Category Archives: Forking Thoughts

Take Out In Metro Phoenix During The CoronaVirus Pandemic – Week 14 – FnB, CHZBURGR, La Piazza Al Forno, Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol

Leave a reply

Leaving your house can be deadly during the coronavirus pandemic. The numbers of the infected and dead are rising. Take out is a safer option than dining in.

Our first take out of the week was from FnB in Scottsdale. FnB is a contemporary restaurant located in the arts district of old town Scottsdale. They offer a farm focused menu of innovated globally inspired cuisine. They serve dishes that are meant to be shared. It was a contactless transaction. I ordered, payed and tipped on line. Then we arrived and our order was placed on a table outside of the restaurant by a server wearing a mask.

We got Peruvian Chicken spring rolls, celtuse (obscure stem lettuce) in ginger broth with tofu, house made pasta and blue nose bass dinner. All was delicious and the food traveled well.

Our pups couldn’t wait to try. (They don’t know how lucky they are to get FnB cuisine…..incase you’ve been living under a rock…..This is a James Beard Awarded Chef Owned Restaurant)

Next stop for take out was CHZBURGR in Glendale. CHZBURGR serves incredibly GREAT flat style cheeseburgers, Forking awesome fried chicken thigh sandwiches, hot dogs, kids meals, milk shakes and a few other things.

We did curbside takeout. I ordered over the phone, called when we got there and paid from our car by someone wearing a mask.

My husband got a juicy triple CHZBURGR, we got kids chicken strips for the dogs and I got an incredibly delicious fried chicken thigh sandwich with added Calabrian chilies.

Everyone enjoyed!

Next take out was from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale. This is a small Italian restaurant that specializes in serving certified pizzas.

We got a house salad, a Mediterranean Pizza made with house made pesto, house made mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese and a spaghetti alla puttanesca (anchovies, olives, capers, garlic, oregano, parsley). All was delicious and the dogs wanted to try too!

Last take out of the week was Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol (a Sonoran Style Mexican Restaurant).

I got my usual chicken fajita salad and my husband got the carnitas. We also took out the margaritas that are extremely strong.

We had plenty to share with the dogs.

“Don’t worry we will get threw this thing together”

Week 14 we did take out from-

FnB – Old Town Scottsdale

CHZBURGR – Glendale

La Piazza Al Forno – Old Town Glendale

Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol – Glendale (#UpperWestSide)

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Quaker Oats says Good Bye to Aunt Jemima…..Is it Hello to Cap’n Crunch?

Leave a reply

June 17th 2020 Quaker Oats announced that they will be changing the name Aunt Jemima and her image from their products because its origins are based on a racial stereotype.

The Aunt Jemima web site was still up June 17th 2020 and it looked like this. The home page was a picture of their products. All of them were Aunt Jemima except for one Cap’n Crunch.

Then an ad for Cap’n Crunch rolls by with promise of “Boatloads of Breakfast Fun!”

The rest of the site was still Aunt Jemima.

Quaker Oats says good bye to Aunt Jemima……….But is it hello to Cap’n Crunch?

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Salads of The #UpperWestSide of Metro Phoenix AZ – Phoenix Glendale Peoria

Leave a reply

Maybe half the meals that I ate out or take out are salads. Lately I’m mostly but not entirely supporting restaurants that are near to home. I thought others might like a taste of the salads of the #UpperWestSide of Metro Phoenix AZ. The Upper West Side are parts of the Way North Phoenix, North Glendale and North Peoria and are zip codes 85383, 85382, 85310, 85308 and 85083.

Up above is. really great salad from Sala Thai in Peoria. It’s the spicy lemon salad with chicken and is among my favorites.

Here is the select your own salad from Phila-Deli in Glendale. It starts at only around $7.50. It’s fast food priced but it’s a whole bunch better than fast food.

Basically across the street (or highway) is Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale and they also offer really nice $7.50 salads.

On the left is a gyro salad and on the right is chicken kabob salad.

I got a few salads from Fabio On Fire in Peoria.

Up above is the pear salad.

Here’s the strawberry spinach salad from Fabio On Fire.

My favorite meal from Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol in Glendale is the Chicken Fajita Salad.

It is usually inconsistent. The amount of chicken is either a lot or small and either moist or dry. Seasonings differ. It might include the peppers, onions and avocado or not. The ingredients differ some on each visit. Instead of dressing I use their tasty salsa that is currently the best salsa in town.

Pita Kitchen in Glendale makes one of the most delicious Chicken kabobs in metro Phoenix so I get it on a Greek Salad.

They marinate it with delicious seasonings. It has a delicious char taste and 19 out of 20 times it is insanely juicy and is always delicious.

The meal I get most often at Cucina Tagliani is their Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Chicken.

Sometimes I get one of their Caesar salads.

Caesar with chicken….(and one of my dogs)

Caesar with salmon, artichokes and pine nuts……..(and one of my dogs)

The Black and White Cafe in Glendale offers a few salads.

This is the California Chicken Salad from The Black and White Cafe.

I got several nice salads from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante.

Farro Salad with avocado, pesto, mozzarella and chicken. (this one was way more than one meal….I think they gave me extra by accident)

Salad with added Sicilian Tuna

Strawberry Chicken Salad

I did get a few nice salads from The Social on 83rd in Peoria but the ones I got are no longer on the menu but both salads were very good.

Those are most of the salads that you can find on The Upper West Side of Metro Phoenix AZ.

Everything is subject to change….We hope things change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out In Metro Phoenix During The CoronaVirus Pandemic – Week 13 – Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante, Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, Fabio On Fire, Skewers Mediterranean Grill, Collins Small Batch Kitchen

Leave a reply

Leaving your house can be deadly. Nothing is for certain and you can never be careful enough. Take out is a safer option than dining in. Our first take out of the week was from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale (#UpperWestSide). We shared two of the seasonal specials – Chicken Piccata and Pappardelle al Funghi.

Both dishes were delicious and intense with flavors. Our fur friends were also very excited to try the dishes too!

Next stop was Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They are a pho-free Vietnamese restaurant and offer around a dozen different banh mi baguette sandwiches and most of your favorite Vietnamese dishes except for pho.

My husband got the pork rice plate and I got the curry chicken with rice.

Portions are around double for some people but we had our usual help with that.

Next we did curbside take out from Fabio On Fire in Peoria #UpperWestSide. They have a 100% no contact service. They communicate by text, pay on line and they sanitize a table for your take out. I had the halibut Mediterranea special. My husband had the meatballs and the orecchiette.

The halibut was prepared to perfection and everything was delicious!

I had some help with the large portion of halibut.

Then we did Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale/Arrowhead #UpperWestSide. They serve very nice salads that are fast food priced (around $7.50@) I also like trying their side salads (most are around $3.00@)

Pups enjoyed the chicken and gyro meat from Skewers.

Last take out of the week was curbside take out from Collins Small Batch Kitchen in Phoenix.

We had the wood fired Scottish salmon with herb butter, sweet blistered tomatoes and cauliflower, the braised beef short ribs with risotto and Brussels sprouts and for dessert a Ghirardelli mousse pie. All was delicious and this traveled well. Our pups were very enthusiastic about helping out with the food.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together”

This week we did take out from –

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante – Glendale

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery – North Phoenix

Fabio On Fire – North Peoria

Skewers Mediterranean Grill – North Glendale

Collins Small Batch Kitchen – Phoenix

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Grocery Shopping Week 12 During The CoronaVirus Pandemic In Metro Phoenix

Leave a reply

The stay at home order has expired and we had dramatic increases of covid-19 among residents in Arizona. We just might be in the second wave oof the virus now. Nothing is for certain and you can never be careful enough. These days during the global pandemic shopping for groceries can be deadly.

I’ve been getting most of my groceries delivered to avoid other people who may be carriers of the virus. Over the weeks and months we experienced errors, substitutions and disappointments getting groceries delivered. I didn’t know about the dramatic increase of covid-19 cases and deaths on the day I went out grocery shopping. If I knew how bad things really are this would have been a different story.

It might have been foolish, hazardous or possibly fatal but we went out grocery shopping this week. We might (or might not) have been partially protected from catching the CoronaVirus. Wearing a mask only stops other people from catching your germs but when you add a filter you possibly are filtering out a little of what its coming in. I also read that NONE OF THE FILTERS WILL PREVENT YOU FROM CATCHING CORONAVIRUS. You have to look at it this way….You might be slightly protected (if your mask fits correctly with a filter). So that means if you get maybe less % of the virus. It’s a possibility that you might get struck with the virus but maybe might have better chances of surviving because you won’t get as much of the virus in you. Of course you have to still worry about distancing, hand washing and possibly eye shielding. I also use onion goggles to shield my eyes. But there is GOOD NEWS TOO…Most people won’t catch a significant amount of the virus. Most people will not die from the virus……Or so we’ve been told.

I thought Costco would be a safer choice for grocery shopping because they don’t let customers in without a mask. They now don’t limit the amount of shoppers like they did in prior weeks.

Nearly everyone at Costco was wearing a mask. I did see one person without a mask and a few other people pulled their masks down under their noses to breath.

Costco was stocked up on most things and seemed to carry most of what they normally carry.

The check out lines seemed much longer than normal….I guess the distancing makes the lines much longer. Plexiglass shields have been installed between you and the cashier.

That was week 12 of Grocery Shopping during the CoronaVirus Pandemic. Not sure how I will be shopping next time.

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

My 2nd Patio Dining Out During The CoronaVirus Pandemic – Cucina Tagliani Glendale AZ #UpperWestSide – Healthy options and comfortable patio

Leave a reply

Nothing is for certain. Leaving your house can be deadly during a pandemic. You can never know if you are careful enough to avoid catching the coronavirus. For me it is far too dangerous to dine in with others. I feel somewhat comfortable with take out because I wear a filtered mask and eye goggles (my onion goggles that don’t look too bad) I feel that I am 80% safe and won’t fully catch the virus protected that much. Some scientist believe with distancing that you won’t catch enough of the coronavirus in outside air to be deadly. With that information I feel less risk dining outside. This past Saturday the temperature wasn’t too high for Phoenix so we took a chance and dined out on the Cucina Tagliani Patio in. This is an American Italian Restaurant that offers most of your usual American Italian favorites and also several healthy options and lots of vegetable choices. I don’t know of any other restaurant that offers around a dozen different vegetables that you can add to a meal or have on the side.

Today I ordered a Caesar salad with salmon and added on artichokes and pine nuts.

Got a decent piece of salmon and it’s prepared reasonably well. The greens are fresh and the dressing is house made. I guess they forgot the croutons but I don’t need them anyway because there’s complimentary garlic toasts on the table. Oh did I mention that the patio is officially dog friendly?

My husband got the spicy rigatoni with added sausage.

I think they gave him extra sausage?……….Well that was nice.

I can’t believe how quiet the patio is today.

We were the only ones dining here at lunch.

We’ve been coming to Cucina Tagliani for years. It’s close to home, I like the healthy options, my husband likes the American Italian food and we enjoy the comfortable patio with misters and funny old fashioned Italian music that fills the air here.

Louie is no longer with us but was a big fan of Cucina Tagliani.

The Papa’s Platter (with Louie) Veal Parm, sausage lasagna and two manicotti

salmon with asparagus and spinach

SPAGHETTI SQUASH lasagna

My usual goat cheese, strawberry and chicken salad.

chicken piccata over SPAGHETTI SQUASH instead of pasta

Chicken Caesar salad

chicken pasta pepperchini

chicken wrap with healthy fruit side

Stromboli

GRILLED chicken parmesan (instead of fried) over SPAGHETTI SQUASH

sausage lasagna with meatball

minestrone

steak gorgonzola over SPAGHETTI SQUASH

chicken dynamite

take out salmon dinner with asparagus and spaghetti squash

I don’t get dessert here often but the chocolate mascarpone cake is very good.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together” “We also are available to help you with your leftovers from Cucina Tagliani any time”

That was my second patio dining during the pandemic at Cucina Tagliani in Glendale. I appreciate the healthy options and the comfortable patio with misters.

www.CucinaTagliani.com

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out in metro Phoenix AZ During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 12 – Desert Island Eatery, Taco Fusion, Fe La Cubana Cafeteria

Leave a reply

These are the worst of times and all restaurants are struggling. Many restaurants have permanently closed from lack of business due to the pandemic. If you want your local or favorite restaurants to stay in business then you should support restaurants as much as you can. Your money is their life source. Many restaurants in metro Phoenix have reopened for limited dine in service and you can dine in but there is risk. We still are in a serious health emergency and I don’t feel ready to risk dining in so I am doing mostly take out but I do consider patio dining. Some scientist believe that you are less likely to catch the virus outside so patio dining can be an option if the weather is nice.

Our first take out this week was from a Caribbean Restaurant that also serves Vegan Caribbean options in North Phoenix called Desert Island Eatery.

Since my last visit they added outside tables.

I always get the combo plate of curry chicken with jerk chicken, rice and peas with cabbage. Tonight my husband got the same and a side order of jerk shrimp.

Everything is delicious and flavorful. Portions are very large and I have extra for another meal even with sharing with my fur buddies.

Our next take out was from Taco Fusion in Glendale.

Since my last visit there I noticed that they added two outside tables and installed some sort of take out window in the glass wall. (left side of photo)

We ordered a variety of tacos and a quesadilla and their new vegetarian black beans. They also added two different rice dishes to their menu and will be adding breakfast dishes soon.

Gosh everything is amazing! The sauces also are very good! Today they offered red, green, black and pineapple salsas. I usually don’t enjoy carne asada tacos anywhere but the carne asada is tender and has a delicious mesquite taste. The Pineapple salsa with pico is really great on the mild chicken habanero tacos. The tortillas are also hand made and are better than from most places. I like the corn on most tacos but I think flour goes better on the asada. Everything here is really great and all this food was only around $26. We had our usual help with all this food.

Last take out this week was from Fe La Cubana Cafeteria in Glendale.

This is a TINY Cuban restaurant. They have food prepared in a steam table and they serve you a platter in a styrofoam container. They make the most amazing Ropa Vieja on earth in this little hole in the wall kind of place.

They put together your platter from the steam table.

We got-

BIG GIANT platters of tender chicken with yucca and black rice. My husband got the Ropa Vieja with black rice, pork chickpea soup and an oxtail. The Ropa Vieja is incredible….You might consider driving across town for that dish but everything is good.

Our pups were waiting for theirs.

Don’t worry we are in this thing together.

This week we did take out from –

Desert Island Eatery – North Phoenix

Taco Fusion – Glendale

Fe La Cubana Cafeteria – Glendale

We also dined out on a patio at Cucina Tagliani. I’ll tell you about that tomorrow!

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Some of the FOOD THAT MATTERS in Metro Phoenix that I Enjoyed!

2 Replies

I thought I’d feature some of my favorite Caribbean, Ethiopian and Southern American Food that I’ve tried in Metro Phoenix. I do note that I haven’t been everywhere so there are many other great places out there. These are just some of my favorites that I enjoyed most.

I have to start out with Desert Island Eatery in North Phoenix because they served me the very best Jerk Chicken and Curry Chicken that I have ever tried anywhere. (that includes one place in the Caribbean too!)

Combo with Jerk Chicken and Curry Chicken

It’s the best! So flavorful…..So Delicious! Just falling off the bone and full of flavors…..Just the BEST!

I also enjoyed Caribbean Cuisine in Glendale a number of times and everything I tried there was delicious.

I also liked how they had some fish dishes that were different to me. I really enjoyed this escovitich fish. It’s a mild white fish that seemed like it was marinated with herbs and spices and maybe vinegar and seemed lightly fried. The rest of the plate was scrumptious too.

My husband always liked the oxtail here but sometimes it’s not available due to it takes many hours to prepare.

I’ve tried Ethiopian Food from various food festivals that I enjoyed but made the trip to Abyssinia Restaurant and Cafe in Phoenix.

Here we got our own mini buffet of many things. One of the BEST chicken dishes I tasted in Metro Phoenix has to be this Doro Wat in the middle of the platter. Everything was delicious here but that doro wat was really special.

Hot Chicken Sandwich

Mingo’s Louisiana Kitchen now operates from a food truck. They serve New Orleans Cajun type foods like po boys, red beans and rice, jambalaya and more. I had this (I think it was called Louisiana Style Hot Chicken?) sandwich. It wasn’t like other hot chicken sandwiches but it was uniquely delicious.

Shrimp Po Boy

My husband enjoyed a shrimp po boy and an andouille sausage dish.

There’s also a modern southern American restaurant in downtown Phoenix that serves many FORKING AMAZING DISHES called The Larder and The Delta.

I had two different dishes there that were among THE BEST I’ve tried anywhere.

One dish was the Hoppin John.

It’s made of Sea Island field peas, Carolina gold rice and herb salad. It taste earthy, a little spicy, it’s deeply flavorful with interesting textures and crispy rice. It’s insanely delicious. You won’t be able to put your fork down till it’s down.

This next dish isn’t often on the menu but should be.

The K. F. C. Sandwich a mildly spicy fried chicken thigh sandwich with slaw and pickles.

I’m not sure what K. F. C. stands for here but it taste like it might mean Kentucky Forking Crack Sandwich. It was made of that special seldom found AMAZING MOUTH WATERING JUICY SUPER NATURAL DELICIOUS CHICKEN. It was THE BEST Chicken Sandwich I’ve ever tasted. It just could not be more delicious. The combination of the perfect not too big, the delicious slaw, amazing thick pickles and that oh so wonderful chicken was a taste bomb of deliciousness! I love great chicken sandwiches and there are a few of the super great chicken sandwiches out there but this is the first one that actually taste like the chicken was still on the bone. That perfect juicy chicken enhanced with delicious spices, flavors and textures. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

These were just Some Of The FOOD That Matters in Metro Phoenix that I have enjoyed!

Desert Island Eatery – North PHX

Caribbean Cuisine – Glendale

Abyssinia Restaurant and Cafe – PHX

Mingo’s Louisiana Kitchen – Food Truck

The Larder and The Delta – DT PHX

Give them a try and you will be glad that you did.

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Make your Deviled Eggs Rosy

Leave a reply

I discovered that it looks prettier to make deviled eggs into roses. It’s not very hard to do but might require a bit of practicing. The eggs come out delicious but you need a smooth filling or the rose tip will clog. Make any smooth recipe for deviled eggs. I usually just do a basic deviled eggs with Amora brand dijon and dust them with French red pepper. I suggest to season the egg white slightly too with a little bit of crushed sea salt and whatever pepper or paprika you like. Below is a cream cheese rose but the method is the same for just about any kind of rose you want to make.

First you need a rose tip.

Both tips are for roses but I used the bigger #104 Wilton Brand Tip

Then you insert tip (with out without a coupler) and fold down pastry bag and stuff.

Twist bag and push down filling to hold in filling and twist again. The shorter end of tip is away from you when you decorate.

Then you make a little mountain or Hershey Kiss size drop on a rose nail.

needed to use apple so I’d have a hand food my cell phone.

Then you squeeze out a little filling around the pointy tip and move the rose nail while you are squirting the little mountain.

Slightly below the tip make around three petals around the tip…

Then make at least five petals around the three but slightly lower.

Then a little lower make around seven petals. Scoop the flower off with a small spatula or butter knife.

That’s how you make a rose. Happy Decorating!

Deviled Eggs
The Forking Truth

Take Out During the CoronaVirus Pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ Week 11- Chula Seafood, Kabob Grill N Go, Twist Bistro & Gallery, Angelina’s Pho & Grill (Lemongrass Vietnamese Bistro)

Leave a reply

All restaurants are struggling to stay in business. Several restaurants have already permanently closed from lack oof business due to the pandemic. Many restaurants have opened their dining rooms with limited seating. Nothing is for certain but take out seems like a safer option with less risk.

Our first take out this week was from Chula Seafood in Phoenix.

I enjoyed the Chula Chopped Salad with added Salmon and my husband got the Tuna Melt with Spam Macaroni Salad and chips. My fur buddies were booth highly interested in the foods but my bigger fur buddy is well behaved and waits till she is served.

Next take out was from newly opened Kabob Grill n Go in Phoenix.

This is a postage sized kabob take out restaurant with around three small tables. Prices are low. Portions are big.

We tried on the left is a chicken tenders kabob. In the middle is the beef (steak) kabob and on the right is the whole Cornish chicken kabob. My dogs were waiting for theirs.

Next take out was from Twist Bistro & Gallery in North Scottsdale. We got the amazing take out special of one appetizer, two dinners and one dessert for $55.00.

We shared muffins with honey butter and then southern fried chicken breaded shawarma kabobs with minted cucumbers, marinated olive and jalapeño preserved lemon basil syrup. For my dinner was that AMAZING loch dart salmon with tomato salad, asparagus, black rice and basil pistou. My husband had the shrimp and sausage diablo. It came with spicy Italian sausage, shrimp, asparagus, olives, tomato confit and three cheese polenta. WOW! all this was really great and then we enjoyed mascarpone cheese cake with pistachio praline, salted caramel, whipped cream and strawberries. Gosh Twist Bistro and Gallery really knocked it out of the park again! I have some fur buddies that are also excited about the food here.

“Twist Bistro was a GREAT choice”
“I can’t wait for mine”

Last take out of the week was from Angelina’s Pho & Grill that is possibly changing their name to Lemongrass Vietnamese Bistro.

current menu

Angelina’s is officially one of the best places in metro Phoenix for pho. I’ve been here bunches of times and often do get one of their amazing pho bowls but felt like having something different today.

The dining room had customers when I arrived and I noticed the fresh new paint job.

We did take out and got the yellow chicken curry and the mixed three rice plate.

Both plates were delicious and also were very large portions but we had help with that.

“We are in this thing together”

That was week 11 of take out in metro Phoenix. This week we did take out from-

Chula Seafood – PHX

Kabob Grill N Go – PHX

Twist Bistro & Gallery – North Scottsdale

Angelina’s Pho & Grill (Lemongrass Vietnamese Bistro) – Glendale/UpperWestSide

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better

The Forking Truth