House of Tricks - Tempe, AZ

 I had been hearing great things about House of Tricks for years, but I had never made a trip there due to the price point of the menu.  Fast forward to my sister's birthday and this is where she picked for dinner, which was perfect because it would be on my parent's nickel! Now, my sister's birthday was actually at the end of June, so I am about three month's late on this post, but honestly, I think I delayed posting because I wasn't really all that impressed with my experience.

The building itself is so cute, a little old house in the heart of Tempe with lots of charm.  It being June, in Arizona, we had to eat inside and they didn't seem to have the best air conditioning, so I would not really recommend going during the summer months.  Our waiter was really attentive and did a good job, but I think the food was over promised and under delivered.

We got the Watermelon, Tomato and Burrata (mozzarella) salad to start, it was a lovely presentation, but I didn't think it justified the $12 price tag.  The burrata was delicious, but the watermelon was odd for us, plus it wasn't ripe and had no sweetness to it.

I was having a hard time deciding what sounded good to me on the menu, and ultimately chose the Roasted Chicken stuffed Ravioli in a corn sauce, and my Uncle Tony followed suit.  The sauce was nice and light and the filling of the raviolis was good, but there was one major problem, the outer edges of the raviolis were so thick, they were tough!  That's right, tough pasta, a major problem!  Maybe it was just that night's batch, but they really needed to roll the dough much thinner.  Uncle Tony and I both agreed that the dish needed the touch of an Italian grandmother!

My sister and my dad both got the Grilled Filet with a Mushroom Demi Glace, Potato Galette and Asparagus salad.  Both of their steaks came cooked to order and they enjoyed the potato gratin.  They both enjoyed their meal, but they did go pretty basic so there wasn't too much to comment about.

My mom got the Nori Wrapped Ahi Tuna Tempura, which had a beautiful presentation.  It was served on a bed of brown rice with enoki mushrooms and a soy ginger vinaigrette.  My mom loves seared ahi, and this was a unique take on it, by actually battering it and flash frying to give it a crunchy outside.  She really liked this and said that all the flavors blended really well together.

Aunt Martha ordered the Shitake Mushroom Crusted Salmon that was served over a Scallion Risotto.  The dish was topped with tempura style haricot verts (green beans), which really gave it that wow factor!  The beans were crunchy and tender, and went well with the crust on the salmon.  Martha loved this dish, but then again, if you know my Aunt Martha, she's never met a food she didn't like!

Since we were there to celebrate a birthday, of course we had to get dessert too!  The list that the waiter rattled off had so many options that we had to get two!  The first one was a chocolate peanut butter bread pudding with chocolate dipped pretzels and caramel sauce.....sounds amazing right?  Well, it was actually a big let down!  The bread pudding part was really mush and the flavors didn't stand out on their own....plus the pretzels were chewy...which means they were stale!  This had such potential, but just didn't cut it :(

My sister's favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie, so we ordered that as well.  We have had a lot of Key Lime pies in our days, but this one was probably near the bottom of the pack.  It didn't have that much tartness too it, which is a key component to key lime pie.  The filling was smooth and creamy, but it mostly just tasted like sugar.



We all had a nice time and my sister enjoyed her birthday meal, but I don't think I will be heading out to House of Tricks anytime soon again.  I don't mind paying big price tags for a good meal, but I just wasn't impressed enough to run out and have another $25 entree.  Once it cools down I may consider going for lunch on the patio with some girlfriends, but I will pass for dinner.

House of Tricks

114 E. 7th Street

Tempe, AZ 85281

www.houseoftricks.com

The Greene House

Starting in early December, over a span of 30 days, my family celebrates my mom's birthday, Christmas, New Year's and my dad's birthday....that is a lot of celebrating!  But even though the holiday season usually has all of our schedules packed, we always make time to celebrate together as a family.  My mom's birthday was on a Thursday night, and when we asked her where she wanted to go, she immediately said The Greene House.  Now for most people this wouldn't sound strange, but my mom is one who doesn't like to have a fuss made about her, and usually responds with an "I don't care" or "You choose," so I knew that The Greene House must be good if my mom actually chose to have her birthday dinner there.  She and my dad had been there a handful of times and she declared that they had her favorite scallop dish, which is why she picked it, since neither my sister nor I had ever been there we were equally excited to check it out.

The Greene House is located in Scottsdale in the Scottsdale Kierland shopping center.  If you have never been to Kierland, I suggest checking it out, especially at night, and during the holidays.  In a city so spread out like Phoenix, it is a true gem; with shops and restaurants on the bottom floors, and condos above, it gives you that city living feeling that we don't really have here.  We had a reservation for 6:30 and were seated promptly at a corner booth/table combination.  My first impressions of the interior were this, crisp, clean, loud and the tables were too close together!  I know that I said Kierland gives you that big city feel, and much like the restaurants that are found in New York and Chicago, The Greene House really packs in the tables to make the most of their space.  I guess I am just spoiled as far as roomy seating goes, but I enjoy a good booth with high backs where I can't overhear the conversation of the people sitting next to me.  But, we were here, and we were hungry, so I just ignored the noise and the extra conversations floating around and focused on the food.

We decided to get a few appetizers to start, first choosing the Herb Hummus that was topped with tomatoes, onions and feta cheese and served with warm flatbread.  My first impression was that I loved the flatbread!  It was definitely made fresh, which was evidenced by the grill marks, and was served warm which brought out a slight sweetness to it.  The combination of the herbed hummus with the cool tomato, onion and cheese with the warm bread was just heavenly.  The portion was quite generous, and could easily be a meal for a non-meater.  I would order it again just for the flatbread alone!

We also decided to get the Tempura Calamari to start with, and we were in for a pleasant surprise when it arrived.  Not only did the dish include delicious, tender pieces of lightly battered calamari sprinkled with sea salt, but there were thinly sliced pieces of zucchini mixed in with it as well!  The zucchini slices were paper thin, giving them a nice cruch, almost like a potato chip, when you bit into them.  We all loved this little bonus, and I may have liked them even more than the calamari!  The dish was served with a sweet chili vinaigrette for dipping; it had just the right balance of heat and sweet that went well with both the zucchini and calamari.  We almost didn't order this dish to begin with, but the empty plate that was left in front of us proved that it was a good last minute decision.

Soon after we finished our appetizers, our entrees arrived, with my mom's beloved scallops coming out first.  The plate had four large scallops that were nicely seared and served with carmelized cauliflower, snap peas and bacon, with the sauce from the veggies drizzled on the plate.  The first thing my mom did once she got her dish was hand the bacon to my dad!  While my mom has nothing against bacon, she is not a huge fan, and knows how much my dad loves it....how sweet is that?  After the bacon was gone, she started in on the scallops, she said they were cooked perfectly as usual, and loves the flavors in the sauce and with the cauliflower. I tried a bite of a scallop, and while they were cooked well, I wasn't as big of a fan of the flavorings, it tasted a bit blah to me, but I have had some amazing scallops lately so maybe that was part of my problem.  Nonetheless, my mom loved her dish, and since it was her birthday, thats all that mattered!

My sister ordered the Harvest Chopped salad and added a grilled chicken breast on top.  She loved the combination of the dark, leafy greens paired with the sweetness of the grapes, apples and strawberries and the tang of the goat cheese.  The salad also was sprinkled with walnuts to give it some crunch, and was dressed in a light vinaigrette.  My sister loves a good salad, and she really loves goat cheese, so she was very happy with her meal.

I had a hard time deciding what to order that night, but ended up going with the Grilled Mahi Tacos.  The dish came with two large tacos loaded with shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, avocado and sprinkled with cojita cheese.  They also came with a side of seasoned white beans.  I tried the beans first, and wow, they were good!  They had a nice smokiness to them, with just a bit of heat; they too had been sprinkled with cojita cheese.  I next tried my taco, it was pretty good, I liked the fresh tortillas and the toppings, but I felt that the fish was a bit overcooked, which made it dry.  I also think the fish lacked some initial seasoning, because besides being dry, they were pretty blah.  The lady at the table next to us had ordered the steak tacos, they looked to be really juicy, so I am thinking I just got some overcooked fish.  But I think my heart still belongs to the fish tacos at Loco Patron...if you haven't tried them....they are a must!

My dad ordered the Twin Kobe Burgers as his entree, I guess he was in a red meat mood but didn't want to mess with a steak.  The burgers were a bit larger than a traditional slider, so the made for a substantial meal.  They were topped with fontina cheese and homemade pickles and served on brioche buns.  My dad ordered his medium-rare, and was very happen to discover upon his first bite that they were cooked perfectly.  As his side dish, he upgraded to the White Truffle Parmesan and Chive French Fires....and Oh My Goodness....they were AMAZING!  Cooked to perfect golden brown and sprinkled with flavor, they were truly some magnificient french fries, and we were all very happy that my dad was in a sharing mood that night!

Since we were there celebrating a birthday, of course we had to get some dessert, and of course we let the birthday girl choose!  I can't say that I wasn't secretly thrilled when she happened to choose the one that I had been eyeing on the menu, the Blueberry Crostata a la mode. It was basically like a mini blueberry pie minus the top crust and topped with vanilla ice cream.  This was delicious!  The crust was rich, buttery and flaky, and the blueberry filling was smooth and sweet.  The crostata was served warm, so eating it with the cool vanilla ice cream was just divine.

Now that I have been to The Greene House, I would likely go back, because overall I felt that food was of superb quality and flavor.  My mom told me that the best time to go there is when the weather is nice, because they do have a patio, and it is not nearly as noisy.  So once the spring comes around again, I might just find myself venturing back to The Greene House for another delicious meal!

The Greene House

15024 N. Scottsdale Rd.

Suite 100

Scottsdale, AZ 85254

http://www.foxrestaurantconcepts.com/

Beaver Street Brewery - Flagstaff, AZ

I have been a Cardinals fan since they moved to Arizona in 1988; I have this picture of me as a kid with the little Cardinal logo painted on my face! Well, after 20 years of ups and downs, the Cardinals finally got their act together and made it to the Superbowl! They didn't win, but they played a great game and silenced a lot of naysayers out there. Even though I have always cheered on my hometown team, I had never had the opportunity to go to one of their training camp practices, so I decided that this was going to be the year! They hold their training camp up in Flagstaff, AZ, which is about 2 hours North of Phoenix and about 30 degrees cooler! I hadn't been to Flagstaff in about 15 years, so my sister and our friend Cynthia decided to road trip it up North for a little Saturday day trip. Well, we definitely weren't the only ones with this idea, and 12,000 of our closest friends decided to join us that day! This was apparently the largest crowd in Cardinals training camp history, and I am guessing that their last season's performance had something to do with that, but at least Cynthia and I both knew that we were not band wagoners, but die hard Cardinals fans!

Even though it was crowded we were able to find seats on the hill and watch the practice, followed by the "Red & White" scrimmage. The most fun part came when Kurt Warner came over right in front of where we were sitting and got the crowd to start the wave...I love the wave! The weather was beautiful outside, and the backdrop of the mountains and all the green trees just added to the experience. Just look at this view!

When the session was over around 1:30, we were ready to grab some lunch. I had asked a friend of mine who went to school in Flagstaff for suggestions, and she suggested the Beaver Street Brewery. At the mention of the name I suddenly recalled that I had eaten there once as a kid, and that it was where I tried my first taste of BLT Pizza! I had my GPS with us, so I plugged in Beaver Street Brewery and off we went. The restaurant is located in a building on Beaver Street in the heart of Flagstaff; the building was originally a grocery store in the 1930's that was converted to a restaurant in the early '90's. The place was packed full of hungry Cardinals fans, but we only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table.

We were very thirsty when we first sat down, so we ordered a round of ice waters, and Laura got a strawberry lemonade, while Cynthia decided to try out some of their homemade brew and got a Bramble Berry Brew that had a hint of raspberry to it. Laura said that it was the best strawberry lemonade that she had ever had and Cynthia, usually not a big fan of fruity beers thought that this was excellent down to the last drop! Since it was already 2:00 by this point, we were famished, so we decided to get an appetizer to start with, and ordered the Chips and Southwestern Cream Cheese.

Basically, it was cream cheese mixed with pico de gallo and served with tortilla chips. The dip was tasty, nothing outstanding, it definitely could have used a bit more heat in my opinion. It is a little too cold still, and the chips didn't hold up very well when trying to dip. I have to say, and Laura and Cynthia agreed, that the chips were a bit on the stale side. They were stale, thin and cold; not a good combination for tortilla chips. But, we were hungry to so we ended up eating most of it.


As Laura looked over the menu, the only thing that stuck out to her was the Salmon BLT, but minus the salmon! She said she was just really craving a BLT, so when she ordered it, she asked for no salmon, extra bacon. When the sandwich arrived, she was a bit disappointed in the amount of bacon on the sandwich, it was only 4 slices, which is what was supposed to originally come on the one with the salmon. There also wasn't any mayo on the sandwich, so she had to get a side of that, because you can't eat a BLT without mayo! Once she got her sandwich all slathered with mayo and took a bite, she declared that overall, it was a good version of a BLT. The bacon was extra crispy and the bread was toasted to a golden brown. The fries that came on the side were cooked perfectly, and she dipped them in a combination of ranch and ketchup. When the check came, the lack of extra bacon was made up for since our server just charged her for a regular BLT which was $2.00 cheaper than the salmon version. (Nice move Justin Bobby...oops...I mean Jared!) (Sorry, I had to throw this in, but you had to be there to fully understand)

Beaver Street is also well known for their array of wood fired pizzas. There were a few that looked good to Cynthia that day, but she decided to try the special of the day, the Pineapple Express (such a fitting name for a town like Flagstaff!). The pizza was topped with pineapple, ham, bacon, red onions, cilantro and banana peppers. Cynthia doesn't like bacon (we are not sure what is wrong with her!) so originally she had asked if she could substitute chicken for the bacon. Our waiter got a bit confused at this point, he asked if she wanted the ham or not, she didn't realize there was ham and said oh, leave the ham no chicken....well, Justin Bobby didn't quite get the message and went ahead and added chicken. Cynthia was fine with it, especially since it just added more topping goodness! She said the pizza was delicious, and the crust was thin and crispy. The pizza was a good size portion, and she ended up taking half of it home with her.

Lots of items on the menu looked good to me, but I ended up going with the Shrimp Gordita Platter. Basically, they were crispy shrimp tacos on flour tortillas, but the menu referred to them as gorditas, so I went with it. On the side, it was served with more stale chips and some guacamole and salsa. The tacos were excellent! The shrimp were some of the best battered shrimp I have ever had; a light, airy batter that was cooked to a perfect golden brown. A creamy chipotle coleslaw and shredded cheese was also stuffed into the tortilla giving an excellent explosion of flavor. They were some of the best shrimp tacos (gorditas, whatever) I have ever had, and I would happily venture to Flagstaff to have them again!

With our bellies full, it was time to hit the road and head back down to the Phoenix inferno. Cynthia got a take home growler of beer for her brother (which I seem to have lost the picture of), and when Laura asked her why they call it a growler, her response was, "Because beaver's growl...grrr!!" We all got a good laugh out of that one, and it pretty much summed up our day; good friends, good food, and good fun! Even with the stale chips (I guess I should give them a break, it's not a Mexican restaurant) we all decided that we would happily return to the Beaver Street Brewery.

Beaver Street Brewery

11 S. Beaver St.

Flagstaff, AZ 86001

www.beaverstreetbrewery.com

Avalon

My birthday is next week, but my parent's are going to be out of town, so we decided to go out and celebrate a little early. We made plans to go on a Thursday night, the only problem, as of Thursday morning I still hadn't decided where I wanted to go. While my favorite food is Mexican, I was having that for lunch, and while I have been known to eat Mexican food for more than one meal in the same day, I wanted to go somewhere a bit snazzier for dinner! After fumbling around online, I came across a review of Avalon and decided that it sounded like just what I was looking for!

As with many of the chic new restaurants around town, Avalon is located in Scottsdale, but the part of Scottsdale where it is is not what you would expect out of a new, trendy restaurant. Most of the hip new places tend to pop up in Old Town, Kierland or further North in DC Ranch, but Avalon is on McDowell Road, between Hayden and Miller. McDowell is littered with multiple fast food joints, hole-in-the wall Chinese restaurants and random dives, not an area you would think would offer any fine dining options; but then again, it does make Avalon stand out from the pack.

Upon entering Avalon, you are immediately transported into a sheik dining room, filled with cool blue colors with multiple different patterns and textures adorning the furniture and walls. It is obvious, that a lot of money was spent to transform this space into its current incarnation, and the ambiance is very serene. We all kept marveling at how beautiful the interior was. We were seated in an extra-large booth and began to look over the menu. Our waiter, Roman, appeared and took our beverage orders and answered our questions regarding the menu.

When the beverages were delivered, so was a basket of warm bread. There was a side of butter with the bread that looked like it had something mixed into it for flavoring. Laura decided to be our guinea pig, and happily reported that it was pieces of dried cranberries. The sweet, creamy butter was nicely accented by the tart cranberries making for a lovely way to whet our appetites.

Ultimately, we decided to get an appetizer to start with as well, and settled on the Crispy Calamari "Frittes." My whole family is big fans of calamari, and we tend to lean towards it on most menus to taste all of the different options out there. This particular version was served in long strips, rather than in the typical rings and legs form that we are accustomed to. The strips were served over a cantaloupe butter sauce and topped with Japanese Mizuna greens. This was probably the most unique version of calamari we had ever tried; at first, we weren't quite sure of the sauce with the calamari, but the more we tasted it, the more we liked it. The calamari was not greasy at all, and was very fresh tasting with the light cantaloupe sauce. It was an inspired twist on a classic.

Whenever we go out to dinner, one of the first things my dad usually asks is, "Who wants to share a salad?" It is funny, it is like he thinks he should eat a salad, but he doesn't really want to eat a whole one for risk ruining his dinner! I am not usually a volunteer to share, as salad is not very high on my list of things that I choose to eat, and this night was no exception. My sister was the volunteer, and they ordered the Caesar Salad. When the plate arrived, my sister's first reaction was that it didn't look like a typical Caesar, which it didn't. Instead of pre-shredded the lettuce, it was served with the hearts in their whole form and topped with a "chip" made of Parmesan cheese. My dad really liked the dressing on this salad, he said it had a good, strong anchovy flavor which was nicely accented by the sharp flavor of the cheese. After her initial reservations, my sister decided that flavors were excellent, which is all that matters in the end.

Laura wasn't feeling very well that day, and after eating some bread and salad, she really wasn't in the mood for much else, so she opted to just get a bowl of the French Onion Soup for her meal. When it came out, the customary layer of melted cheese was overlapping the sides of the bowl. She dipped her spoon in and went for the first bite, to which she made a strange face. She took a few more and then declared that there was something "off" with the soup, and wanted us to try it and give our opinions. Isn't it funny how when things don't taste good, people also want you to try it too!?!?! Both my mom and I obliged, and we too noticed an odd flavor. French Onion soup is pretty basic, and is a classic, but rather than being rich and salty, this version tasted sweet! We couldn't figure out what they would have done to it to make it sweet, but nonetheless, we chose not to finish it.

So I think I am weird. Why do I say that? Because when it comes to crab and lobster, I don't really like it in its pure form, steamed and dipped in butter. I am not sure why, because butter usually makes everything taste better, but I just find it to be too plain. I love both crab and lobster, but would rather have it in the form of a crab cake or mixed into something rather than just plain. But on this night, the item on the menu that stuck out to me was the Butter Poached Maine Lobster. It was served with ricotta gnocchi and a tomato confit in a saffron lobster demi sauce, so I figured I could take a bite of lobster with all the other stuff and then it wouldn't be so plain. The plate came out with two large portions of lobster atop the gnocchi and vegetables. It was just lovely, what was not so lovely, was that the tomato confit also included mushrooms and asparagus, two of my least favorite items. Since there was no mention of either of these in the description, I didn't think to ask, but decided to just buck up and eat it; and to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it. I am not saying that I actually ate a piece of the mushroom or asparagus, but the flavors that they infused to the dish actually weren't bad. I took a bite of the lobster and it was tender and sweet, quite delicious, especially when combined with one of the ricotta gnocchi. I don't think I had ever had ricotta gnocchi before, just the potato kind, but I have a new love! It was much lighter than its potato relative and I loved every bite of it, it just melted in my mouth! In all honesty, I enjoyed the dish as a whole, but would have easily given up the lobster for more gnocchi!

My mom loves scallops, and even though the menu had duck (one of her all-time favorites), she decided to go with the Seared Maine Diver Scallops. The plate came out with three large scallops each placed atop a different accompaniment. There one was atop a marscapone creamed corn, another atop saffron couscous and the last was served with a white bean pancetta ragout. She took a bite a declared that they were cooked perfectly, each tasting a tad bit different depending on which side she tried them with. I have never really been into scallops, but wanted to give them a try, so I took a bite of the one with the corn, and oh my, I now like scallops! The sweet scallop and the creamy corn went really well together. Of all the different accompaniments, my mom's favorite was also the corn. She said if she were to return, she would just ask for all corn and skip the other two sides! There was also a sauce on the side, some sort of rich butter sauce, but the scallops and sides had so much flavor, it wasn't necessary.

My dad is a red meat kind of guy, and even though he makes the most amazing steaks at home, he is ultimately drawn to them in restaurants as well. He ordered the Aged Prime Rib-Eye Steak in a bordelaise sauce served with fingerling pancetta potato hash and cipollini onions. He likes his steaks medium rare, and it came out cooked perfectly. The rich bordalaise sauce accented the flavor of the meat well and he especially enjoyed the potatoes with the pancetta. The size of the steak was quite large, and even dad couldn't finish it, even though he really wanted too!

We were all quite full from our meals (well, maybe not Laura) but since we were celebrating my birthday, and I am not one to turn away a dessert, we had to try out some of the creations. While looking over the dessert menu we overhead the waiter tell the table behind us that the chef at Avalon, used to be the pastry chef at Olive & Ivy, a hip restaurant on the Scottsdale Waterfront. With this new found knowledge, we suddenly realized that if the chef was really a pastry chef by trade, and with the entrees being so delicious, the desserts should be out of this world! We decided to try two different items, mostly because I wanted something chocolate and Laura wanted to try the Strawberry Shortcake, and after her soup fiasco, we figured she was probably hungry.

I love a good strawberry shortcake as well, but the menu described this as being a "twist" on the original. Part of the twist is that it was served with a tangerine poundcake, rather than a typical shortcake. When it came out, it was this little tower, and not a strawberry to be seen, save for the strawberry shaped cookie on top, but upon the first bite we were all in love! The light flavor of the tangerine mixed really well with the strawberry filling, making this so light and refreshing; the prefect summer dessert, the flavor was so good that even my dad, the non dessert eater, snared a few bites.

In order to feed my chocolate addiction, we also ordered the Avalon Brownie Sundae, and let me just say, this was the best brownie sundae I have ever had! The rich chocolaty brownie had a fudge frosting smeared on one side of it and a scoop of strawberry gelato on the other side. Around the edges was a drizzle of caramel, and, drum roll please.....caramel corn! A bite consisting of rich brownie, cool ice cream and the sweet crunch of the caramel corn was heavenly, I just couldn't get enough! Even my mom and sister, both skeptical at first realized the greatness of this dish! It is amazing how three simple items, while delicious separately, are taken to a whole new level when combined!

I really enjoyed my experience at Avalon; the service, ambiance and food were all top notch. And while I probably won't frequent it, because it is a bit on the pricey side for just a random Thursday night dinner, it is definitely a cool place for a special occasion, even with its quirky location.

Avalon

7707 E. McDowell Rd.

Scottsdale, AZ 85257

http://www.avalon-restaurant.com/

The Lodge

My dad loves going out to lunch. My sister wanted to try out the massive burger creation that I told her I had read about that they served at The Lodge. Solution: call dad and invite him to lunch! Well, I couldn't miss out on trying a new restaurant, so I planned to go as well, and we didn't want mom to feel left out, so we asked her to join us too.

The Lodge is located in Old Town Scottsdale, and is modeled after, you guessed it, a ski lodge! It was quite ironic that we had planned on having lunch there, since the high was supposed to be 115 degrees that day! Maybe it was a subconscious attempt on our part to pretend that it wasn't as hot outside; and I will say, once we walked in through the doors, it did feel like we had left Phoenix for a mountain retreat! The inside decor was very much what you would expect from a ski lodge; lots of wood and leather, with cozy booths and chairs that had wheels! A few TVs were scattered here and there, but with the fireplace burning, it made for a very cozy atmosphere.

My friend Kirsch had been telling me that The Lodge has the best Fried Cheese Curds in town, and since she is from Wisconsin, she knows her cheese! On her recommendation, I thought that we needed to try them. My family was a bit skeptical because they had never had a cheese curd before, and didn't really know what they were. I didn't know really how to explain it (and didn't want to bother Kirsch for an explanation) so I just told them that it was cheese, and it was good. Cheese curds come in different flavors, just like cheese, these particular ones were white cheddar and were dipped in a smooth batter and fried, with a side of ranch dressing for dipping. I stabbed one with my fork and dipped it into the ranch, and yes, Kirsch was right, these were amazing! The fresh flavor of the cheddar, the crunchy coating and the cool ranch were the perfect combination. I watched as the rest of the family experienced their first cheese curd, and they too thought that these were tasty. These are not healthy in any way, shape or form; but every once in awhile can't hurt!


I was so excited about trying out the cheese curds that I had a hard time deciding what to order. The menu has quite a few sandwiches, burgers and salads to choose from, but ultimately, I ended up going with the Tuna Melt. I choose the sweet potato fries as my side dish, the other choices were regular fries, potato salad, pasta salad or a garden salad...once again, so many choices! The sandwich came out and looked good with the bread being all toasty, but after just one bite, I was confused. There was no melt business going on in this sandwich! The tuna was cold, the cheese was cold, the only element that was remotely warm was the toasted bread! After the cheese curds I wasn't all that hungry, so I didn't want to make a fuss and send it back, but I had a hard time with the fact that I was served a cold Tuna Melt! The flavor of the tuna was fine, although not as good as Subway's, but they should have called it a Tuna Sandwich on Toast, not a Tuna Melt! The sweet potato fries seemed to have some sort of coating on them, they were just okay, I have had much better versions. In the end, I ended up just eating the tuna out of the middle of the sandwich, it worked, but was a bit disappointing.

My mom is a health food nut, so none of us were surprised when she opted for the Veggie Burger with the garden salad. It seemed to be just your typical veggie burger, but I think the patties were made in house. She ate it and liked it, but said that her favorite one is still at Claim Jumpers. But it was nice that there did seem to be quite a few meatless options on the menu for non-meat eaters. The salad was your basic iceberg mix, nothing fancy, but the lettuce was fresh.

Not only does my dad like to go out to lunch, but he likes his beef (a trait that I take after most of the time)! So I wasn't surprised when he chose the Sliced Beef Sandwich. It was served on a soft roll with a side of au jus and shoestring fries. The beef was cooked perfectly, nice and tender and the au just had a good flavor. Dad thought that this was a really good sandwich, but wasn't as much of a fan of the fries, he prefers his fries to be a bit thicker, but to each his own!

So had read a few months ago about this burger that The Lodge just added to the menu, the Sasquatch, I had mentioned it in conversation to my sister and she immediately decided that she had to try it! Basically, it is your typical meat patty and toppings, but the outrageousness comes into play with the buns. Instead of your typical bun, a grilled cheese sandwich is used on the top and the bottom to hold the burger! Yes, that's right, it goes grilled cheese, burger, grilled cheese! In thinking about what to expect from this burger, it was hard to imagine a person being able to even take a bite of this behemoth. When it arrived at the table, with a large steak knife sticking up through the middle, it was big, but not quite as overwhelming as all of us had expected. I had imagined grilled cheese on Texas toast, but the bread was actually quite thin, making it manageable to eat. Laura cut in half and dove in; and she was immediately grinning from ear to ear. She declared this to be the best burger she had ever had! The meat was well seasoned, and cooked to her liking, but the double grilled cheese sandwiches just took it to a whole new level! She ended up giving Dad a quarter of the burger to eat, and I too got a bite, and we both agreed, that this was a delicious spin on an American classic.

I wouldreturn to The Lodge again, I think it would be a fun place to hang out in the evenings when there is a better crowd. Except for the Tuna Melt debacle, I thought that the food was actually very good for bar food. So if you are in the area, or if you have a Sasquatch sized appetite, check it out!

The Lodge
4422 N. 75th St.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
www.scottsdalelodge.com

Toby Kieth's I Love This Bar & Grill

My best friend Karen wanted to go and check out the new Toby Kieth's I Love This Bar & Grill on the night before the 4th of July. After enjoying having the day off from work, shopping and going to the movies, I thought that it sounded like a good idea too. So I planned to meet Karen and her husband Kyle at the restaurant at 7:30 that night. My sister, Laura decided to come along too, so off we went to Mesa to check it out. Laura and I had actually been to one of his other locations in the Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas about two years ago, I didn't really remember much about it other than they served you your drinks in a mason jar, so I was looking forward to our adventure.

First of all, for those that aren't familiar with the shopping center, it is kind of difficult to find, and the signage isn't very good, but we eventually found it. My first thought when we were walking up to the restaurant was, "Where are all the people?" It is located right near a movie theatre with other restaurants, and it was a Friday night, so I thought that the area should have been busier. But we saw only about three or four people wandering around...maybe due to the holiday weekend? Upon entering the restaurant, we discovered where all the people were, they were at Toby Kieth's! We were told the wait would only be about 10 minutes, and I think it actually turned out to be less. The restaurant is huge, it has tons of tables and the biggest bar I have ever seen in my life situated right in the center of the restaurant. On one of the far sides is a stage, while the other side is comprised of just tables. We were lucky enough to score a booth (my first choice always) which turned out to be good, since it did give a bit of a sound barrier, because it was quite loud with the number of people and the music all mixed together.

As expected, the menu consisted of mostly down home country favorites, along with sandwiches and burgers. There were a few unusual items on the menu, and we just knew that we had to try a few of them out. After the waiter took our drink orders, he brought us out some warm cornbread with honey butter on the side to munch on while we decided on our meals. This was really good cornbread, set apart by the amazing honey butter! It had just the right amount of sweet and was room temperature so it spread easily (I just hate when they give you cold butter)! It was a good start to our meal.

We weren't quite sure if we really should get an appetizer, but once we say the Toby's Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls on the menu, we just knew that we had to try them! None of us had ever had anything like this before, and as macaroni and cheese lovers, we figured we should give it a shot. Not knowing quite what to expect, we were intrigued by the three baseball sized balls that showed up at our table. We cut into one of the balls, and dipped it into the ranch dressing that was served on the side, and oh my, these were good!! For being fried and full of cheese, they were surprisingly not greasy at all. They just had a nice crisp coating to hold everything together, and the flavor of the cheese sauce was not overpowering at all. We all were very pleasantly surprised with our fondness for these, and were glad that we tried them out.

Since we were in a country themed restaurant, I thought that I would stick to the theme and order some good ole home cooking. Ever since I have eaten the chicken fried steak at Ranch House Grille, I have become addicted to it! At Ranch House Grille I order it for breakfast, so I thought I would change it up and order it for dinner on this night! It came with mashed potatoes and gravy, and then my choice of two additional sides. I questioned the waiter on this, thinking that the mashed potatoes counted for one of them, but nope, I got two more choices. Even though we had the macaroni and cheese balls, I still opted for yet more macaroni and cheese, and then of course, the baked beans! The plate looked promising when it was set in front of me, it was a ton of food! There were two portions of chicken fried steak covered in the creamy, white gravy. I took my first bite, and was immediately disappointed. The gravy had a nice flavor, but the steak was overcooked, making it tough. I also found the coating to be odd, it was not very flavorful at all, and didn't add anything to the overall dish. I guess I shouldn't have set my expectations so high, because Ranch House Grille's is just that good! The potatoes were your standard mashed potatoes, the macaroni and cheese seemed to be different than the one used in the balls. It had a spicy element to it, I liked it, but it sure wasn't what I was expecting. The beans were pretty good, not the best baked beans ever, but a decent attempt. After just a few bites of the steak, I decided that it was best to just save room for dessert!

My sister loves a good sandwich, in fact, if you ask her what her favorite food is, I am pretty sure the answer will be a "sandwich." She pretty much likes all different kinds of sandwiches and goes through different phases at different times. When she saw the Turkey Melt on the menu, she was instantly sold. It included some of her all-time favorite ingredients, all rolled into one sandwich; turkey, cheddar cheese, bacon and honey mustard, all melted on sourdough bread. She loves honey mustard, and is always drawn to any item where she can get her fix. She took a bite of the sandwich and thought that it was tasty, it included plenty of meat and cheese, but couldn't really taste the honey mustard. She was a bit disappointed in the lack of honey mustard since that was one of the main selling points for her; but ultimately she was hungry and decided to just eat it rather than ask the waiter to bring her some more. She liked the fries as well, but didn't think they were anything special, but did like the ranch dressing that came on the side. A good ranch dressing is sometimes hard to come by, and theirs did pass the test.

Kyle was in the mood for a burger, and Toby Kieth's had 10 different ones to choose from. He couldn't quite decide on which one he wanted to try, so he asked the waiter for his opinion, he told him to go with the 4 x 4 Big Bacon & Cheeseburger, so that is what he did. He asked for it to be cooked medium rare. Well, when it came out, it was served medium-well, it even had the little stick that said so sticking out of it! It wasn't our waiter who brought the food, but a food runner; which I do find to be annoying sometimes, especially when things aren't right. But, like Laura, Kyle opted to just eat it rather than send it back. Overall, he did like the flavor, I mean what is not to like about a burger that has 4 slices of bacon and 4 slices of cheddar cheese!

Karen had a really hard time deciding what to order, and asked to order last as a result of it. She finally settled on T.K's "Diablo" Chile Chicken Sandwich. It was a grilled chicken breast, with hatch green chiles, Swiss cheese and bacon on a kaiser roll. I don't think she read the description on the menu, because after her first bite she was like, "This is so spicy!" I said well you ordered a chicken chile sandwich, she kept insisting that the menu didn't say anything about chiles, to which we all disagreed with! She said she like all the flavors, but it was just a bit too hot for her. I guess sometimes when you are flustered when you order you don't always know what you are going to end up with! Good thing it came with a slice of pickle, not only does she love pickles, but it helped to cool down her burning mouth!

We were having a nice time hanging out, and then a band got up on the stage and started playing so we decided to hang around for a bit longer. I was glad, because then there was time to have dessert! The waiter told us that they had a special that night, Strawberry Shortcakes, sounded good to us, so we decided to try it as one of our desserts. When it came out, we were all a bit confused, it sure didn't look like any strawberry shortcake that we had ever had. When I think of shortcake, I either think of those little sponge shells you can buy in the produce section or homemade biscuit shortcakes. This was basically just a slice of cake, that had some strawberry and cream fillings. It was very boring, and we could tell that they didn't even make it fresh in house because it was still frozen in the middle! Two thumbs down on the shortcake!

Luckily, we had ordered a second dessert as well, Deep Fried Twinkies!!! Now, I really had to push the group to go with me on this one, they all declared that they didn't like Twinkies, and I must admit I am not really a fan myself, but most anything is good fried! Let me just say, these were delicious! The outside got crispy and crunchy, then came the creamy filling. They were served with a strawberry sauce and whipped cream on top. Once I convinced everyone to try it, they all decided that I had made a good choice!

So I don't think I would make a special effort to go back to Toby Kieth's for the food, but it is a fun atmosphere and would be good for a large group. I also think it would be a good place to go and just hang out and listen to the music. I do have to say, I was a bit disappointed that they didn't give me my drink in a mason jar, it seems that at this location they only serve the beer in mason jars....how rude!

Toby Kieth's I Love This Bar & Grill

1065 N. Dobson Rd.

Mesa, AZ 85201
www.tobykiethusa.com

Delux

It was Wednesday night, and with mom still out of town, dad was again looking for some dinner companions. I felt that it was my daughterly duty to join him for dinner (i.e. get a free meal) so I asked him where he wanted to go. His response, "I don't care, just tell me where and when and I will be there." My dad is usually the type of guy to have an opinion on restaurants, so by him giving me free range it could only mean one thing.....he was really bored!! It took me a bit of time to scan my memory banks and think of a place that I had been wanting to try, but suddenly it came to me...it was Wednesday...and Wednesday at Delux meant that the soup of the day would be Lobster Bisque....sold!

I called dad and told him the plan, he agreed and said that we should probably ask my sister to join us as well (so he doesn't look like he is playing favorites). I called her up and she too wanted to join us, especially after she heard about the soup of the day! For some reason, my family has an obsession with lobster bisque, wherever we are, if it appears on the menu, we are going to order it. As a child, I detested seafood, but for some reason I was obsessed with clam chowder and lobster bisque...go figure...so I am always on the lookout for a new place to get my fix....even if it is in such an odd place as a restaurant specializing in burgers! This was going to be the first time at Delux for dad and my sister, but I had eaten there once, about five years ago, I didn't remember much about it, so I was excited to give it another try.

We arrived at Delux at about 6:30 and were immediately seated on the patio. It was a beautiful night, and they had the misters going as well, so it was nice to sit outside. The waitress came by to take our drink order and we immediately ordered two bowls of the lobster bisque as well, because we just couldn't hold off any longer! We then looked over the menu, which for those of you who have never been to Delux, is quite small. They basically serve three different burgers, a few different sandwiches and paninis and a handful of salads. For those who are overwhelmed by Cheesecake Factory style menus this is a bonus, for those that are picky this can be a negative. I fall somewhere in the middle, but felt that there was enough variety to find something that I was in the mood for. Dad went with the namesake Delux Burger, and Laura and I decided to each order a dish and swap half, she got the classic Cheeseburger with cheddar and I ordered the Panini Grilled Cheese sandwich. We also got a "basket" of the mixed fries (regular and sweet potato) to share.

Shortly after ordering the rest of our meal, the bisque arrived. It was sprinkled with parsley and had some thin Italian bread sticks served on the side, which was a nice touch. We all took a spoonful and took a taste. It was delicious! Bisques can be really heavy, but this was the perfect creamy consistency without feeling too heavy. The lobster flavor really shined through, and there were lots of large chunks of the lobster swimming around the bowl. We all decided that there was a hint of a peppery flavor as well, which really complemented the other elements. As far as bisques go, we all really enjoyed this one, and declared that we would return for it...too bad you can only get it on Wednesdays.

We hadn't quite finished our bisque when the "basket" of fries came out. They presentation of the fries is so clever, they serve them in a mini shopping cart (get it, a "basket")! The fries were thin and crispy, and served piping hot. They were served along side two dipping sauces, one being ketchup, and the other being an aioli with a bit of a heat factor. I sampled the sweet potato fries with the aioli, and it was a delicious combination, in fact, the regular fries went well with it too. I finally asked the waitress what was in the aioli, she said it was a mixture of mayo, sour cream, garlic and cayenne pepper....so simple, but so delicious. Just as we were starting to do some serious damage to the fries, our entrees arrived.

Dad had ordered his Delux burger medium rare, and it was cooked perfectly. The burger was topped with a combination of Gruyere and Maytag blue cheeses, grilled onions, arugula and applewood smoked bacon. Dad took one bite and was immediately pleased with his meal. Delux uses a special blend of beef, and he said that the meat and the other elements made for one delicious burger, by the end of his meal, he declared it to be the best burger he had ever had. We did find the garnish that was on his plate and the rest of our plates to be a bit odd, it was something that you probably wouldn't really eat, but I guess they figured they had to throw something on the plate to cover up the space that is usually reserved for the fries!

I sampled my grilled cheese and was immediately perplexed. The menu described it as having three types of cheeses; jack, cheddar and mozzarella, but my taste buds and my eyes could really only pick up the mozzarella. Secondly, the sandwich had not been cooked long enough to let the cheeses melt properly...which is a huge problem for me....half melted cheese just does not fly! I tried to overlook that, but I was then having a problem with the overall flavor. I could only taste mozzarella, and then the flavor of the oven roasted tomatoes was overwhelming. I felt like the sandwich tasted more like a toasted Caprese sandwich than a grilled cheese, maybe this is just a personal preference, but it still doesn't make up for the half melted cheese!

Laura and I were sharing our meals, so she tried the grilled cheese as well, she didn't have such strong objections to it as I did, but she much preferred the burger! The burger came out cooked properly and covered in cheddar (fully melted!) cheese. The presentation allowed for you to build your own burger as far as toppings, so there was a side of shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, onions and pickles. Laura piled on the toppings, minus the onion, and also added a slather of mayo and ketchup. After her first bite she was very happy with her burger. I tasted my portion of the burger and was very happy with it, it was an excellent burger, and far better than the grilled cheese; I quickly abandoned my efforts with the grilled cheese after tasting the burger!

Even though we were quite full from our meal, Laura and I were in the mood for dessert, so we decided to just take a "look" at the menu....well....looking turned into ordering! We were both drooling over the description of the Delux Banana Split Chocolate Lava Cake. Dad, who is not a big dessert eater, was even on board once he was informed that it would be served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream...his weakness in life! While I think we anticipated that it would be a good sized dessert, we were stunned when it was set in the middle of our table. Inside the large, shallow bowl was a chocolate lava cake, surrounded by 2 bananas sliced in half, a scoop each of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream and topped with whipped cream and cherries! A tureen of hot fudge was placed on the side....this was one massive dessert! We dove right in and were in dessert heaven! The different components were delicious both together, and individually, and we all had our favorite parts. Dad's was the vanilla ice cream, Laura's was the chocolate lava cake, and I was really digging the bananas and chocolate ice cream. It was a wonderful, and sweet end to our meal.

All three of us really enjoyed our Delux experience, even with the half-grilled cheese! The food was tasty, the atmosphere was relaxed, the service excellent, and we had a great table for people watching. Dad and Laura said they would definitely return...and like me....it would probably be on a Wednesday! As we said our goodbye's, my mind wandered the next day, mom would still be out of town....was I going to have to pull babysitting duty on back to back nights?!

Delux

3146 E. Camelback Rd.

Phoenix, AZ 85016

http://www.deluxburger.com/

The Rokerij

So Sunday afternoon I was really looking forward to attending a Celebrity Basketball game with some friends. I had gone last year and was able meet and have my picture taken with some really cool people including, Jordin Sparks, Larry Fitzgerald and my favorite Cardinal, Bertrand Berry. I was really looking forward to seeing who I was going to get to meet this year, but sadly, the venue had changed this year making it very difficult to get close to any of the participants....so alas....I didn't get to get up close and personal with anyone. :( There was a silent auction this year that had some autographed items, but nothing that I felt I absolutely had to have.

My friends Heather and Jason came to the game with me, and when it was over we decided to go grab an early dinner. I told them that I had been wanting to try The Rokerij, Heather looked at her watch and got really excited, because we were going to make it for Happy Hour! We headed up to the restaurant, grabbed some seats at the bar and started scanning the menu. The Rokerij has a great Happy Hour deal, they have a list of about 20 small plates which are normally $9.00 each, but during Happy Hour, they are just $5.00 each! When I go out to eat, I can never decide what I want to eat because I always want to try a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. So these small plates seemed like my ideal type of meal!

We placed our order then I started checking out the place. We were sitting at the bar on the main level, it was a brass topped bar that overlooked the kitchen area, which I loved! It was so neat to sit and watch them making all the different dishes, and the cooks were more than happy to answer our questions about what things were. There were a few televisions above the bar as well, so I went back and forth from checking out ESPN to watching a live cooking show...it was awesome!! The rest of the tables surrounded the bar and were a combination of plush booths and dark wood tables, the restaurant was dimly lit with votives throughout for an intimate atmosphere. It happened to be quite busy that night, with some sort of wine tasting party going on on one side of the restaurant, but it was not loud at all.

Pretty soon our dishes started rolling out of the kitchen, and it was good timing because we were hungry! The first thing out were the Beef Tenderloin Toasts. On the plate were five toasts each topped with a piece of filet and slice of French triple cream brie melted on top. Oh my, these were heavenly, the filet was tender, and the brie was like butter. Out of everything we had, these were probably my favorite. The picture below is of the first batch, but suddenly they brought us another plate of these because they said they thought the first one's sat too long, we didn't put up a fight and quickly scarfed down the second plate as well!
Next we tried the Asian Shortribs. These were boneless and served over a bed of rice. Heather had had these previously and really like them, but on this night, she concluded that they had changed the sauce a little bit and wasn't as big of a fan. I tried them and thought they were flavorful, they had a thick, brown barbecue type sauce on them, but I didn't quite pick up any Asian influence. The oddest part of the dish I thought was the bed of what seemed to be Spanish style rice that they were perched upon, I found it to be a really odd pairing.

The calamari was the next item we started to eat. It was lightly coated in what I believe were panko bread crumbs and fried until crispy. Calamari can be served with a variety of different dipping sauces, this one was served with a sweet red chile sauce, which happens to be my favorite one. The crispy calamari, and the sweet and spicy sauce are a perfect pair. I thought that the Calamari were really good, they were not overcooked so they were still tender and I didn't find them to be greasy at all. The only thing that I would change about the dish would be to add in some of the legs, instead of just the calamari steak part, I love the crispy crunch of the legs!

The Mini Veal Meatballs were the next item that we tried, this was one of the few dishes that we ordered that Heather and Jason had not tried before. They were served with what the menu described as San Marzano diablo sauce, which to us just tasted like a marinara sauce with some heat to it. Each meatball also had some mozzarella cheese melted on top. The meatballs were quite good, very tender we we enjoyed the kick in the sauce.

When I first saw the menu, I immediately knew that I wanted to order the Oysters Rokeij. I have always loved Oysters Rockefellar, even going so far as to one time attempt to make them at home, which I discovered is very dangerous, shucking oysters is hard....I ended up trying to get them open with an ice pick and a hammer! These oysters were The Rokerij's version, they had spinach, bacon, Dungeness crab and were topped with a jalapeno hollandaise sauce, my mouth was drooling at the description. They came out on a large metal plate with a mound of salt in the middle. I dove right in, but Heather and Jason were not as eager. Heather said no thank you, but Jason agreed to try one because they were cooked and not raw. I really liked these, the smoky bacon, sweet crab and the heat of the jalapeno hollandaise were perfect with the oyster. I would definitely come back for these, even Jason thought that they were good!

I was beginning to get full, but Heather said I needed to try one of the soft shell tacos. We were given a choice between, steak, chicken or carne adovada as a filling, and we went with the steak. These were in what I would describe as a street taco style, served in grilled corn tortillas with just fresh salsa and guacamole on top. I tried one and was pleasantly surprised, the simple toppings really accentuated the clean flavor of the meat, and it was nice and tender.

Jason had ordered the Grilled Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, and since Heather does not like shrimp, I had to be the second taste tester. They presentation was beautiful, they were served over a medley of four different sauces that looked like a sunset. I tried one, and while they were good, I didn't find them to be anything special. I think they were basically just shrimp and bacon, with no seasoning except the sauces. I tried them with the different sauces, which were tasty, but still decided that they were not something that I would probably order again.

We were all reaching our capacity when the waitress came over and put down another plate in front of us. We hadn't ordered anything else so we were a bit confused, she just said that it was something she thought we would like. And like we did. The plate had 4 Beef Tenderloin Skewers that were cooked to perfection. They were pink in the middle, and so tender. They had to be some of the best beef I have ever had. They too were served over the same sauce medley as the shrimp, and I decided that I thought the sauces complimented the beef better than the shrimp. We couldn't even finish these, so I got to take 2 skewers home for later!

It was only 6:00 pm and we were all stuffed. I really loved my whole experience there, the food, the ambiance, and the service was excellent. I would definitely return, especially for Happy Hour, but at some point I would like to try the regular dinner menu because it looked to have some interesting dishes on it. Overall, it was a great end to a long weekend.

The Rokerij

6335 N. 16th St.

Phoenix, AZ 85016

www.burningembersphoenix.com