#food #foodie #foodies #Phoenix #PhoenixFood

This past June I enjoyed the most amazing lunch at the stunning Elements at Sanctuary in the Paradise Valley Part of Scottsdale Arizona. Well it’s fall now so it’s about time to try them again.

This is what it looks like when you enter.

Just past the hostess desk it looks like this.

Here’s one half of the dining room.

We got sat just past here and this was the scenic view of Paradise Valley from my seat.

Just like last time they started us out with locally made MJ Sourdough Bread with salt and sea weed sprinkled butter.

It’s the same bread but today it is hot and far more crisp than last time…….almost like a crouton.

The Tea Brined Chicken Thighs topped with Pickled Watermelon was so amazing last time I had to order them again. Here’s what I had last time.

It might not appear different but today’s Tea Brined Chicken differed some. I don’t like when I say something was a certain way and I go back and the food is different…….so I am writing about how it was this time. STILL VERY GOOD! …but different.

What differs the most is the taste of the sauce and the chicken. Last time the sauces were extremely delicious…..and were slightly more layered but ran on the sweet side or maybe there was another sauce I didn’t taste today…because under the rice last time was a flavor I didn’t get today. Today’s sauce was delicious and for sure wasn’t as sweet…….but this time did run a tad on the salty sidebar was still great…….The chicken looks about the same size but wasn’t. What differed about the chicken this time was that today the skin was almost removed from the thighs. it was just on by an edge and had their own crisp coating so what you see in the second photo are big pieces of crispy skin with a smaller amount of tender delicious juicy breaded chicken underneath. It was more like two treats in one today but the chicken was almost 1/2 crispy skin and 1/2 chicken this time. It was like a Chicken Chicharron treat connected to the most scrumptious high end chicken nuggets …………well two were chicken nugget in size and one of the three on left side of the plate was a large one. They still gave a good amount of chicken but different butchery, amount and taste differed from last time. Either way it’s still a great plate but it differed. ********Please remember every Forking Thing ever written about any food item in any restaurant is subject to change.

Today my husband went with the Five Spice Duck Special.

The 5 Spice Duck was very similar to the special my husband had last time………Beef Tenderloin with 5 Spice and Hoisin. He said it was very good….so I reckon it was. I won’t eat duck……I know it’s not logical but….they are just too cute to eat….can’t do it.

This was the Beef Tenderloin with 5 Spice and Hoisin he had last time.

The dessert menu differed and we wound up sharing a Key Lime Pie.

It’s adorable with the edible flowers. It’s very unusual with a sesame crust that has a granola kind of chewy texture. The filling is smooth with a perfect mouth feel. The mango coulis is excellent. There’s a little dab of coconut sorbet…………I like it all but…………….You know me if you read my reviews………I have to tell The Forking Truth……………maybe it’s just me and I am the only one in the universe that doesn’t like think crust (even if it’s very good tasting)….The crust is thicker than the filling. It’s delicious crust…but it’s almost like a cookie that is topped with filling. For my taste this dessert was good but could have been excellent if the proportions differed.

Last time we shared a Lemon Meringue.

I think this was even better than the Key Lime. Every part of this dessert was that perfect lemon/tart to sweet ratio, even the meringue was perfect in taste ….I REALLY LOVED THE FLAVORS….. but it also had an enormous amount of unusually delicious crust.

It was a lovely meal out and even though it differed some and the dessert crust were too thick for my taste I would still say my visit to Elements was worth a fork! This is lovely destination with a stunning atmosphere, professional service and wonderful food you won’t find at other places.