The azcentral Wine + Food experience was held at Salt River Fields in Pima – Maricopa Indian Community near Scottsdale Arizona November 2nd and 3rd 2019. Pre-sale general admission was around $50.00 and pre-sale VIP was around $120.00. (after pre-sale $65.00 and VIP $140.00) Your ticket got you bottomless tastings of food, wine, liquor, chef demonstrations and more. VIPs got one hour early entry, the AJ’s fine foods tent and top wines. The headliner guest was chef Alex Guarnaschelli. I caught the end when she was taking questions from the audience.
Our own chef Christopher Collins did a demo too.
Here is some of what I came across. I didn’t try everything but I tried a lot. My husband can eat more than me so he nearly tried everything.
The first tent I got to was made not entirely but was mostly chef Christopher Collins Restaurants.
From chef Christopher Collins restaurant The Macintosh was short ribs over cheesy grits.
Chef Collins – Wally’s American Gastro Pub a very tasty fried chicken sandwich that was cooked to perfection with a really perfect herbed slaw and a sweet mustard sauce.
Chef Collins – Twisted Grove Restaurant – a shrimp noodle salad.
Chef Collins – The Collins
I didn’t try this one so I forgot what it was but I do remember my husband ate the whole thing so it couldn’t be bad. Latter when we got home my husband did say that this was really good.
Next was chef Collins – The Grassroots Restaurant offering tuna poke with cooked shrimp.
Chef Collins also brought his house made ice cream from his dessert shop Sweet Provisions.
Spinatos was cooking off a variety of their frozen pizzas and mushrooms stuffed with herbed parmesan cream cheese.
Mowry and Cotton offered the most eye catching plates.
Butternut squash salads and monkey bread.
My husbands favorite plate was one of the plates I skipped…..
A plate from Otro Cafe.
They made their own fresh tortillas.
Otro Cafe Taco (above)
Next was the brisket taco from Stonegrill.
The Clever Koi made a SUPER TENDER -melt in the mouth kind of sweet/hot fried chicken bun. This one was really great!
AJ’s offered cheesy pasta, pasta with tomato sauce and some sort of salad
Beckets Table made a very unusual sort of corn cake with lightly smoked chicken cooked in bacon fat…..It was very unique.
Gadzooks offered an open face version of their award winning chicken tacos with cornbread stuffing. You couldn’t pick them up to eat and they were still good but didn’t give the same effect as when you eat them whole.
Timo gave out lamb and butternut squash soup.
Match offered chicken bites and buffalo cauliflower.
Frank and Alberts made mushroom tostadas.
Famous 48 offered pulled pork topped Mac-N-Cheese.
It was all this and MORE!
That was Nov. 2 of the azcentral Wine + Food experience 2019.
Here is a collection of the most frightful and horrific foods served to me in Metro Phoenix Arizona. Some but NOT ALL of these restaurants are normally good but things do happen …..and many will have a bad day…..It is very unfortunate for me because I won’t go back when I have a poor experience somewhere. It’s not my intention to damage a restaurants’ reputation. I will mention the name of the restaurant if they are no longer in business. After all I already mentioned who they were at the time I dined there. And That’s The Forking Truth!
The worst taco in the whole world came from Taco Haus in Scottsdale. Dry flavorless chicken in a tortilla that decomposed on the way to the table. Rest in peace Taco Haus.
The 2nd worst taco in the whole world was served to me at the 2019 AZ Taco Festival. This one wasn’t just salty or over salted. It FORKING taste like it was HALF SALT. Some poor boob at the festival must have accidentally dropped a whole container of salt into the taco. mix and just mixed it in not giving a dam. Shame.
Fondant from Indi Fusion
Once upon a time there was a restaurant called Indi Fusion. It was an Indian Fusion restaurant. They sure did make some tasty food and they had so much potential. But dessert was another story there. I ordered a fondant ( basically a French lava cake) instead of a fondant I received a Fon-DON’T…….I recieved not a molten cake….not even a cake…but a disk of frosting. I have to say that the chef had some confusion issues.
Soggy falling apart dumplings from a particular Asian Restaurant in Phoenix.
Bad food usually does come from chains…….
I’ve never been to a Long John Silvers before and never will go again. I enjoy fish and many decades back Arthur Treachers used to serve really delicious quality Icelandic Cod. Incase you don’t know the chain has been sold a long time back and lowered the quality of the food so it might suck now. . Anyways I was hoping that Long John Silver would serve something similar to what Arthur Treachers used to serve. WOW was this sickly BAD!!!!!! It was so greasy and muddy tasting with that OLD USED OIL TASTE. I couldn’t eat it….Now I feel bad because I offered this fish to my dear departed dog Louie and Louie took it and he FORKING SPIT IT OUT! It was so bad LOUIE SPIT IT OUT! But then my younger dog gobbled up what poor old Louie spit out.
Now I really feel bad for these people that opened a meatball theme restaurant called Meatballz in Scottsdale. They didn’t have basic cooking skills to prepare meatballs or a basic tomato sauce. I have no idea on why they went into this business. I highly doubt that anyone ever said to them your food is so good that you should open a restaurant.
Crunchy Carrots in Vegan Balls and Sauces
Mushy vegan meatballs with crunchy carrots in a raw acidic slightly bitter sauce sandwich. The sauce was so bitter and also had crunchy uncooked carrots in it. My husband tried a meat meatball and it was also awful.
This one was from a restaurant in Phoenix.
Dinner that looks like it threw up on it’s self ……….from a well known restaurant on Camelback Road.
All the food was really bad from this Mediterranean restaurant in Glendale but most things photographed well.
The pickled they gave me could own a senior citizens card……before it passed away. Their falafels were served with hard uncooked chick peas that was hard like rocks and could break teeth……The gyro was like fried baloney….but the rice, onion and tomato was good.
I went to what one of the “official” top ten Italian Restaurants of Metro Phoenix. The Forking Truth is that I did enjoy a few lunches there but then went back for dinner.
For $34.00 I got over cooked Bronzino and vegetables that appear to be reheated too many times and maybe were a couple of weeks old. They don’t don’t check on you here…this might be why.
Now Little Cleo’s in Phoenix was a good seafood restaurant……But
I was horrified at this tiny dinner plate……Don’t you think it was tiny too? I guess I accidentally ordered “the I already ate plate.”
Here’s another “I already ate plate.”
This one was also from a very nice restaurant that had an ultra talented chef…..but.
Seared Tuna Nicoise ($16.) from The Local, PHX AZ
Wouldn’t you be horrified if you received this tiny lunch for $16.00? This isn’t even enough for a midget on weight watchers….and WTFork did they do with that other half of egg anyway?
……Is my dinner excited to see me?…….Or is the chef just pissed off?
I got this polenta tower from a well known restaurant in Phoenix. I do note the chef has changed at least twice at this restaurant since I had this dinner. You won’t get this anymore there……(but he may be working someplace else now?)
We ate a nice meal at a Filipino restaurant. The FOOD really was good there but the desserts were hard like rocks. I couldn’t break them open but my husband used all his might and busted them open.
We did confront the owner and he said that nothing was wrong with the desserts and they just needed to be heated up. (excuse me…….. I didn’t know that I was suppose to bring my own Forking heat source with me to try these desserts) Well The Forking Truth is that these desserts were served to us HARD AS ROCKS….(he also said he’d take them off the bill…..but nobody took them off the bill..we just paid and left)
Some people don’t enjoy dessert….Now I know why.
I was served this dessert somewhere WAY out in the far west valley. the dessert wasn’t so good……in taste and in texture. When I pulled this thing out of my mouth from the dessert I thought it was a piece of silicone glue.
But the waiter here told me it just was a piece of the dessert…???????? I thought it was GLUE…The waiter said it was part of the dessert!
This is my finished plate of food from a certain Mediterranean Restaurant somewhere in Phoenix. This restaurant at the time had a FIVE STAR Average on a certain review site so I thought the food would be good. The food might look good but my chicken was so dry and hard that it was impossible to remove it from the wooden sticks. That little bite on the one piece of chicken was all I could break off. The pitas were also hard and seemed like processed food. Even the rice was horrible and was some kind of pre-cooked rice.
Nobody enjoys a falafel that lacks herbs and is crumbly dry.
I have read many reviews that this small Mediterranean Restaurant serves the best falafels in the valley……I don’t know what they had but these falafels I tried sucked. They are dry as the Sahara Desert and lacked fresh herbs. This is not a good falafel.
Even nice resorts serve mediocre food.
This salmon salad was from a fine resort in Scottsdale. This salad made me very unhappy. The salmon seemed like it was salvaged from a buffet past. It was pre-made, almost cold and also over cooked. There was albumin formation on the fish…it’s like egg whites being cooked out of the flesh.
The salad was also missing some ingredients that I was looking forward to enjoying like fiddlehead ferns, sunflower seeds and flavor.
The Forking Truth is that once in a while the finest restaurants might screw up.
Over Cooked and Over Salted Phoenix AZ
This fish tells a different tail. Over cooked and over salted fish from one of the finest restaurants in Phoenix………All the other plates here were excellent…..They just screwed up on the fish. I told the waiter and he claimed he’d tell the chef………….who knows?
Here is a sad fish story of a small business located in Glendale. I think what happened here was a combination of poor cooking skills and restaurant equipment failing.
My fish was crispy in a weird way. I never was served freezer burnt fish before…..The sweet potatoes seemed to have been aged and the Mac’n’ Cheese was mushy watered down velvetta sort of concoction. The tarter sauce wasn’t even edible here and had the consistency of creamer. My husband’s plate was even worst. His fish was even more freezer burnt and he warned me not to even think about trying his sides….Red/beans and rice were spoiled and he couldn’t describe what was wrong with the hushpuppies…..after a brief tasting we tossed out all the food and ate someplace else.
I waited 45 minutes for this.
Tried a deep dish pizza in Peoria. The crust was very hard and tasted burnt and all this cheese made me feel sick. Crust is mostly black.
Bad food can come from a food truck.
Close up of Corned Beef Wild Buckeye Roll
This was from a food truck. It was a greasy mess and tasted like the grease it was fried with decomposing possums, dead donkeys and other critters or whatever.
This next one might not be the restaurants fault?………….you can purchase unusually super tough chicken. (it’s usually that ultra cheap chicken)
The slaw was really good. The fresh made bread was tasty but the chicken was inedible. It was like it was full of steal belted silver skin…….You couldn’t eat it. This was from a Bosnian Restaurant somewhere in Phoenix.
“READY OR NOT HERE IT COMES! …………. sucker”
Some restaurants put out food ready or not!
Raw grits from a bbq restaurant in Phoenix. Here we brought this to someones attention and instead of saying I’ll take that off your bill or I’ll get you a new one she just walked away. Also from the same BBQ……
For what it’s worth….The brisket might have been outstanding if it was cooked several hours more but they served it before it’s time with hard fat and tough beef. We had other problems but these were the major issues.
This restaurant thinks that the customer will eat anything.
$13.99 Salad from a Mexican Restaurant in Phoenix AZ
The most uninspired salad in metro Phoenix……with horrible salsa too!
Sometimes there is a reason why some restaurants go out of business.
Sonata’s Restaurant used to be located in Scottsdale. My first few visits were so delicious….I was flabbergasted at what they served me on my last visit not so long before they closed. Old fishy tasting salmon that was topped with sour uncooked tomato paste surrounded by horrid splats of floury corn two horrible ways. Down before are gooey gross pierogis. I latter heard that they were between chefs.
Sometimes restaurants don’t hire qualified help and then they go down the tubes. I did tell them how it was when I dined there and the waiter said he’d tell the management. They did nothing. I also wrote about my experience here and on a review site. The management told me that my first two experiences were great so I should just be happy with that.
Tough steak with a side of pond slime for some place in Carefree. (this really grossed me out…I couldn’t even bring the meat home for my dogs…and couldn’t eat beef again for a few months)
I went to this particular restaurant in Peoria and a while back it was OK….I heard that the ownership changed and I was hoped that it got better……sadly it got worst. This food was far worst that what you’d get from the lowest end fast food place! It was like MICROWAVED BY A MORON!
This is my salad. It was made with what tasted like pre-made frozen chicken fingers that had the strangest texture. They were hard, hollow and cold. It seemed like they blew them up in a microwave oven and then chilled them.
My husband also had an awful sandwich here.
His sandwich was made with similar chicken fingers that were covered in cheese that was hard but also melted at the same time.
This one isn’t the worst and almost didn’t make this list….but it isn’t great either.
There is this sandwich shop in Glendale and the fillings for their sandwiches aren’t bad but they use the FORKING WORST ROLLS IN THE WHOLE WORLD. I have no idea why someone would open a sandwich shop and use the lousiest bread they could buy.
Sometimes some restaurants serve you half good and half bad food.
I went to an Asian Chicken restaurant in Mesa. The chicken on the left side of the plate was moist and edible. The chicken on the right side was similar to jerky but very dry and stringy.
I had delicious fish at this restaurant in Glendale before so I thought I would get delicious fish again….I was wrong.
I have no idea what went wrong here…..The fish came out like it was made of rubber. You couldn’t eat it. We didn’t complain because we were just so upset that we just wanted to leave. Then they charged me $89.10 for this fish. This has to be one of the worst experiences I ever had anywhere.
Disappointing food can come from a pizza shop.
Who wants a pizza without toppings? I got an individual pizza from a certain place in Peoria. They were very scant with the toppings and one slice was pretty much topping free.
Some people are not fit to be in the restaurant business.
It’s impossible to forget this plate I got somewhere in Sun City. (notice the funeral service card by the lower right side of the plate….strategically placed……) It’s made of boiled frozen vegetables, old green potatoes and old trout. here’s a closer look at the vegetables.
Sun City AZ
and the potatoes. Try some…I dare you!
Sun City AZ
Honest to GOD I asked why the potatoes were green….The waitress said I have to ask the chef……The answer I got was that black pepper always makes potatoes turn green. I was so offended by what I served I seriously thought about calling the police because I thought this was a crime.
Well that was the Halloween Special Edition – A Collection of the most Frightful Horrific Foods served to me in Metro Phoenix AZ.
Flint by Baltaire is an upscale wood fired contemporary mediterranean accented restaurant with great atmosphere, a big exhibition kitchen and an all weather indoor patio.
The indoor patio
The lunch menu is broken down into humus, dips and spreads, salads and vegetables, laffa flatbreads, pizzas, large plates and sides.
We started with a wood grilled artichoke ($14.00).
The artichoke was grilled nicely and salted perfect. It came with a delicious grilled lemon half and a little ramekin of tarragon aioli for dipping.
Our server suggested that we shared plates so we split a Flint laffa flatbread ($13) and a big plate of ora king salmon ($28).
You know the song dude looks like a lady? …well…..This flatbread looks more like a wrap.
It’s served with delicious harissa (a middle eastern condiment made of a roasted pepper base, warm spices, a little hot pepper and something like caraway and also a ramekin of tahini sauce. The laffa bread is nicely charred. My half (the bottom has some cabbage, a slice of egg, a red onion slice, some tahini and a shred of pulled chicken. Fresh greens adorn the plate.
The harissa is delicious on this but this really only appetizer sized. This was only two bites with a small shred of chicken. I think my husband’s half might have had more food in it but not much more. Honestly even if I was here by myself and ate the whole thing this still wouldn’t be much food.
Then we share the BIG PLATE of ora king salmon ($28)
We shared nicely cooked salmon with seasoned crisp skin, a grilled half lemon, a dab of almond-olive relish and maybe the best tasting broccolini I ever had. It was cooked to perfection and had a delicious wood cooked taste to it.
The big plate is not so big.
The food was good, service was good, the atmosphere is stunning but lunch seems to be for people with very small appetites.
Lunch was around $55.00 before tax and tip and we left hungry.
www.FlintByBalltaire.com
Every FORKING THING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
*****UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS****Meat The Ball is a casual full service meatball themed restaurant with one location in Scottsdale Arizona at the Promenade and another soon to re-open at The Biltmore Fashion Square. They serve a variety of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, platters, some platters with house made pasta, Seven kinds of meatballs or meat-free balls, pinsa (ancient Roman focaccia) and more.
It’s bright, cheerful, colorful and modern when you walk in.
You can sit at the bar or at traditional tables or outside on the patio.
The menu offers many tasting sounding things to try. We want to try most of the menu but can’t so we try a few things.
We decided on a flight of meatballs and a pinsa. They come out in reasonable time and here they are.
Starting on left is the Short Rib ($7.00) – grass fed beef with gravy sauce. Middle Rustica ($5.00) – grass fed ground beef with parmesan sauce. Right – Cauliflower ($4.00) – spices, potato, chick pea flour, cashews in curry sauce. (Price was reduced $3.00 for getting a flight of meatballs)Marinara – marinara sauce, mozzarella, oregano, basil ($13.00)
I really appreciate that the meatballs are all served in special separate plates. I shared two of the three meatballs. All the meatballs were good, very good or outstanding but our mutual favorite was the Cauliflower (bottom ball). WOW! the texture is very good, it’s very flavorful…but it’s also spicy……It’s simply delicious and the sauce is one of the most delicious curry sauces I’ve ever tasted….This is really Forking Awesome! I hope the recipe stays the same so I can enjoy this again.
My husband ate the Rustica (middle). He said it’s a very good meatball with a nice texture and good flavors. We liked the parmesan sauce but it needs to be noted that the chunks of red pepper ran spicy today. He also said it’s much better than most meatballs that he eats in restaurants. My husband grew up eating meatballs. Meatballs are part of his heritage.
I tried some of the Short Rib Meatball. It taste like a very good beef stew…………..It taste just like beef stew but in the shape of a ball………It’s almost odd to me because I wasn’t expecting it to taste like beef stew. I was thinking like BBQ Short Rib kind of taste. I personally don’t eat beef stew but if you are a fan of beef stew then this ball is very good.
Now to the pinsa.
Some people consider the pinsa to be a healthier alternative to pizza with less calories and less carbohydrates. Pinsa is suppose to be made of a combination of different flours with high hydration and long proofing to make the dough….I didn’t ask what the ingredients were but others pinsa makers use soy and rice flour mixed with basically a sour dough. Other people tell me that you should enjoy pinsa just because it’s the most popular pizza in Italy right now!
I take a bite. It’s tender, light and delicious. The crust feels like fine sand paper against my lips but it’s easy to bite into. It’s almost like a tender but lighter English muffin. The sauce taste like traditional vine ripe sweet tomatoes and it’s topped with melty mozzarella cheese laced with oozing basil. It tasty and light so your stomach has room to try meatballs.
My husband helps really well with the pinsa so we share something else.
Instead of dessert my husband picks the eggplant meat(less)ball ($4.00)
The Eggplant has a core of melty mozzarella….. and is dressed in meatless tomato sauce and topped with a little mozzarella and a little basil leaf. It taste just like eggplant parmesan. The texture and flavor is much better than the same meatball I tried at the Phoenix Location. But I do note that they told me that they were still perfecting the eggplant recipe at that time.
Service was very attentive, efficient and welcoming.
We enjoyed our visit to Meat the Ball in Scottsdale.
I’d say it was Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
****UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS****
I hope the recipes stay consistent. I do note that I have been to the Phoenix location and did come across inconsistency with the seasoning and spice. The discontinued quinoa meat(less) ball on fist visit was spicy and amazing but on a second visit was mild and less flavorful.
www.MeatTheBall.com
EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.
Dining out with DOGS is just a “Fluff” story about taking my dogs out to eat. it all sort of started when my dog LOUIE came down with aggressive cancer. He enjoyed going out to eat so I took him out as often as I could. Instead off his 3-6 month prognosis Louie made it another 17 months. Today my current dogs enjoy going out to eat.
There are many things to know before you dine out with dogs. Not all restaurants with patios are dog friendly. You should dine at certified dog friendly patios. They have official signs and certificates. If you don’t see a sign or a certificate you need to call the restaurant and ask if it’s ok to dine with your dog(s) on the patio the day of your visit. I also suggest to dine at off times. The restaurant needs your money more on off times and it’s ALWAYS BEST to avoid other diners and their dogs. Not everyone shares your love of dogs and some people are allergic to dogs. It’s also best to avoid other dogs because dogs often like to bark at each other and you might be asked to leave.
There are more rules. Dogs are NOT to sit on restaurant furniture or eat off of restaurant plates. Dogs must be by your side at all times. Other things to know are that most food and drink that you consume is potentially harmful and even TOXIC to your dog. You MUST get a list of dog safe and dog avoid foods from your veterinarian. Usually a small amount of lean sauce free meat is a safe bet for your dog. You should be responsible and also bring a water dish for your dog. You also need to be aware that your dog is not as heat tolerant as you. Just like people all dogs do have a different tolerance for heat. For most young healthy dogs can only tolerate up to 90 degrees but ONLY IN SHADE. Ninety degrees and up is too hot for dogs. Hopefully you can judge the temperature for your dog. When there is any doubt it’s better to leave your dog home.
Here is where I let my blog go to the dogs and they can tell you about their dining experiences themselves.
“We are on our way to Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in Phoenix.” ” It’s a PHO-FREE Vietnamese Eatery that specializes in serving Banh mi baguette sandwiches.” ” They also offer many of your Vietnamese favorites but they don’t serve PHO.”
“Our female human companion had the curry chicken with rice today.”
“She laps the sauce off for us and we get to help her eat lots of chicken.”
“Our male human companion had the pork rice plate.”
“The pork is always tender and delicious here but our male human companion isn’t as generous with handing out the meat.”
“We always Forking enjoy ourselves at Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery.”
www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com
“We are on our way to Culver’s in Phoenix.” Culver’s is a national group of quick casual restaurants.” “They are famous for their signature never-from-frozen -butter burgers, hand battered Icelandic Cod and daily made frozen custard.”
“Our folks had a sheet of coupons with them and we got our own double cheese butter burger!”
“We also got to try some of the hand battered Icelandic Cod.”
“We did alright at Culver’s!”
www.Culvers.com
“WOO Hoo!” “We are on our way to Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale.” “They serve Italian Foods and Pizza and have a nice covered patio.”
“Today we tried some of their delicious house made bread with a little soft butter to start out with.”
“Then we mostly got to eat white meat chicken that we enjoy!”
“We got to sample a tiny amount of fine Italian lunch meat and some fine Italian Cheese too!”
“We love going to Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante!”
www.BottegaRistorante.com
“WHOO HOO!” “We are on our way to CHZBURGR in north Glendale
“CHZBURGR is a casual limited menu burger restaurant located in north Glendale.”
“Our folks got us our own plain, no onion, chzburgr.”
“Our folks had a hot dog that had potato salad, Calabrian chili, pickle chips, mustard and crispy onions on it.” “Someone also had a double chzburgr today but he had all the normal stuff it comes with.”
“Our other human companion had the breaded chicken thigh sandwich that is mayo, pickles, honey mustard, leaf lettuce with added Calabrian Chili on a nicely toasted eggy bun.” “She also had sweet potato waffle fries that they call gaufrette here.”
“Here’s OUR CHZBURGR!”
“MAN OH MAN did we FORKING ENJOY ourselves at CHZBURGR!”
“no website but they are on Facebook”
“Well that was Dining Out With Dogs in Metro Phoenix for October 2019.” “We hope that you enjoyed and we hope to see you next month.” (“Big Woman needs a nap after eating”…”Please excuse her”)
The Forking TruthIn Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017
The 2019 Dish It Out Food Festival on High Street in Phoenix benefitted the Boys and Girls Clubs of Phoenix. General Admission tickets ran around $70.00 and VIP Tickets ran around $200.00. Twenty nine general admission restaurants participated and another seven VIP restaurants participated. There were twenty two beer vendors. There also were twenty four general admission wine and spirit spots and another ten VIP wine and spirit stops.
Below are some of the Highlights from Dish It Out.
First taste was chicken gyro with hot sauce from The Halal Guys.
Paul Martin’s American Grill served Short Ribs over Mashed Potatoes and a Chocolate Mousse Brownie Dessert.
Got a fancy beef plate from Orange Sky.
From Orange Sky
Meritage Urban Tavern put out a spectacular pork dish and eye popping chocolate truffles.
These were AMAZBALLS!
The Filet from Flemings was like butter in the mouth. They served it with Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese.
Chinobandito was there serving chicken in little crispy pork skin bowls with spicy sauce.
Chinobandito
They offered a few different salads from the Chop Shop.
Like I always say that every THING is subject to change and it usually does. Famous 48 sure improved the recipe for their Nashville Hot Chicken. It’s a whole lot milder now but the chicken is completely different from what they served me in their original restaurant. This chicken was plump and moist with a nice texture. This was delicious!
New Dish from the Tryst Cafe made with Jackfruit.
Someone served very cold Cheese Burgers…….
Benihana served Fried Rice
Tried some wine from Orin Swift. Liked The Pinot.
Tried a Chicken Skewer from Toro Latin Grill.
The Salmon from Ocean Prime was AMAZING!
Wanted to finish things up with Cabernet from Trefethen but they ran out around 6pm so I settled for Trefethen Chardonay.
That was my night at Dish It Out.
www.DishItOutAZ.org
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
Pizzicata is an Italian Restaurant located in Carefree Arizona located in the Spanish Village. They serve appetizers, salads, soups, house made pastas and Pinsa Romano (a healthier alternative to pizza). The Pinsa compared to pizza is 48% less sugar and 85% less fat according to Pizzicata’s website. It’s made from wheat, soy, rice and sourdough with high hydration and long proofing.
I’ve come here twice and on my first visit they had to suddenly close because they ran out of food so a couple weeks latter I thought I’d try them again. On my second visit they were open but the menu differed slightly than what I read on their website.
Website menuActual Saturday Lunch Menu
It was a really nice day so we sat on the patio.
But inside it looks like this.
We decided to share a Caesar salad ($12.00) and a Margherita Pinsa Romano ($14.00). They arrived at the same time.
We start with some caesar.
The romaine is fresh and crisp and the croutons are seasoned nicely. The dressing is thick and rich and laced with anchovy and grated cheese. It’s a bit light on the salt and pepper but you can adjust to your liking.
Here’s a closer look at the pinsa.
It’s topped with a nice melty mozzarella. The sauce is slightly seasoned and has a little pucker to it. The crust is very different. It has the texture of fine sandpaper from a sprinkling of something like semolina. The crust is crispy and chewy. It kind of reminds me of a toasted English muffin bottom. I ate three or four pieces and it didn’t seem heavy at all in my stomach.
We had room to try a pistachio gelato so we did ($10.00).
The flavor is good but the texture is a bit icy. I asked if they make it and the waiter told me no but it’s made locally.
That was my trip to Pizzicata in Carefree AZ.
www.PizzicataUSA.com
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
The Larry is a casual restaurant located past downtown Phoenix in the warehouse district in a warehouse. You order at the counter, pay, grab your name tent and seat yourself. They offer seating on an officially dog friendly patio.
Or you can sit inside in at the bar or someplace else in the open airy warehouse.
The Larry offers breakfast, a variety of sandwiches that include a vegetarian burger, pizzas, salads, sides, soup, cocktails, wine, beer and more.
We seat ourselves and someone runs us napkins and silverware.
My photo doesn’t show how mirror reflective and crystal clean the silverware appears to be……
Soon we are off to share several things.
We start out with what they call the inside outside grilled cheese sandwich with an upgraded side of bang bang broccoli instead of the Larry Fries ($8.00 + $3.50 subject to change)
We start with the fried bang bang broccoli that is topped with bonito flakes and Asian Seasoning and come with sweet chili sauce. The Broccoli is delicious and amazing….It has such a great meat like texture and doesn’t seem too heavy or too oily. It’s just right! It’s so good that it doesn’t need the sauce…really REALLY yummy! I could eat them all day long.
The inside outside grilled cheese is made with double cheddar and fontina cheese. For me this sandwich is too greasy, taste sort of like burnt cheese and lacks a gooey cheese center. Sorry but if I tell The Forking Truth I can’t stomach this one…..But what is not great to me is magnificent to my dogs and they thought it was tail wagging great!
The other sandwich we shared was the KFC Korean Fried chicken sandwich upgraded to hash brown fries instead of Larry Fries ($12.00 + $3.50 subject to change).
The hash brown fries had a really delicious potato flavor to them…….They had a mashed potato texture inside that might have been over mixed because they seemed sort of gluey. The KFC Korean Fried Chicken sandwich is an inspiration and lacks the crisp crackly seasoned crunch and the sweet and spicy flavors that real Korean Fried Chicken has. I liked that the sandwich was served on a house made bread that was the perfect size for the sandwich. There were also pickles that seemed like house made. The sandwich gets an A-OK……Could be a little more tender, juicy and more flavorful. It was A-OK.
That was my trip to The Larry in Phoenix.
www.TheLarryPHX.com
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.
Persepshen (per’sepSH(e)n) is a farm to table type of restaurant that opened in Phoenix Arizona. They locally source as much as possible, serve organic and do whole animal cooking. Everything is made in-house by scratch. It’s a small restaurant that offers a large menu with lots of variety. The menu is broken down into snacks, small plates, big plates, real big plates, kiddos, sweet treats and just a bite treats. They offer local beers and liquors and also offer wines and Italian sodas.
Near the main dining room it looks like this. (nonstop people walking by)
From my seat it looks like this.
It might be a sort of a chic rustic sort of atmosphere.
The bar.
The kitchen.
The menu was pretty darn massive with a lot of variety for a small restaurant.
We arrive and my husband is starving so he tries a “just a pig stick” with hatch chili while we are deciding ($3.00).
It arrives wrapped up and here it is unwrapped. It’s made in house from the whole animal. I keep hearing….”this is really good!”………..”this is REALLY good!”
Our server was very knowledgeable on the menu and gave many suggestions.
We finally decide and here the plates come.
Our first plate is the melon ($13.00)
It’s a nice light refreshing starter with house made pickled peppers, mint, honey, goat cheese, black peppered cashews, micro greens and of course melon. (this could also be a nice light dessert)
Our next plate is the wood roasted carrots ($9.00)
They arrive in a hot skillet on a slice of tree. The carrots are wood grilled and are tossed in bbq sauce with pickled sweet peppers and are also topped with crispy onions. This plate ran on the sweet side. Maybe too much bbq sauce.
Our main plate was the wood grilled sirloin steak ($22.00).
It was prepared medium-medium/rare. It had a nice sear with a well seasoned exterior and a fresh tasting tender delicious interior.
The steak was covered with lots of young grilled black eyed peas. They had a nice wood grill flavor to them and sort of were similar to green beans. Tostones and chimichuri completed the plate.
The sweet ending was a yuzu laced slice of pound cake embellished with poppy seeds, blueberry jam, creme fraiche and candied basil leaves.
I’d say that Persepshen was Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
I haven’t found a website for Persepshen but they are on Facebook.
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.
The 2019 Arizona Taco Festival was a two day event held at Westworld in Scottsdale. It ran from Saturday October 12th and Sunday October 13th. General Admission tickets ran around $15.00 a person but discounted tickets were available on Groupon for half price. Tacos did cost around $3.00 each. In addition to tacos there were other activities such as a chihuahua beauty contest, a hot pepper eating contest, a hot sauce expo and a tequila expo and more. Certain activities were for an additional charge. Parking was about a mile from the event. Closer parking was available for $20.00.
I went on day two Sunday the 13th. I got there bright and early about 20 minutes before opening. The line wasn’t too bad today and the weather wasn’t too bad either. It was on the warm side but breezes blow by to cool you off.
I warn you that I tell The FORKING Truth so don’t expect every stop here to be perfect.
The people behind us
Our first tacos came from Taqueria Mi Lindo Guanajuato.
The one on the right was chicken and the one on the left I forget…It was either beef or pork. These were ok and messy to eat. I noticed that most of the tortillas were not grilled today.
Next we tried a combo taco plate (chicken, beef and pork) from Taste of Korea.
This was one of the few places that prepared nicely cooked moist proteins….but these tacos were made with LOTS of mayonnaise that sort of grossed us out. The beef was very sweet tasting. The chicken might have been the best of what’s here.
Next we shared a bean taco from Los Sombreros.
It was on the bland side……
Next was a red chili chicken taco and a fish taco from Vaqueros.
These tacos were tasty and it was nice to have the grilled hot serano pepper. I know that tacos in Mexico usually have some more vegetables in them to be tastier. These were also almost impossible to eat standing up.
It really wasn’t too busy here at lunch time.
They have someone spinning records.
This lone tent looked interesting….Might have missed out on something good?
Tried a chicken taco from Superfarm Super Truck because they displayed a lot of awards.
The sauces on this tacos were VERY GOOD but this taco shell has seen better days…..It’s like air dried and crunchy.
Next was Sr. Ozzy’s
They had a line and were selling TWO Tacos for Three dollars.
By now I’m sort of full and couldn’t go on much more but my husband is still hungry. So he eats these tacos and I just take one bite out of the beef taco. (bottom left) Beef is seasoned well but it’s sort of boring without all the vegetables. I didn’t try the seafood taco. It was the only cooked tortilla we tried today but my husband said it tasted fishy.
Next is a chicken taco from Vecina.
This chicken is dry and the taco is cold. I think these were made a long time ago.
I really had high expectations for a vegan carne asada taco from Verdura. I’ve been to Verdura and have had good vegetable plates there.
It looks good. I’m very thankful that I tried the tiniest morsel before attempting a bite. THIS IS INEDIBLE. THIS WAS THE FORKING WORST TACO I TASTED AT THE TACO FESTIVAL> It’s a #FORKNO …..They must have had an accident and dumped a whole large container of salt into it. It’s so salty that this taco could kill people. I wished at the moment that there was some sort of food super hero that I could call to fix this……. I bet the nearest trashcan is full of these tacos.
That was my trip to the 2019 Taco Festival.
I don’t expect to return again.
www.AZTacoFestival.com
But EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change……Your experience may or may NOT differ…..
