Category Archives: Forking Thoughts

Random Forking Items of Interest

The Forking Truth is that All Restaurants have Potential

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The Forking Truth is that All Restaurants have potential. They have potential to do well or not to do well. I am purposely  not mentioning the name of this restaurant because they are newly opened. It is NOT my intention to bring negative attention to them. It is my hope that they work things out because this restaurant certainly has potential that can go either way. I am not a professional reviewer by any means and  I pay my own way just like you when I go out to a restaurant. I am not treated special and I walk in like anyone else. I can’t cherry pick my stories and only tell the good ones. I can only tell The Forking Truth.

Somewhere in metro Phoenix a New BBQ Restaurant opened and I had to try it for a few reasons. The chef is a known competition BBQ Master……so that means his BBQ should be great. The Chef was also skilled enough to make it on to the Food Network Grill Masters TV Show and the other reason I had to try this place was that pastrami was a regular item on the menu and no other BBQ restaurant that I know of in the area offers pastrami regularly on the menu. I’ve been working on my own pastrami recipe so this was of special interest to me. Pastrami is a lot of work and a very difficult thing to prepare correctly. Things do go wrong even if you do things correctly because each brisket is different. That is why (not all) but nearly every deli out there does NOT BRINE Corned Beef or Pastrami in house. The majority of places that serve corned beef and pastrami pay a professional company to brine by their own recipe. Pastrami sort of is an art. Speaking of art there’s artsy kind of decor in this tiny restaurant.

The dining room is very small with very limited seating and some stools on the other side.

When I arrived on the patio there was five outside tables but then they removed one for a DJ to set up.

Back to coming in……

As you enter your at the counter.

You see BBQ Awards to your left and a Pig Mural to your right. In front of you is the menu.

We made our orders and sat ourselves on the patio. In about fifteen minutes my husband goes to pick up our order…..

We orded a New York Style Hot Pastrami Sandwich that was suppose to contain a PTG Slaw (…..oh initials of Chef Guy) Russian Dressing and Toasted Marble Rye.

The White at bottom of sandwich is fat

My sandwich was missing the slaw….not a deal breaker but someone should have told me that they didn’t have slaw ready yet. The Pastrami is barely warm but is tender, a bit fatty with a few fat chunks I have to remove. It’s very different……..Mildly seasoned and mildly smoked…Not much of a crust but it’s a different unique style………It’s more like corned beef but with a very slight smoke……The dressing they used is sweet with chunks of pickles in it ………(technically more of a Thousand Island Dressing and not the savory, spicy Russian Dressing)  …..The bread was toasted nice but I would have enjoyed the sandwich more with thinner bread….. It’s a lot of bread….like a double portion….I make a big 1/2 sandwich out of it and it’s still a lot of bread to eat with the meat. Makes it hard to taste the meat with so much bread. Maybe the ratio would have been better if my sandwich contained the slaw it was suppose to have.

We also tried the Two Meat Plate with an added Hot Link. I have to be FORKING Honest here……The Brisket had really good flavor but was just barely warm with hard fat and the beef part was chewy like rubber. This meat wasn’t ready to be served to people.

After I tried a bite my husband asked me to try more and I said, “NO.” My husband said the pork was good and he said the Hot Link would have been good if it wasn’t dried out…Usually Hot Links are juicy.

The Forking Truth is that the Cheesy Jalapeño Grits were inedible.

Again another thing served next to being cold and the grits were still hard and crunchy in a drippy thin watery sauce. It was like trying to eat sand mixed with water.

We told someone about the grits and she ran away. (Wow, I found this baffling…no I’ll tell the chef or I’m sorry or I’ll take that off your bill or anything……we didn’t get to say anything else….she just ran away….who does that?)

I will say the Waffle Fries were Delicious…..Seasoned nicely, seemed oil free with a fluffy interior. Shame they were also almost cold too.

To sum things up – The only thing that was served at the correct temperature was the Hot Link. All the other hot items were served next to cold.  My Sandwich came out without slaw. The Brisket and Grits were served to us before they were ready to be served to people. That is NOT Professional or OK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES……..(that is something a child might do)…….and lastly……….We started to tell someone about the grits and as we were talking she ran away….

We cleaned up our stuff and left. No Thank you for coming or come back again or anything.

The Forking Truth is that all restaurants have potential….to do well or not.

Hopefully they will work things out……… but I’m not going back.

Every FORKING THING Everyday Anywhere is subject to change and YOUR Experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

 

General Admission – Devour Culinary Classic Day 2 Sunday March 4th 2018

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Devour Culinary Classic is an annual two day sold out event that is considered to be the premier culinary event of Arizona. Unlike other culinary events across the country that offer celebrity chefs Devoured is uniquely Arizonian and only features our local culinary elites.

2018 is a big year for change. No longer is this event hosted at the Phoenix Art Museum. Devoured has now moved to bigger grounds at the Desert Botanical Gardens. Bigger grounds are suppose to offer more people the opportunity to attend the annual sold out event and this is a bigger venture to offer more things…..Will it be bigger? Are more people attending? I know this annual event always sells out and it did again months ago so I do have to wonder……I also got informed that there is limited parking…..

That worries me…WTFork do I do if I don’t get a parking spot…..leave? I always had a place to park at or near the Art Museum……If you can’t park at the Botanical Garden there is nothing near by except for the zoo and if you park there it’s a few mile walk. in the desert with the brutal Arizona Sun.

Way back when I attended Devoured back in 2012 it only cost me $45.00 for each of the two days if I purchased my tickets in advance for general admission. Today in 2018 the same two general admission tickets has rocketed to a whopping $210.00 and if you times that by two it cost a couple $420.00 for two days of general admission. That’s a great deal of money so I’m only doing one day this year.

This year the tickets were broke down into THREE price ranges with no discounts.

general admission “tasting package” $105.00 per day

connoisseur package (1 hour early admission) $155.00 per day

VIP package (1 hour early, VIP gift bag and special VIP tastings and cocktails) $205.00 per day

Everyone ($105. $155. & $205. ticket holders) gets admission, access to Hensley/Quench Beverage Garden, access to chef demos, passport, wine glass, yolk, lift discount.

Connoisseur ($155.) also gets lift discount plus, admission to heritage food experience, admission to AZ Beverage experience.

The VIP’s ($205.) get all of above plus

One hour early admission, VIP access to Chef Welcome Beverage Service, Early admission and reserved seats to Heritage Foods Service & AZ Beverage Experience, VIP Swag Bag, Collector Pin, Reserved Parking & Lyft discount plus.

Parking was unorganized. They directed us to an already filled parking lot so we just found a spot ourselves.

We get paper wrist bands and wait in line. I look at the wines offered and most are not well known wines. I used to enjoy Merry Edwards wine at Devoured for years……Merry Edwards is a well made wine…..even the lower end Merry Edwards was awesome. ($38-$65). I recognize Marietta a $10.00 bottle that’s ok some years. I didn’t drink any wine today…….I don’t want to make myself sick……(well here anyway)

A one man band person entertains us while we wait to get in. It seems we got this instead of the nice reception room with goodies we used to enjoy……Gone is the reception room for general admission. Three years back you could stuff yourself silly in the reception room if you wanted to…..they have been cutting back on that but it was still something to look forward too.

The clock strikes 11:30 and we get to go in.

Tammy Coe – Cake

Pe’la – Shrimp Grain Bowl

Worth- Cuban Sandwich, Cocktail and Banana Pudding

District American Kitchen – Corn Pudding Avocado Mousse, Mole dusted Meringue and Waffle, bacon bourbon Ice Cream, apple butter compote, maple cotton candy, caramelized white chocolate pecan bark…Woof! This was among the better that I tried.

I think one of the most memorable (in a good way) dishes I tried came from Artisan. The Smoked Broth Congee with Mesquite smoked black garlic, chicken, spicy daikon and dehydrated onion was so interesting that I actually forget most of all the other things I tried. Artisan also served Indian Spiced hot shrimp.

Different Point of View – Duck Two Ways over Corn Cakes.

I didn’t try the Pibil  Tostada from Mi Catering but my husband said the salsa on the tostada was exceptional.

I didn’t come back to try the noodles from Red Thai but I did try the Chewy Pounded Rice Noodle in Spicy Ginger Sauce. (sorry I forgot to photo)

My husband enjoyed this Pork Belly Dish from House of Tricks.

Gluten free pasta from the Parlor.

The Larder & The Delta – Pork Tamale

Sel – Pork Taco in steamed Bun.

Crujiente Tacos – Short Rib with Szechuan Sauce.

Clever Koi – Szechwan Chicken Feet and a Duck Dish.

Becket’s Table – Eggy Bread stuffed with Creamy Shrimp and Peanut Butter Topped Chocolate Cake.

Handlebar Diner – Crusted Green Chile Ice Cream and Sweet Corn Cake. This was interesting!

Green – Vegetarian (or Vegan?) Burger and fried potato strings.

Scallop and Short Rib Dish from Windsor

Federal Pizza – Chicken Parm  (?)

This section is really crowed.

Sweet Republic ran out of Ice Cream before 1:00  🙁      🙁     🙁    🙁   🙁    🙁      ;(

Sweets from Nutwhats

Wigwam – Lamb Belly

Hawaiian Ahi Poke Taco and Mongolian Beef Bowl from Hulas and then we left. Only one dish pictured here made me gag……It was awful…..most were good a few were exceptional……..There were several restaurants missing from the general admission ticket that were moved up to the VIPS. Devoured is different now. I would recommend going if you can swing the VIP Admission. But they cut back on the General Admission so much I doubt I will attend again.

That was most of the General Admission Experience for Sunday Day Two of Devour Culinary Classic for 2018.

The weather for Devour 2018 was the best we ever had. It wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t rainy either…….The surroundings were lovely but……………..

Between the higher cost and getting much less for General Admission compared to past years I don’t think I’ll be attending Devour in the future.

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

There’s a lot of Weird Food Bling out there!

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There was a McDonald’s Valentine Contest where someone won this $12,500. Ring for hashtaging some sort of Love Note to McDonald’s. I have to admit that I get a kick out of that ring and I think it’s hilarious! Could you imagine walking around like this? (picture off www.yahoo.com)

I do think it would be cool if the winner’s last name is Burger. I hope someone named So and So Burger won! Someone with the last name of McDonalds would also be an obvious choice too!  Maybe someone named Patty McDonald……That would be so fitting. (picture off Yahoo.com)

You might be a little Cheesy if you go around wearing these Nacho Pins! I would have purchased this pin way back when I used to work for Chi-Chi’s Mexican Cantina. Everyone would have been jealous because I would have looked Whey Cooler than my co-workers!

Yes they are really pins! (picture from www.ebay.com get your bid in before it’s gone!)

I was looking for a purse…somehow I found this. (picture from www.ebay.com bid now!)

It’s kinda cute……A Watermelon Purse! (last one on www.ebay.com bid now!)

When has a necklace ever made you feel hungry? You can certainly be the Big Cheese amongst your friends when you sport a fine necklace like this……(LOL) This little number you can buy on www.etsy.com if it’s still there…hurry!

I thought these earrings were very unusual…….I don’t know why but I imagine an Asian Food aroma when I look at these earrings……I think I’d be hungry all day wearing these earrings. These little gems are from www.etsy.com

Momma Mia don’t worry about losing your noodle! …………..

www.delicaciesjewelry.com

The Pastabilities are endless at www.delicaciesjewelry.com in silver or gold!

www.delicaciesjewelry.com

There’s a lot of Weird Food Bling out there! I wonder who’s walking around with that $12,500. McDonald’s Ring…….

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

 

WTFork! Happened to Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews?

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I grew up around Philadelphia PA and a famous regional candy from there was Goldenberg’s  Peanut Chews. This candy bar was like no other. It was all natural and vegan. It was packed with lots of crunchy peanuts that were held together with some sort of sweetness (molasses) that had a texture similar to silicone glue and was very chewy and covered in a thin dark chocolatey  paint. The bar lasted a long time and it came cut in 5 or 6 smaller pieces to make eating it easier and shareable. It was different than other candy bars and also wasn’t too sweet. Actually for me as a child it almost wasn’t sweet enough…..Almost everyone that grew up in the regional area ate or knew of Peanut Chews because it was local. I think I remember it also cost less than the national brands because from the youth runs to the drug store for candy. Back then when I lived in the area I remember we saw the Peanut Chew Factory from the highway every time our family took a drive into the city. I also remember that I noticed the Penn Fruit Grocery Store that was next door to it at one time long long ago.

WOW-WEE! I came across a box of Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews at Dollar Tree.  I don’t remember the last time I had a Peanut Chew. Maybe it was more than 15 years ago? I haven’t seen sold in the Phoenix Area and maybe didn’t eat them the last few years I lived in PA.

Awwwww isn’t this cute! The Philly Sky line with the Liberty Bell. Underneath the Liberty Bell is the Iconic P.S.F.S. Building (a famous long gone bank and the home of radio station 93.3 WMMR) The building next to the Liberty Bell is the William Penn.

Then I go to try a Peanut Chew. Wow…this is nothing like the Peanut Chew I knew. The chocolate is a lighter color, waxy and thicker. It’s not that mysterious dark chocolatey coating that seemed like it was painted on. The inside is not packed with peanuts like they used to be. This candy used to be filled with crunchy peanuts held together by something sweet with the texture of silicon glue. It’s now filled with something gooey that it didn’t have before. It’s mostly a gooey center with very little tiny pieces of peanuts that aren’t crunchy. You used to have to really chew these chews. Hence the name Peanut Chews. It’s something different now. It’s not the same.

This could not be done with a real Peanut Chew. Look at all the pull-ee stuff…..

I found out that the Just Born Company……. (Famous for a lot of Peeps – the chic shaped marshmallows and Mike and Ike Jelly Bean-Like Candies) purchased Goldenberg’s in 2003.

The new owner of the candy company can change the recipe but I feel that changing the recipe that much the product truly isn’t Goldenberg’s anymore and (I think) they should have re-named the candy as Just Born Chews. This candy is something different from the original. At the very least they could write “New and Improved” so people know it’s not the same recipe.  I as a consumer I saw the familiar looking package as bait and I went for it….but inside was indeed a switch to me!

I feel I was Bamboozled….I know..I KNOW ….I KNOW it’s just a candy bar……… I so didn’t expect this………It made me feel bummed……It’s just another thing that isn’t the same…..Like “N” sneakers…….They used to be comfortable……I tried one on a few weeks back at the “N” outlet store and it was all flat inside…….then my husband pointed out to me that I would have to purchase the arch separately in the medium priced selection…….That’s just crazy…..A shoe should come with it’s arch……..What’s next  purchasing a new car that doesn’t come with tires?……I can go on and on …….Yada yada yada……. Yes I know that’s an extreme example…………. Well anyway back to Goldenberg’s Candy…………..so I wrote to the Just Born Company and so my surprise I quickly received a reply.

To sum things up they were sorry for my experience. They say they’ve IMPROVED the consistency and TEXTURE of the center with NO intentional changes to the flavor. The coating that Goldenberg’s used became unavailable so they picked an alternative that their research had a preference for. They also generously decided to send me some complimentary candy to regain my confidence in their brand.

Oh MY! The Candy already arrived just a few days latter! (more Goldenberg’s….too!)

Well that was sweet of them!

They included this card.

And that’s my story about Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews.

I note that you might feel differently and might prefer the newer formula…..I just write about my Forking opinion.

The Forking Truth

 

 

WTFork is a King Cake?………Happy Fat Tuesday!…… Mardi Gras

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Someone from New Orleans sent us a King Cake for Mardi Gras. In the United States New Orleans is the most popular place to celebrate Mardi Gras. They have all kinds of zany festivities and parades like no where else.

The King Cake is a braided Danish Pastry with cinnamon. It is essential that it is colored with purple (for justice) green (for faith) and gold for power. The cake also contains ONE PLASTIC BABY. According to my husband, the person that gets the baby gets to be King for a Day!….. Well that’s pretty cool!

So we go to try a piece. Neither of us ever had King Cake before.

I’m afraid I’m going to choke on a plastic baby so I pull a small piece to taste it….I don’t feel a plastic baby…..guess I’m safe….Ummm it’s pretty good…taste like more than cinnamon…..something like nesselrode (preserved Italian Fruit).

I go to look at the colors in the cake…….I got the baby! I thought it would be baked inside but it was impaled on the bottom.

Happy Fat Tuesday! …….and that’s WTFork is a King Cake.

The Forking Truth

My Forking Thoughts on Black Truffle & Olive Oil Private Selection Kettle Chips

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I noticed these Black Truffle & Olive Oil Flavored Kettle Chips at Frys Supermarket.

The Ingredients read that they contain natural flavorings and do actually contain dried Black Truffles. Looks like mostly good ingredients…I think I’ll give them a try.

Open up the bag.

Dang! It looks like someone was already eating the chips! How deep is this?

Hard to hold my paper Ikea Ruler down but it’s around 8 inches empty.

I go to take in the aroma.

It’s a kind of fried kind of smell.

I dump out some chips.

The chips come in an assortment of sizes. Many chips are folded and most of the chips are very tiny so tiny potatoes were used.

I look closer at the chips and see a few specs of something on them.

In one goes…..

There is a lot of a fine salt on them and they have a sour milk kind of taste. The chip feels powdery in my mouth. These chips however are very crispy.

I eat one at a more normal speed now. Yuk! they seem more salty and more maybe buttermilk-ee and even more crunchy. They have some potato flavor but not a whole lot.

I don’t get any Black Truffle or Olive Oil….maybe there is a small amount in there but it’s over powered by the sour milk powdery taste.

I go for a third one……

The third one sort builds and sort of taste like ranch dressing to me…….with a black pepper finish….

Sorry I bought these chips.

DISSAPOINTING

My bag of chips lacks the black truffle and Olive Oil Flavor and taste more like Crunchy Sour Ranch Dressing.

Maybe my bag was mislabeled?

Your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

I Wonder WTFork! Happened to Russian Dressing?

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I ordered a Reuben at a local restaurant and I noticed they didn’t dress my rueben with the traditional Russian Dressing. Instead they used a thousand Island Dressing……. Reuben sandwiches are supposed to be dressed with Russian Dressing. It seems that Russian Dressing seems hard to come by these days……I wonder WTFork happened to Russian Dressing?

The two dressings do look similar and do share some similarities  but they do indeed are suppose to differ. In general Russian Dressing is SUPPOSED TO BE a spicier dressing and Thousand Island is SUPPOSED TO BE more on the sweet side. Both Dressings are used for salads but Russian Dressing is better to dress the Reuben Sandwich and the flavors in Thousand Island are better to compliment hamburgers.

Then I wondered…maybe it’s this one restaurant? So I looked at a few other restaurants in town where I can also get a Reuben….and this is what I’ve found.

Nope…it seems nobody in the area puts Russian Dressing on Reubens.

The base of these two dressings are similar…….They both are mayonnaise (or another white base) based and are blended with either ketchup, chili sauce or some sort of tomato…..after that many recipes differ by a ton but basically the rest of Russian Dressing is pimentos, horseradish and chives. The rest of thousand Island is olives, pickles and eggs…and only found from www.Wikipedia.com  lemon and orange juice.

I have a few recipes for Russian Dressing and Thousand Island Dressing here that differ.

From www.RecipeCurio.com
Russian & Thousand Island Recipes

Thousand Island and two Russian Dressing Recipes From the Settlement Cookbook

FoodNetwork’s recipe for Russian Dressing

The Professional Chef’s Recipe for Thousand Island Dressing. They didn’t have a recipe for Russian Dressing.

www.epicurious.com Left is Russian Dressing on Right is Low Fat Thousand Island

I Wonder WTFork happened to Russian Dressing?

The Forking Truth

References

WWW.Wikipedia.com

www.FoodNetwork.com

www.DifferenceBetween.com

www.RecipeCurio.com

www.epicurious.com

Settlement Cookbook

The Professional Chef Cookbook

Taco About Tacolandia Phoenix 2018 #TacolandiaPHX

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Tacolandia Phoenix 2018 was a Phoenix New Times Event held January 27th at Margaret T Hance Park in Phoenix AZ. This event benefited Los Diablos. Only $20.00 got you FREE parking, Admission and all THE FORKING TACOS you can eat!

We started off really well. Tacos Tequila Whiskey offered two kinds of detailed delicious tacos.

I tried the Hongos Taco on the left. It was a fancy mixed mushroom taco with gridded cheese, corn and ancho chili sauce. It was surprisingly satisfying. It seemed meaty but with good flavors that were balanced.  On the right was the El Pulpo Taco that was octopus, chicharrones, vegetables and a spicy salsa.

Freebies- besides a variety of tacos Del-Real Brand was giving out a variety of merchandise.

The first hour was no wait at all for food.

Among the better tacos I tried (I note I skipped over many….) was the Helio Basin Brewing’s untraditional Coffee Stout Braised Beef, papaya salsa, pomegranate, pipian Taco. This taco was very developed with lots of stout flavor in the beef on a very unique but delicious spent grain crisp tortilla. I liked the pop of the crunchy but also refreshing pomegranate in it. This taco was NOTHING like the taco I recently had at the restaurant. This one was large and full of lots of meat..to me it didn’t seem like from the same place at all mostly because of the meat to vegetable ratio. This taco was a very different style. The fish taco I had at the restaurant was very delicate but also with bold flavor.  This beef taco was hearty but both were very good with full flavors and very different.

Still no lines.

My husband ate more tacos than me…He said the Los Sombreros was good. I know they are under a new ownership since I ate there.

The next most notable taco I tried came from Presido Cocina Mexican.

I got to try the Chicken Taco on some sort…..I forgot but a special type of…house made tortilla that was extra delicious. the taco was very full of traditional flavors with a nice variety of textures. Maybe the best I tried…..I kept thinking to myself….now this is what a taco should taste like…..My husband finished up the beef one before I could try it but he said it was very good….

By this time we were here over an hour. By this time it’s getting very crowded and hot even though it’s only a little over 70 degrees F. By now there are long lines for tacos and beverages.

The Health Inspector showed up here. I noticed an empty tent….I don’t know if that was due to the health inspector. But I used it for shade for a little bit.

Here is the Puffy Taco from the Puffy Taco Shack. They made a small sample sized taco. It’s only maybe an inch an a half- two inches long (around matchbox sized). It had a unique puffy taco shell.

I didn’t try Willies Taco Joint but my husband said it was good.  Look at the green tortilla…a green chili -corn tortilla topped with green chili pork…….You can’t tell by my photos but the Willies Taco was a full size taco…….one of the largest or maybe the largest most filled taco I came across.

By now I’m feeling the effects from the strong sun, being slightly dehydrated and having a full stomach.

There’s a bunch more to try. There’s more freebies to get. There’s live music. There’s voting for my favorite and there’s more tacos!

My husband and I split-up here and he waits for water in a line and I wait for the last taco that I’m going to try……The sun is strong and I’m really Forking Thisty…….It’s a half hour wait for either a taco or water.

My last taco I tried was the Cash Taco by Rock A Belly Food Truck who has been on Food Network TV Show Eat Street. It was also a bigger taco (not street sized) but it also was among the better tacos. It different and delicious. It was made of sermato poached chicken, cabbage and chipotle aioli and cilantro cream. It was kind of a joy getting this last taco. The Food Truck guy had a really great personality. No wonder why he made TV….He was so friendly and energetic and shouting out to everyone about how great his tacos were.

There’s a whole bunch more at Tacolandia but I can’t do it…..

I think I got more than my $20.00 worth. Didn’t even think about having dinner.

That was Taco about Tacolandia Phoenix 2018

www.TacolandiaPHX.com

Worth a Fork!

THE FORKING TRUTH is that every FORKING THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

 

My Last Meal at Christopher’s & Crush at Biltmore Fashion Park Phoenix AZ

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Christopher’s and Crush Lounge Phoenix AZ

Christopher’s & Crush Lounge is a Contemporary and Classic French Restaurant located in the Biltmore Fashion Park in Phoenix…….. that is until near the end of this month January 2018. The lease is up at the Biltmore Fashion Park but it’s not a good-bye…….The Chef Christopher will be the Executive Chef at near-by Geordie’s at Wrigley Mansion and will later this year is expected to open a new Christopher’s as well…..Incase you didn’t know the Chef and owner Christopher Gross is a MULTI AWARD WINNING CHEF. Not only is he a James Beard award wining chef he is famous for an appearance on the PBS Television TV Show Julia Child and presented her with his famous Chocolate Mousse Tower. The Chef has also been known for cooking for a few past Presidents and much more!

The Famous Chocolate Mousse Tower

The atmosphere is a mix of contemporary and classic. Heavy silverware, crisp linen and crystal clear polished wine glasses grace the tables. Service is very professional and formal. It might seem old fashioned to some…..but old fashioned is sort of refreshing and special now and then.

From this part of the restaurant I’ve always been greeted by Chef Christopher himself at dinner time and while he was working always asked how things were and thanked us for coming….no matter how busy he was……

I enjoyed every past dinner and incredible wine dinners I’ve been to here. I’ve never dined here for lunch so I did that today!

Just like at dinner they started us off with the best French Baguette I tasted anywhere. The bread is shattering crisp and has a great structure like no other. The butter is also special….as it sure doesn’t taste like Costco butter……it’s a whole lot better! This butter is delicious…

I tried a Signature Plate that was written in Big Lettering without a description. Christopher’s House Smoked Salmon.

It’s a wonderfully detailed plate! It looks almost too pretty to eat. The main of the plate was buttery carefully smoked salmon that was masterfully sliced razor thin. The salmon was buttery, not too smokey and sliced so perfect that it melted in my mouth.

The fish rested over this very crisp thin crepe that contained a sort of magical fancy baby mixed green lemony salad. It seemed like the salad was gift wrapped. This salad seemed unlike any salad I had before…It seemed marinated but also crisp…different. Off to the right side of the plate is an edible spoon (I think it was made with squid ink?)……that contained a dot of creme fraiche how cute! (but not enough I needed a another dot more) Off to the side were rich crisp round toasts. This plate was something special…..Now this is dining out!

My husband tried the Wood Oven Bacon and Taleggio Pizza.

The pizza was good and the cheese used (taleggio) is an above average cheese that cost more and has more flavor than most cheese most pizza places use but pizza is not as special like the House Smoked Salmon Plate. Don’t get me wrong it’s still very good……

From the first time I dined at Christopher’s I found out that dessert is a must!!! Your meal is not complete until you have dessert at Christopher’s…..Among the very best you can get!!!!!!

Today the Lemon Tart was calling my name.

The dessert is detailed beautiful and very delicious! The lemon flavor in the tart is absolutely perfection. Not too sweet or too tart but powerfully lemon-ee with a light richness in a thin crust. The plate was also adorned with a rich custardy cream, berry sauce, the freshest sweetest mixed berries and a scoop of a mixed berry frosty confection in a tasty thin crust. This was a delicious elegant ending….

Last time was the Famous Chocolate Tower….(you need to see it again)

The Famous Chocolate Mousse Tower

Certainly Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.ChristopherAZ.com

YOU KNOW THINGS HERE ARE CHANGING! Next Month they are moving to the Wigley Mansion. I know things will change but am hoping the experience will be just as good there…….

The Forking Truth

My Forking Thoughts on Caramelized Creme Hershey’s Gold Peanuts & Pretzels Bar

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It’s some sort of big deal that Hershey’s candy company created a new candy bar that doesn’t contain chocolate. The new bar is called Caramelized Creme Hershey’s Gold Peanuts and Pretzels. I think it sounds good. I feel I need to try it.

I open the package and it looks like no other candy bar I ever have seen before. Different size butterscotch colored pips that interlock like flooring. I take a whiff. It smells like peanut butter. The bar smells very appetizing.

I let one pip slowly melt in my mouth.

I don’t really get the caramelized cream. I guess the caramelized creme is the white chocolate Easter Bunny taste.

It’s very sweet but very peanut-ee.

I think it taste like Reeses Cup Peanut Butter filling that collided with a white chocolate Easter Bunny……But at the end of this all melting in my mouth I got a weird collection of grainy mess in my mouth. I pull the grains out and I can see They didn’t actually put pretzels in the bar. I got pretzel dust with lots of salt and Peanut dust……did I say lots of salt? I don’t like the grainy mess of the peanut dust and pretzel dust. It’s kind of like the bottom of the pretzel bag and bottom of the peanut jar stuff that you throw away……mixed with a white Easter bunny and a Reese’s middle.

The Hershey’s Gold is slightly too sweet for me and too salty….I’m a sweets fan….I do really love sweets. I do love me some frosting now and then.

I KNOW the bar would be so much better if it had small peices of pretzels instead of that bottom of the pretzel bag or pretzel box (Bachman’s) stuff. I also would like the peanuts to be either all smooth or chunkier instead of the bottom of the peanut jar stuff.

This bar sort of depresses me. Of course I DON’T KNOW how it was made but I think it’s made from leftovers. Leftover white Easter Bunny trash, Pretzel and Peanut Trash and some sort of Reeese’s leftover Trash.

Those are my Forking Thoughts on the New Hershey’s Gold Bar and I do note that YOUR THOUGHTS on the Hershey’s Gold Bar may Differ!

I note I don’t know How THE FORK the Hershey’s Gold Bar was made. Maybe they meant it to be this way?

The Forking Truth