*****UPDATE CLOSED******EXPECTED TO RELOCATE******The Larder and The Delta is a small sort of Unique Southern Cuisine laced with Arizonian ingredients in a new way kind of Restaurant located in Downtown Phoenix Arizona.

They offer patio seating.

They offer seating at the bar.

They also offer regular indoor seating.

On my most recent visit we found out that they use QR code menus so you do need a cell phone to dine here.

The menu does change every so often but some of the things you might find are-

The hoping John – This one is different and is vegetarian and was made with Sea Island field peas, Carolina gold rice, and herbs. It’s was full of so many flavors and textures.

The cauliflower – smoked blue cheese, celery, Cutino’s Hot Sauce. As far as I know this dish has been on the menu consistently. It’s also vegetarian and is sort of like vegetarian hot wings.

On a recent Restaurant Week Menu they offered very UNIQUE beignets with black garlic-peanut-romesco sauce.

I only got the eat the K.F.C. Sandwich once but it was truly the FORKING BEST Hot Chicken sandwich that I’ve tried anywhere. What does K.F.C. stand for?…..Kentucky FORKING Crack Sandwich? What I still remember most is that this sandwich had the very best delicious chicken flavor…… Also all the other flavors from the slaw, thick pickles and the right sized bun just went magically together…..It was different……… This sandwich was not the spiciest….but was the most delicious…..This one was on the menu years ago for lunch. I JUST FOUND OUT that this sandwich….(I’m guessing smaller in size………Hopefully the same recipe?)….Is on the Happy Hour Menu…….. (Wed-Fri 4pm-5:30).

Recently I enjoyed the Ethiopian Fried Chicken Restaurant Week Special.

This was delicious and crispy with a lot of flavors and heat….I was surprised that this was or seemed spicier than the hot chicken sandwich….Or maybe it just seemed hotter without a bun, slaw, and pickles to blend with? It was delicious and came with a vegetable-ish relish called chakalaka. The chakalaka had some of the similar beans from the hopping Johns but was spicy.

Sometimes a chicken dinner at The Larder and The Delta might look like this with chicken toe nails in the air.

Shrimp and grits are next.

Below was a recent restaurant week special.

Possibly due to supply issues the Restaurant Week Pork Special was changed up some. It was advertised as a smoked and braised pork collar. Here it was a slow roast Niman Ranch pork loin with hominy and corn giardiniera. My husband thought that the pork had a similar taste to ham.

Something seafood is usually on the menu.

If I remember correctly this was an Ethiopian spiced snapper. The flavors on this one really were BANGING.

Excuse the bad photo above because you can’t see the BBQ meatloaf.

Desserts are casual here.

Cola Cake

M&M Cookie with Capt’n Crunch Ice Cream

Apple cobbler

That was a Little Taste of The Larder and The Delta. Give it a try!
*******UPDATE CLOSED EXPECTED TO RELOCATE******

The Larder and The Delta 200 W Portland St PHX AZ

480-409-8520

www.TheLarderandtheDelta.com

Everything is subject to change.

I do not enjoy writing about negative experiences but I do write The FORKING Truth ……..I also note I have not listed the name of this restaurant in the title of my story on purpose. Only my regular readers get to know The FORKING Truth. You also must know that everything and anything is always subject to change at anytime……and when the press goes and visits a restaurant usually a restaurant is on their best game. For us mere mortals we get what we get.

Aiello’s Restaurant is located in Central Phoenix Arizona in Moon Valley. They originally were opened and ran by Joe and Myrah Aiello in 2007 who have been in the restaurant business for much of their lives. Below is a picture I took of Joe in 2019 at The Italian Festival in Scottsdale. The Aiello Restaurant didn’t serve New American Fancy Food. They served East Coast Style Italian Food. It was good…..It was the type of food that you’d expect to get when you go to an Italian Restaurant. I think my favorite Aiello’s experience was from the 2019 Italian Festival. Aiello’s served a very good spread of many Italian favorites there. I remember me and my husband ate maybe 3-4 different plates from the Aiello’s there.

One of my other favorites from Aiello’s was the thoughtful take out special they offered during the pandemic. They offered take out dinner for two that included a bottle of wine and a candle for $65.

In 2022 the Aiello’s decided to retire and sold the business to someone local. The local people Tara O’Neale and Josh Johnson call themselves Truth and Alibi Hospitality.

Changes have been made inside and out. Outside a lot of the shrubbery has been cleared out. The inside is brighter and more open. The booths have been removed. The chairs got new paint finish and were upholstered with new fabric.

Aiello’s is new again with new faces, new atmosphere, a new menu and a new attitude.

You can stop reading now if you don’t want to know how things changed on my most recent visit. Things started out as good as it got and then things started going downward until the crash at the end.

It was Restaurant Week and the menu sounded amazing. It sure was different from the original Aiello’s…..When I read the menu I thought the restaurant turned upscale Italian….. I also thought I’ve found something very special that I had to try….Maybe something exciting to write about?

Upon my arrival they incurred some sort of glitch with their reservation system. I had a reservation and the hostess insisted that I didn’t have a reservation…..My husband showed the hostess my reservation on his phone……………….She still insisted that I didn’t have a reservation…………..(WTFork?…why?…….)…………I was kinda thinking that I should leave…….I sure didn’t feel wanted there. Eventually we get seated by someone else……………but the weird thing is around thirty minutes latter my husband gets a text that our reservation from Aiello’s was cancelled……(WTFork?)

The only menu we were given was the restaurant week menu and they suggested to get the wine pairings and we agreed…..It sounded great…That’s what drew us in anyway so why not.

They started us off with toasted bread with squid ink black garlic butter.

I can tell you that the bread is decent with a nice crust but I didn’t try the squid ink black garlic butter. However my husband did……He just said that it was very strong tasting.

Next we got a giant meatball with polenta and tenderloin bruschetta and two glasses of wine.

The meatball was the single best dish of what we tried. It was good….My husband said that the polenta was very runny.

The tenderloin was like eating raw meat……….It wasn’t seared or anything and was cold. I was told that it was marinated in tomato. There is some thin tomato sauce under the steak. It’s also a very large portion and is enough for a meal. I ate most of one….took the other two home to cook up better.

Here’s part of one I seared at home…..It was so much better this way and it took almost no time at all to make it much better…It’s tastier and much more tender.

Next course was one of each salad offered….The prosciutto and grilled peach and the caesar and the two glasses of wine were forgotten so my husband asked for the wine.

My husband’s least favorite part of the salad was the peach…..It was supposed to be grilled but the peach turned out oil poached……………..

The caesar dressing taste like mayonnaise mixed with powdered cheese and the croutons taste like they were from a box………..(………..not the best………….)

Our server stops by and says that our dinners would be out soon…..My husband lets the waiter know that we didn’t get our primo course yet…..(the cacio e pepe)….The waiter seems to be in disbelief……Soon someone runs the cacio e pepe plates to us and they forgot the wine again so my husband bothers someone to get us our wine.

The pasta is properly cooked but is in cream sauce……..(who does that?……..that’s not right….) It’s not the traditional Romano cheese and pasta water with pepper……Oddly the two cacio e pepe dishes taste different…….My husband ate his and then just tasted mine because I left a lot….He said mine wasn’t so peppery. I thought mine tasted more like white pepper than black pepper.

After the plates were cleared our dinners come out and the dinner wines never came.

Usually duck breast is served with rendered skin. Here it was not. Sadly the breast was on the raw side and was very tough. Even when I tried to give the leftover duck to my dogs it was so tough I couldn’t pull it apart to tear. The mushroom cherry risotto sounds good and looks good but it taste like it was made creamy with the addition of something like cream cheese spread. (ick) But it wasn’t as bad as the salmon.

The salmon came out with a slightly burnt but seasoned skin. I asked for it to be cooked medium but it came out past well done. I never expect fish house quality fish from an Italian Restaurant but this plate I consider substandard restaurant quality…….Nobody goes out to eat to get a plate like this…………ANYWAYS The well done slightly burnt fish was served over an unpalatable mound of olive tapenade (it’s FORKING AWFUL…Nobody can eat this) I try to eat some of the eggplant. It’s also awful ….the eggplant wasn’t prepared properly and it’s flesh was dissolved and was like a balloon filled with oil bursting out. The best part of the plate is the cooked spinach…It taste more like cacio e pepe than the pasta they served me.

We did inform the waiter that we never got the dinner wine pairing. He said, “I ‘m sorry for the LATE arrival.” (WTFORK is that?) ((WHAT LATE ARRIVAL?????? It never came…….) So he took $5. off per wine pairing.

That was my FORKING Most UNFANTABULOUS Restaurant Experience of 2022….

This wasn’t the story that I wanted to tell but I feel I must tell The FORKING Truth.

I sincerely do hope that these new owners find their way and fix things.

Aiello’s East Coast Italian

777 E Thunderbird Rd PHX AZ

602-547-3354

www.AiellosItalianRestaurant.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may indeed differ. I sure hope it does.

Tia Carmen is a high quality contemporary South-West style restaurant located in North Phoenix Arizona in the JW Desert Ridge Marriott. The restaurant is led by Michelin Star chef, Restauranteur, Bravo Top Chef, and Cookbook author Angelo Sosa. They use Arizona purveyors for local ingredients with an authentic Arizona taste and wood fired grills.

You can be seated on the patio when the weather is nice.

Or maybe a seat inside…

The one MUST-GET-DISH is the Tuna Crudo – tuna in corn coconut broth, smoked chili oil, dill.

I PROMISE you that it is mind blowing (…but on the flavorful spicy side)

If you want something less powerfully flavored then you must get the avocado aguachile.

Milder heat and more delicate flavors. date sesame crumble, Persian cucumber, serrano chile.

The current (September 2022) tri-tip kababs – sesame leaf, pickled onions, serrano chile, Thai basil are pictured below.

Good but not the same as the Wagyu kababs from the opening (May 2022).

They look the same but the texture and flavor is different. (they were also the same price) Both are good but we preferred the opening kababs even if they were $28. for a couple bites.

The native grain fried rice consist of lingica sausage, bacon. serrano chile, garlic, ginger, sunny side up egg, and soy sauce. This might be soy sauce forward to some people.

The tomato salad is a mix of textures and flavors. A base of corn puree like no other supports farm fresh tasting tomatoes, burnt corn dust, basil, pickled onions, and fancy greenery.

This is another one of the plates with a lot of layers of flavors – Mesquite noodles, pork, heirloom carrots, Sichuan peppercorns.

It might be the most expensive tostada in Phoenix but it also might be the most delicious tostada in Phoenix. It’s a toastada with beef, bone marrow, guacamole, pickled onions, fancy micro greens.

A very surprising delicious vegetarian dish is the mushroom menudo.

Very unusual mushrooms with amazing textures are used – cordyceps and cauliflower mushrooms in a very developed broth filled with flavors and textures.

Two different fish are on the menu that are completely different.

One is the wood grilled whole trout with parsley and oregano sauce.

The flavors go down into the skin and penetrate the flesh. I think it also is a larger portion than the the other fish. I was told that they will filet the fish for you if you ask. When it’s served whole you do have to be careful to avoid the bones.

The crusted Baja Striped Bass is served with Thai Basil and mole verde. Both fish are very good and can’t really be compared to each other since they are so different. For me this one just pops a little more.

Next is Tia Carmen’s Chicken Guisado.

It’s really just a humble well made stewed chicken dish with rice. Chicken thighs, olives, chimayo chile (they are hard to find), garlic, turmeric rice.

This next vegetarian entree is also extra delicious……but for us it is more of a starter or side dish……But it really is delicious.

See it really is a very small portion. It’s purple yams in a queso sauce with THIRTY WEEK aged tepary beans and mole negro.

The only side dish we tried so far was the yucca brûlée.

under a crispy layer is really creamy, really rich mashed or whipped yucca…..It’s almost like extra rich mashed potatoes with a crispy top.

The one cake that we’ve tried was the coriander tart.

It’s well made and tasty and laced with a small amount of orange.

Maybe my favorite dessert so far might be the blood orange sorbet.

It seems very light and has a very natural strong blood orange flavor and also is refreshing.

These were some of the FORKING Amazing foods from Tia Carmen.

Worth a Fork!

Tia Carmen at JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa Phoenix Arizona

5350 E Marriott Dr PHX AZ

480-293-3636

www.TiaCarmenDesertRidge.com

Everything is subject to change.

Sfizio (svee-tsio) Modern Italian Kitchen is located in North Phoenix Arizona near the Dessert Ridge Mall. They serve Italian Style foods with flavors of South Italy. They offer small plates, three variety bruschetta plates, salads, wood fired Neapolitan Pizzas, calzones, hand crafted pastas, four entrees (pollo parmesan, eggplant tortino, pollo piccata, braised short ribs with risotto and vegetables). They also offer a kids menu, desserts, alcohol and more!

Inside they have one main dining room and a bar. They also have a patio that wraps around the restaurant.

We started out with the eggplant rollotini and the stone fired bread.

The bread is a little toasty and buttery. The eggplant is very thin with a nice texture and seems free of oil. It’s stuffed with creamy ricotta cheese and is topped with marinara, a little bit of a mozzarella type of cheese and a little fresh basil.

For dinner we tried the pollo piccata and the braised short ribs.

The pollo piccata is TWO pounded pieces of chicken breast that was prepared with white wine, lemon, and capers. It came with perfectly prepared spaghetti. For some this is a large portion and some people might get two meals out of this.

The braised short ribs are also a generous entree.

Here you get tender crisp fresh vegetables, saffron laced risotto and tender flavorful short ribs.

If you can manage to save room for dessert the cannoli are worth a try.

The shells taste house made and are less sweet and less bubbly than most. The filling is rich and creamy and is also less sweet and than most. But what is really special are the pistachios. They are so darn flavorful. They sure didn’t come from Costco. They use the very best pistachios that you can ever taste.

Sfizio Modern Italian Kitchen Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork!

21050 N Tatum Blvd PHX AZ

480-687-8107

www.SfizioItaliano.com

Everything is subject to change.