Restaurant Week: Blanco

Our tour goes a little Mexican today as we discuss the food and drinks at Blanco.  The concept for this restaurant is clean, fresh Mexican fare and great tasting mixed drinks.  The bar is the centerpiece of the layout of this eatery.  The industrial glass garage doors let lots of light in during the day, contributing to the fresh, clean vibe. 

They were running a special the day we visited including 2 margaritas and 2 "appetizer" entrees for $25.  We bit.  Drew had the margaritas and said they were pretty good.  We settled on the braised short rib and avocado cheese crisp and the nachos con queso blanco.  The braised short ribs on the cheese crisp (much like a quesadilla, but better) were phenomenal in the flavor department.  They were just the right texture and combined very nicely with the avocado and generous sprinkling of cilantro.  It was so good, we almost forgot to take a picture.  The nachos were nothing really special and left us wishing we had ordered another option of cheese crisp (the chipotle shrimp and corn sounds really good). 

We stopped in for lunch and were surprised by very large portions!  Very great lunch spot, but we will have to go back for dinner sometime.  The Restaurant Week menu looks amazing!

Restaurant Week: Culinary Dropout

Apparently one of the places to see and be seen in Scottsdale on a Saturday night or Sunday morning is Culinary Dropout (evidenced by the high number of groups of people asking the staff to take pictures of them, maybe the paparazzi had the night off).  Drew found this restaurant through some online research and it sounded interesting to him.  The concept: laid back vibe, no uniforms, comfort food.  The resulting experience: a place that says it doesn't want to be fussy, but ends up being a fussy type place for hipsters to hang.  Don't get me wrong, it was just right, just not the "underground, subversive, aren't we so different" place one might think. 

We started with an order of house made potato chips with onion dip, some olives, and prosciutto.  The chips are wonderful, but the dip tastes more like a ranch dip than onion dip.  The olives and prosciutto are part of their "make your own meat and cheese platter" antipasti menu and I love this concept!  They could not have picked two greater suckers for this, we could have eaten solely from this part of the menu. 

I ordered the artichoke salad with asparagus, endive, and Parmesan.  Let's just say this salad was divine!  I love a good salad and crave them quite often.  The downside to ordering this salad is that I have a new crave-able salad and no way to get it when the craving strikes!  The vinaigrette on this salad makes it out of this world, but they could leave a little off because the salad gets a little soggy after it sits for a little while.  Drew ordered the pork belly Cubano sandwich and was very pleased with the results.  He didn't find the pork belly as salty as he was expecting. 

For dessert, our server brought out their salted caramel custard, my new favorite.  I haven't stopped thinking about this dessert since I had it.  The dessert comes topped with house made caramel popcorn - wow!  The caramel topping is the perfectly prepared caramel sauce, salted and just the right thickness.  And the custard itself - sublime, creamy, not at all eggy.  Oh, I need some more of that, stat! 

You too can enjoy one of the carmel custards as part of Culinary Dropout's Restaurant Week menu.  They have a 3 course meal for $58/couple including a glass of wine each.  Sound's like the perfect date night to me!  It's a great way to check out Phoenix magazine's Best New Restaurant for 2010.

Note: sorry there are no pictures to ogle.  The Dropout's outdoor lighting was less than perfect for photo-taking.

Restaurant Week: Bourbon Steak

Next on the list of the taste tour that is Phoenix is Bourbon Steak.  The Michael Mina steakhouse is located on the property of the Fairmont Scottsdale.  We have seen other Mina restaurants while travelling, but we could not pass up the bar menu burgers and duck fat fries (voted best in the valley). 

We are early diners (made painfully obvious by the fact that we arrived at the restaurant before the kitchen was open), so we pretty much had the place to ourselves for most of our visit.  We were in good company though with the bar staff of Kyle and Mike.  All of the bar menu drinks are made with fresh squeezed juices and are expertly made with care by the friendly bartenders.  I ordered a Lemon Drop that tasted like a glass of ice cold lemonade and Drew had a Dark and Stormy upon Kyle's recommendation.  The rum drink is popular at the bar (and must be made with exceptional ingredients because Drew's attempt to recreate it at home this evening was less than successful).

We chatted with Kyle and Mike while waiting for the food to arrive and were rewarded for our wait with the most exceptional appetizers EVER!  I have heard about duck fat fries for a while and I was ready to experience them first hand.  These were amazingly crispy and flavorful.  Each order of fries comes in three different flavors with three dipping sauces.  The first is flavored with paprika, the second truffle oil (the ladies love truffles), and the third rosemary and other herbs.  I can't remember the dipping sauce combinations because, honestly, the fries don't need them - they speak for themselves just fine.  We also ordered red onion rings that were perfectly prepared and elegantly presented. 

Then the burgers.  I ordered the Salmon burger done banh mi style (carrots, cilantro, jalapenos, lettuce) - oh so good!  Drew had a make your own creation beef burger with jalapenos, mustard, and grilled onions.  We didn't really discuss the food much because we were too busy eating!  Other options on the bar menu look great too!  Next time I might jump out there and try Mina's lamb burger. 

If you are still planning on booking a flight to Phoenix, definitely stop in to Bourbon Steak during restaurant week because they are featuring a $39.00 prix fixe menu that looks fabulous.  Wish we could head back to Phoenix just to try it!  I hear that while you are waiting for your food they give the duck fat fries out for free!

Restaurant Week: Z'Tejas

Sad news met us when we got to Phoenix last week:  we were a week too early for Restaurant Week.  As some of you may know, we travel for the express purpose of filling our bellies with good food.  Often we are restaurant-starved in the desert and so each new city brings on new culinary adventures.   Phoenix is no exception.  Everywhere we went while we were in Phoenix, we met someone who suggested the place we had to go to get...Mexican food, breakfast food, pasta ("better than in Italy," one man added), etc.  It seems there is no shortage of beloved eateries in the greater Phoenix area.   Although we were there too early this year, you still have time to book a flight because all this week I am going to be reviewing the places we enjoyed.   I am not a travel agent, but I can plan an amazing vacation for your tastebuds!

First stop is Z'Tejas.  This is a must stop location for us when passing through Phoenix.  It is a restaurant with locations in Texas, Arizona, and California, but the Scottsdale location wins hands down on the quality of food and the friendliness of the servers.  The food is always exceptional and the margaritas were voted by the locals the best in the valley.  

We started with a Trio of Salsas (house, spicy, and green) and some guacamole; a great way to start the meal.  Also included with all orders is a skillet of cornbread that does the Texas tradition proud (with a hint of sweet).   Drew also started off with the 6th Street Margarita (their house) because he says it is one of the best restaurant margaritas out there (more on the liquor part of our Phoenix trip here). 

Our meals were the Smoked Chicken Enchiladas and the Seafood Enchiladas.  As always the Smoked Chicken Enchiladas were great!  I call them Texas on a plate.  The seafood enchiladas, while good, just don't do it for me, but Drew liked them.  I would recommend the Barbacoa Enchiladas, but I hear the Chile Relleno is amazing.  It is so hard to try something new at a restaurant when you only get to eat there once a year! (Sorry for the blurry pictures, they were taken on Drew's cell phone and I spared you from the truly horribly blurry ones!)

Don't forget to save a little room for dessert because the cobbler with seasonal fruit is amazing!  Also on the list of must-haves is the brownie - it is sublime (for a brownie).

If you are heading out to Phoenix for restaurant week, you won't find Z'Tejas listed among the participants.  This is likely because they have great food at affordable prices everyday and they have one of the best happy hours in the valley.  Even if you stop in for appetizers, drinks, and dessert, you won't be disappointed. 

Day 5: OK City to Flower Mound, TX

With the night we had on Wednesday, we slept in and got started late.  I got a free cup of coffee at the hotel before we set out to go to the Oklahoma City Memorial.  The Memorial is such a respectful, peaceful place.  It is really a shame there is not something for the 9/11 victims in NYC.  There is a museum we will have to go to the next time we are in town.   Here are some pictures:

Since the temperature was in the thrirties, we did not stay long at the memorial and headed out to TEXAS!  We stopped along the way to eat lunch at On the Border.  Yes, it is a chain, but it is really good and consistent.  Drew had cheese and onion enchiladas and a beef taco.  I had the chicken tortilla soup. 

We also stopped along the way and got Sonic drinks. 

We arrived at Mom's house around 3:30 and spent some time visiting.  Then we headed down to Main Street in Grapevine for dinner.  If I have a hometown, I would consider Grapevine my hometown (I lived there from 1st grade to 6th grade...to this day, the longest I have lived anywhere). It was great to see Main Street.  They have it all decorated for Christmas and have Christmas music playing over a sound system installed all the way up and down the street.  We reminisced over days of Christmas parades and such as we walked to a "new" restaraunt.  Tolbert's was started by one of the founders of the Teriligua Chili Cookoff.  It is a spot where they have live music most nights of the week while they serve lunch and dinner.  Mom got the catfish dinner, I got Arturo's Grilled Cheese and Drew got a cup of Red (real chili...no beans) and Buffalo wings.  The food was great and the atmosphere lively.  Drew wants to come again to have the Five Alarm Chili next time.  Here are the pics:

Day 4: OK City

We woke up in Oklahoma City ready for a day we have been looking forward to for some time.  Drew's cousin, Dustin, has great connections in the City and got us tickets for the Dallas Mavericks game vs. the OK City Thunder.  These were not just tickets, but floor seats.  Needlesss to say, we were beyond excited!

We got ready and went to a late breakfast at a hole-in-the-wall spot called the Classen Grill.  It was a small breakfast spot where the art on the walls is for sale and rotates as it sells.  The menu had all sorts of interesting options.  I went for the Biscuit Debris - southern style biscuits with ham and sausage on top, smothered in gravy, with hashbrowns on the side.  Not at all healthy and portioned to serve at least 3, but wonderful!!  Loved the gravy, just the right flavor.  I ordered coffee and we also got a carafe of their freshly squeezed orange juice.  They have an old fashioned juicer.   Drew was not feeling very adventurous - he got bacon and eggs.  I recommend this restaurant heartily.  No pictures (forgot the small camera).

After breakfast we went to the Oklahoma City Art Museum.  They have an exibit of Chihuly glass that is breathtaking! Here are a few samples.

my favorite!

Next stop: lunch.  We were going to stop at a Taco stand but it was so busy that people were eating outside in the 30 degree weather.  Next time.  So we went to a Chinese-Vietnamese-French restaurant.  Despite, my reservations on the range of foods, it turned out to be pretty good.  Drew got the Kung Pao chicken and I got some sort of beef - very good.  As was the pattern on this trip, we ordered way too much food.  I think I have gained some weight - ahhh!

We spent the rest of the afternoon tracking down the guy with the tickets from the game.  I will spare the details, but we ended up in a bar somewhere in OK City called Cock of the Walk.  We loved the atmosphere of this dive bar.  We would have liked it more if it wasn't so smoky.  It is one of those places where the bartender knows your "drink" and the patrons have their "seat".  On the end of the bar a couple of guys were playing video trivia and I started playing.  I won the first round, but tanked the second one.  Lots of fun.  We wish there was something like this in the desert.  We found ourselves saying this most of the day!

Tickets in hand, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the game.  Words cannot express how happy we were to get to our seats and realize how close we were.  I realized at half time that my cheeks hurt from so much smiling!  It was great.  They have a room behind the seats for the people with floor seats where they have an open buffet with FREE food.  I have always enjoyed FREE!  The food was great and we were ready for the game.  Here are some of our pictures:

Dinner

Dirk

Date

feet on the Floor - the Floor!!

Great day in OK!  Oh, and the Mavs won!!!

Sunday, December 13th - Wilcox, AZ

Everything in the last few weeks has led to this day.  The day we leave to go to Texas for Christmas for the first time as a married couple.  We are beyond excited!  So, instead of regretting the lack of updates on this blog for a while, I shall let you in on our little travelogue.

Road Trip Log, Day 1:

Got started a little late despite waking up an hour before my husband to get "everything" done.  Will that ever happen?
Left town to "Goodbye to You" on the radio, how appropriate. 

Drew said "our God watches out for us on all the small things"  - what a way to begin a road trip - in praise of the one who watches over it!
11:54 - discussion of the definition of the word supplant - pretty sure I was right on that one, not that it matters.

2:28 - Victor Hugo located - Chandler, AZ - success!
6:37 - Wilcox, AZ - to bed early and at it again tomorrow.

Those of you wanting to know what we ate...junk!  My stomach is not happy with me for my recent dining choices.   Will be attempting to improve this during this trip.  Pictures and reveiws of food fit to discuss in the future days.