was pleased when Ken informed me that Secreto, a new restaurant in Ahwatukee Foothills, had been opened by Barbara Brown, co-owner of Richardson’s.

I’m going to start by telling you how outstanding the food is, because you really should give it a try. Then I’ll move on to what I didn’t like.

We met foodie friends Leon, Sena and their granddaughter Julie for Sunday lunch. The breakfast menu was also being served. I ordered a stuffed poblano pepper from the appetizer menu (prices ranging from $4-$12). This had been roasted, unlike chile rellenos which are deep fried. It was filled with oozy Mexican cheeses and chorizo, and topped with creme fraiche. The heat level was perfect for me, my lips tingled, but only for a moment. For an appetizer, the serving was good sized. Sena also ordered from the appetizer menu. Her crab cakes, two atop some salad greens, drizzled with chipotle aioli, were on the hot side for her, but she seemed to enjoy them anyway. When I tasted them, I again felt the seasoning and heat level were perfect, but I thought they had an odd texture. Although they were quite crabby, no pieces of crab were detectable, perhaps they had been too thoroughly mixed with the filler. At any rate, they were delicious.

Ken had intended to order from the breakfast menu because he wanted the carne adovada to come with a fried egg and potatoes, rather than eggless, with rice and beans from the lunch menu. When his food arrived on a dangerously hot metal plate, it was cross-dressed. The egg was there, but served with rice and beans rather than potatoes. We both loved the meat, it had a deep smokey taste with slightly charred edges and was served with just the right amount of red chile sauce. The portion was quite generous - Ken kept passing chunks of meat over to me. There was no liquid on the beans, and they didn’t stick together at all. I’ve never seen them served with rice this way and I didn’t care for it, but Ken did. Leon ordered a chicken sandwich. It was huge and looked really good, but was a little hot for him. I really have to remember to stay away from places where the heat level can’t be requested for each dish when we’re dining together. The mound of curly fries that came with his sandwich were perfectly crispy.

We had flan for dessert. It was delightful in its simplicity, light yet rich and creamy. Thank goodness no one felt compelled to spray phony whipped cream on top or add spices to it. This seemed to be the only dessert offered, but when Julie, Leon and Sena’s granddaughter, didn’t like it, she was offered Haagen Daaz with chocolate sauce.

Now for the negatives. You can see that a lot of money was spent on the interior, with its attractive copper bar, raised banquettes, and shades made of saguaro spines, but to me it felt dark, heavy and depressing. Because my scooter couldn’t be accommodated in the main dining room, we were put in an unpleasant room used for business meetings and large parties. It’s a long narrow room and feels like an after thought, only half decorated. Second, there’s a charge for chips and salsa. But our real complaint was with the service. It was very slow yet chaotic. Ice teas went unfilled, dishes were given to the wrong people - and this was in an almost empty restaurant. The owner came over a few times, and although she’s a lovely lady her presence didn’t make the service any more smooth. Since Secreto has been open only since June, perhaps this is a glitch that will disappear over time.

I know we’ll go back to try it again. The dinner menu has some interesting items on it that demand our attention.

Secreto

4232 E. Chandler Blvd. Ahwatukee Foothills

(480) 706-2200

11AM - midnite daily (food served til 10PM). Brunch starts at 9AM Sunday.

no website that I could find

Road Food: Dambar Steakhouse and the Himalayan Grill

2010-08-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Recently we made our second “escape-the-heat” trip out of town, this time to the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, Utah. The weather was great, in the low 90’s during the day and the 70’s at night. We saw an excellent production of Macbeth, an entertaining Pride and Prejudice, and an abysmal musical production of Great Expectations. The big disappointment was Cedar City itself. While the festival theaters were positively lush, and the Southern Utah University campus very pretty, there was nothing to do in town - no interesting places to shop, no art galleries, and horror-of-horrors, no good places to eat. Needless to say, we left a day early.

But we did have two very interesting dining experiences.

On our way to Utah we stopped in Kingman for a late lunch. Ken remembered a place we had discovered on our last trip through the area called The Dambar Steakhouse. It’s decorated in a rustic cowboy theme, with sawdust on the floor, corrugated tin dividers, and red checkered tablecloths. The menu holds no surprises - there’s lots of fried appetizers, a few Southwestern dishes, and much meat. Ken decided on pork chops ($13.99), and I ordered chopped steak ($9.99). Meals come with soup or salad, biscuits, cowboy beans and choice of potato. The biscuits are fabulous, light and flakey, with herbs mixed into the dough, served with herb butter. But even better than the biscuits is the meat. My chopped steak seemed to be freshly ground, and handled with the lightest touch imaginable. Recipes always tell you not to be rough when mixing and shaping hamburger, that kneading it to mix in seasoning or other ingredients will make it tough. I never appreciated that bit of information until I ate this ground steak. It felt like there were little air pillows between the bits of meat so that when I chewed a mouthful, I could appreciate the beefy taste, rather than just chomping my way through seasoned rubber. A light bulb moment! I promised then and there to never manhandle the beef again. And Ken’s pork chops - they actually tasted like meat, almost like a cross between pork and beef, with a nice chew. If you closed your eyes you could see the actual pig, not a styrofoam, plastic-wrapped tray of pallid pork. As Ken said, it was “REAL” food. Our shared piece of mixed fruit pie lived up to the standard, too. The filling was almost tart, not overly sugared and cooked to death, and each piece of fruit could be identified. Even the pieces of rhubarb still had texture. Debbie, our server, was friendly yet professional, and seemed genuinely pleased that we had enjoyed our meal.

We had lunch in Flagstaff on the way home. I wasn’t looking forward to it, having never had an interesting meal there, but we had a Restaurant.com coupon for the Himalayan Grill: Cuisine and Bar of India, Nepal and Tibet and thought we’d give it a try. The outside of the restaurant is off-putting, it reminded me of a cheap Chinese restaurant, but on entering you’re in an attractive room painted in yellows and orange, with maroon hangings. There are stemmed glasses and cloth napkins, and my favorite: twinkly little lights. Although the $8.99 lunch buffet looked and smelled good, we decided to order from the menu. Nine of the almost 100 dishes are labeled “Cuisine of the Himalayas” but they sounded more bland than the spicy Indian dishes. We shared Kofta Curry ($13.95) minced lamb meatballs in a creamy curry sauce; Saag Lamb ($13.95) gingered lamb cooked with spinach; Bengan Barta ($9.95) roasted and

pureed eggplant in a special blend of spices; Himalayan Naan ($3.95) bread stuffed with raisins and cashew nuts; a side of mango chutney ($2.00); and a chai tea ($2.50). The prices seemed comparable to our favorite Indian restaurant in Phoenix, The Dhaba, but when our meal arrived we found the portions to be somewhat larger and the food more substantial. The sauces were thicker, and there was considerably more meat in each dish: in fact, we ended up taking home an additional meal’s worth. Everything was truly delicious, perfectly seasoned, and spiced to our requested “mild”. Ken even “oohed” over his cup of chai, and declared that this meal was the best Indian food he’d had outside of India. Excuse me for being crude, but even my post-lunch burps were enjoyable. The restaurant has been open for 3 1/2 years and, justifiably, has won many awards. We asked the proprietor if he’d consider moving to Phoenix, but he said he couldn’t take the heat. Our loss.

Dambar Steakhouse

1960 E. Andy Devine Ave. Kingman AZ 928-753-3523

open daily at 11AM

Himalayan Grill

801 Milton Ave. Flagstaff AZ 928-213-5444

open daily Lunch: 11-3, Dinner: 5-10

www.himalayangrill.com

This Improv Isn't Funny

2010-08-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

The concept at Posh restaurant is “improvisational cuisine”. I think of something improvised as being made up on the spot, done without preparation. What an exciting dining experience that would be, albeit fraught with danger for both the chef and the patrons. But don’t go to Posh expecting that. The days menu is set long before you arrive and all you get to do is check off on a printed list what proteins you dislike so they won’t be served to you. It’s disconcerting to be asked to think about food you don’t like at the beginning of a meal. Your other decision is how many courses you desire and if you want wine pairings: from $45 per person for 4 courses ($77 with wine) to $110/$165 for a full tasting, which is more than 7 courses.

Our meal started off promisingly. We shared a nice cocktail called a Cosmonade ($9) made with Hangar 1 Citron, Chambord, and lemon. An amuse bouche of papaya sorbet with mint “caviar” was delicious (this tiny spoonful doesn’t count as a course). My first course was an heirloom tomato salad with haricot vert and a few shavings of cheese. With something this simple the ingredients need to shine, and these did not - the tomato, while ripe, had little flavor, and there was so little cheese it’s impact on the dish was negligible. Ken’s vichyssoise with chive oil was pleasant enough. For me, the fish course was sea bream with bok choy. The fish skin had been blasted with a propane torch which rendered it beautifully crispy. The Asian-y sauce on the vegetable was pretty salty, a harbinger of things to come. Ken received shrimp (they were called some fancy name) served with gnocchi, baby garlic, and a blastingly peppery aioli. The shrimp had been way overcooked, rendering them rubbery and tasteless.

On to the meat course. Mine was venison served on farro (which is an Italian whole grain), with a rhubarb gastrique. First I took a bite of meat - it was flavorful but tough. Then the farro. I gasped and almost choked. It was that salty. The insipid gastrique was totally overpowered by the other elements of the dish. Ken was kind enough to swap plates with me, and his braised short rib (hardly a seasonal dish) was at least edible, though also oversalted. Interestingly enough it was served with fingerling potatoes, making this the third dish in a row served to Ken that contained potatoes (assuming that the gnocchi had been made with them). When our waitress, cooly professional throughout, asked if we enjoyed this course, we mentioned the salt issue and she said she would inform the kitchen.

Finally, dessert. We were both given chocolate cake, cut into unattractive chunks. Mine topped with cubes of apricot, and Ken’s with plum. Neither of these fruits complemented the cake, which contained a distractingly large amount of pepper. The drizzle of chocolate ganache was tasty. At this point we were seriously considering going to Crudo to have dessert since we needed a satisfying conclusion to the evening.

Just then our server brought us a complimentary cheese plate, an apology for the salty food. That turned out to be the high point of our experience (along with the amuse bouche). The cheese selection was excellent, and the buttery grilled bread outstanding.

But for $130 you’d expect more, wouldn’t you?

I strongly suggest that if you want a an exceptional “tasting” experience you should visit Crudo Cafe. You even get to choose the foods you like to eat, not those you don’t.

Posh Improvisational Cuisine

7167 E. Rancho Vista Dr. Scottsdale 480-663-7674

poshscottsdale.com

Cyrillic Soul - Кириллица души

2010-07-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

Ordinarily I wouldn’t bother you with reviews of out-of-town restaurants, but while in San Diego last week we had some of the most soul satisfying food in our long foodie history. This bliss took place in Pomegranate Restaurant, an unprepossessing Russian/Georgian establishment that you wouldn’t look at twice while driving by.

On entering you’re transported to another place (although I’m not sure where). Every inch of the walls, ceiling, and even the piano, are covered with writing - witty sayings, and some not-so witty ones, comments about the food, etc. - put there by patrons. The owner, Mark, will supply you with a Sharpie if you can find a spot to write your own. Tree branches hold up little twinkly lights. Samovars are displayed, along with

tchotskys (junk to some, treasures to others). Delightful. You’re given a fairly extensive menu to peruse, but our server, Dimitri, was more than happy to help us decide.

There’s lots of appetizers (zakuski in Russian закуски). Lots of salads: Salat Vesna made of fresh cabbage, berries and herbs ($10.75), Lobio with beans and walnuts ($7.75). We had a dish made of roasted eggplant, scooped out of its skin and mashed with walnuts, garlic (much garlic!), and herbs, put back in the skin and topped with tomatoes and red onions. Right then we knew we were in for an amazing experience. I’ll tell you here that we came back for dinner the next evening, so if it looks like we ate a huge number of things, divide by two ( and it will still be huge). Dumplings are well represented. Vareniki with potato and onions or cheese ($10.25); Khinkali, peasant style meat or vegetarian dumplings, and the fabulous pelmeni (($9.50) a Siberian treat filled with meat, served in a delectable broth with a side of yogurt. You can also get them filled with a mixture of salmon and chicken - we’ll try those next time. Borscht made with beets, cabbage and meat ($9.75), or a vegetarian version and Schi, sorrel soup.

While waiting for our main course, Dimitri brought us tea. Hot for Ken, served in a glass with sugar cubes to hold between your teeth and a little pitcher of black currant syrup to add. I had iced tea, with my very own pitcher of cherry syrup. This is not your mother’s Lipton, so the $4 for each didn’t seem too outrageous.

I ordered a special of the day, “Russian Meatloaf”. Two large patties of ground meat, each stuffed with blue cheese, then topped with a sour cream and blue cheese sauce, sent me to heaven. A dish that could sit in your stomach like a cannon ball was light as a feather. It was served with spears of English cucumber which was the perfect foil. On the side was a plate of kasha (a buckwheat grain) and a few new potatoes. When Dimitri came by I asked if by any chance the restaurant had ever published a cookbook. In answer, he sent out John, the chef. John graciously sat down and told me in detail how to make the meatloaf. You can bet I’m going to try. If it comes out well I’ll have Dexter blog about - he still owes you a recipe for arepas, which he has perfected. Ken happily ate his pot of Zharkoyie ($18.50) a beef stew of the tsars, made with onions, dried fruit and spices. The meat was a tad tough, but the sauce was delectable. The following day we shared a lamb shank in a broth loaded with fresh herbs, onion and garlic. On the weekend Shaslik is served, either beef, pork, both $17.50, or lamb ($23.50) marinated in yogurt or pomegranate juice cooked outdoors over charcoal and prunings. There’s Beef Stroganoff ($20.50); Chakapuli - lamb, onions, tarragon, wine and plum sauce ($19.50), and Smoked Trout or Salmon ($19.50). And lots more.

The first night we asked John what he would recommend for dessert. He suggested the sour cherry soup ($7.50). While it was delicious, I actually would have preferred it as a starter rather than dessert because it was quite tart. On the second night, we capped off our experience with Napoleon Torte ($8.75). This is an exquisite cake, made of many layers of a wafer thin cookie alternated with custardy, almost cheese-like filling, then left to meld together (quite different than the French Napoleon). It was served with a slightly orange flavored ice cream topped with pomegranate molasses. Ken is still raving about it. John gave me an short explanation of how it is made, and I was able to find a recipe on line. It’s a huge amount of work, but Ken is willing to help me.

Now, if you’ve been looking at the prices of the various dishes, you’ll see that this is not an inexpensive place. And be forewarned, they don’t take credit cards. But if you’re looking for something totally different, and, as our friend Matt would say, “Life Affirming”, this is the place for you. We’re actually thinking of returning for Ken’s birthday. Would you like to join us? If we can gather 15 people for lunch we can have the whole place to ourselves.....

Pomegranate Russian-Georgian Restaurant

2302 El Cajon Blvd. San Diego, CA 619-297-4700

daily 5 - 10 PM

russiangeorgianfood.homestead.com

Kiss My Grits

2010-07-11T18:04:00.001-07:00

The more I think about it, the more enthusiastic I become about The Mission. We had lunch there yesterday since I wanted to try someplace new and I’d read good reviews. It’s “new Latin” cuisine, brought to you by the people behind the successful Zinc Bistro, Matt Carter and Terri Ellisor.

The setting is lovely. It’s housed in one of the outbuildings of the blindingly white old Mission Church in Old Town Scottsdale. You walk through an attractive fireplace’d patio and into the aroma of fire- grilled meats and romantic darkness (even at lunch). Unfortunately, you’re assaulted by the background music which was very loud and distracting. There’s an interesting back-lit wall of orange and beige Himalayan salt blocks (actually I thought they were fake bricks until I read differently - gauche me). Lots of fancy chandeliers hang from the black ceiling, casting only a little light on the faux finished ochre walls and the somewhat crowded dark topped tables. Our server, Derek, added to the ambience - he was attractove, attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. Many of our south-of-the-border neighbors are represented on it: Mexico of course, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Cuba,and probably some I’ve missed.

I ordered a Cubano torta, one of my favorite grilled sandwiches with pork belly, smoked ham, swiss cheese, pickle, dijon and yucca ($12). The pork belly was meltingly tender. Surprisingly, the torta did not come with a side, which struck me as pretty chintzy for the $12 price, but that was okay because I had to try the Creamy Grits ($8). Ken chose the Pabellon Arepas ($12). An arepa is a cross between a pancake and an english muffin. It’s made out of a special pre-cooked corn meal, water and a little salt. First it’s fried on a griddle, then it can be baked in the oven for a while where it rises a little and becomes less dense. It’s then split, sometimes some of the interior is scooped out, and then it’s filled with whatever delicacy strikes your fancy. In this case the arepa contained braised beef, peppers, black beans, cotija cheese, and fried plantains. So good. I spent an hour today googling arepas recipes and plan to go in search of the special corn meal tomorrow. The only disappointing (actually downright bad) thing on Ken’s plate were the french fries, a mixture of white and sweet potatoes. They were supposed to have been sprinkled with lime and cumin, but they weren’t, and also they were sadly limp. But OMG, the grits!!!! These were made with the addition of chipotle powder, butter, honey, and cotija cheese. They were on the spicy side, but the heat was moderated by the honey. The color was kind of a cross between pink and salmon (at least that’s how it looked in the dim light), which made it even more interesting to eat. $8 for a good sized bowl which I proceeded to eat pretty much by myself as the grits were too spicy for everybody else (this was fortunate, because I really don’t know if I would have been able to bring myself to share).

Our friend Ernest had a Skewered Grill Prawn Salad ($14), with arugula, yuzu vinaigrette, avocado, potato and orange sections. He said the prawns were nicely cooked but were somewhat too spicy for his taste. Anna ordered a chicken arepa ($12) with chorizo, corn, aji amarillo (the menu doesn’t tell you, but this is a hot yellow chili pepper from South America - be warned), and Oaxaca cheese. While she didn’t complain, I have the feeling she would have been happier without the pepper. The food here really isn’t for the faint of heart (or heat). I don’t know if the kitchen would be able or willing to tone it down for you, but it’s worth asking.

But the desserts won everybody over. We tried the Pumpkin Bread Pudding ($6), which is composed of pumpkin bread, creme brulee, a butterscotch sauce loaded with Scotch, pepitas, and topped with Berto’s cinnamon gelato. To die for, not to mention get drunk on. The Fried Bananas ($7) were terrific, too, served with butter, nutmeg, peanuts, and a dollop of peanut butter mousse.

Go on line to see the dinner menu. It’s expensive, most of the entrees are in the $20+ range, but they sound fabulous. The Mission is, for me, one of the most exciting restaurants I’ve been to in a long time, and I’m grateful for it. But especially for the grits!

The Mission

3815 N. Brown Ave. Scottsdale 480-636-5005

themissionaz.com

lunch daily - 11 - 3, brunch: Sat. & Sun. 11 - 3, dinner daily 5 - 10 (11 on Fri. & Sat.)

Rock 'n Roll Heaven?

2010-06-19T15:27:00.001-07:00

Before I start nitpicking, I want to tell you about the two extraordinary dishes we had at Rhythm & Wine yesterday for lunch. The first was French Onion Dumplings ($8.99). These were described as “the best part of onion soup without the soup”. That leaves lots of melty cheese, caramelized onions and a crouton. In this case, the crouton was a wonton wrapper, and most of the onions were inside it. There was a a touch of sweet, winey broth in the little cast iron skillet, and lots of gooey cheese atop the dumplings. Heaven. I googled this orgasmic delight and actually came up with a recipe which I can't wait to try. The second dish was a salad in which the leaves of brussels sprouts, lightly blanched, took the place of lettuce. Dried cherries, roasted marcona almonds, bacon and shaved Parmesan were then drizzled with a mango hazelnut dressing, $10.99 for a very large serving. Some chicken breast had been thrown in, to the detriment of the salad, otherwise it was an unexpected treat. I didn’t know brussels sprouts were in season at this time of year, but these were fresh as could be. While I realize many of you don’t like brussels sprouts, this a dish that might make you rethink your feelings. Less good, but we still finished it off, was a tremendous side of mac & cheese ($4.99), more a pasta in mornay sauce than the traditional cheddary, stick-togethery recipe you’d expect.

OK, so now I’ll tell you about Rhythm & Wine, and start picking the nits. It’s owned by Terry and Laura Craig who also own Jalapeno Inferno in a nearby shopping center. The concept is “casual bistro-style comfort food in contrast to the typical ‘high end’ fare found in similar wine concepts. A menu designed to complement the wine list includes many ‘small plates’, signature sandwiches, oversized gourmet salads, and ‘large plate’ entrees. Neo-traditional rustic pizzas and unique desserts are also featured.” There’s no question that wine is the star here - as you walk in, the wine cellar is right in front of you, and flights of wine are served. Between 11 and 4 o’clock on weekdays, wine is half price. So far no problem, but then comes the Rhythm part - the rock n’ roll theme. It’s carried out on the walls, which are loaded with art work on loan from a gallery in the mall at Kierland. These are a strange contrast with the rest of the decor which looks vaguely supper clubby, in a shoe-string budget kind of way. I did like the upside down table lamps hanging from the ceiling and the curtain of stainless steel rings. The sound track is a mish-mash of styles, but thankfully it wasn’t overly loud. There is entertainment on the patio on Saturday evenings.

What drove me really crazy was the rock ‘n roll word play. Almost every item had a rock & roll name - “Kool (and the gang) Salads”, Pacific Rim “Phish”, “Cher’d Plates”. You get the picture. It just tried too hard. As for the “unique desserts”, there were only

two desserts served. One was chocolate fondue - I suppose you could call that unique, but certainly not the N.Y. style cheesecake. The worst thing, however, was our server. He was fixated on the soccer game playing on the TV behind the bar, and every time he had to do something for us, it was done grudgingly, and occasionally with attitude. It was most unpleasant and off-putting, almost enough to keep me from returning. Sad.

Rhythm & Wine

S.E. corner of Miller & Pinnacle Peak Roads Scottsdale 480-478-3412

rhythmandwine.com

A Restaurant Without A View

2010-06-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

You’d think, wouldn’t you, that with a name like Hillside Spot this restaurant in Ahwatukee would be nestled in a pastoral setting with lovely views? Not so, it’s in a typical strip mall off Warner Rd. and unfortunately its patio faces directly on the street, making it hard to carry on a conversation, even on a Sunday. The patio, without misters, is uninviting, with a very odd mixture of seat cushions for the wrought iron furniture. It was even more off-putting because most of the tables were loaded with dirty dishes. There was one hard working busboy who couldn’t keep up with the mess. It wasn’t much better indoors - messy and noisy (the noise of the cars being replaced by very loud music).

You place your order at the counter. Breakfast is served daily from 6:30 AM to

4 PM. There are pancakes, plain or with apple compote ($6) or with bananas, caramel, creme fraiche and peanuts ($7). Eggs, scrambled or fried, come with MJ toast and a choice of bacon, ham, sausage, or chorizo ($6). Various egg sandwiches and omelets range from $6 to $8. But we had come for lunch. The selection was small, and not particularly inspiring. Tuna or chicken salad sandwiches ($7), turkey ($6), a BLT to which you could add a fried egg at no extra charge ($7) and a croque monsieur ($7.50).

Surprisingly, none of these came with a side. The cheeseburger ($8.50) came with fries.

I ordered the rotisserie half chicken ($10) which was served with fries and seasonal local vegetables. Of course, I requested crispy fries. Ken opted for the Derby Salad, with various greens, egg, avocado, bacon, and blue cheese, served with house made buttermilk dressing ($8). We waited quite a while, when finally a server, shouting our name and number, delivered our food. The salad was good size, with loads of blue cheese chunks of good quality (rather than the generic crumbles served at many places), and large pieces of bacon. The greens were fresh and the avocado looked freshly cubed. It’s a shame that the buttermilk dressing was tasteless, and the quantity skimpy. My chicken was nicely cooked, with crisp skin - much crispier, in fact, than my fries which were dark brown, but limp. The vegetables were a mix of roasted cauliflowerets, corn, and red peppers which I enjoyed. We took home a brownie and a slice of chocolate cake. Both were excellent.

All in all, although our food was generally good, I had expected more. More ambience, a nicer setting, a more interesting menu. One of the owners of Hillside Spot also owns Gallo Blanco, a Southwestern/Mexican restaurant (our favorite) in the Clarendon Hotel in downtown Phoenix,. That menu, while small, is full of interesting, flavorful food. The place is clean, the decor “bus station” funky. It is, however, LOUD, especially when the Flamenco dancers are in attendance. Unfortunately, the limp fries are there too. So, while we will continue to eat at Gallo Blanco, Hillside Spot is off limits for us.

Hillside Spot

4740 E. Warner Phoenix 480-705-7768

website supposedly is coming soon

open daily for breakfast and lunch - dinner is also served, but I don’t know the days

or hours

Neighborhood Italian

2010-06-13T18:59:00.000-07:00

If Rosario Ristorante feels like the quintessential neighborhood Italian restaurant, that’s because it is. It’s been in the same spot for 30 years, and until a few years ago it was owned by the same family. When they were ready to sell, one of their loyal customers took up the gauntlet. Although Michelle and her husband completely gutted and redid the interior, the ambience is still that of a long established, timeless place. There’s a red swag on the front windows and wrought iron decorations on the walls. Black tablecloths and nice stemware lend an upscale but not intimidating feel.

The menu, too, is neighborhood. Nothing unexpected (except for escargots), but pretty much whatever you’d want to satisfy your southern Italian cravings. We started out with crab-stuffed mushrooms, which the menu warned were spicy. Since it was happy hour, when all appetizers are half price (ditto cocktails), we paid $5.50 for six mushrooms delivered in an escargot dish. They were stuffed with just the right amount of crab mixed in with the bread crumbs, and a little cayenne added a pleasant kick. We had been served some outstanding garlic butter with our bread, and couldn’t resist topping the mushrooms with it. My entree was eggplant parmigiana, my “test the new restaurant” dish. The eggplant was thinly sliced, breaded and beautifully fried, but there was a strange absence of sauce. The same was true of the spaghetti - well prepared but under-sauced. I had ordered a side of meatballs and was served a pair of huge ones - these were an unbelievable $3 - with adequate sauce. They were just the way I like them (you can stop snickering now), lots of bread crumbs mixed in to make them nice and tender. Ken had ordered a side of sausage, and that was excellent too. His lasagna was delicious. It was somehow light and substantial at the same time. The only disappointment was the Caesar salad. This was a ghost of a Caesar with an almost tasteless dressing that had never seen an anchovy. Desserts are house made. We tried the chocolate mousse pie (it was called a cake, but really wasn’t). It was good - you could actually tell it was chocolate. There’s also a fried cannoli. The espresso machine had broken down, so Ken can’t report about that.

The prices are quite reasonable, especially for the quality and quantity, as befits a neighborhood restaurant. My eggplant was $12.95, and Ken’s lasagna $9.95. The most expensive dishes, veal picatta and marsala, and cioppino are $18.95. Fettucini Alfredo and Spaghetti Bolognese are $10.95. Service was excellent. Our waitress, Vanessa, recognized us from her stint at Gino’s Restaurant, one of our favorites. And, you can get a Restaurant.Com certificate. What more could you want?

Actually, you could want a 4 course chef’s dinner for $15. This is served on Thursday evening, and it’s content changes every week. Call to see what’s being prepared if you don’t feel like taking a chance.

Rosario Ristorante

9250 N. 43rd Ave. Glendale 623-931-1810

closed Monday Happy Hour Tuesday - Saturday 4-7

rosarioristorante.net

Pig Out

2010-06-08T09:50:00.001-07:00

On entering Andrew’s BBQ Restaurant in Tempe I was transported back to kindergarten, the happiest time in my childhood: hardwood chairs and tables, red floor, white walls covered with crayon drawings. I expected to see my teacher seated at her upright piano leading us in song. There was no piano, but Jody, event coordinator and restaurant manager, was as cheerful and informative as the teacher of my memories. I should have asked her to sing “I Am A Little Teapot” with me. Maybe next time.

A huge blackboard above the counter displayed the menu. The item that popped right out at us was Wisconsin Cheese Curds with Ranch Dressing ($4.95). We also ordered a BBQ Sampler Plate ($12.95) and a house-made cupcake ($2). Our food arrived quickly. Portions were large: the cheese curds could easily have fed four. Our sampler plate consisted of 4 pork ribs, a container each of BBQ chopped chicken, beef brisket and pork. For our two sides we had selected baked potato salad and slaw. There was also a wedge of cornbread.

The cheese curds were out of this world, deep fried in a beer batter. Cheese curds are fresh young cheddar cheese in natural form before being processed into blocks and aged. They’re mostly found in places that have cheese factories, since they should be eaten soon after being taken out of the vat - but happily they’ve been showing up in the Valley. They’re less chewy than mozzarella, with a lovely mild flavor. It’s worth a trip to Andrew’s just to have these!

The BBQ was excellent too. It’s cooked over cherry wood imported from northern Michigan. All the chopped meats were moist and tender, served in their jus rather than slathered with BBQ sauce. Our only quibble was that the same rub seemed to have been used on all three, thus making their taste similar. The ribs were falling off the bone, but just this side of dry. There were two sauces, regular and spicy - not overly sweet or tomatoey. The baked potato salad was a treat, with bits of real bacon and scallions. One of the nicest surprises was that the moist, caky cornbread was served with real butter, and there were packets of honey on the table. We did pig-out on the cheese curds, so we finished only half of our platter. We took the cupcake home with us and had it as a mid-afternoon snack. From the many flavors available, we had chosen a chocolate-cherry. The pink frosting was topped with a maraschino cherry; while sweet it went nicely with the chocolate cupcake which was less sugary.

Other items I’d like to try:

Loaded Fries ($6.95) - Choice of BBQ Meats, Cheese, Onions & Ranch

BBQ Baker ($6.95) - Large baked spud loaded with cowboy beans, choice of BBQ meat, onions, sour cream and cheddar cheese. (Jody says this is HUGE)

Green Chili Mac & Cheese (one of the available sides) or $1.75.

Andrew’s started out as a catering company, then added the restaurants (there’s also one in Mesa) about a year and a half ago. They do catering for the Phoenix zoo and also private parties. If you happen to be having 100 people over to your house, for $13.95 per person you can get a whole smoked pineapple pig, injected with teriyaki pineapple juice, slow cooked for fourteen hours and hand carved at the buffet. Too bad our condo is so small....

Andrew’s BBQ Restaurant

730 E. Guadalupe Rd. Tempe 480-244-4227

andrewsbbq.com

Monday - Saturday 11 - 8 or 9

Crudo=Sophistication

2010-06-05T17:32:00.001-07:00

Although it’s sad that a number of excellent restaurants have closed because of this dreadful economy, one bright spot is that a number of “homeless” chefs are pairing up to create new concepts. We had a delicious and unexpectedly interesting meal at one of these, Crudo Cafe, in Old Town Scottsdale. The stars are: Cullen Campbell, formerly of Fine’s Cellar (where I had a knock-your-socks-off macaroni and cheese tasting); Brandon Crouser of Atlas Bistro; Tracy Dempsey, pastry chef at Cowboy Ciao and Kazimierz; and Lisa Giungo of Lisa G’s.

Crudo is in an unexpected location - inside the Steven Paul Salon at the corner of

3rd Avenue and Marshall Way. When I read about it, I’ll admit I found this off-putting. I imagined the smell of nail polish remover, and ladies floating around in plastic capes. In actuality, what you’ll see is an over-the-top room with big black and white tiles on the floor, red walls, huge pieces of antique furniture and chandeliers. It made me giggle. Part of the room is taken up with a boutique selling very Scottsdale clothing and jewelry. It’s fun to look around between courses. The salon is invisibly tucked away, and at dinner, when we were there, there was no chemical odor. There is a lovely patio, a contender with La Maison’s for nicest patio award. It’s canopied with trees, hung with little lights, and there are white tablecloths, always a good sign. Our server, Dina Marie Ribaudo, has written about her restaurant adventures in various countries,and was satisfyingly knowledgeable about the food being served. Her sassy New York attitude brought back lots of entertaining memories.

What Dina Marie had trouble getting across to us was the way the menu is divided up. There is a section called Crudo, which means “raw” in Italian. There were many fish dishes in this section including Tuna with oranges, basil and olives ($14) and Spanish White Anchovy with roasted baby bells and housemade pickles ($12). I believe everything in the Crudo section is served cold, if not raw. The second section is Piatti, meaning “dishes”. These all seemed to be cooked items, meant to be served warm. Offerings included Rolled Veal Breast ($16), and Gnocchi with a prosciutto broth and local herbs ($12). Everything in these two sections can be ordered a la carte, or in Corso (courses): 3 for $30, 4 for $ 40, or 5 for $50. It wasn’t clear whether one of the courses could be dessert. Portion size was also confusing. I was given the impression that the corso servings were somewhat smaller than the a la carte portions, which are about 2/3 the size of entree portions you would find in most restaurants. Given the quality of ingredients and their richness, this isn’t a bad thing, and by and large the prices are reasonable.

Deciding to order a la carte, we started with a Local Farm cheese plate ($12). For me, this was the only disappointment of the evening. The two cheeses, while pleasant, too closely resembled each other in taste, and they were not at all challenging. These and other ingredients such as sun dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, and olive gastrique (more about this later) were scattered on a large round of flatbread. That meant that the toppings had to be removed in order to pull off a piece of the bread. Very inconvenient. One of the specials was deep fried sweetbreads with a mustard sauce ($6). Dina Marie told us that the chefs had put them on the menu so parents could trick their kids into thinking they were chicken nuggets. I don’t know that they’d fool anybody, but they were

delicious, perfectly cooked and complemented by the robust sauce. There were three large nuggets on the plate, and we thought this was an outstanding value.

For our main course, friends Ernest and Anna both ordered the Rolled Veal Breast served with polenta and some baby vegetables. Ken was about to order that too, when Dina Marie mentioned foie gras. It turns out that the Fegato Grasso dish on the menu is Italian for foie gras, and it was served over polenta. An easy decision for Ken. I went with the Mushrooms Au Gratin ($17) - Oregon mushrooms, truffle, fingerlings, mozzarella, and grana padano cheese. My plate arrived with a fried egg atop the other ingredients. It went very nicely with everything, but some people might have considered it an unpleasant surprise. The taste of truffles was very muted - it may have been provided by a drop of truffle oil. But all in all, I enjoyed my dish. Ken’s Fegato Grasso was ravishingly good, though a tiny serving. The textures, temperatures and flavors played off each other to perfection. There were baby fiddlehead ferns served with it, certainly not local, but a real treat, something I haven’t had in years. The veal breast was meltingly rich, especially paired with the polenta. We were all very happy with our choices.

Our dessert selections were olive oil cake with a side of homemade peach ice cream, and chocolate pot de creme with a caramel topping. Interestingly, these servings were quite large. Also delicious. The pot de creme was more like fudge, although the longer it spent away from the refrigerator the creamier it became. There was a dark chocolate cookie/biscotti served with it which would have been superb on it’s own with a cup of coffee (by the way, we all enjoyed our various coffees - iced, espresso, and regular). The olive oil cake, a dessert now as ubiquitous as chocolate lava cake, was the best of its kind, neither too oily or too dry. It was served with a delectable fruit syrup with pieces of candied peel in it. We were so full we actually left some dessert uneaten. Surely I will be punished for this.

Our bill came to $122 (we had no wine or alcoholic beverages). If we had done the 3 course meal it would have been almost the same price, but our coffees would have brought the total higher. Given the skill of the chefs and our server, I was okay with that amount. As you know, its a lot more than we usually spend, but I’m grateful to Anna for suggesting that we dine at Crudo.

I almost forgot to tell you about the olive gastrique. A gastrique is a sweet and sour reduction of some type of vinegar and sugar, usually made with a fruit flavoring it. It is frequently served as a sauce with meat or poultry, sometimes used in cocktails, and in our case, as an item on the cheese plate. Making it with olives was pure genius. It changed their texture to something like a candied cherry, but the flavor was unique. The chef happily shared his technique with me. I am grateful.

Cafe Crudo

7045 E. 3rd Ave. at Marshall Way inside Steven Paul Salon Scottsdale

480-603-1011

A Caribbean Holiday

2010-05-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

If you’re in the mood for a foodie adventure, I’ve got just the thing. A trip to the Caribbean! Head on over to Tempe and enter A Taste of the Caribbean restaurant. The bright yellow and green walls, red floor and outdoor furniture will make you feel like you’ve arrived. It’s kind of scruffy and laid back - this is not the place to come for a quick bite. First of all, you have to make the tough decision about what to order. Oxtails or goat? Jerk chicken, of course, or do you want the milder brown stew chicken? Fish? There’s snapper, tilapia, and shrimp. The menu is divided up into Caribbean Favorites, Friday and Saturday Menu, Lunch Specials, Rice Bowl Specials and Plate Specials. If all this has your head spinning, you’re not alone. Our server, part of the family who own and run the place, seemed equally confused. But she was charming. Just accept it, and the slow service as part of the experience - don’t worry, be happy.

We ordered oxtails ($11.95) and Eggplant Curry Shrimp ($9.95). The oxtails, in a brown sauce, were fall-off-the-bone tender, fatty, as oxtails are, and totally delicious. The accompanying plantains were caramelized and a little crunchy. Perfection. A huge mound of rice and peas filled the center of the plate - moist and beautifully seasoned. And finally, a side of cabbage. There must have been a little sugar in the cooking pan, because it was sinfully delicious. Served on the side was a basket of roti, a homemade flatbread, similar to a flour tortilla but much softer. It was so hot we burned our fingers trying to pull off a piece. We had finished off the oxtails when the eggplant dish arrived (they were supposed to have come out together - it’s a good thing we like to share). Be forewarned, this curry is not for the faint-of-mouth. I wasn’t expecting the degree of heat - my nose started running and my eyes watered. But it was pure bliss, with flavor layered on flavor. The shrimp were perfectly cooked, although I wouldn’t have minded a few more, and the eggplant was so tender it was almost melting into the gravy. There were also some pieces of potato, which had not been mentioned on the menu, hiding in there. The heap of rice and peas helped mitigate some of the heat. As you might have gathered, between the roti, the plantains, the rice and peas,and the potatoes, this is a carb-lovers paradise.

Two odd things: a wide variety of Caribbean sodas are sold here, but no ice tea. And the rest rooms are in a different building than the restaurant.

The only disappointment was dessert. I got a pineapple tart to take home (I couldn’t have eaten another carb if my life depended on it). Our server had said it was the best of the two desserts available. Uh-oh. The tart was really bad - a smidgen of decent pineapple filling wedged between layers of leaden dough, tough and greasy. I was glad I hadn’t eaten it at the restaurant, because it would have put a bad ending onto an otherwise extraordinary meal.

A Taste of the Caribbean

219 E. Baseline Tempe 480-275-5334

atasteofthecaribbeancuisine.com

Mon. - Thurs. 11 - 9:30 Fri. & Sat. 11 - 11

The Olive Garden of BBQ

2010-05-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

I know why the people behind Big Daddy’s BBQ (the Maestro group, formerly of Maestro’s Steak House and the Ocean Club) named it that. It’s because they see hundreds of baby Big Daddy franchises spinning off this papa. And, sadly, they’re probably right. This is BBQ for the unadventurous, for those who don’t appreciate the glorious idiosyncrasies of the genre. As Olive Garden is to Italian, and Red Lobster to seafood, Big Daddy’s is to BBQ.

Located on the west side of the Pima Crossing Shopping on Shea Blvd. at the 101, you’ll have to walk a ways after you’ve parked. The ambiance is kind of fun. There’s a big mural of the Budweiser wagon on a brick side-wall. Several garage doors open to the picnic-tabled patio, and there are more picnic tables with umbrellas inside, as well as stainless steel topped tables. Paper towels are on each table as well as a rib bucket. I get the feeling the bucket is strictly for show and an alarm would go off if anyone dared to dirty one. As you enter you’ll see the menu on the wall. No selection is over $20. Decide what you want and proceed to the counter to order. Then you pay and will be given one of those annoying vibrating, flashing light things that let you know it’s time to pick up your order. It will be ready surprisingly quickly. This is a VERY bad thing at a BBQ restaurant.

Ken and I shared a 3 meat combo (the menu on line says $13.95, but I think we paid more) with 2 sides and a piece of cornbread. The most exciting thing on the list of sides was creamed corn, which we ordered, along with coleslaw. Our platter contained one beef rib, three pork ribs, and about 5 slices of brisket which had a small amount of BBQ sauce on top. There is more sauce available on the counter with the drink machine, but there’s no selection - it’s the only one. Neither spicy nor sweet - just blah. All the meats were quite dry, and somehow they all tasted the same. We were wishing for a pepper shaker when we tried the coleslaw. It was totally bland, as was the creamed corn, which had a bizarrely large amount of flavorless white sauce to canned corn kernels. Ken thought the best thing on the platter was the onion slice. I thought the corn bread won out - it was moist and slightly sweet.

As we headed home, the farther away from Big Daddy’s we drove, the more dissatisfied with our meal we became. When we reached Scottsdale Rd., before I could ask him to do it, Ken took a right and headed toward Chocolate Star Bakery. We were in desperate need of a happy ending to truly ungratifying experience. The most positive thing I can say is that it’s a whole lot better than Dickeys, the nadir of BBQ restaurants.

Big Daddy’s BBQ (don’t confuse this with the Big Daddy’s on Cave Creek Rd.)

8698 E. Shea Blvd. Scottsdale 480-609-0100

bigdaddysbbqaz.com

Lunch and Dinner 7 days 11 - 10 (or later)

Pizzeria's Kick Ass

2010-05-17T22:26:00.001-07:00

On Friday night we had dinner at Tommy V’s Osteria Pizzeria, across from the Biltmore Fashion Park at 32nd St. and Camelback. It’s a relatively new spin-off of Tomaso’s Restaurant which has been at that location for 32 years. Where Tomaso’s is upscale, dressier, and heavy on the proteins, Tommy V is casual and carb-oriented. It’s interesting that the prices on most of the appetizers, salads and pastas are pretty much the same at both locations.

Tommy V’s is divided up into two rooms. You enter the bar area which also houses an open kitchen with wood burning pizza oven. It’s light-filled and colorful. and also very loud. The second room is more sedate, and unfortunately somewhat gloomy. It’s dimly lit, and the faux brick, dark wood, and taupe painted walls don’t help. There are some windows cut into the front and back walls, framed with curtains, which look into the bar area, and a third back room. Very weird. However, the gloom was dispelled when our cheerful waitress brought us a basket of crusty bread and some fabulous pesto butter, redolent of garlic. She informed us that happy hour was on (from 5 - 7), and we could get most of the wines on the menu for $5 a glass or $20 a bottle. We decided to share a glass of red Primitivo ‘Layer Cake’ (I don’t know why it was called that, but you knew that I wouldn’t be able to resist ordering it). It turned out to be delicious, rich and deeply fruity. Because we had arrived quite early - I didn’t know how busy the restaurant would be and reservations are only taken for tables of 6 - we ordered a roasted beet and goat cheese salad ($8) while we awaited our friends Walt and Maria. While it was quite good, it didn’t live up to the one we had at The Parlor since the beets weren’t multi-colored and the dressing didn’t have as much zing. However, there was lots of cheese and toasted pistachios.

When Walt and Maria arrived, our bread basket and carafe of butter was swiftly refilled (the bussing was top notch). I suggested that they try the Primitivo, and they ordered the Romaine Wedge salad ($7) with bacon and gorgonzola. It was beautifully presented, with a pile of whole romaine leaves holding the accompaniments and dressing. All the salad ingredients were quite fresh. I ordered an Eggplant Torta ($15), described as “Baked Multi-layer of Eggplant, Cheese Fondue, Pasta”. Ken opted for V’s Kick Ass Burger 9 oz ($12) - “Handcrafted with Short Rib, Brisket & Kobe Beef, Caramelized Onions, Heirloom Tomatoes, Bacon, Blue Cheese, Arugula, Truffle Aioli & Parmesan Herb Roasted Potatoes”. The combination of meats made this too interesting to pass up. Walt and Maria decided to share a pizza. These are “personal size”, 10 - 12 inches, and range in price from $10 for a Margherita with mozzarella and tomatoes to

$16 for a Proscuitto and Fig pie with gorgonzola and arugula. Unfortunately I don’t remember what kind they had, but they said they enjoyed it, and it was actually big enough that 2 pieces were taken home. The burger was great. It was big and juicy with a fascinating texture because of the short ribs and brisket - it’s now my favorite Phoenix burger, and the price is comparable to the other good ones served elsewhere. Ken loved the roasted potatoes, and while they were flavorful, I prefer nice crunchy fries. My eggplant torta was a pleasant, non-confrontational variant of eggplant parmesan. But having taken a Zantac, I was looking forward to confrontation - a spicy sauce and loads of gooey cheese. This was disappointing, but edible. It was also a fairly small portion.

There were no surprises on the dessert menu - tiramisu, cannoli, etc. We ordered a tartufo for the table. When it arrived, nicely sliced, there was none of the zablione promised on the menu. I asked the waitress about that and she tried to tell me that it had been “mixed in”. When I gave her a skeptical, unhappy look she brought over the owner/manager (I’m not sure which he was), and he apologized, saying that there’s been a dispute with the distributor over that item. We weren’t charged for it, which was very nice, since we did eat it all.

The parking in front of the restaurant is limited, but Walt said to tell you that immediately to the east of the strip mall containing the restaurant there’s a large parking lot, not particularly visible to the street. All in all I’d say this was a good dining experience and we’ll go back to try some of the interesting pastas like braised short rib gnocchi ($20) or butternut squash ravioli with amaretto cookies, toasted almonds and parmigiano sage sauce ($15). And especially to have another burger!!

Tommy V’s Osteria Pizzeria

3223 E. Camelback Rd. Phoenix 602-955-8900

tomasos.com

11-3 and 5-10 (later on weekends) Sunday 5 -10

Fond of Fondue?

2010-05-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

Ken loves fondue. Some of you may even remember his birthday party at the Melting Pot, a restaurant which turned out to be a huge disappointment, and is now, fortunately, closed. So when I read about Le Chalet, a crepe and fondue place in Glendale, I knew we’d be going.

I want to apologize in advance for the tone of this review, and even urge you to visit Le Chalet despite my reservations, particularly since we tried only one dish. I really don’t know what it was about the place that made me so crabby. So, with that caveat, here goes.

The place is cute, in a kitschy French/Swiss village-y kind of way. Dark wood and stuccoed white walls with lots of appropriate photos and posters. But I had the feeling that the whole thing, except the show kitchen, was done on a shoe-string budget. The silverware and plates were low end, but a cloth napkin was provided. The sink in the ladies room was supposed to look like it was carved out of a chunk of rock, but it was a laughable fake. I think perhaps the owners tried too hard.

We ordered the Swiss Cheese Fondue ($17.50), one of the more expensive items on the menu. I had read that it was enough for two, and indeed it was. Before it came to the table we were given a complimentary tartine, basically a slice of toasted bread with some tasty cheese melted on top. This is served to every table, and it struck me as an odd choice since so many of the things on the menu involve bread and cheese. The fondue arrived in a timely manner, along with a bowl of bread cubes. Unhappily, the bread was refrigerator cold, which meant it had been cubed and stored beforehand. This took all the crispness out of the crust - it was really undistinguished bread. The fondue was delicious, redolent of wine and Kirsch. I don’t know why, but the cheese was

extremely chewy - at least that forced us to eat very, very slowly. My biggest complaint is that fondue by itself is a very one-dimensional meal. While you can purchase a side salad, it seemed to me that for the price it should be included with the fondue. My final grump is that our water glasses were never refilled.

I’ll repeat that this is a place you should experience for yourselves. There’s beef ($22.75) and chicken ($18.75) fondues, and a specialty dish called “La Potence” ($24) which is a 10 ounce beef tenderloin flambeed tableside by the chef. The savory crepes are much less expensive, averaging about $10. One has roquefort cheese, caramelized apples and walnuts. Another has sliced sauteed potatoes with onions and bacon topped with melted Raclette cheese. Some entree salads are served in a savory crepe shell ($11.50). Simple sweet crepes average about $3.75, and there are more complex ones like Crepe Ultimate Chocolate ($8.25) with chocolate brownie, chocolate ice cream, chocolate ganache and chocolate powder. We actually were so full from our rich cheese fondue that we passed on dessert.

Maybe if I start with a dessert crepe next time I won’t be so grumpy.

Le Chalet

5626 W. Bell Rd. Glendale 602-337-8760

lechalet-llc.com

open 7 days 11 - 10 (later on weekends) for lunch and dinner (the menu is the same)

Minimal Expectations.....

2010-05-05T11:00:00.001-07:00

I bought a Restaurant.com coupon for American Junkie after reading their on-line menu. Lots of my favorite bar foods, with a few intriguing additions. Then I looked on Yelp, a review site, and became uneasy about my purchase. Junkie sounded like one big drunken party with snooty bartenders and expensive drinks. There was hardly a mention of the food. This did not bode well.

So, with minimal expectations, we went to American Junkie on a Sunday afternoon. As usual, we were practically alone, so there was no problem with the drunken party aspect. I was surprised to see that the menu had been radically trimmed, but there were still enough choices to satisfy me, and the prices were reasonable. Since we had to reach our $35 minimum (to qualify for the $25 Restaurant.com deduction) both Ken and I ordered the most expensive burger, which had two eight ounce patties, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and thousand Island dressing ($12 each including one side). There was a goodly selection of sides to choose from - I got onion strings, and Ken a green salad.

In the interest of serious research we also got an appetizer order of mac & cheese ($5).

The food was somewhat slow in arriving, especially considering there were no other diners, but that gave us a chance to look around.

American Junkie is a large place with two patios, very pleasant except there were no umbrellas to shade the tables. There was, however, a basketball hoop, several TV screens, and a bar. Inside, on the higher of two levels there was another smallish bar, a ping-pong table, and foosball. I understand from our waitress that this is where a DJ holds forth late at night, pairing videos with the music (the place is supposed to be insanely loud at night). A huge circular bar is in the middle of the lower level, surrounded by bar stools upholstered in an interesting glittery gold-green material which coordinates well with the mosaic tiled wall. Another wall is montaged with rock posters. There are many more TV’s scattered through the space. Couches, tables and chairs are arranged with large groups in mind - this clearly is a place to mingle. And an attractive one, although starting to look a little worn around the edges.

At last our food arrived. The hamburgers, of course, were huge. The first thing we both did was to remove the top patties from our sandwiches, to be taken home. The meat was properly cooked, we were not hassled when we asked for medium rare, and very flavorful - I would say it was on a par with any of the moderately upscale burgers served at places like DeLux or Zinburger. My side of onion strings was large, not greasy, and not over-salted. Ken’s salad wasn’t very interesting, but it was fresh. In fact, our only complaint was that the dressings, including the thousand island for the burgers, was on the thin, insipid side. But really, the burger was so good it didn’t matter. Two people could share one of these babies and be very happy. That would make for an incredibly cheap lunch. Our mac & cheese appetizer came in a large bowl. While not as creamy as I would prefer, it had a nice crunchy top, some bacon bits, and lots of cheese (we also took half of this home).The only dessert served was one of those hot cookie, ice cream things which I find universally disappointing since the only detectable flavor is “sweet”.

I suggest if you’re in downtown Scottsdale at lunch time you give American Junkie a try. If you have a coupon, so much the better. Our bill for two burgers (with a pound of beef patties to take home), mac & cheese, and two ice teas came to $10.80!! By the way, our waitress was very pleasant, and for those of you who are interested, she wore very short shorts.

American Junkie

4363 N. 75th St. Scottsdale

480-990-3000

americanjunkieaz.com

Great Expectations.....

2010-04-27T11:01:00.001-07:00

On at least four or five occasions we’ve tried to go to The Parlor, a former beauty salon turned upscale pizza restaurant, but there has always been a long wait to get seated. Given that, and it’s consistently good reviews, we made a plan to eat a late breakfast so we could hold off having lunch until 3PM, figuring this was way past lunchtime but too early for happy hour. We were right, there were only a few cars in the lot - we were really excited and had high expectations of a delicious meal. Whoever was responsible for the renovation did a fabulous job. There’s lots of exposed brick, wood, glass bricks, and a cute little patio. At the bar there are some salon-type chairs: I don’t know how comfortable they’d be for cocktail sipping, but they’re a witty touch. My favorite part of the decor is the planters lined up along the path to the door. They’re filled with fresh herbs and tomato plants. We were even more convinced that we’d have a great meal. And our server didn’t let us down either (service has been the major negative in most of the reviews). He was pleasant and helpful.

We started off with a roasted beet and avocado salad ($9.75). The colors of the golden beets and mellow green of the avocados made for a beautiful plate, and the walnut crusted goat cheese was the perfect foil. While a little on the expensive side, we felt it was worth it. We couldn’t wait to dig into the pizza!!

According to the menu, the Smokey pizza ($14 for a 12”) is topped with speck (smoked prosciutto), olive tapenade, ricotta, and fresh arugula. Sounds good, doesn’t it? It arrived at the table heaped with arugula, with a few pieces of speck on top. I think they put so much arugula on the pie so you couldn’t see the paucity of the other ingredients. The only taste that stood out, overpowering even the arugula, was the tomato sauce. OMG, it transported me instantly to my high school cafeteria - and that’s not a good place for me to be !!! Do you remember those thick slices of bready dough topped with a thin, tinny tasting sauce? Aaggh, get me out of there !!! At least at The Parlor the crust was thin, but it was limp as a noodle, and tasteless. I actually, for the first time in living memory, didn’t take home the leftovers. That’s how bad it was.

I wouldn’t tell you not to go here. The Parlor is a pretty place, and the salad was outstanding, but I wish you good luck with the pizza.

The Parlor

1916 E. Camelback Rd. Phoenix

602-248-2480

theparlor.us

Monday - Thursday 11 - 10, Friday and Saturday 11 - midnight

Cheap Lunch

2010-04-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

As we drove by the QT and it’s grubby little strip mall on Cactus near Cave Creek Road, I noticed a sign for a new restaurant, Noodle & Rice. For the next few days many coupons for it turned up on various sites including Restaurant.com. Given such an aggressive marketing campaign, we had to give it a try. Armed with our coupons, we arrived at lunch time. It’s a small place with a total of about twelve tables and booths. Make sure you get a booth, because the chairs are deadly uncomfortable. The plastic faux brick black wall and institutional gray paint give the place a kind of depressing air, lightened only by the turquoise banquettes and some leftover prints of Italian food on one wall. However, our server had a pleasant smile, and the menu showed promise.

Noodle & Rice is an Asian restaurant, serving Thai, Japanese, and Chinese food. The prices at lunch are so reasonable we didn’t even need to use our coupons. There are 22 entrees that can be had for $3.95, but for another $2 you can add an egg roll, soup, and a drink. I suggest you do this, because the hot and sour soup is one of the best I’ve had, and the egg roll is delicious too. China Mist iced tea is served here, and if you opt for hot tea you have your choice of several different kinds, served in a cute little teapot and matching cup. I opted to get chow mein noodles instead of white rice for an extra fifty cents, and I’m glad I did, because they were right up there with the hot and sour soup. Actually they outshone my entree of pad prik with beef and vegetables in a spicy brown sauce, because the beef was a little on the tough side, although still quite flavorful. Ken had shrimp in lobster sauce. The shrimp were properly cooked and the sauce was good, but, not being a green pepper lover, he thought there were too many on the plate. Oddly, at the end of our meal, we were not given fortune cookies.

There are lots of things I want to try when we return. Appetizers include pot stickers

($3.95), and chicken satay ($5.95). Tom Yum and Tom Kar soup (which has coconut milk in it) are both $3.50/$4.95. I love Tonkatsu sauce, so I may go for the chicken ($5.95). Panang Noodles ($6.95) are crispy wide rice noodles served with chicken or beef in a curry and coconut milk sauce. The most expensive thing on the menu is soft shell crab with either black pepper or curry powder at $10.95 A little less are two fried talapia (sic) dishes, one with Thai herbs, peppers, eggplant and basil, the other with a curry sauce sprinkled with minced kaffir lime leaves and fresh chili (both $8.95. Happily there’s Thai iced coffee and tea, and for dessert green tea or coconut pineapple ice cream.

Give it a try, with prices like these you don’t have much to lose.

Noodle & Rice

2017 E. Cactus Rd. Phoenix

602-368-8889

noodleandriceaz.com

Monday - Saturday 11 - 9 Sunday 12 - 8

Tremendous Tiny's

2010-04-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Tremendously good, that is. And a tremendous deal. Located near the corner of Greenway and 19th Ave., a bad luck spot formerly housing Lenny’s Burgers and several other restaurants, Tiny’s Country Cafe should turn that bad luck around. This is a family business, run by mom “Tiny” and her daughters. They have a long history in the Phoenix restaurant business starting with The Famous Restaurant on Dunlap, back in the 60’s.

Decorated in country style, with red check plastic tablecloths, lots of down home pictures and hand-lettered signs, a menagerie greets you as you enter. The day’s specials are posted on the walls, but there’s a menu too. We were there for lunch, so we ordered “Family Favorites” fried chicken ($8.99 for a half), and meatloaf ($7.49). These came with soup or salad, real mashed potatoes or fries, vegetables, and a roll or homemade corn bread. Ken enjoyed a cup of three bean soup, loaded with beans and very flavorful. My salad was nice and fresh, topped with green peppers, tomatoes, and, a nice touch, scallions. The cornbread was delicious. Somehow it managed to be both moist and crumbly. Too bad it was served with Country Crock margarine. Both the fried chicken and the french fries were greaseless and perfectly cooked - and there was a light hand on the salt shaker. Ken would have preferred bigger pieces of chicken, but I like the small ones because of the ratio of skin to meat (more crunchy skin), and because often the bigger pieces are bloody near the bone. I found the meatloaf somewhat strange: it had a texture that reminded me of corned beef hash. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the bottom of the slices had been burned on the griddle.

Other offerings on the lunch menu include pork chops ($8.99), chicken fried steak ($7.75), sloppy joe ($5.99) and a variety of sandwiches and burgers and salads. But the real treat here is dessert. I’ve never been able to figure out why people like strawberry pie - now I know! The flavor of the berries shone through the not too sweet glaze, and the crust was delicious. But we were told that the coconut custard and peanut butter pies are even better. Oddly, rice pudding, at around $3.75 was more expensive than the pie.

We’re planning to try breakfast sometime soon. The biscuits and gravy are prize winners. Egg dishes are served with either hash browns or grits. There’s a dish called “hog wild” which is two pork chops, two eggs, and two biscuits covered with country gravy ($8.25). I’ve heard of milk toast, but have never seen it on a menu until now. It’s three slices of buttered, sugared toast with hot milk poured over it ($2.50). Odd. You can get a plate of hash browns topped with fried onions, cheese and sour cream. I can relate to that.

So come to the country for breakfast or lunch, seven days a week, from 6 AM - 2 PM. Right now you can find a coupon at couponclipper.com.

Tiny's Country Cafe

15414 N. 19th Ave. Phoenix

602-942-4009

3 Restaurants and a Coupon

2010-04-20T11:36:00.001-07:00

Totally out of character for us, we ate three times in the last two weeks in hotel dining rooms. This would never have happened were it not for our Restaurant.com coupons.

Our first lunch was at Lafitte’s Real New Orleans Food in the Embassy Suites Phoenix North on Greenway at Route 17. On entering the cavernous, frigid, white lobby (which reminds me of a huge igloo) you bear left toward what looks like food court kiosks and you’ll find some tablecloth covered tables. The only New Orleans touch is a photograph of mask-wearing, presumably Mardi Gras partying, people. The place generally is deserted (at least on our previous visits) but a server will eventually find you. The menu is pretty large and has some interesting items on it, having been developed by John Folse, current President of the American Culinary Institute, and a “renowned” Louisiana chef. By the way, there are 8 Lafitte’s scattered around the country, all in hotels, so expect some corporate compromises in seasoning levels.

Ken started with a cup of gumbo ($3.95) made with a dark roux. It was quite tasty, and loaded with chicken and sausage, but it wasn’t lip-tingling hot. His entree was crawfish etouffee ($11.95) for a huge bowl with a mound of white rice, topped with a crawfish, in the middle. I was wondering if the crawfish was made of plastic and reused for each bowl of etouffee, but Ken cracked it open, and there was meat inside. There was lots of seafood (shrimp or crawfish?) in the cream sauce and it was nicely seasoned. One of the best things on the menu is sweet potato souffle ($3.95) which is listed as a side, but is sweet enough for dessert. There’s jambalaya, and red beans and rice. You can get a steak, or ribs (which are quite good), or burgers and sandwiches. I guess if you’re a hotel restaurant you have to try to please everybody. To sum up - if you want a nice, quiet place for lunch, with unchallenging New Orleans food, which is reasonably priced even if you don’t have a coupon, this is the place for you. Ladies, don’t forget to bring a sweater.

Lunch #2 was at Fire and Spice Grill in The Sheraton Phoenix Airport Hotel in Tempe. The ambience in this lobby restaurant is a lot a more pleasant than Lafitte’s. It’s done up in Southwest colors, with better quality, more attractive furniture, Unfortunately there is a Starbucks kiosk attached, like a sore thumb, to the bar - more about this later. Again, we were the only people in the place for much of our meal. We were joined by foodie friends Leon and Sena. The reason I chose Fire and Spice is because Sena is a carb-watcher, and the menu had plenty of options for her. Ken and I started with The Inferno Queso, a table side presentation of flaming cheese with guacamole, Pico, and black corn tortilla chips.($9). The woman who came to light our fire didn’t have too much experience with this dish - we gathered this because she came to the table with a cigarette lighter. She poured some tequila into the skillet, and also onto the wooden tray in which it rested. This gave me pause. When it failed to ignite, she poured on a lot more. I expected her Bic to explode, but again nothing happened. More tequila, and success, but not much flame considering the amount of tequila she had used. I wonder if cheap tequila has less alcohol content than the good stuff. At any rate, our petite Inferno was delicious, Ken and Sena ordered grilled N.Y. steak, a Black Angus Strip with ancho rub and chipotle compound butter. It was served with roasted asparagus and an “Arizona croquette”, which turned out to be nicely prepared mashed potatoes which had been formed into a patty, coated with bread crumbs and sauteed in butter. Yummy. I got the same sides with my half rack of ribs ($14), nicely cooked and coated, a little too heavily, with a hickory BBQ sauce. Leon was not so happy with his steak salad, which rated just an “OK”. Sena abstained from dessert. I don’t know how she resisted because the Chocolate Toffee Kahlua Mousse Cake the three of us shared was outstanding. Ken ordered an espresso, and it was served to him in a tiny paper Starbucks cup that reminded me of the cup into which dentists put mouthwash. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! With our Restaurant.com coupon which took $25 off our bill, the total including tax and tip was $80 (including a glass of wine). I thought this was reasonable, but I would have been unhappy paying the full amount.

Lunch #3 was the winner, but not because of the food. The Millennium Resort’s Pinon Grill has one of the nicest patios we’ve dined at. It overlooks a man-made pond which has it’s own little sand beach and peddle boats. The golf course stretches beyond that. The patio is covered, so there’s shade for all, and a cool breeze blows through. Heavenly!! Again, we had the restaurant to ourselves. We were served crackers with a deliciously spicy cheese spread as we perused the menu which turned out to be uninspiring. I ordered an ahi tuna burger ($13), and Ken had fajitas ($15). Both were merely adequate - although the tuna burger was much better cold the next day. The dessert menu was not very interesting either, but the piece of banana cream pie we shared was nicely prepared. Really, the food was irrelevant. We sat for a long time after our meal just looking out over the water and talking to the ducks who would occasionally visit our table. The resort itself has seen better days, and the indoor dining room is depressing, so my advice is to only come here for the patio.

And be sure to bring your Restaurant.com coupons with you!!!

You Can't Eat a Concept

2010-04-14T18:45:00.001-07:00

I know a lot of you will disagree with me, but I have to be honest with you, I’ve never been a fan of Sam Fox Concept restaurants, mostly because the emphasis is on the concept, not the food. And they tend to be outrageously expensive. The exceptions are Sauce, which in my opinion serves insipid food, the Counter (it’s 25 cent coffee was the deal of the decade) and the new Zinburger.

Of course, Zinburger is easy on the eyes, with it’s huge mural of happy cows, and it’s lighthearted use of chartreuse accents. Given that it’s in the the Biltmore Fashion Park,

$8-14 for various types of burgers isn’t bad - and they’re big enough to share. Sides of french fries, fried zucchini, etc. are $3-5, and salads range from $9-14. There are lots of milkshakes and floats at around $6. The trouble, as I see it, is that you can get better for less bucks at Indulge or BluBurger (particularly if you use a coupon). DeLux is a little less expensive, with a lot more food options, although the ambience isn’t as pleasant. I won’t bore you with what we ate, suffice to say it was merely okay.

My favorite thing is the irony. Zinburger, with it’s emphasis on meat, sits a few doors down from Sam Fox’s Tru, which specializes in being vegetarian and vegan friendly.

Zinburger

2502 E. Camelback in the Biltmore Fashion Park Phoenix

602-424-9500

www.foxrc.com/zinburger.html

open 7 days 11 AM - 10:30 PM

Pizza Rules

2010-04-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

How fortunate we are that Stefano Fabbri, owner of the new Pomo Pizzeria in the Borgata, is a pizza fanatic. He is obsessed with the authenticity of his Napoletana style pizza - so much so that his restaurant will be vetted by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana at the end of the month. There’s a lengthy set of rules to be followed: specific imported tomatoes and cheeses, the proper kind of flour, the dough must be shaped to a certain size (12 -14 inches) and thickness after a particular rising time. You get the idea. Fabbri has an imported wood burning brick pizza oven that heats to a blistering 950 degrees and cooks the pizza in 90 seconds. It’s smoking hot coming out of the oven, which gives the toppings time to meld to perfection.

There’s something you have to understand and be open to experiencing in this crust. It’s thin and light as a feather, but what most of us are not used to is that it’s slightly moist in the center, not crispy. That’s because one of the above rules says that the crust must be foldable. Stefano says that after you’ve tried it two or three times, even die-hard crispers will be converted I say that it’s possible to enjoy both crusts. The one concession made to American tastes is in the variety of toppings. Traditionally the pie is made only with tomato, oregano or basil, mozzarella di bufala, garlic and oil, but 17 varieties of pie are offered here - though for sure you won’t find pineapple and Canadian bacon. Also available are some appetizers and salads. We had an antipasti platter with meats and cheeses, sliced on an imported hand-cranked slicer. I learned that if an electric slicer is used the blade becomes hot enough to start to cook the prosciutto. There’s a soup and pasta of the day, five paninis, and some amazing desserts made in-house daily by a well-known local pastry chef.

Pomo occupies the space formerly used by Thai Thai. It’s done up simply in dark browns and white, with a floor to ceiling mural of Naples on the back wall. The bar, with a selection of Italian wines, and the open kitchen takes up about a third of the space, while banquettes, tables and chairs (somewhat crowded together in European fashion) uses the rest. Patio dining is available. Our server was delightful and efficient although I have read some complaints about the service at peak hours. This is not a restaurant for the faint-of-wallet. Our antipasto, pizza, and molten lava cake came to about $40 without tax or tip. But believe me, it was worth every penny. YOU’VE GOT TO TRY THIS PLACE. Like I said, pizza rules!!

Pomo Pizzeria

6166 N. Scottsdale Rd., in the Borgata

480-235-5822

pomopizzeria.com

Take-In

2010-04-01T14:46:00.001-07:00

Try as I might, there are still times when we have to do the unthinkable - eat at home. So I endeavor to have interesting things to munch on, or (GASP) to cook, on hand. With that in mind, I wanted to tell you about some of our favorite places to get the goodies.

I can happily make a meal of bread and butter. The Balkan Bakery makes that meal an adventure. Made fresh daily, they carry both spinach and cheese pitas, burek (which are meat stuffed pitas) and a variety of breads. Sometimes you can catch the pretzels as they come hot from the oven. I have to say the desserts are downright weird. The ones we’ve tried weren’t to our taste, but we’ll have to sample a few more.

When Ken is craving cold cuts and cheese, we head to Yasha From Russia. Not your usual Boar’s Head selection, many have names I can’t begin to pronounce, and all are delicious. Smoked fish or blinis? Here they are. Along with homemade salads and spreads. The garlicky eggplant spread is to-die-for. But we use bread from the Balkan Bakery for our sandwiches because the bread here tends to be dense and on the dry side. Some of the desserts in the bakery section are pretty good. Reach into the freezer and grab a few packs of homemade blintzes - they put Golden’s brand to shame. There’s lots of dried and canned imported things. This is where I come when I want to buy brined cabbage leaves with which to make stuffed cabbage, it saves several hours of work.

We go to Chocolate Star Bakery when we’re craving cookies. That’s all this storefront bakery turns out, so they’d better be good. And they are. Rich and dense, they’re not cookies for the faint-of-heart. The Chocolate Java Splendor is more like a brownie, but in a smaller package - dark and chocolaty with a healthy dose of coffee flavor. Other favorites are Chocolate Star Paradise (chocolate chips, oatmeal, coconut, cinnamon and pecans) and probably the best coconut macaroons ever. I think there are twelve varieties in all. They do a huge mail order business because the cookies keep so well. I seldom drink milk, but these cookies are made to go with it, so we try to make it home to pour a glass before finishing off our stash.

If you need some authentic Italian pasta and you’re in the vicinity of Thomas and 40th Street, stop by Pasta and Sugo. Ravioli, gnocchi, tagliatelle, and several other pasta shapes are made daily and are either fresh frozen or dried. Doria, the charming co-owner and chef, also makes her own sauce. It’s light and sweet, but she uses no sugar, instead pureeing carrots into the mix. Take a few minutes to chat with her - she’s also a painter (her studio is next door) and a writer. While there are several tables in the store, and lunch is served, there are no side dishes to go with the pasta, so it’s a rather one-dimensional meal.

But my favorite place of all is Lee Lee Oriental Supermart. There’s one in Peoria and another in Chandler. Both are huge, carrying products from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Holland, Brazil, Argentina and Africa, all organized into their own aisles. The fresh produce section is full of everyday things you’ll recognize, but also items like durian and jackfruit. Over in the fish section, you can choose one that’s still swimming, and it will be cleaned and even fried for you, if you desire. If you’re squeamish the refrigerator case is loaded with already cleaned, ready to cook fish and seafood, and there’s an extensive frozen fish collection. The same holds true of the meat department. One of my favorite things to buy are boned chicken leg quarters, great for stuffing. There are many exotic things here, but some of the more expected items are missing, such as chicken thighs and various cuts of steak. What is totally unbelievable are the prices - I don’t know how they do it. We usually come away with around six different packages of various proteins, at least that many kinds of produce, and another load of sauces and frozen items. All for about $65!!!

Make sure to pick up a discount card at the service desk, or just ask the checkout girl, and you’ll get 10% off your purchase each time you shop. Amazing.

Balkan Bakery

1618 E. Bell Rd. Phoenix 602-996-4598

Yasha From Russia

10240 N. 32nd St. Phoenix 602-347-6055

Pasta and Sugo

2916 N. 40th St. Phoenix 602-977-2782

Lee Lee Oriental Supermart

7575 W. Cactus Peoria

2025 N. Dobson Rd. Chandler

Out Wickenburg Way

2010-03-24T18:57:00.001-07:00

If you should find yourself passing through Wickenburg, and your stomach is growling at you to stop and feed it breakfast or lunch, make it happy and stop at DJ’s New Frontier. You can’t miss it since it’s right on Route 60 on the south side of town. And the building is distinctive - it’s an eight-sided, sixty year old log cabin with lots of wooden cutouts of pigs and cows nailed to the surrounding fence. With cartoon topped tables, chairs upholstered in multi-themed fabrics, and signs with funny sayings tacked to the ceiling, it’s a hoot inside, too. A pair of brothers bought it recently and they’ve lavished a lot of love on both the decor and the food.

We stopped in for an early lunch, but our friend Pat decided to go with breakfast. She ordered Mom’s Classic ($6.95) with two scrambled eggs, cheesy hash browns (extra crispy), bacon, and sourdough toast. The large serving of hash browns were a beautiful tawny color with a super crunch. Pat was swooning; she ate every last bit, along with the bacon which was perfectly cooked, so she had no room for the toast or eggs.

There are a number of omelets available, as well as platters such as the Hassayampa:

“Chunky potatoes, grilled with onions and green peppers, scrambled with 3 eggs, smothered in Homemade gravy and topped with bacon and your choice of toast or tortilla” ($8.95). You can get homemade corned beef hash, a large grilled ham steak,

or chicken fried steak, $8.45 each. Biscuits and gravy, pancakes and French toast, and burritos round out the breakfast menu.

After being told that the spiciness of the chili ($3.50, or all-you-can-eat for $5.95) was a five out of ten on the hot scale, Ken decided to risk it. He was delighted when he judged it to be a flavorful three. His chicken fried steak sandwich ($8.45) was whopping big and not at all greasy. My tuna melt must have been about an inch and a half high, but it was hot throughout, and the tuna was of decent quality. I had, of course, asked for extra crispy fries, and they were cooked to perfection. The menu listed homemade apple, cherry, and pecan pie ($2.95 for the fruit, $3.45 for the pecan) but sadly they were all out. I bet they would have been good!!

Also on the lunch menu were burgers, including a 1 pounder ($9.95), hot dogs and links, BLT, Philly Cheese, and hot pastrami sandwiches. There were 4 salads, each at $7.95.

Having tried several of the other restaurants in town, DJ’s is now at the top of my list.

DJ’s New Frontier

442 E. Wickenburg Way, Wickenburg AZ 928-231-7712

Closed Sunday 7 - 2 Monday through Saturday, 5PM - 9PM Fri. & Sat.

no website

Sophisticated Southern Italian

2010-03-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Restaurant.com we discovered Il Poggio d’Italia which is tucked away inside the Pima Crossing shopping center on Shea just west of the 101. In it’s last incarnation it was Shanghai China, an overly decorated place with boring food . This time the decor suits the cuisine. Owner/chef Tom Giresi serves up sophisticated southern Italian dishes at surprisingly reasonable prices (it’s a steal if you have a Restaurant.com coupon).

This is a place with tablecloths and an excellent wine list. There’s lots of wood and stone, which is attractive but noisy. And a well-dressed Scottsdale crowd - shame on us, we were in our T-shirts and jeans. For a Thursday night, the restaurant was hopping. We were immediately served a pleasingly plated dish with sliced baguette, butter, and some caponata. The eggplant spread was less assertively tomatoey than usual and had pine nuts and raisins - delicious. We perused the menu and were surprised to find dishes like tripe and pig skin bracciole. So many things caught our attention that we decided to graze. Happily, our friend Pat was along, so we were able to order a larger than usual selection.

Pat chose the stuffed mushrooms, 5 for $4 or 10 for $8. The sausage/breadcrumb/cheese stuffing was tasty, and the mushrooms properly cooked. We couldn’t resist trying the pig skin bracciole ($6). It’s stuffing was, again, excellent, and the pig skin was succulent - maybe too succulent. I enjoyed my first piece, but couldn’t bring myself to have another, it was that rich. The marinara sauce spooned on top was light and flavorful, and also went well atop our order of polenta ($6). The polenta had been cooked and allowed to cool so that it could be cut into bars and sauteed, yielding a nice crust. Our “individual” order of broccoli rabe ($4 - as opposed to the family size for $12) was enough for the three of us to share. It was toothsome, with a nice lemon/garlic flavor. I’m pleased to say that none of our dishes were over-salted. Perhaps the thing that pleased Ken and me the most was that anchovies were available, at no extra charge, for our Caesar salad, and they gave us lots! The dressing was a little on the light side for my taste, but pleasant.

I regret that I can’t tell you about the entrees, but they sounded good, and there seems to be enough variety to please everybody. There were 3 soups, and 9 pastas which ranged in price from $14 to $21). Steaks and lamb ($20 - $25), lots of chicken dishes, a veal parmigiana ($18), shrimp scampi ($20) and salmon ($17) are waiting for your approval. The only offerings that struck me as mundane were the desserts: cheesecake,

ice cream, tartuffo and the ubiquitous cannoli and tiramisu.

Guess how much we paid, including tip, using our coupon - $26 !!!!

il Poggio D’ Italia

8752 E. Shea Blvd. Scottsdale 480-948-7100

Open for lunch and dinner (call for hours)

no website that I could find

Soul Full

2010-02-25T10:08:00.001-08:00

Andre, the owner of Off Da Hook Soul Food Restaurant, is a true foodie. When he noticed that the fried chicken breast on my plate might be a little dry, he cooked up a new one for me. His goal is to serve the same quality food in his restaurant that he’d want to eat at home. He can invite me there anytime.

We each ordered a plate: smothered pork chops ($10.50) for Ken and fried chicken ($9.50) for me. Each came with two sides, so we opted for mac and cheese, cabbage, greens, and yams (all the sides are $4 if ordered a la carte), and corn bread. Since it was busy, Andre gave us some corn bread to “keep us busy”. It was burn-the-fingers hot. Whether it got that way in the microwave I don’t know, because it was so buttery-sweet-good it got eaten before it could change texture. The chicken was delicious, with a light peppery crust and moist meat. The two pork chops on Ken’s plate were huge, and to use Ken’s word, “astounding”. They had also been breaded and fried, but they remained succulent. All the sides were outstanding, to a great extent because they’re not loaded with salt. The cabbage was nice and sweet, and the mac and cheese gooey and rich (although I have to say that Bobby Q is still has my #1). The yams were fabulous - in a nice, lightly spiced syrup, they could have been dessert. Since the portions are more than generous, we took home a piece of sweet potato pie ($3). I’m glad that we hadn’t tried it at the end of our meal as it was disappointing. The filling was one-dimensional and the crust unpleasant. Hopefully the peach cobbler or red velvet cake are better.

There are lots more things on the menu I’d like to try. I’m not sure Ken will ever be able to get beyond the pork chops. Ribs, meatloaf, fried shrimp, and oxtails. Some of Andre’s family is from Louisiana, so there’s gumbo and red beans and rice. Catfish and red snapper. You can even get baked chicken - but why would you?

The restaurant is small, with an active take-out business. It’s clean, tables get bussed quickly, and everybody is friendly. In fact, we spent a pleasant half hour talking food with Andre. There’s another location at the swap meet at 5115 N. 27th Ave.

Off Da Hook

1804 W. Glendale Ave., Phoenix 602-242-1922

Open 7 days, 10 - 8

no website

The Sound of Orgasmic Humming

2010-02-22T21:06:00.001-08:00

I was awakened from my foodie revery of perfectly seasoned babaganooj on home-made bread by an eerie orgasmic humming. I looked up and saw Ken, his eyes glazed over, humming to his glass of iced Turkish coffee, a delight of his own creation. When Tony, the owner (along with his wife Juliette) came over to investigate, he decided he had to have one too.

This took place at Olive Tree Mediterranean Market and Grill in North Phoenix. Unlike most small groceries, Olive Tree is bright, clean and cheerful. The shelves are stocked with fascinating Middle Eastern delights - jars of olives and tahini, an interesting assortment of cheeses, sweet treats that I’d never seen before. You order at the counter

from a good size selection of ethnic dishes, plus a few typical American items. Food is then brought to your table in a sectioned off area.

I had discovered Olive Tree on Restaurant.com. Since we had to order $35 of food from the menu, we ended up with quite an array of dishes. Now that I think of it, the humming started with the above-mentioned baba. This roasted, pureed eggplant concoction is found in most Middle Eastern restaurants, with varying results. It can be very flat tasting if too much tahini (sesame paste) is mixed in, or it may be over-spiced. This baba was beautiful, with all the tastes dancing in our mouths. Julliette makes her own bread to go with it. The texture is very different from pita (even the pita served here was selected with great care), crustier and chewy. A special of the day was stuffed cabbage. About the same size and shape as the stuffed grape leaves (which were delicious), these are lighter and lemony good - a real treat. We shared a combination kebab plate with chicken, kefta, and shish-kebab skewers. This paled in comparison to the other dishes, since the meat was on the dry side. The baklava was quite good, it wasn’t soggy with syrup, so the layers of phyllo dough made a satisfyingly crunchy noise.

After lunch we did a little shopping. We got some delicious feta cheese and something called Chicago cheese, which reminded me of mozzarella. I could have bought more, but Ken wisely herded me out the door.

Olive Tree Mediterranean Market and Grill

1930 W. Pinnacle Peak Phoenix (at 19th Ave.)

623-582-0222

I couldn’t find a web site

Monday - Thursday 9 - 7, Friday and Saturday 9 - 8, Sunday 11 - 7

A Grand Surprise

2010-02-20T19:49:00.001-08:00

It was raining.
We had to get out of the house for a few hours.
It was lunch time.

So we decided to go down to Scottsdale Fashion Square, figuring there must be someplace to have lunch, we’d be out of the rain, and we could walk around for a while afterwards. However, it seemed to be a bad decision. The mall was mobbed, the food court gross, and the uninspiring restaurants near the food court had long lines. I was ready to leave, but Ken has more forbearance than I do, so we went up half a level, following a sign pointing toward Yard House and Grand Lux Cafe. Fortunately, the sidewalk led us to the Cafe, a place we had never noticed before.

We entered the imposing lobby, done up in black marble (faux?), with a nice display of desserts in a glass case. There was a short wait, during which we looked over the extensive menu. The dining area is cavernous, with high, high ceilings. There are lots of chandeliers, gilt moldings, and art deco touches. All very Vegas. But with an eerily Cheesecake Factory vibe about it, too. Actually, now that I think about it, Vegas is very Cheesecake Factory. And as it turns out, the creator of the Cheesecake Factory was commissioned by the owners of the Venetian Resort and Casino to create a casual, upscale restaurant for them. And, voila, the Grand Lux Cafe was born. There are now about 15 of them scattered around the country.

As you probably know by now, I’m not a big fan of corporate food, but there were some interesting items on the menu, it was still raining, and by now we were starving. We decided to share a cup of chicken/cream of mushroom soup. It was actually more like a bowl, a serving-size trend which was to continue. Beautifully seasoned and creamy, it came as a great surprise. But even better was the accompanying bread. Both the white and whole wheat slices had such crisp crusts that we were sending shards all over ourselves and the tablecloth when we broke the slices apart.

Within a reasonable time our sandwiches arrived. Mine was short rib, grilled cheese and carmelized onion. A sublime combination, and one that had never occurred to me. There was a little container of a sweet and sour salsa, which helped cut the richness of the sandwich. I had asked for my side of fries to be extra crispy, but there were none on the plate. The waitress brought them a minute or two later - they had obviously spent extra time in the fryer because they were perfectly cooked. They’re at least as good as those at George’s Gyros, and maybe even a little better. For me, that makes them the best in town. Ken went with short ribs, too, but in the form of a sloppy joe. It came in a large hot dog style bun that had been nicely grilled. Mild,sweet onions and a serving of mustard sauce (which was heavenly on the fries) were on the plate. Ken liked my sandwich a little better than his, but I thought they were pretty much equal. I believe my sandwich was $12, and Ken’s was $10 - not bad for the quality and quantity.

As I said, the menu was quite large. I’ll mention a few of the items which caught my eye. Appetizers: cheese steak springrolls, duck pot stickers. The Oven and Broiler section: chicken pot pie and Jamaican pork tenderloin. Pan and Grill: fried chicken, thai caramel chicken, jambalaya, and weiner schnitzel. Many of the desserts are baked to order and must be ordered at the beginning of your meal. There’s molten chocolate cake (isn’t there always?!), roasted pineapple upside down cake, beignets, and a few more. From the bakery come sticky bun bread pudding, banana cream pie, five kinds of cheesecake and chocolate layer cake. I could go on but you get the idea. I’ve left out lots of things on the menu, salads, pizzas, and a specialty cocktail of the day for $5 - you can see the whole thing on their website. Unfortunately the prices aren’t listed there. The entrees seem to range from about $13 to the mid twenties. Not cheap, but not outrageous, and lots of things are share-able.

I’d happily go back, particularly if it’s not raining. There’s outdoor parking right near the door, so you don’t have to set foot in the mall.

Grand Lux Cafe

7014 E. Camelback Rd. Scottsdale

On the East side of Scottsdale Fashion Square, next to Starbucks

480-949-7800

Monday - Thursday 11 - 10, Friday and Saturday 11 - 11, Sunday 10 - 10

grandluxcafe.com

Satisfaction

2010-02-16T10:42:00.001-08:00

If you kiss enough princes, and you’re very lucky, one of them might just turn into a satisfied frog. Good fortune has smiled on us - if you go to 2827 E. Bell Rd. in Phoenix, you’ll find one there. Crazy Ed’s Satisfied Frog (a.k.a. The Little Frog on Bell) opened last night.

This is the home of my favorite fried chicken, and some mighty good ribs, beef and pork. The original Satisfied Frog lived up in Cave Creek in Frontier Town. He’d been around since 1981, and his demise came amidst a swirl of controversy, about two years ago. Crazy Ed and his wife Maria kept in touch with the faithful by e-mail, and he continued to sell his “world famous” Cave Creek Chili Beer on line. Then came the news that he was planning a come-back, and we hung on his every communication. Last night was our reward.

The new Frog is much smaller than its predecessor, but much cuter. There are rustic wood chairs and red tablecloths. Terrific lantern light fixtures, and for those who can’t do without, 12 TV screens. And the food is even better!! Our chicken ($14.99, enough for two) had crackly good skin, the fries were just the way I like them (you know, nice and crisp). A house salad was included, unlike at the old Frog. The price for this dinner was $3 less than previously. For dessert we had our old favorite, strawberry shortcake ($6.99, again, enough for two). The quality of the ice cream has been upgraded, and nice biscuits sop up the syrup, instead of cake which used to get soggy. This was $2 less expensive.

In fact, all the prices are quite reasonable. The meats, which all come from Harris Ranch and are organic and hormone free, range in price from $6.99 for a ground-fresh burger, to $18.99 for a full rack of St. Louis ribs. All-you-can-eat beef ribs (boy, did they smell good!) are available daily for $10.99. There’s pulled pork and brisket, and fish and chips ($9.99 for a basket and $12.99 for a platter). A new item on the menu is cream of green chili soup ($6.99), described as heavy cream blended with mild green chiles and butter, then topped with croutons and cheese. I’ve got to try that next time. There’s lots more on the menu, which you can find on line.

I think I’ll go find some more princes to kiss and see what pops up next.

Crazy Ed’s Satisfied Frog

2827 E. Bell Rd. Phoenix 602-765-7777

satisfiedfrog.com

11AM-10PM Sunday - Thursday, 11-11 Friday and Saturday, bar open til 2AM

Time Travel

2010-02-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

It’s 1961 and we’re having lunch in the courtyard of our Miami Beach hotel. Parker House rolls, sweet and salty, an open-face meatloaf sandwich with mushroom gravy. There’s a surf board and a tiki carving amidst the flowers. But wait - something’s wrong!! There’s no humidity! Those are imported mushrooms in my gravy! I work to orient myself in time and space and find, what a relief, that I’m actually in Cafe ZuZu in downtown Scottsdale and it’s 2010.

The Valley Ho Resort, which houses the Cafe, is such a wonderful period piece. It opened in 1956 and was renovated in 2005 by a very wise design team that left the mid-century architecture and spirit intact. Cafe ZuZu is at the far end of the lobby, and its charming patio is surrounded with flowers. The decor is late 50’s. If you’re as old as we are, you’ll recognize it instantly. The menu consists of “Flavorful American comfort food. Familiar favorites with a contemporary twist.” There are goodies like warm Maytag blue cheese fondue ($7.50), truffled grilled cheese ($9), beef stroganoff ($17), and (gross) tuna salad with cottage cheese which brings me back to my childhood a little too clearly.

While waiting for our entrees, we received a basket of Parker House rolls. These are the nice squishy white bread treats that, if you can manage not to eat them all, make wonderful toys. You can mold them into sculptures, or shape them into little round beebees to shoot through your straw. My meatloaf sandwich ($11.25) was served on a thick piece of grilled white bread topped first with melty cheese, then the meatloaf, then the gravy. There was a mound of lumpless mashed potatoes alongside. They were so smooth Ken wondered if they were made from instant, but they tasted much too good for that. The portion was huge, I took half home (of course I knew I was going to have dessert). Ken had sauteed liver, beautifully prepared, atop a mound of kale that had been cooked with high quality bacon, sauced with a Madera reduction. He loved it. I surprised him by ordering a lemon meringue tart ($6) for us to share. There were several chocolate desserts that sounded good, but I had a vision of the mile high meringue toppings of my childhood. The tart had only modest swirls of meringue, but it had been made in such a way that it was creamy, as opposed to foamy, and it was really good.The lemon custard was the star. I remembered a gelatinous filling, but this was smooth and velvety, with just the right tart/sweet balance. The pastry was a cross between cookie and pie crust, and stood up well to the filling.

This was not an inexpensive meal, but the portions are large and quality is excellent. Plus we had joined an organization called The Lunch Club, which every weekday, emails it’s members a discount coupon for a restaurant in their specified zip code. So one of our entrees was free! (The discount coupons differ, some are 20% off the bill, others merely are for a free drink). But, to pay Cafe ZuZu the ultimate compliment - I’d come here and pay full price.

Cafe ZuZu in the Valley Ho Resort

6850 E. Main St. Scottsdale

480-421-7997

Breakfast (6-11:15AM), Lunch (11:30-2:30) and Dinner (5:30-10) daily

hotelvalleyho.com

The Big Cheese

2010-01-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

Cheese lovers rejoice!! We have a great new resource in Scottsdale at The Quarter, that oh-so-ugly, still a work-in-progress shopping center on Scottsdale Road at the Greenway-Hayden Loop. It’s called Oakville Grocery, and it comes to us from Napa Valley where it’s been in operation since 1881.

The concept is similar to that of The Kitchen (see below). Shelves are stocked with all sorts of gourmet items you didn’t know you had to have. There’s an extensive collection of primarily California wines. There’s prepared foods to-go, and a salad/pizza/sandwich counter. Also charcuterie, a butchers station, and - fanfare - an awesome cheese section. We hit it from one end, where there was a bowl full of little cheese cubes to sample. It was Grana Padano, fresh off the boat from Italy. Like a cross between Emmenthaler and Parmesan it can be grated, shredded, or just eaten out of hand. (I went to the refrigerator just now to check on its name, and I couldn’t leave without cutting off a piece to munch on). We worked our way down the display, which took a while because we were reading about all the cheeses that were new to us. There were some old favorites, too, like those from the Cowgirl Creamery in San Francisco. The friendly and knowledgeable staff say that they will be happy to order anything not in stock (this is store policy, and they have a number of speciality catalogs for you to look at). This is probably the largest and most eclectic selection around. The prices are comparable to those at Whole Foods, or AJ, expensive, but “such is life”.

The same cannot be said for the rest of the merchandise. I spied an Italian ham for $130 a pound, lamb chops for $40 a pound. When I compared the price of jarred, imported tuna filets at Oakville and AJ’s, AJ’s was $3.00 cheaper ($7 versus $10 for a 7 ounce jar). The sandwiches are several dollars more expensive than those at The Kitchen, and pretty much on a par in terms of taste and quality. We had a serrano ham and machengo cheese sandwich on MJ bread for $8.99, served with a side of pasta salad, both quite good and big enough to share, so the price is not totally outrageous, but still... The Kitchen is cheaper. And speaking of bread, while MJ bread is very good, the selection is smaller and less interesting than the house-made bread at, you guessed it, The Kitchen. Oakville’s pastry selection is, in my opinion, boring at best, and unappetizing at worst.

The aisles in Oakville are cramped, it’s difficult for two of their small carts to pass each other. In an effort to display more merchandise the shelves are set up like a maze, and when lines form at the checkout counters, gridlock results.

But cheese lovers, don’t let these negatives deter you. Go see and taste for yourselves, you’ll be glad you did.

Oakville Grocery

1501 N. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale in The Quarter

480-596-8200

Monday - Saturday 10 - 9 Sunday 10 - 7

espresso cafe opens 7AM Monday - Saturday, 8AM Sunday

oakvillgroceryarizona.com the website does not seem to be working yet

Changing Tastes

2010-01-13T21:21:00.001-08:00

Lately I find my tastes changing. These changes ambush me without warning: not long ago I stopped putting Splenda in my tea - cold turkey. I started liking pastrami instead of corned beef. I stopped watching the news on TV. Is this a function of aging? I don’t know.

One of the more dramatic changes has been my growing appreciation of the overall “character” of a restaurant. I find myself much more willing to overlook small gaffes in the food preparation if the staff is friendly and knowledgeable, or if the ambience is cheerful and interesting in some way. It doesn’t have to be fancy - but it can’t be gloomy and boring.

This was brought home to me today at lunch. Our friend Sue picked a place I had never been to - Spinato’s Pizza. It’s a family owned and run local chain with four locations. We went to the one at Bell and 16th Street. Sue brought along her friend/employer Lee. It happens that Lee’s grandson works in Spinato’s kitchen. He always makes it a point to arrive 35 minutes before his shift begins so he can take advantage of employee dinner and he appreciates being treated like family. The place is cute - decorated in red, green and white. There are striped awnings above the booths, and trellises with vines. The chairs are white with green (or red) seats, and the table tops are white with the Spinato logo in the corners. The patio has tables with red-checked cloths. We were warmly greeted , and our server arrived promptly to offer drinks.

Ken and I ordered a large Spicy Italian pie ($19.50) with added ricotta. We also got a salad ($3.99). Lee requested garlic bread ($3.99, $4.79 with cheese), and a small spinach calzone, one of the house specialties ($9). Sue got spinach too, but in the form of a “lil” (smaller than small) pizza ($7.50). The salads arrived first, notable mostly for their large size. While the ingredients were fresh, there was nothing exciting there. The olive oil and balsamic vinegar served with them were of good quality. The garlic bread, eight pieces in the order, was outstanding - lots and lots of fresh garlic and a generous amount of butter. You have to make sure that everyone you’ll be talking to in the next few hours has eaten some too. The staff checked in frequently to ask if we were happy. The pizzas were served on a wire rack, a great idea since the thin crust remains nice and crisp. Instead of slices, our pie was cut into many small squares. I found that for some reason this caused me to eat less. The pizza wasn’t loaded down with sauce, and it had plenty of toppings. I tasted Sue’s spinach pie and it was really good. The spinach is marinated before being put on the pizza, and there’s tons of fresh garlic. Lee’s calzone was quite large - he took half of it home.

The menu isn’t extensive. Besides the pizzas (10 varieties, plus design your own) and calzone (there’s a spaghetti and meatball one) there are two pastas and five sandwiches. We didn’t inquire about dessert. The story behind Spinato’s is told on the back of the menu. The family was worried that when they left Chicago for Phoenix, back in the “70’s, they wouldn’t be able to find good pizza. What choice did they have but to open their own pizza parlor?! As the family grew so did the number of parlors. While the prices aren’t low, you can go to lunchclub.com and get a 25% off the entire bill coupon. Aren’t coupons great!!

I have to say that if I was doing a blind taste-test between Stumpy’s pizza (see the archives) and Spinato’s, I’d probably give the nod to Stumpy’s. But if you add in those other factors which have become important to me, as a dining destination Spinato’s wins. It’s also won awards from Phoenix New Times, the Scottsdale Culinary Festival and City Search.

Spinato’s Pizzeria

1614 E. Bell Rd. Phoenix see website for other locations

spinatospizza.com

Tuesday - Saturday 11 - 9 Sunday 4 - 9 closed Monday

The Second Time Around

2010-01-02T22:19:00.000-08:00

I admit it. I’m a romantic. Sometimes I give my heart away too easily to a handsome french fry here, or a buff egg roll there, only to have it broken on our second meeting. The french fry has gone limp, the egg roll greasy. That’s why I forced myself to hold back after going to Little Saigon the first time. I had to see how I’d feel on our next date. Now I’m ready.

The place is really cute. It’s in one of the little houses that make up much of downtown Glendale’s shopping district. You’d expect to be served Irish stew or corned beef and cabbage here. There are lace curtains in the windows and potted fake plants scattered about. But the food is Vietnamese, and lots of it, too. You can order by number, or enjoy feeling foolish trying to pronounce the Vietnamese names of the dishes correctly - all one hundred and one of them. So far we’ve tried eight.

The dish that first delighted us was #62, bo cuon la nho ($9.99), This, of course, is marinated beef wrapped in grape leaves and served with rice noodles and “paper”. It comes, as do many of the dishes, with a large helping of fresh-as-can-be romaine lettuce leaves, mint, thai basil, coriander, and sliced carrots and cucumbers. It it looks like you’re going to run out of greens, the pleasant servers (none of them Vietnamese) happily bring you more. The beef is tender and flavorful, contrasting nicely with the brininess and chew of the grape leaves. On our second visit, Ken ordered #55, black peppered bite-size pork ribs with caramelized onions ($6.99). It was served in a pot which came boiling to the table. The broth was delectable, flavored by the onions, and the ribs were falling off the bone with just the right jolt of pepper.

I decided to order two appetizers - egg rolls ($4.99) and banh xeo ($7.99), which are rice flour crepes filled with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts. The egg rolls were good, but not noteworthy. The crepes were delicious. I’ve had them at other places and they usually arrive at the table soggy from the filling. These were perfectly dry and crisp, despite the load of meat and veggies. Our friend Sue, who was with us on our first visit and happily came on the second, had the fried rice bowl ($6.99) both times, so we plied her with our goodies. I bet the next time she’ll go with the ribs.

There are 10 variations of Pho, with rice noodles, and 5 more soups made with egg noodles. Then there are 6 hot pot soups. Many dishes are served over rice, and others with stir fry noodles. Catfish is done 4 ways and shrimp 3. There are 3 green mussel salads and 5 mixed salads including one with jellyfish. I could go on, but if you go on line, you can see the menu for yourself.

As I mentioned above, the servers are friendly and attentive. They actually remembered our names and what we had eaten on our first visit. We had directed other friends to Little Saigon that night, and the servers remembered them, too. The portions are large, the ingredients fresh. And there’s even a cute patio. I think I’m ready to commit.

Little Saigon

7016 N. 57th Ave. Glendale

623-939-6136

Monday - Friday 11-3 and 5-9 Saturday 11-9 Sunday 11-7

littlesaigonaz.com

Notorious Porker Ingesting Groupies

2009-12-22T16:24:00.001-08:00

Notorious Porker Ingesting Groupie. It sounds like some kind of bad sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? Actually it’s what my overactive imagination came up with on hearing that the Notorious P.I.G All American BBQ didn’t have any words to go with the P.I.G. acronym. I thought they should have a contest and whoever came up with the best name would win a free dinner. So that’s my entry.

The Notorious P.I.G is a new BBQ restaurant on the corner of Thunderbird and 32nd St. where Carmella’s Italian Restaurant used to be. Now that Carmella’s talented former chef is cooking at Gino’s (see below) this is an even better use for the building. The interior hasn’t changed a lot, in fact they still have the same uncomfortable chairs (new ones are on the way), but the simplicity works well for a BBQ joint. For sports fans there are two flat screen TVs in the dining room, and more in the busy bar. It was a little past lunch time and the dining room was almost empty so we had lots of time to talk with our server, Torry. He moved to Phoenix a few weeks ago from Cincinnati, and this is his first restaurant job. We really enjoyed his enthusiasm. Ken asked a question about the chili, and Torry got a sample from the kitchen (with two spoons - smart man). When I said I had heard that the hushpuppies were overly seasoned with cayenne pepper, he went back again to make sure I could get some that would be to my liking. He checked in on us frequently, and later brought other staff members over to meet us.

Before our entrees, we were served a little loaf of piping hot, sweet cornbread, still in the dish in which it had been cooked. It was accompanied by honey butter. I was already being won over. There are three kinds of BBQ sauce - a mild tomato based one, the mild kind spiced up with pepper (I combined these two to make a slightly hot sauce), and a North Carolina mustard based sauce that captured Ken’s heart.

I “ingested” a pulled pork sandwich ($8.99) topped with delicious coleslaw that had a blue cheese dressing. The pork, nicely moist and flavorful, combined with the slaw (I would have liked a little more of it on my sandwich) and a decent roll was very satisfying. One side comes with the sandwiches, so I chose the hushpuppies. There wasn’t a trace of cayenne, which I appreciated, but they were a little lacking in corn flavor. The texture, however, was fabulous, they were so light they were almost airborne. Ken had ribs and beef brisket ($16.99). Be forewarned - the ribs are dry cooked, not falling off the bone and swimming in sauce. The dry rub was nicely balanced and the meat was perfectly tender, as was the brisket. The mac & cheese side needed a slight flavor nudge. We suggested adding truffle oil. We were too full for dessert, but Torry told us that there are several homemade pies ($3.99 including pecan and sweet potato), cobblers, and cookie sundaes (both $4.99).

Get this - on January 29 (I think that’s the correct date) there’s going to be a FREE

pig-pickin’. You can bet this Notorious Porker Ingesting Groupies will be there.

The Notorious P.I.G.

3230 E. Thunderbird Rd. Phoenix

602-992-3700

www.thenotoriouspig.com (website still under construction) call for hours of operation

Curiouser and curiouser

2009-12-19T15:09:00.001-08:00

“Surely I have fallen down the rabbit hole” thought menumaven as she entered the dark, dingy empty front room of Al Mostafa grocery and restaurant. A turbaned cleric was braying prayers from the TV high on the wall. Dark, slightly ominous “art” looked down at her. A few brightly colored polyester blankets were sitting on cartons on the floor, perhaps for sale. Some tables, covered in plastic, were pushed against two walls, and on the back wall a counter, with some photographs above it. “Would the Mad Hatter have taken me here if it wasn’t safe?” wondered menumaven. A man appeared behind the counter. When asked if there were any menus, he pointed to the photographs. Were these pictures of food? There was something that looked vaguely like a lamb shank. It turned out to be a whole fish. The thing that looked like a giant shrimp was actually a chicken leg. The heap of small brown pebbles on a plate were bits of lamb. The Mad Hatter, who had survived his first visit here a few weeks ago, pointed to the photograph of brown logs and declared that they were actually delicious kefta kebabs. We ordered the pebbles and logs.

While we waited we were served water from a stainless steel pitcher, poured into stainless steel cups. It tasted interestingly metallic. Several dark men floated in and out of the back room, including one wearing a flowing black bisht. All smiled as us politely.

After a fairly lengthy wait, during which we watched more prayers on the TV, we were brought large servings of our meat choices, two plates of chopped salad vegetables with lime wedges , a basket of pita bread and another basket of a larger, dryer flatbread. After a few minutes a different man brought out two plates of humus. Yet a third, with a plate of sliced tomatoes. I pulled off a portion of flatbread, spread it with humus, piled on some salad, and added a few pieces of lamb. Although the texture of the lamb did bear some resemblance to pebbles, it was very tasty, especially the pieces of fried onion that were mixed in with it. The humus was light as a feather, probably the best I’ve had. All together, it was a delicious mouthful. The kefta was even more enjoyable than the lamb. It, too, was light, not densely packed like many versions of this dish, and nicely seasoned.

As for dessert, a sign on the back wall read “We have ice cream”. It was above a rectangular box that may or may not have been a freezer. I really didn’t want to know.

We drove over to Luci’s Healthy Eats and bought some cake.

The Mad Hatter had promised me an interesting experience, and indeed it was. In fact, I’d go back just to look at the photographs some more and sample some “who knows what”. The food really was quite good.

Al Mostafa Grocery and Restaurant

7144 N. 35th Avenue (North of Glendale) Phoenix

602-526-7544

no website

Going bananas

2009-12-12T19:11:00.001-08:00

It’s so exciting when a new cuisine comes to town!! Today we had lunch at El Coquito, a Puerto Rican restaurant that opened in June. This is a small, unpretentious “pop and girlfriend” place - Puerto Rico by way of the Bronx. In a scruffy strip mall on N. Granite Reef near McDowell, you actually feel transported to the island. The walls are painted navy blue and yellow, with a colorful striped border separating the two. Salsa music is playing, and you can see potted plants outside flanking the windows. There are photos of Puerto Rico on the walls. The menu is written on board up front.

The food, called Cocina Criolla (Creole Cooking), has evolved from foods produced by the original inhabitants, mostly seafood and fruits, added to by the Spanish who came with Columbus, then layered with flavors brought by the African slaves. Plantains, both sweet and green are ubiquitous, Golden rice with pigeon peas is a national dish. The only spicy hot note comes from the bottle of hot sauce on each table.

There are a number of appetizers. Pastelillos are thin, flaky pastry filled with hamburger or cheese, then deep fried. Bacalitos ($3.99), my favorite part of the meal, are cod fish fritters. If you rub each one with a lemon slice, then spread it with the accompanying minced garlic, it’s pure heaven. To avoid the deep fryer you could get pasteles, green banana dough filled with either beef or chicken, wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled. Or empanadillas: ground yucca or casava which has been stuffed with chicken or pork, then rolled in - you guessed it, a banana leaf - and baked.

Soup and salad is available, but we moved right on to the main course. We shared a canu, a whole fried sweet plantain (do you sense a theme here?) filled with ground beef, olives and peppers, with melted cheese. You could go for the mofongo, twice fried plantain mashed and mixed with broth, pork cracklings and garlic, topped with steak and onions ($6.99 at lunch, $9.99 at dinner). Roast pork, served with rice and beans is a speciality.

Lots of fresh fruit drinks ($2) are available, but we decided to try the drink that the restaurant is named for, el coquito ($2.75), which means “little coconut”. Made with coconut milk, it’s thick and sweet like eggnog, served with a cinnamon stick for stirring. There’s no liquor license here yet, but you’re invited to go across the street and bring back some rum to put in it. That would be sooooo good. For dessert there’s flan and tembleque (which is coconut pudding) both $2.75. We were too full.

The place was crowded when we arrived, we snagged the last table. As a result, our server, who was most pleasant, was overwhelmed, and it was a long, slow meal. But worth the wait. Especially for the bacalaitos. I realize that what I’ve written will not sound very tempting to a lot of you, but really, it’s worth a try, if only for the novelty.

El Coquito

1617 N. Granite Reef Rd. Scottsdale

480-947-0680

elcoquito.net

Tuesday - Sunday noon - 9 closed Monday

Put a cork in it

2009-12-03T07:38:00.001-08:00

It would be a real kindness if someone would come along and put Uncorked, “the unpretentious wine bar” out of its misery. I think despondent would be a better word for it these days rather than unpretentious. It opened in the heyday of rising real estate values and hasn’t changed a bit since. The prices are still high and the furnishings - untouched - are hitting a new low. But what has really bottomed out is the kitchen.

Four of us arrived for lunch at 12:30. The place was empty, and stayed so except for one other party of two. When we sat down, Rob started to disappear under the table. The banquette had become unsprung. The laminate tabletop was peeling off in chunks. There was a sign on our table advertising summer specials. I’m wondering now why we stayed.

Ken and Rob ordered the soup of the day ($ 5), which our waitress said was chicken and corn chowder. I asked for a pulled pork sandwich ($10) and mac & cheese($9), which I was going to share with Ken. Rob also wanted the pulled pork, and Sue ordered a chicken salad sandwich ($9). The sandwiches are served with a side of 5 grapes?!?!. A bag of chips cost an extra dollar. A side salad is an additional $2.50.

Sue asked for a salad with a sesame dressing. The dressing that was served was an unidentifiable oil mixed with a touch of sesame oil - no vinegar or seasoning. It was awful. When she asked to exchange it for honey vinaigrette, she was served something orange flavored instead. The chowder contained no milk or cream. The bread on Sue's sandwich was inedibly stale. But the biggest gaffe of all was the

pulled pork. Both sandwiches arrived at the table stone cold. Like just out of the refrigerator cold. The person in the kitchen, I wouldn’t call him chef, couldn’t even bring himself to put them in the microwave (which is a sin anyway). Ken, who is a bit of a conspiracy theorist, thinks that the kitchen staff is trying to sabotage the operation. Could be, except for letting a good mac & cheese slip out of the kitchen undetected, they’re certainly succeeding.

Uncorked

16427 N. Scottsdale Rd. (in the Promenade) Scottsdale

480-699-9230

azeats.com

The King Kong Burger

2009-12-01T16:48:00.000-08:00

You may recall my moaning about the absence of New York style diners a few blog entries ago. Today I stopped complaining. I had seen an intriguing ad in the Savvy Shopper coupon magazine which showed a man with what looked like an eight inch high hamburger in front of him, and the message “Home of the King Kong Burger”. This was something I had to see for myself - and luckily we didn’t have to go far. Gino’s NY Home Style Restaurant is just south of Thunderbird on 32nd St, a lot closer than Phil’s Restaurant out in Fountain Hills.

It’s in a free-standing building that used to house a greasy omelet place. Gino has been working at cleaning up the place, but there’s still a way to go. Open for only about two months he’s busy changing the menu and the decor. The menu, or I should say menus, are a lengthy read. All the dishes have names such as Memphis Mo Jo and Yo! Adrian Philly. At breakfast there are “Rappers” like the Patti Labelle Peppa, eggs, spinach mushrooms bell peppers onions and avocado wrapped in a tortilla and served with hash browns or home fries (made from scratch) for $5.25. There’s a number of Big Bangin Omelets in the $6 range, and a Breakfast Bonanza at $3.99 (with the purchase of a beverage) which includes 2 eggs, sausage or bacon, potatoes and toast, or pancakes, eggs and potatoes, or French toast, egg and potato. How about the Big Bopper breakfast sampler for 3 to 4 diners ($17.99). It includes “a bunch of scrambled egss” or a big Denver Omelet, plenty of bacon, sausage and ham, pancakes, French toast, home fries, corn bread, biscuits and gravy. Then you go home and take a nap.

The dinner entrees include many Italian specialties. Gino makes the sausage himself, and also grinds the beef (no Costco patties or meatballs here). The lasagna includes both beef and sausage, plus 4 cheeses and made-in-house red gravy ($9.75). There’s ravioli, baked ziti, chicken parmesan, or spaghetti with meatballs or sausage. These are served with garlic bread and salad. Keath’s North Westerner is a grilled balsamic 16 ounce Rib Eye with caramelized onions and mushrooms, served with seasonal veggies, smashed garlic-onion potatoes and cornbread all for $15.99. One day a week BBQ ribs are the special. Family style dinners are also served. The Capone Family consists of loaded baked ziti made with fresh ricotta, mozzarella, parm, meatballs and sausage. Served with salad and garlic bread ($33.99 to serve at least 4). The Gotti family has lasagna, chicken cutlet, and ravioli covered with mozzarella and baked ($39.99)

Lunch. There’s a selection of sliders ($7.99), “Weenies and Wings” and some main course salads. The sandwiches include hot and cold Italian subs, pastrami and corned beef, tuna and egg salads. Burgers are $6.75 - the Maui Wowwee is made with grilled ham, teriyaki seasonings, pineapple, red onions, peppers lettuce and tomato. Here’s the description of our King Kong Burger ($9.99): “If you’re brave enough, have good arteries and health insurance this one’s for you. This one pound gorilla has bacon, ham, fried onions, two cheeses, lettuce and tomato on a grilled bun”. You even get to have your photo taken with it and put up on the Wall of Fame. We got ours (we shared one) with some of Gino’s homemade cole slaw as our side. Both the burger and slaw were delicious. You could tell that the meat had been freshly ground. The funny thing is, this burger wasn’t big enough for some folks, so Gino came up with King Kong’s Ma-Ma, a “12 inch tower that will put you on top of the world, it almost has as many floors as the Empire State Building, ask Fay Ray: 1 1/2 pounds of fresh beef, bacon, ham, fried onions, 4 cheeses (instead of the meager 2 on King Kong), lettuce and tomatoes. Tums not included - Circle K is next door.” $14.50. Gino’s a funny guy.

No desserts were listed on the menu, but I just knew there had to be New York style cheesecake. Sure enough, and it had just finished setting up, so we got the first piece. It was outstanding. I haven’t had cheesecake so smooth and creamy since Lindy’s went out of business - and I won’t tell you how many years ago that was!! Gino is planning to make a variety of fruit toppings to go with it.

This is a friendly New York kind of place, not surly. On December 12, Gino is taking part in an event at the strip mall where the restaurant is located to aid Sojourner Center of Phoenix, which provides shelter and support for victims of domestic violence. There’ll be old cars, music, food, etc. Donations of women’s clothing suitable for job interviews, food and new children’s toys would be appreciated.

Gino’s

13623 N. 32nd St. Phoenix 602-923-2500

Get this - Gino is planning to stay open 24/7 - even better than a diner.
Mon.-Sat 7AM-9PM Sunday 7AM-3PM

Ginoscoasttocoast.com

Indulge me

2009-11-28T15:11:00.001-08:00

Before I began writing this entry I looked up the word “indulge” in the thesaurus. It said, among other things, “gratify”, “fulfill”, “revel in”, and “abandon oneself to”. I thought these were all apt words to describe our brunch experience at Indulge Burgers and More. Having sampled and written about the Burger part of Indulge (see below), we decided to try the “More”. I did this with a small amount of trepidation since I’m not a breakfast person. But Ken is, so I thought I’d indulge him (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

The brunch concept is presented the same way as the burgers. You get to build your own - in this case - omelet. For $6.95 you choose 2 cheeses, 2 veggies (I had grilled onions and avocado), 2 sauces (spicy sour cream for me) and 1 choice of toast (bagels and croissants are $1 extra). You can opt for a protein like chorizo, kobe beef or bologna, but these cost and extra $1.50) Ken decided to have one of the Benedicts, the classic ($9.95). There are 5 more, including one with lobster meat ($12.00) which was calling my name. There’s also French toast, pancakes and a cinnamon roll.

The omelet was quite large, at least a 3-egger. The onions and avocado were in the fold, and the cheese was melted on the outside top of the omelet. This was my only complaint - I would have preferred the cheese to be shredded up and sitting on the inside so it would stay warm and melty. The onions were sweet and plentiful, and the avocado nice and fresh. The spicy sour cream was a great addition. My multigrain toast was thickly sliced and loaded with crunchy bits - it’s so nice to eat healthy.

Ken’s classic Benedict was the hit of the meal. The hollandaise sauce was so good I wished we had ordered an additional side of it. It was lemony and light. We suggested to the manager, Keegan (a very nice guy), that they serve it at lunch to go on a burger. Keegan really got into that concept and went in the kitchen to whip one up for his lunch. He was planning to top it with avocado.

You know, of course, that we had to try the cinnamon roll. It was big and warm and a little gooey. Our waitress brought us a container of maple syrup to go with it. I’d never heard of that, but I was willing to try. I didn’t think it actually added much, since the roll was so good on it’s own. No wretched excess here. Maybe later.

So we reveled with abandon and went away gratified and fulfilled. What more can you ask?

Indulgeburgers & More

10392 N. Scottsdale Rd. (SW corner of Scottsdale and Shea) Scottsdale

480-998-2222

Brunch Saturday and Sunday - I’m not sure of the times

indulgeburgers.com

Competition

2009-11-25T19:43:00.001-08:00

We were back out in Fountain Hills yesterday to drop off some jewelry at Style With A Twist, a fun ladies clothing and accessory boutique. Our friend Candy, the owner, enthusiastically told us about a new restaurant that she thought we’d like. She was especially happy because it was one we hadn’t yet heard about. It’s called MPJ’s Grill and Restaurant, and it turns out to be catty-corner from Phil’s (see below). We had, in fact, driven right by without noticing it when we ate there last week.

The chef/owner who used to work at Phil’s has put together a nice menu, much smaller and slightly more upscale but with comparable prices. There are 7 starters including crab cakes and seared tuna, each $7, two quesadillas, and a shrimp and avocado tower ($7). We shared a cup of corn chowder (a steal at $2), loaded with fresh corn kernels and subtly spiced. Since we were both very hungry we skipped the salads and sandwich portion of the menu and settled on meat - NY strip steak ($14) for me, with blackened spices and blue cheese. Ken ordered the marinated center cut pork chops with melted gorgonzola ($11) which Candy had raved about. Each came with a side salad and choice of potato - mashed, rosemary roasted or fries - or rice. No veggies.

The salad was disappointing. It was clearly made from bagged lettuce blend, and none too fresh. A few chopped tomatoes and cukes had been added. The thousand island dressing was quite good (it tasted very much like Phil’s), the blue cheese dressing was mediocre. We perked up when our entrees arrived. My steak was quite large, and spread with a melty blue cheese/cream cheese mixture. It was cooked medium rare as I had requested, and was tender and not fatty. The pork chops were the real hit. They were juicy as could be, flavorful, and well served by their blue cheese topping. Our rosemary potatoes were good too, although I would have liked them to be a little crisper on the outside. The one jarring note was the clump of lettuce mixture used to garnish the plate - it was useless, messy and certainly didn’t add to the presentation. That aside, we were very happy with our choices, particularly for the price.

MPJ’s has only been open since the end of June, but they have quite a following. We had arrived at 5 PM, and by 6 PM there were people waiting for tables. I hope that both this place and Phil’s will each survive the competition. Once they get a liquor license MPJ’s will likely be even more popular. They’re already expanding into the next store front. In the meantime, the decor is nonexistent. And the bathroom is outside around the corner. Their website stresses the notion that this is a “fine dining” restaurant, and shows a very misleading photo. But really, this is just a place to come to get a good solid meal at a remarkably good price.

So, let me finish telling you about the menu. There are 8 main- dish salads, most around $8. In the sandwich department there are 6 different burgers ($7 and $8) and they looked really delicious. Paninis, club sandwiches, and wraps round out this category. And finally, there are 8 pastas, from $10 to $13. Sugar spiced salmon with creamy spinach pasta and Romano cheese tempted me. The desserts sounded “corporate”, cheesecake, tiramisu and chocolate cake. We didn’t try any.

MPJ’s Grill & Restaurant

15225 N. Fountain Hills Blvd. Fountain Hills 480-284-6767

Monday to Sunday 10:30 AM - 9 PM

mpjsgrillandrestaurant.com

A Perfect Patio

2009-11-23T17:45:00.001-08:00

We just had lunch on the most beautiful patio this side of Provence. It’s at Petite Maison in downtown Scottsdale. The umbrellaed space is surrounded by a low terra cotta wall that’s topped with a colorful variety of potted plants and flowers. There was even a hummingbird flitting through the greenery. I wonder if he’s trained to do that. One wall is divided by an ivy covered trellis through which you enter the restaurant. The other contains a fireplace. The 8 patio tables are covered with white cloths. Sadly, the chairs are not the most comfortable. But the French never did want you to be completely happy. The menu is chock full of French goodies, the biggest concession to American taste being a hamburger, but that’s okay since it’s served with tomato confiture instead of ketchup. If not for the buildings across the street, you’d swear you were in southern France.

Could the food meet the high expectations created by the ambience? Yes and no. We started off sharing a cute tureen of Soupe a l’onion ($6). The stock was slightly over-salted and didn’t have the sweet undertones of the stock at Amy’s Baking Company. But the cheese was nice and nutty and a little more interesting than Amy’s. Overall, I gave Amy the win. Next we had Steak Tartare ($8). The mound of ground raw grass-fed beef had been mixed with lots of mustard, banyuls vinegar and something I could not identify, perhaps mayonnaise, which gave it, according to Ken, a kind of ham salad texture. It was topped by a lightly fried egg, with a nice runny yolk. This could be scooped up on the large pieces of thinly sliced and deep fried potato. I thought the potato planks were a great substitute for slices of baguette which is the usual accompaniment. Some black pepper would have been a good addition, but none was offered, nor was there any salt or pepper on the table. Next, and most disappointing, was the Crepes au Poulet ($8). The crepes themselves were nice enough, but the chicken, which was supposed to have been roasted, had no character. The braised mushrooms and the sauce soubise (which was almost nonexistent) were equally flavorless. I was leaning toward a negative verdict of Petite Maison, but I was still lulled by the wonderful patio and the lovely service.

Two desserts were offered, a chocolate creme brulee and a port poached pear served with creme fraiche and port syrup. Our waitress’s description of the pear ($6) struck our fancy. This was such a French dessert that it actually did make the buildings across the street disappear and we were sitting in the middle of a field of lavender as we savored it. I forgave the crepe au poulet and decided that I wanted to return and try some of the dinner offerings. The main courses range from $16 to $39 for bouillabaisee for two. Quite reasonable. I’ll write the other half of this entry after our next visit.

Petite Maison

7216 E. Shoeman Lane Scottsdale

480-991-6887

Brunch 10-2 Sat. & Sunday Lunch 11-2 Mon-Friday Dinner 5-10 daily

Staff meal 10PM-midnight Thu.-Sat.

www.PetiteMaisonAZ.com

It ain't Kozy anymore

2009-11-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

We stopped into Kozy Cactus the other day for lunch. It’s not one of our favorite places, but they have some interesting things on the menu, and they try hard to be “local” and organic. At least they used to. The menu we were handed had been cut in half and everything but bar food was gone. We asked the waitress what had happened, and she said that the management had changed but the name remained the same. Since we had our Restaurant.com coupon with us we decided to stay......not a great decision.

We ordered wings with sauce on the side, chili, onion rings and a patty melt. We waited and waited some more, and the place was not very busy. When our wings came they were slathered in sauce but we didn’t want to send them back and risk waiting another half hour. Silly us, the sauce was awful!! It seemed to be a mixture of marinara and bbq, to the detriment of each. Too bad because the wings themselves were decent. Ken said the chili recipe was totally changed - it had no seasoning other than “hot”. No onions or cheese were offered with it and our waitress was too busy chatting to come to our table for a request. The onion rings were dripping with grease, and like the hamburger, way too salty.

There are bars that serve way better food at much lower prices. I suggest you find one. And don’t be fooled by the name. Like I said, it ain’t Kozy anymore.

Kozy Cactus

4326 E. Cactus Rd. Phoenix

602-569-5699

That was soooooo good!!

2009-11-17T21:35:00.001-08:00

The size of my smile as I’m leaving a restaurant is a reliable measure of how much I enjoyed my dining experience. As I exited Luci’s Healthy Marketplace I could feel it reach from ear to ear. And even more, as we drove home from the 16th Street/Bethany Home location I kept murmuring “That was sooooooo good!! That was soooooo good!!”.

What I was referring to was Luci’s chicken pot pie, which we had come specifically to try. When we arrived a little after 4PM there was a huge pan of freshly roasted chicken on the counter. Our pot pie was made from one of these, sauced and pastry- topped on the spot. A 9” take out container was loaded with big shreds of chicken mixed with a delicious almost sweet, slightly peppery gravy with a few vegetables and the crowning glory, an airy, flaky puff pastry hat. Perfection. It easily fed the two of us. If it hadn’t been so good, it could have fed three.

We decided to have a salad while waiting for our pot pie, and chef Justin Wolter

came to our table for a consult. He said we could have pretty much anything we wanted on the salad, so we chose artichoke hearts, olives, cherry tomatoes, romaine, and feta cheese. Justin suggested we top it with tzaziki dressing, which was the perfect choice. Unlike most tzaziki, it contained more oil than yogurt, and lots of garlic and parsley (or some other green tasty herb) which added a light green cast to the dressing. Like the pot pie, it was huge. And totally fresh.

Since I was very full, I chose to take dessert home. The charming barrista, Lane (I should have asked how she spells her name) told us these come from two sources. Slade Grove, of Wicked Bakery once on Cave Creek Road, does truffles, mini cakes and incredible cinnamon rolls. Chocolate layer cake, carrot cake, and quiches are imported from New York. I tried the chocolate cake which was moist and light, with a nice chocolate flavor.

Luci’s is open 7 days, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. On weekends there’s an omelette bar, which does a booming business. There are soups, salads, hot and cold sandwiches and wraps, and after 4PM there are dinner specials. Luci’s is also a miniature grocery store specializing in “good-for-you” items. Organic and gluten free is a common theme, but these aren’t dour health food things. We tried some chips made from hummus which were sensational, and the baba we got to go with them was top notch. The owners are great believers in local first, and the products reflect this. Prices are quite reasonable.

Luci and Ken Schnitzer live just around the corner from their neighborhood grocery/restaurant, which is a good thing considering how hard they work. Luci,a real dynamo (and a delightful person) has two small children and until just recently ran a day care center in her home. You really have to come experience Luci’s and feel the vibe. You’ll leave with a big smile too.

Luci’s Healthy Marketplace

1590 E. Bethany Home Rd. Phoenix (S.E. corner of Bethany and 16th St.)

602-773-1339 lucisHealthyMarketplace.com

Almost a diner

2009-11-15T16:01:00.000-08:00

About the only thing that makes me nostalgic for New York is the thought of a Greek diner, open all hours, serving a huge array of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Phil’s Place in Fountain Hills almost fills the bill. Since this is “early to bed” country, Phil’s closes at 8:30. But I feel forgiving as I peruse the 6 page menu.

It was lunch time. Should I go for a 10” sub? Meatballs? Steak? Philly Cheese? A salad? One with coconut crusted tilapia, or whisky BBQ chicken? There are 12 different half pound burgers to choose from. But there are also five 20 ounce burgers stuffed with various cheeses and veggies. Then on to the sandwiches: BBQ pork, pastrami, gyros, Jamaican jerk chicken. Pizza. Pasta.

I ordered a cheeseburger delux, no problem when I asked for medium-rare, and instead of the fries (sweet potato, cajun or regular, refilled as many times as you wish) I chose the add-on onion rings. Ken was in a dinner frame of mind and got the 14 ounce cut of roast beef. Baked potatoes were not available, so our friendly waitress said he could have as many kinds of fries as he wanted. The dinner also came with a salad and vegetables. When our plates arrived, we were both surprised by how nice the roast beef looked, thick, juicy and served medium-rare, as ordered. The sweet potato fries tasted notably like sweet potatoes (this is a rare thing). The “special sauce” on my burger had a nice peppery bite. The ground beef was ordinary, but the sandwich as a whole was delicious. And the Russian dressing on the salad was fabulous.

There are house specials - BBQ ribs, liver and onions(!), chicken fajitas, greek souvlaki. Prices for these range from $9.95 for the fish fry to $20.95 for a full rack of ribs. The prime rib was $17.95. Burgers and sandwiches cost from $5.25 to $10.95. For breakfast there are eggs, omelettes, wraps, pancakes and waffles. I brought home a piece of pecan pie for dessert - it’s huge and looks very good. If it isn’t, I’ll let you know.

The ambiance is homey and retro, filled with Coca Cola memorabilia. But there are also lots of TVs scattered around for those who can’t leave the games at home.

Phil’s Place

16758 E. Glenbrook Blvd. off of Fountain Hills Blvd. You might want to take your GPS.

Fountain Hills

480-816-5620

Monday - Saturday 7AM-8:30PM Sunday - we were there at about 1PM, but call for

hours

There doesn’t seem to be a website

A Sporty Burger

2009-11-08T11:22:00.001-08:00

If you find yourself in downtown Scottsdale at lunchtime you might drop in at Don & Charlie’s, the sports memorabilia paradise which incidentally serves really good steaks, chops and ribs. The main restaurant isn’t open, but the lounge hosts The Burger Bar from 11:30 to 2:30 PM.

The menu is small. There are a few appetizers - guacamole (not the best in town) and a Cabo style shrimp cocktail ($6.95) which I’ve heard is quite good. A few salads - chicken

Caesar and Mediterranean with chicken, both $8.95. They looked tasty and were quite large. And a few uninspiring sounding sandwiches.

The real reason to come here is the burgers; big, juicy and cooked to order (even if the menu says differently). The basic burger is $7.95, and nine variations are listed (all $8.95), but you can create your own for the same price. Slaw is served alongside. But, get this, for $1.95 you can get a huge plate of delicious onion “strings”. I don’t know why they’re called strings, which are often dry and overcooked. These are basically onion rings which have been cut open so they’re not round (again, I have no idea why). Fries are the same price, or you can have half and half.

The other reason to go to The Burger Bar is the broasted chicken. This is half a chicken deep-fried in a pressure cooker. According to the explanation on the menu, “pressure frying seals in the flavors and seals out the oil”. Ken will attest to this. The chicken was nice and crispy, not greasy and not salty. And the price was right - $9.95 for a serving size that runs at least $16 almost anywhere else. A word of caution. The chicken isn’t pre-cooked (thank heavens) so it takes 20 minutes to a half hour to reach your table.

There’s a mini creme brulee ($1.95) for dessert. This lone little offering struck me as very funny.

While you’re waiting for your chicken you can walk around and look for artifacts from you favorite team. It’s a fun place and a most reasonable price for lunch.

The Burger Bar at Don & Charlie’s

7501 E. Camelback Scottsdale

480-990-0900

donandcharlies.com

Lunch Monday - Friday 11:30 - 2:30

Out of the Ordinary

2009-11-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

The dining gods were kind today, At lunchtime they led us to La Mirage, a Mediterranean restaurant in the almost deserted Bell Canyon Shopping Center near Rt. 17. On entering, you’re in for a surprise - a stage set up for musical entertainment, a dance floor, catering style cloth-covered dining tables with upholstered barrel chairs on wheels. And not a customer in sight.

The extensive menu is a combination of familiar Greek dishes, more exotic Lebanese ones, and a great many dishes I had never heard of (which made me very happy). The owner is Arab, so perhaps that’s what these dishes are. There are many combination plates and family platters. You can even get a whole lamb with rice (called Quzy) for $225.

We ordered the deluxe appetizer platter ($13.95) which came with stuffed grape leaves (served hot), falafel, a large plate of hummus, and fattoush, a salad with pieces of fried pita bread. This was more than enough for a meal, but we had also ordered an entree of

Shish Kafta ($13.95), skewered ground beef with onions and parsley. The two skewers were accompanied by a mound of fluffy rice and a pile of raw chopped onions coated with sumac, a spice not used enough in restaurants in the U.S. A bowl of lentil soup came with the entree, and it was delicious, as were all the various dishes. Our very nice waitress also supplied us with a bowl of curry potato stew because the sauce goes well on the rice.

Here’s a list of some of appetizers and entrees. I hope it whets your appetite and curiosity: Quail, Foul Mdmass, Bajilla, Kibbe done three ways, lamb chops, kabobs and shawarma, chicken cream chops,

ghallaba, lablabee, fruit smoothies.

If you go to the website you can check out La Mirage’s menu, and also their entertainment schedule. There are card games on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, belly dancing on Saturdays, and Latin and Salsa dancing on Thursdays.

This is another place that’s barely managing to hang on. So if you feel like having a Middle Eastern meal, safe or adventurous, please give them a try.

La Mirage Mediterranean Cuisine

2734 W. Bell Rd. #1330 Phoenix

602-978-2800

lamirage.info

Tuesday & Wednesday 11:30 - 10, Thursday - Saturday 11:30 - 2AM

Sunday noon - 10

I’m not sure if they’re open on Monday

D'Vine Est Omnis Divisa in Partes Tres

2009-11-02T22:10:00.000-08:00

This entry is about D’Vine Bistro and Wine Bar in Chandler. I wish I was more competent with my word processor, because I’d like to divide the review into three columns: Very Successful, Adequate, and Giant Flop. I think it would mean more if you could see side-by-side comparisons, but you’ll just have to try and visualize it.

I’ll be nice and start with the Very Successful column. (1)The menu: it’s full of innovative selections. There are a number of Tapas, such as fried plantain cakes topped with grilled mango poke, seared pork belly, and a habanero vinaigrette ($8) and salmon cakes with chipotle molasses ($7). Many of the entrees come with interesting sides and sauces, for instance grilled pork tenderloin with a pan seared goat cheese polenta cake and roasted peppers, finished with a chipotle, espresso and raspberry BBQ sauce ($18). Which leads me to the Most Very Successful item of the evening. (2) Ken ordered one of the specials, a New Zealand farm-raised venison 2 rib chop with a juniper berry marinade, accompanied by spinach and roasted potato hash and the raspberry espresso BBQ sauce. Given how far the deer had to travel, the $32 price tag didn’t seem too unreasonable. The chop was truly superb, moist and flavorful but not gamey. The sauce suited it perfectly. (3): portion sizes were quite generous. And (4): White anchovies were featured in several of the dishes. That’s it for the Very Successful.

On to Adequate. (1) The ambience is pleasant, if somewhat noisy. There’s a bar, with a television above it, high top tables, and those of regular height. The paintings on the wall are for-sale originals, some good, some not-so. There is a patio (this will also appear in the Giant Flop column). (2); Our dessert selection of chocolate mousse cake was “corporate food”, not made in-house, and nothing special, but certainly both edible and size-able. The coffee fell in this column, too. (3) The nicoise salad ($12) ordered by our friend Sena came with seared Ahi tuna rather than the canned variety packed in olive oil. This would have put it in the Very Successful category for me, but Sena likes the more traditional canned tuna.

OK. Here’s the column you’ve probably been waiting for: Giant Flops. I’ll start with (1) the above mentioned patio. The misters were on and it felt like London on a foggy morning. When we asked that they be turned off, nobody warned us that we would get dripped on, and our drinks would get dripped in. We soggily moved inside. (2) Sangria shouldn’t be offered unless the proper ingredients are available. The white sangria ($5 at happy hour) given to us had a few slices of lemon in a poor quality wine. When we told our waitress that it was unacceptable she brought us a little carafe of “berry juice” to add to it. This made it even worse. (3) Nobody should ever put slices of cucumber in drinking water. While it may look stylish, after about 5 minutes it tastes really strange, and after 15 it’s horrible. Imagine drinking it while eating chocolate mousse cake!! (4) My entree. I ordered one of the specials - fried chicken marinated in buttermilk, served with gouda mac & cheese, sauteed vegetables and a rainbow peppercorn gravy ($18).

I asked for all dark meat, and my plate arrived with two huge chicken legs. I thought the coating was good, although the crispness of the coating was quickly lost to the gravy. The first few bites were quite good, the chicken was moist, with a pleasant taste. But then I noticed how pink the chicken meat was getting as I got closer to the bone, and it was actually almost raw in the center. The second leg, which I had given to Ken was somewhat smaller, and he said it was adequately cooked. The mac & cheese, if it had a flavor, was drowned out by the gravy which was cough-inducingly peppery. The sauteed vegetables consisted of a few strands of bell peppers.

When our bill arrived, $6 had been deducted from the price of my entree, and we had not been charged for the sangria (which we had not drunk). As we were leaving the restaurant a woman whom I assume is the manager asked how our meal was. I politely listed some of our complaints and she seemed genuinely upset and was quite apologetic. While we were getting into the car she came out to the parking lot and gave us a gift certificate to use if we’d give D’Vine a second chance. Because of the items in the Very Successful column, I think we will. It’s not every place that has pork belly, white anchovies and venison.

D’Vine Bistro and Wine Bar

3990 S. Alma School Rd. (at Ocotillo) Chandler

480-782-5550

dvinewine101.com

Monday - Thursday 11 - 10, Friday and Saturday 11 - 10:30, Sunday 4 - 9

Thanksgiving Feast

2009-10-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

We stopped by Amy’s (see below) today to make our Thanksgiving reservation.

The menu sounds delicious:

Spinach and Cheese Puffs

Choice of:

Waldorf Salad with Crisp Romaine Lettuce

Creamy Butternut Sage Parmesan Soup

Choice of:

Oven Roasted Organic Turkey with Cider Sage Gravy

Prime Rib with Horseradish Mustard Aioli

with

Oyster Brioche Stuffing or Sage Chorizo Stuffing

Dried Cherry Cranberry Relish with Cognac

Creamy Garlic Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

Corn Pudding Souffle

Freshly Baked Brioche Rolls

and

Pumpkin Cheesecake or Dried Cranberry Creme Brulee

The cost is $35 per person (not including tax, tip and beverages). And just think, no dishes to wash, no last minute shopping to do, no “I forgot to thaw the turkey!!”. There’s also a children’s menu.

We’re planning to go to the first seating (I think there’s 3). We’d love it if you’d be there too. Call Amy to make a reservation: 480-607-0677. Please tell her that you’ll be sitting with us, then give us a call or an email so we’ll know to expect you.

Hallelujah, Amy's Back!!!!

2009-10-04T19:59:00.001-07:00

For more than a year Amy’s Baking Company has stood empty. Periodically the faithful would drive through the parking lot at the N.E. corner of Scottsdale and Shea, craning their necks to check for signs of life. It was a pilgrimage. And finally we’ve been rewarded. We thank our friend Anna for calling us with the good news.

In the time before Amy’s closed it garnered glowing reviews from the likes of Phoenix Magazine and the Arizona Republic. Everyone mentioned the upscale decor and the friendliness of chef Amy Bouzaglo and her husband/host Samy. But mostly they raved about the food - especially the desserts. I’m more than happy to say that nothing’s changed, or maybe it’s even better. They’ve added a pizza oven and a long list of designer pizzas. The dessert case was full of cakes and tarts, some of which seem to be new recipes.

We ordered fried calamari with a pesto aioli ($10 ), and the hummus platter with wild mushrooms ($10 ). I asked Samy to take a piece of chocolate-orange-raspberry-truffle cake out of the refrigerator case so it would warm to room temperature while we ate our dinner. The calamari were tiny rounds, very tender, lightly breaded with seasoned crumbs. The aioli was delicious, I could have eaten it by itself. But the real hit was the hummus. It’s texture was perfect, and it was most thoughtfully seasoned. A very large helping of sauteed mushrooms sat atop. But what capped it off was that it was served with a pizza pan full of Italian flatbread (which is also used for the pizza crust) fresh and hot from the oven, blistered and crunchy. It would make any topping shine.

While we ordered from the antipasti section of the menu, there’s lots more to try. Salads, like Caramelized Pear ($12) and Vanilla Bean Coconut Shrimp ($16).Sandwiches: the MonteCristo ($17) is a house specialty, dipped in a French beignet batter and served with homemade raspberry preserves. Butternut squash ravioli is one of my favorites from the pasta selections. And then there’s the pizza: fig, pear and prosciutto ($16 for a 12 inch) is my next must-have. While the prices may strike you as on the high side, the portions are big enough to share and the ingredients are top quality.

Then, the cake. It’s time out of the refrigerator case had softened the buttercream and accentuated the flavors. Amy is master of the buttercream - it’s never overly sweet. The play of orange and raspberry was intriguing. We also shared a “creamy iced coffee” ($4) which went perfectly with the cake. Choosing a dessert isn’t easy. Everything looks beautiful - lemon curd tarts, cupcakes, bread pudding, cheese cake, creme brulee. Now that Amy’s back we can try all of them.

A note: Amy and Samy will be serving Thanksgiving dinner. There will be three seatings, and reservations are being taken now. You’ll find us there.

Amy’s Baking Company

7366 E. Shea Blvd. Scottsdale 480-607-- 0677

amysbakingco.com

alt="Amy's Baking Co. on Urbanspoon"

Dim Sum without Fear

2009-10-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

A few days ago my favorite restaurant blogger, Seth Chadwick, wrote about a dim sum place with a twist - no carts. Instead you check off items on a printed menu, much like those in many sushi places, with an accompanying page of photos of the various dishes. I thought this was a great idea since I’ve always been intimidated by the servers who push the cart up to your table and try to force unwanted dishes on you.

China Chan is at the Metro Center, a place we seldom go. The freestanding building is unprepossessing, to say the least, as is the interior. A few sad lanterns hang from the ceiling. That’s about it for ambience. But the servers are very nice, and those who speak English are happy to make suggestions and give explanations of the various dishes. There are 28 dim sum dishes at $1.80 each including spareribs with black bean sauce, baked BBQ pork buns, and tripe with ginger and scallions. At $2.85 you can get steamed lotus flavor rice, pan fried rice noodles with dried shrimp, and 7 others. Next are those at $3.55; steamed shrimp filled rice noodles, beef tripe, chinese broccoli and shrimp roll steamed rice noodle. Finally, the chef’s specials, eight of them, are priced from $5.99 to $8.50. From this last group we chose roast pork and roast duck. We also selected daikon cakes (I know these as turnip cakes) at $1.80. Lastly, from the regular menu we ordered eggplant in garlic sauce. Our waitress, licking her lips, suggested we add beef to the dish and that we pour lots of chili oil on top.

The roast pork and daikon arrived first. Chunks of moist, slowly roasted pork were generously sprinkled with the cracklings of skin. Decadent. And the portion was huge. The daikon cakes, three large rectangles enough to serve 6 as part of a meal, were the silkiest I’ve had, with just enough pan fry crust to satisfy. A small bowl of hoisin was served alongside. Then the duck and eggplant were served. The eggplant sauce was quite mild (our server was right about the chili oil) but beautifully flavored and the beef slices were a great addition. Again, the serving was huge. I don’t recall how much this cost, but the dishes from the menu are remarkably low priced. The only thing not stellar was the roast duck. The skin wasn’t crackly, and there was lots of fat.

Both menus contained dishes you don’t often find, and there were lots of Asian diners, so China Chans felt like the real deal. I suggest you go there with lots of people so you can sample a great variety of dim sum. Give us a call - we’re ready to go!!

China Chan Restaurant

10227 N. Metro-Parkway Phoenix

602-331-1315

Closed Wednesday

dim sum served Monday-Friday 11-3, Saturday & Sunday 9:30-3

no website

Warning!!! Bad Food Ahead!!!

2009-09-29T15:23:00.001-07:00

Don’t be fooled by a pretty face. Every review I’ve read about Takeda Thai raves about the fancy facade and upscale interior of this small strip mall restaurant. I think belief is suspended at the door, as most reviewers go on to praise the food. Phoenix Magazine even rated it one of the 23 best new restaurants in its October issue. That actually is my reason for writing this entry - to give a dissenting view.

For lunch today, we ordered pad thai ($7.95 from the lunch menu, $13.95 at dinner), garlic mini pork ribs ($10.95) and angel wings ($11.95) from the appetizer section.

Our very nice waitress brought us two bowls of soup instead of the one we were entitled to. It was a mild chicken soup with a few vegetables and some tofu floating in it. OK, certainly not notable. Then the rest of the dishes came out. I was truly shocked by the plate of riblets. There were 6 tiny riblets on a bed of wilted lettuce. Remember, these cost $10.95!!! They had been fried to death and had no garlic taste. I looked closely at the lettuce and noticed a few bits of overly browned garlic sprinkled on it. These clearly had never touched the ribs. This was downright insulting. The portion size of the angel wings was somewhat better. Angel wings are large chicken wings which have been boned and stuffed with vegetables, minced chicken and glass noodles, then fried and sliced. Like the riblets, these had been overcooked and were totally dried out. The insipid “sweet and sour chili dip” tasted only of sugar, and dunking the slices of wing in it did not revive them. Somehow the “chef” even managed to turn out dry pad thai with a horrible fishy back taste. When our waitress came over and asked which was our favorite thing, the only answer I could give was “the service”. Our cost, even with a 10% discount coupon, came to $40.

I guess I could give the restaurant and its reviewers the benefit of the doubt and say that perhaps since it was lunch time a talented chef was not on duty. However, if that’s the case, and no one better than the person who was in the kitchen could be found, then lunch should not be served

The only review I read that got it even partly right was from AZ Central. It said “the kitchen assumes you don’t want to play with fire, so everything here is mild enough to feed a newborn.”

I hope you won’t think I’m a grouch, but I did want to warn you.

Takeda Thai

10271 N. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale

I’m not even going to supply the rest of the info.

Smiling Soul SORRY THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED (6/2010)

2009-09-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

We’ve had several excellent meals since our misadventure at Eddie’s House, and these led to an epiphany. When I’m really happy with what I’ve eaten, I leave the restaurant with a smile on my lips and a smile in my soul. Which is the perfect segue to Fat Daddy’s Down Home Kitchen.

Fat Daddy’s is a fairly new soul food restaurant near South Mountain at the corner of 32nd Street and East Baseline in The Shops at the Raven Plaza, a mundane strip mall. Who could guess that big smiles are just an order away. Armed with a Restaurant.com gift certificate, we had to struggle to make our $35 mandatory expenditure. Ken went for the Southern Fried Chicken dinner ($10.99) and I decided on the 3 Meat Combo with brisket, pork ribs and beef ribs ($14.99). I had to settle for pork rib tips instead of the beef ribs since only one type of rib is allowed on a combo plate, Each entree came with two sides and cornbread. We ordered an additional side ($3.49) to up our bill, and we knew we’d be trying one of the desserts ($3.49). We even ordered two ice teas ($1.59). With all this we just squeaked by at $35.50.

After a reasonable wait our platters arrived. The BBQ had a nice sweet/tangy sauce already on it (there was no container of sauce on the table). The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender. I think they had been simmered before being put in the smoker, a practice which seems to be more common in soul food places than in those which specialize in BBQ. I like them either way. The brisket was nice and juicy, as were the rib tips, which can often have a leather-like texture. Ken’s chicken also was succulent, with crispy skin, a little too salty. Sides came in ramekins so we could put them in the middle of the table for easy sharing. Two were outstanding: coleslaw had a delicious lemony dressing, and fried cabbage with chunks of bacon was surprisingly crunchy and not overly salty. Made -from- scratch yams had a light cinnamon syrup which, happily, didn’t cling to the potatoes, but merely flavored them. The mac and cheese was better than most, but Bobby Q restaurant still has the winner - it’s so buttery rich and cheesy you can only eat a few spoonfuls. Our cornbread was tender, with a touch of sugar. The only disappointing side was corn on the cob, which Ken felt had come from the freezer. The smile was already on my lips, but when the pecan pie arrived my soul did a jig. A tender cookie-like crust held an inch and a half high layer of filling which was nice and boozy and not too sweet. IMHO, this is the best purchasable pecan pie in the Valley.

Fat Daddy’s also does breakfast, which Ken is determined to try on a return visit (it’s available all day). He was salivating at the sight of the waffles which passed by our table. They’re big and golden brown and come with a choice of chicken and gravy, or catfish or whiting, plus eggs and grits ($6.99-$11.99). Of course, you can always order them on the side and then add steak ($11.99), pork chops ($10.99), chicken fried steak ($9.99) or southern grilled ham ($9.99). All these come with eggs, homefries and biscuits. The side waffle is $2.99. Lunch, which starts at !!:00 AM, offers BBQ sandwiches, hot wings, burgers, hot links, and Po’ Boys, most costing $6.99. I suppose I have to mention the other desserts even though I’ll probably never make it past the pecan pie. There’s peach cobbler, sweet potato pie, Momma Carol’s carrot cake, red velvet cake, and waffles with ice cream.

I’m all smiles just thinking about it.

Fat Daddy’s Down Home Kitchen

3220 E. Baseline Rd. Phoenix

602-438-7454

Mon.- Sat. 8AM-9PM Sunday 8AM-6PM

no website