The Collins Small Batch Kitchen is an American/New American and Research and Development Playground Restaurant by Chef Christopher Collins located in the Biltmore Section of Phoenix. The website states that this restaurant was created to reflect the people that live in this neighborhood. TCSBK offers a daily menu, a weekly rotating menu, a weekend brunch menu and more.

The restaurant atmosphere is for the most part Traditional American with some modern accents and Arizonian motifs. They offer various seating options that include a large bar area, traditional tables, booths and a small high top table patio. The dining areas are bright from natural light that comes in during the day.

Depending on where you are seated you might have a view of the kitchen action. The kitchen is really open…….If you happen to go in to wash your hands you will be walking into the end of the open kitchen.

We decided to start with an appetizer and tried the Pecan Wood Fired Artichokes with Parmigiano Reggiano Citrus Aioli.

Gosh they are a lot of work but the flavors are perfect and delicious. I like that this dish isn’t heavy at all. Really scrumptious dressing.

For my main I tried the Twisted Noodle Salad. It comes in choices of shrimp or steak.

It’s piled high you need to see it this way.

OMG it’s a BIG Pile of FORKING DELICIOUSNESS! It’s bright, a bit sour, sweet, spicy, flavorful, crunchy, chewy, delicious…….It’s very unique!

The salad is made of buckwheat soba noodles, kale, avocado, really nicely gently pickled cucumber, arugula, scallions, herbs, toasted coconut, roasted peanuts, carrots, chili-lime vinaigrette, steak and other secret ingredients that make this UNBELIEVABLY FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS!!!!!! I can taste some Asian Flavors with some heat. This salad has a kick that doesn’t hurt. I’m not much of a beef person but even this beef is really delicious and tender in this salad. All the flavors are magic together.

My husband went with the King’s Burger.

We need to see this again.

The King’s Burger is fit for a king.

It’s a house ground blend of beef with Abby Farms Danish Bleu, applewood bacon, Collins Slaw, red onion, pommery mustard on a local Noble Brioche Bun and Mac ‘N’ Cheese as his side.

WOW! impressed with the burger! My husband said it was among the best he has tried in Metro Phoenix. It was prepared a perfect Medium Rare that he requested too! He also liked that the bacon didn’t have all the juice cooked out of it and was still moist the way he likes it. He usually doesn’t enjoy Blue Cheese on a burger but it becomes magically delicious when its paired with the pommery mustard. Even the slaw is delicious and the soft rich roll goes perfect with this burger.

I love the desserts I’ve tried from the other Collin Restaurants but my salad was very delicious and also substantial so unfortunately I ate too much of it so I didn’t have room for dessert today…. 🙁 ……but if I had more room I would have went for the blackberry cobbler a la mode today.

The food wasn’t just well executed and delicious it exceeded my expectations!

Yes! The Collins Small Batch Kitchen was Worth a Fork!

www.TheCollinsAZ.com

EveryTHING is subject to change and YOUR experience may or may NOT differ.

The Grass Roots Kitchen and Tap opened around December 2014 but sometime in October of 2018 in the Town and Country Shopping Center in Phoenix. This location of The Grassroots Kitchen Bar and Tap got renamed The Macintosh. The Chef and owner is still the same Chef Christopher Collins. The menu offerings are very similar. They offer weekend brunch, sharing plates, salads, sandwiches, entrees. Some plates have a southern comfort slant like Shrimp and Grits, Barbecued Beef Ribs and Po Boy Sandwiches. The Macintosh also offers Beers, Whiskeys, Cocktails, Wine on Tap and very well made Pies. The decor looks pretty much the same. Casual American.

Today I picked the Salmon and Orzo Salad.

The salmon is moist and flakes nice. I like that the skin and bloodline were removed. The salmon is a good meaty portion with nice grill marks. The salad is made of orzo, arugula, corn, tomatoes, cucumber, apples and pickled onions. It’s filling and tasty…I normally don’t care for buttermilk dressings but this buttermilk pesto dressing is delicious.

It looks similar to a Salmon and Salad plate I had last time from The Grassroots.

Today my husband had the Southern Shrimp and Grits.

The shrimp were cooked nicely. Grits are creamy and tasty. All the food from The Macintosh or when they were called The Grass Roots was Delicious! No Complaints here!

Below are some of the plates we enjoyed before the name change. I’ve also been here for a more formal dinner but I couldn’t find those pictures….. I didn’t have room for dessert today but be sure to view the pies because they are among the best in Metro Phoenix.

The Key Lime Pie is extra special. They hand squeeze FOURTY key limes into each pie. I think this Key Lime Pie is the best Key Lime Pie I’ve ever tasted.

If you were a fan of Grassroots Kitchen then you will be a fan of the Macintosh in Phoenix.

I’d say the Macintosh is Worth a Fork!

www.TheMacintoshAZ.com

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

Mora Italian Restaurant is by Celebrity Chef Scott Conant of Food Network and our local Pomo Restaurants. Mora Italian is a glamorous, stunning, modern somewhat upscale but also casual Italian Restaurant. The atmosphere is a mix of grand, rich and playful with an energetic vibe at prime time.

On my past visits to Mora Italian the food ranged from the outstanding – very good. Not everything we tried but some things we previously tried are pictured below.

This time we decided to try the tasting menu. I note that nobody made me try the tasting menu by twisting my arm…..or holding a gun to my head………but it just sounded fun and worth trying and I was planning on trying two of the dishes anyway and I also always wanted to try the signature pasta dish (pasta al pomodoro)…………… The tasting menu (at this time)…. cost $58 dollars a person at your table for five courses. That seems reasonable and we always enjoyed the food here so we gave it a try.

First course was the Focaccia di Recco.

I’ve had this before from Pomo Pizzeria and from Pomo it was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted in my life. From Pomo the crust was also whisper thin…but crisp with a melty molten middle of flowing pungent cheese that taste better than pizza cheese. Sadly Mora’s focaccia didn’t compare. From Mora the texture and flavor of the cheese differed and didn’t get all melty and molten and also didn’t have that special flavor. The Mora focaccia tasted burnt and over salted and was slightly unpleasant. It also turned doughy…I didn’t feel like complaining…..I just figured everything afterwards would be fine. Below are two photos of the focaccia di Recco from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale.

Second course was the best course for both of us. An arugula with goat cheese salad and the burrata…….no complaints here…….only praises.

Third courses were Polenta and Meatballs over Semolina Pudding.

The creamy polenta was accented with fresh mushrooms and very hard burnt chunks of bacon that I honestly thought were inedible pieces of burnt wood. The bacon was so overcooked that it impossible to bite threw (I thought they were burnt pieces of wood). The polenta would have been excellent if it didn’t contain the burnt wood-like bacon. On the other hand the Meatball dish almost was the best dish of the evening. It was flavored very well but unfortunately for us the meatballs were hard and dry………just overcooked……

Fourth courses were the Signature Pasta Al Pomodoro (plain pasta with sauce) and Fettuccine.

I can’t say in any way anything bad about the pasta al pomodoro….. The pasta was prepared to a perfect al dente. The tomato sauce was seasoned nicely and came with the perfect amount of basil to make it delicious. The Fettuccine didn’t have much flavor to it. It was studded with several extra large whole garlic cloves that seemed slow cooked till sweet. I thought maybe a little bit of some kind of pepper or more escarole might balance out the flavors more. At this point I feel the effects from all the carbs and I ate less than one third of the previous plates.

Fifth course was the Caramel Budino and the Chocolate Torte.

Both desserts were too rich and heavy for our taste….plus I had carbs way beyond my limit already. The Chocolate torte was heavy and rich like a cheese cake and the Budino was like a whole bowl of sweet caramel.

Picking up the car from valet was odd. We had to walk to the valet when our car was by the valet stand and then had to walk back to the restaurant so the valet could drive our car to us.

Turns out the Tasting menu isn’t always a good idea. It was too many carbs for me. I do note I did enjoy the food from previous visits to Mora Italian. For me it’s better if I pick out my own plates in a restaurant.

Even from a really Nice Restaurant The Forking Truth is that The Tasting Menu isn’t always a very good idea. www.MoraItalian.com

Your experience may or may NOT differ and EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change.

As a slight update the manager from Mora read a review from me and did apologies for the unpleasant burnt tasting focaccia and poor execution from some of the food that was prepared for us. He told me to make sure I say Hi to him the next time I dine with them.

Last year (December 2017) PA’LA Wood Fired Cooking was the most anticipated restaurant opening for Phoenix. The chef/co-owner is highly accomplished and has worked for many of the most cherished restaurants in Phoenix. PA’LA is not the usual restaurant. This is a high quality casual order at the counter restaurant with very limited menu offerings that slant fresh seafood and also slant slightly Italian. On my most recent visit they offered a few mostly Italian inspired tapas plates, a seafood grain bowl and a sandwich. PA’LA is a small but cozy restaurant. There are a few tables inside and outdoor seating.

We started out by sharing a tapas plate of anchovies with crackers.

The anchovies were plump for anchovies and were dressed with quality olive oil and lemon. They were sprinkled with a fruity slightly spicy red pepper that might be have been Aleppo pepper. Three crackers were served on the side.

My main was a grain bowl topped with Rhode Island Skate called the Navarro Bowl.

This meal was very unusual. The bowl consist of five grains, seeds, beets and cannelloni beans that are dressed with oil, vinegar, a few herbs and seasoning. The skate is unlike any fish I had before. It’s unusually flat….no more than a quarter inch thick. Instead of flaky meat like most fish is this one is sort of stringy but tender and very mild. Skate is a very unusual fish choice to serve. Very few restaurants in the country serve it for a number of reasons. Most fisherman don’t even catch the skates and throw them back into the water because the fish has very little edible meat. Skate meat also spoils much faster than other fish………….Anyways…The fish is seasoned with some fresh herbs and a spicy red powdered pepper. This taste more flavorful and is very different than my last Navarro Bowl I had at PA’LA. The grains here have different textures. Some grains are chewy, some pop, others burst and the beans are creamy. The chunks of beets are earthy and bright. The bowl was nourishing, didn’t seem heavy but was also filling.

My husband had the Sandwich….A grass fed beef sandwich with poblano pepper, spinach and chimayo chile powder.

The sandwich was made on Italian Style wood fired flat bread and came with a tasty salad that was made of very ripe sweet tomatoes and peppery greens. The sandwich is very flavorful and delicious. The meat was also tender.

That was my trip to PA’LA.

I’d say PA’LA is worth a Fork!

www.PALAKitchen.com

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