Pa’La has been one of the most anticipated restaurants of the year to open in Phoenix. The Co-Owner and Chef has done the most amazing culinary creations at several of Phoenix’s most cherished restaurants. This isn’t your usual restaurant. The menu is very limited to a few tapas plates, a couple seafood grain bowls and an open sandwich but the ingredients used are the highest quality. Pa’La is a small but a cozy restaurant. The exterior is a small old homestyle bungalow but inside is sleek and modern.

Outdoors is a slightly larger patio.

Pa’ La (at this time December-2017) offers a limited daily changing Monday-Friday casual Lunch Time Menu. The food seems to have an Italian accent like the Chef but it’s mixed with other accents. Like Spanish for Manchego Cheese and Asian for Soy Sauce.

On my visit the menu was broken down to a few small Tapas Plates, Two Fresh Seafood Muti Grain Vegetable Bowls, a Schiacciata (Open Faced Tuscan Style Sandwich) and Farro Cookies.

Pa’La is casual restaurant…You order at the counter and pay. Before you seat yourself you can see the postage sized kitchen with the Chef, help, a wood burning stove and grill.

We shared one of the Tapas Plates….The Artichokes in Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

The Artichokes seemed like they were marinated in a good quality olive oil and were seasoned with a mild fruity pepper and were served with Taraccini (Italian snack cracker). Have to be honest and admit I know Tapas means small plate but these artichokes are much smaller than my picture shows. This was about a quarter of a very small artichoke. ($5.00)

We shared the Harpooned Swordfish Ranon Navarro Bowl (Grain Bowl) and-

The Schiacciata (open faced Tuscan Style Whole Grain Bread Sandwich)

Both plates were detailed with many quality ingredients. The Swordfish Bowl was topped with a generous portion of fresh Harpooned Fish from Chula Seafood. The fish was carefully seasoned and had a mild wood taste to it. It was more moist than most Swordfish I had before. The fish rested over an assortment of a salad of nutty chewy grains with several roasted vegetables and seeds. My bowl also contained insanely expensive Wu Wan Wo Soy Sauce ($40.00 for about 8.5 oz.)  but it was used very sparingly and I couldn’t single that taste out.

The Schiacciata (open faced Tuscan Style Sandwich) was served on a flavorful fresh made grain flat bread and was topped with assorted greens, rosemary ham and manchego cheese.

We saved room to try the Farro Cookies with Grapefruit Jam.

These cookies seem like what could be an Italian Variation of Thumb Print Cookies.

The Farro Cookie is like a nutty kind of shortbread to me and that Grapefruit Jam was mighty powerful and tasted like a genuine bitter grapefruit. It was sort of refreshing in a weird way and really woke me up because up till now everything I tried was delicate and very natural tasting.

Pa’La is brand new and isn’t ready for dinner service (at this time 12-2017) The Best might be yet to come!

www.PaLaKitchen.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.