PHX Rail Food

The Strand

2012-01-30T21:38:00.001-07:00

Late last year, Downtown Phoenix enthusiasts got just a little excited when there was speculation about an urban Target store coming to the vacant lot, now underutilized as surface parking, between the Collier Center and CityScape. For now, it appears the buzz was just that -- a sort of wish list item not associated with any concrete plans. Still, if there’s a prospect of a big red store in the downtown core, new Italian restaurant the Strand seems to have gotten a head start with its own all-red color scheme.

exterior from First Street

The Strand is about a red as possible -- not only in its marinara sauce and roma tomatoes, but also in its sleek, contemporary decor. The signs, the tableware, and the metallic booths are all in the same bright color. The red restaurant occupies space in CityScape and, like its neighbors, has been assigned a confusing address. Ignore the “2 East Jefferson” designation and instead look for the restaurant entrance on First Street between Jefferson and Washington. The location is easily reached via multiple light rail stations.

patio

Fast casual is the service model here. Menus are displayed on big screens near the entrance. Beyond those screens lies a counter where customers place orders. Diners then receive numbered magnetic discs. Stick the disc on the metal rail (red, or course) of a booth and wait for delivery of the food. The booths are all the same size. They work well for groups, but are awkward for solo diners. It seems silly for one person to take up so much space, but, unlike a counter or community table, a booth is too intimate to share with a stranger.

grilled vegetable panino with minestrone soup

The food usually arrives within just a few minutes, but if there’s a need to pass the time, the Strand offers free wifi. The signal is clear inside the restaurant but imperceptible on the patio. Take that into account when choosing among the otherwise identical seating options. Like so many other places around town, the Strand offers bruschetta as a starter. Three toppings are available: tomato and basil, eggplant caponata, and artichoke and spinach. Unfortunately there’s no mix-and-match option to allow variety among the six pieces served.

house salad

Other dishes suitable for sharing are the salads, all of which are enormous. One of them, the caramelized pear salad, strikes a suitable balance among sweet, tart, and salty flavors. Smooth, creamy goat cheese contrasts in texture with crunchy walnuts. The Caesar salad is fresh and crisp. Aficionados may notice a lack of strong anchovy taste, but most diners will probably be content with the mix of romaine, shaved parmesan, and croutons -- thankfully not overdressed as so many versions of this crowd-pleaser can be.

Caesar salad

Minestrone soup is a constant on the menu, offered as a full bowl or in a smaller version as a side. It’s a fairly standard version of the classic and, unlike so many restaurants soups, nicely restrained in saltiness. It’s a good accompaniment to any of the panini on the menu, all of them gently toasted (no grill marks from the press, for better or worse) with varied fillings. The grilled veggie panino boasts an abundance of produce, the caprese version contains generous slabs for fresh mozzarella and tomato, and the chicken one features a nice mix of peppery arugula, smoky bacon, and buttermilk dressing.

chicken panino with parmesan fries

As expected, pasta occupies its own section of the menu. The puttanesca is a strong version of this assertive classic full of olives and tomato. The primavera pairs al dente penne with generous chunks of vegetables like broccoli. Alfredo and marinara, two of the sauces offered might overpower such a dish. The creamy pesto is probably the middle ground, although it’s more like cream than pesto. Penne is also used skillfully in a pink vodka sauce. Pasta dishes can be accessorized with chicken, meatballs, or shrimp for an additional charge.

penne puttanesca

Pizzettes are the name given to the Strand’s individual pizzas. They’re advertised as being 10 inches in diameter but appear to be a foot wide. In other words, they’re a good option for two people to share along with a salad or a side or two. The bianco is the most original pie on the menu with a pleasing blend of toppings that includes smooth ricotta, sweet tomato, red onion, and crisp pepitas. The crust is impressive -- generally thin with a little chewiness and char in all the right places.

bianco pizzette

There are a few entrees on the menu, and all three involve chicken. They’re perfectly fine, but the reliance on poultry to the exclusion of veal and seafood shows that the Strand isn’t trying to push Italian authenticity too hard. In some ways, that may be a smart strategy given that most of the restaurant’s clientele appears to be office workers, convention attendees, and sports fans -- all looking for hearty meals, but not always a culinary adventure. Predictably, the restaurant is crowded during lunch but already scaling back weekend and evening hours.

caprese panino with side salad

The Strand has a liquor license, but the bellinis are frozen slush from a machine. The wine selection is a better option, but it’s frustrating to have to squint to see the bottles behind the counter. For dessert, a bag of the zeppolini, essentially miniature donuts, is great to take back to the office or to a nearby event. Just like a coveted urban Target store, the Strand offers a blend of chic modernity and down-to-earth familiarity. Enjoy a meal in the restaurant’s red decor while contemplating the prospect of even more red that may one day arrive across the street.

staring into the bag of zeppolini

2 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix AZ 85004
(602) 253-1600
http://www.thestranditalian.com

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Mangos Mexican Cafe

2011-12-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

2011 was the year of two steps forward and one step back, or from a more pessimistic perspective, one step forward and two steps back, in Downtown Mesa. The East Valley’s unsung hero of walkability and independent business attracted newcomers like Heatsync Labs but also lost the Evermore Nevermore shop. The Nile Theater reopened, but the Royale folded after just six months. 2012 will bring more change as utility relocation on Main Street, the first phase of work to bring light rail to the center of Mesa, begins in the spring.

Mangos from Main Street

One place that hasn’t changed much in recent years is Mangos (no apostrophe), for years a Downtown Mesa favorite for Mexican food. While steampunk, monsters, and motorcycles have infiltrated festivals and storefronts along Main Street, Mangos has remained a constant in the center of it all. The restaurant occupies space next to the much larger Milano’s music store and just a block west of the modern Mesa Arts Center and the future Center / Main light rail station.

patio dining

It’s a fast-casual place, so study the menu for a few minutes, place an order at the counter, take a numbered placard, and then choose a table where the staff will find you and deliver your food, usually just a few minutes later. It’s a tight space, so your chair may brush up againt your neighbor’s, and the restroom is accessible only via a walk through the cramped, busy kitchen. The compact interior is augmented with additional seating on a sidewalk patio. On nice days, that’s probably the better option for diners wanting a little more room.

enchilada combo

The all-day menu features a small breakfast section and a much larger array of burritos, tortas, tamales, enchiladas, and the inevitable combo plates with rice and beans. Among the burritos, the pollo asado and carne asada stand out among the fillings with their respective flavorful shredded chicken meat and grilled beef. The veggie burrito is just as satisfying with generous portions of avocado, pico de gallo, queso fresco, rice, and beans encased in a flour tortilla that stretches to accommodate it all.

burrito

Tortas are limited in selection. The menu lists only ham, chicken, beef, and veggie versions without some of the specialties like the milanesa found at many dedicated torta shops. Still, what Mangos offers is thoroughly enjoyable. The sandwiches benefit from bolillo loaves that spend a little time on the griddle before being anointed with mayonnaise and mustard and then stuffed with meat, avocado, chese, and tomato. Some sliced jalapeno usually makes it presence known as well.

torta

One facet of the Mangos menu is easy to overlook:the seafood section on the back. Missing it would be a shame because it’s one of the restaurant’s strengths. The items labeled as just “fish” rely on white flesh that’s breaded and fried. A lighter touch is found in the tilapia tacos, which are grilled and blackened. The shrimp dishes are even better. The kitchen dusts the crustaceans with a spice mix prior to grilling. The result is usually mild, occasionally fiery, but always satisfying.

shrimp enchiladas

Tamales, offered in both green corn and red chile varieties, are nicely textured and pair well with tomatillo sauce. A different speciality is the tostada voladora, which takes the typical crisp tortilla topped with refried beans to another level via the addition of green chile. The printed menus are supplemented by items hand written on a board above the counter. These always seem to be the tilapia tacos, a carne asada plate, and steak fajitas. All are quite good, so there’s no real reason to complain about the lack of rotation among the “specials.”

tamale fiesta

All orders come with a complimentary basket of chips and bowls of mild red salsa. The guacamole is a worthy add on for a few dollars more with chunks of fresh tomato enlivening the creamy avocado. Since Mangos is a family-owned and operated establishment, the same personnel tend to be on duty every visit. They’re amicable people and patient with questions about the menu. Don’t be surprised, however, if they start cleaning up and getting ready to close while customers are still there during the restaurant’s dinner hours, which end early.

shrimp combo

Despite its name, Mangos serves the world’s most popular fruit only as one of many rotating flavors in the frescas offered on warm days. These refreshing fruit drinks with made with seasonal ingredients like cantaloupe or watermelon, are good beverage options, as is the horchata. The other possibilities are iced tea and fountain sodas. Mangos does not have a liquor license, so don’t try to order beer or a margarita. The dessert to order is the flan, a generous portion of supple custard topped with firm caramel.

flan

With its family atmosphere, familiar food, and early hours, Mangos in many ways exemplifies the classic version of Downtown Mesa. That identity has been transformed recently with new events and businesses that emphasize contemporary popular culture with an occasional element of slight edginess. Still, even people dressed in Star Wars costumes or neo-Victorian attire can enjoy a good burrito. Light rail construction will challenge the restaurant and its neighbors, so remember to support both the old and new in Mesa over the next few years.

shrimp tacos

44 W. Main St., Mesa AZ 85201
(480) 464-5700

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Thai'd Up

2011-12-01T22:07:00.001-07:00

Restaurants with puns for names are so common that one scholar, Lynn Westney, has actually written papers and presented at conferences on the subject. On her lengthy lists of eateries that inspire chuckles, groans, or both, you’ll always find plenty of Thai restaurants. Phoenix is no exception to the trend, and with the number of Thai restaurants in the city’s downtown core having gone from zero to three in recent years, it’s inevitable that one of those restaurants would bear a name worthy of Westney’s lists. That distinction belongs to 2011 newcomer Thai’d Up.

exterior

Thai’d Up is situated along Central Avenue just a block from the westbound Washington / Central light rail station and two blocks from the eastbound First Avenue / Jefferson station. The space is the ground floor of a small building sandwiched between larger office towers, and the decor is generic but attractive. The dining room is divided with a large main portion on the left as one enters and a narrow area to the right where solo diners and couples are sometimes directed during busy times.

spring rolls

Service is always friendly, but varies in its effectiveness based on time of day and number of tables occupied. If given the choice, take a seat in the main dining room since the smaller side area is often visually isolated from the staff. People probably aren’t going to Thai’d Up to be pampered, though. The majority of diners are there for lunch specials that come with an entree, soup, and spring roll and are priced around $10. There’s also a dinner menu, available in addition to the lunch specials during the day, and exclusively during the less busy evening hours.

broccoli delight with tofu

The lunch crowd is always greeted with small bowls of tom kah, Thailand’s rich, herb-filled coocnut milk soup. Not only is Thai’d Up’s rendition thoroughly good with abundant fresh lemongrass and cilantro, but it’s impressive that the restaurant offers this soup, rather than a generic clear broth, as part of its crowd-pleasing lunch specials. Many Thai restaurants make this treat available only by the pot, and of course you can always order one of those if eating here in the evening, but the small bowl offered gratis at midday is a promising touch.

red curry with chicken

A vegetable-filled spring rolls also comes with each lunch order, or a serving of five can be ordered a la carte. These are pleasing, classic appetizers with a crisp wrapper around julienned carrots and cabbage with a touch of pepper. The satay is another familiar appetizer. The serving here is four skewers of flattened chicken breast with a smooth peanut sauce for dipping. Among the salads, expect dishes such as larb, made with ground meat over lettuce and mint, and som tum, which features green papaya used more as a vegetable than as a fruit here.

satay

The som tum, like many of the appetizers and salads, is straightforward with good flavor but lacking the promised peanuts and the same complexity as more traditional takes on this dish. The curries are all sufficiently good with the usual panoply of red, green, yellow, panang, and massaman. Where Thai’d Up probably shines most is with its stir-fry dishes, including “ginger angel” with abundant multi-hued bell pepper slices in a dark, gingery sauce and “spicy green beans” with long pods flavored by intense curry paste. All of these come with a choice of protein.

som tum

As at nearly all Thai restaurants, there is a noodle section on the menu with popular items such as drunken noodles in a spicy sauce or pad see ew, wide noodles in brown gravy with broccoli, among the instantly recognizable dishes. Beyond these, Thai’d Up offers pho, or at least its take on the classic noodle soup from the neighboring nation of Vietnam. It’s served in a cute triangular bowl and made with chicken broth rather than beef, and lemongrass is a more prominent flavor in the soup than the usual star anise.

spicy green beans with mixed seafood

Likewise, the traditional table salad of herbs, limes, sliced jalepenos, and other garnishes is not provided. Instead, the bean sprouts are already mixed in with the noodles. The net effect of all these details is that this soup does not qualify as authentic pho. Nevertheless, call it something else and it’s quite a pleasant Thai-influenced noodle soup. The light broth makes it a good match for tofu, shrimp, or chicken. Beef and pork would probably do better in a more traditional Vietnamese broth.

pho

The dessert menu is unsurprising but good. Both coconut and green tea ice cream are made on site with impressive results; the play-it-safe option of French vanilla comes from an outside source. The sticky rice can be paired with fresh mango when that fruit is in season or a custard dappled with flecks of tropical fruit. The liquor selection is limited to beer and wine, and iced and hot teas are the only non-alcoholic alternatives to the soda fountain. Unlike some of the other Thai restaurants nearby, there are no fresh lemonade or limeade drinks here.

pad thai with shrimp

With its Vietnamese and Chinese influences, openly acknowledged in the restaurant’s marketing, Thai’d Up isn’t pretending to reach new levels of Thai authenticity. With two other Thai restaurants within easy walking distance, it isn’t filling a vacant niche Downtown. Nevertheless, a healthy urban core can and should support multiple Thai restaurants in close proximity. Thai’d Up’s name and food will please some more than others. That’s fine. Choices are good, and it’s best not to be “Thai’d down” to just one restaurant.

coconut ice cream

110 N. Central Ave., Phoenix AZ 85004
(480) 420-8424
http://www.thaidupaz.com

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MedFresh Grill

2011-11-28T21:51:00.001-07:00

We’ve all read the distressing statistics about failure rates for new restaurants. According to some studies, more than half of all eateries opened perish within three years. On the other hand, often repeated claims of 90% failure are most likely exaggerated. Regardless of the exact numbers, five years of operation is a good sign that a restaurant has attracted a loyal clientele and developed some staying power. In Downtown Tempe, just a block from the Mill Avenue / Third Street Station, MedFresh Grill has just turned five.

exterior from Mill Avenue

With that milestone, MedFresh not only has the distinction of being one of the more stable restaurants in the ever-changing Mill Avenue landscape, but also stands out as one of the few local places to serve the cuisine of Turkey, so often under-appreciated in the United States. In fact, since the demise of Efes in southern Tempe, MedFresh may be the only full-fledged Turkish restaurant in the Phoenix Metro Area. One of the three brothers who owns MedFresh once ran the kitchen at Efes.

exterior from the courtyard

Since Turkish food is still unfamiliar to so many customers, MedFresh uses a sort of dual approach designed to attract novices during lunch and reward aficionados in the evening. By day, MedFresh operates almost as a fast food restaurant. Customers order at the counter, and the menu displayed overhead uses the Greek term “gyros” for meat sliced from a vertical rotisserie. At dinner, however, servers come to the tables, customers order from printed menus, and the Turkish term “doner” is used to describe the chicken and the red meat spinning on spits.

chicken doner plate

Whether one calls it “doner,” “gyro,” or “shawarma,” these basic meat preparations are both worth enjoying, either in a pita sandwich with fries on the side or on a plate with fluffy yellow rice, creamy hummus, and a green salad. They’re just the starting points, however, is a menu based heavily on kabobs. While the doner meat mixes beef and lamb, each one is available separately on skewers. Chicken kabobs here have a slight char on the outside but are unusually moist and flavorful due to generous marination. Always ask for the “secret red sauce” on the side.

chicken kabob plate

Of course, if you’ve been going to MedFresh at all during its first five years, then you may have already enjoyed all the doner and kabob entrees more times than you can remember. With that in mind, maybe it’s time during the next five years to explore some of the less familiar items on the menu, especially during dinner hours when some of the items at the upper end of the restaurant’s relatively modest price range (around $15) can be savored and shared. While meats on a skewer can be a simple pleasure, there is more complexity to Turkish cooking.

iskender kabob

For those who favor red meat, the iskender kabob and the beyti kabob are both territory worthy of exploration. The former features sliced doner meat mixed with pieces of pita bread, adorned with a few grilled vegetables, and then topped with a mixture of two sauces, one zesty and based on tomato and the other tangy and based on yogurt. The latter uses ground adana meat wrapped in lavash and coated with the same mixture of two sauces. The final result comes close to Turkish enchiladas. Both are bold revisions to basic meat dishes.

grilled fish

With all the emphasis on meat kabobs, it’s easy to forget that Turkey has an extensive coastline. The one seafood dish here is a simple grilled fish platter. The fish used here has mild, white flesh. It’s probably domestically farmed tilapia rather than anything exotic from the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, it’s nicely grilled and dusted with a peppery seasoning. The generous serving holds its own with rice, pita, salad, tzatziki, or secret red sauce just as well as the beef, lamb, and chicken selections.

mint salad

The meatless entree at MedFresh has always been the falafel, a reasonably good version with a slightly smoky flavor. Beyond the chick pea patties, MedFresh has half a dozen salads on the menu. Some like tabouleh are familiar Middle Eastern favorites. Others, like the vibrant mint salad, and not as common. All the salads pair well with bowl of the restaurant’s lentil soup, a smooth, lemony and peppery version of moderate viscosity.

lentil soup

For dessert, there are two pastries available: baklava, an excellent buttery version of the classic, and revani, a semolina cake in sweet syrup. Drinks include fountain sodas, freshly brewed iced tea, bottled juices, fruit smoothies, yogurt drinks, high-octane Turkish coffee, and a limited selection of beer and wine. A bottle or two of Efes Pilsener is a straightforward accompaniment to the most flavorful entrees on the menu. The only challenge is in figuring out what to order since the drink cooler is so far behind the counter as to make reading labels difficult.

baklava

The decor remains simple and effective. There are colorful sconces, tourist posters, and a few small kilims, or Turkish rugs, along the walls. A patio facing Mill provides a pleasant outdoor dining environment. With the light rail construction and sewer replacement that plagued Mill years ago when MedFresh first opened now long complete, it’s good to see the restaurant has persisted, making some changes along the way by dropping late night hours and adding full service at dinner, but making it to age five with food as “MedFresh” as it was back in 2007.

revani

414 S. Mill Ave., Tempe AZ 85281
(480) 642-9709
http://www.medfresh.com

Previous review: May 3, 2007

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Tom's Tavern

2011-11-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

Local leaders were recently elated to learn of the National Football League’s decision to locate the 2015 Super Bowl in Glendale. While the game itself will occur at the Cardinals’ stadium out by the 101 Freeway, Downtown Phoenix has seen a lot of changes since the last Super Bowl here, so there may be more activities and visitors concentrated in the city core this time. You don’t have to wait three years, however, to see how a Glendale-based football organization can affect the heart of Phoenix. Instead, look at has happened in 2011 with Tom’s Tavern.

view from the rail station across the street

Tom’s Tavern has a long history. The original tavern on Adams Street was founded in 1929, closed in the ‘70s, and then reappeared a block away at First Avenue and Washington in the late ‘80s. From then until the recent death of owner Michael Ratner, it operated as place for Downtown workers and politcos to gather, often more for the atmosphere than the food. After Ratner’s passing, the restaurant was turned over to the Bidwill family, the owners of the Cardinals team. After being closed several months for renovation, the restaurant is back in business.

exterior closeup

The restored Tom’s Tavern strikes a balance between respecting the business’ history and updating the restaurant to be successful in 2011. The decor has been upgraded with an emphasis on dark wood and tile. A few cues on the wall suggest billiards once played a role, but the floor space is now devoted entirely to eating and drinking. A patio addresses Washington Street, across the street from the First Avenue / Jefferson light rail station for eastbound passengers and a block from the Washington / Central station for those heading west.

patio facing Washington Street

With the new look comes a new chef, Jason Choate, and some changes to the menu. Now, as in the tavern’s past, the menu is mostly traditional American food with an emphasis on meat. This time around, though, the meats benefit from being smoked on the premises. The well-liked chili, made with brisket rather than ground beef, is a nod to the restaurant’s past. It has beans and noticeable heat that builds with each spoonful. The spice is not overpowering if enjoying a cup as an appetizer, but break out the proton pump inhibitors if indulging in an oversized bowl.

bowl of chili

The brisket is also featured in an entree platter and a sandwich. It’s excellent barbecue: tender, lean, smoky, and nicely topped with a garnish of fried onion. The sandwich, like the burgers, comes with a choice of shoestring fries or a lighter option, jalapeno lime coleslaw. The slaw here is more tangy than spicy, but it’s a refreshing departure from soupy, sweet versions of the popular side. For $1.50 extra, mac and cheese is also available to complement sandwiches and burgers. Expect a creamy version of the classic dish topped with powdered chipotle and bacon.

brisket sandwich with slaw

The burgers are impressive here with a choice of ground brisket, ground turkey, a veggie burger, or a chicken breast in between halves of the toasted egg-glazed buns. Turkey burgers can sometimes be lifeless alternatives to beef, but here the poultry, like the red meat, is smoked. The result is an alternative burger that is flavorful and moist enough to compete with its traditional counterpart. Top it with chili if still longing for a little beef taste. In another instance of the current “egg on top” trend, a fried one can be added to any burger for two dollars more.

chili burger with mac and cheese

The blue plate specials from the old Tom’s are no longer on the menu. With the updated decor, the diner feel has largely vanished. There are, however, daily soups and more often than not, they incorporate the barbecued meats coming out of the kitchen. Creamy chicken was excellent with a smooth texture and plenty of tender poultry, turkey vegetable had a pleasing smoky flavor and plenty of hearty chunks of carrots, but, like so many restaurant soups, it was thrown out of balance by a heavy hand with the salt shaker.

turkey vegetable soup

There’s no hiding the fact that Tom’s is unabashedly meat-centric, but there are some vegetarian choices. The veggie burger is always available with choice of toppings and sides, but a lighter and more intriguing option is the quinoa garbanzo spinach salad. The name is self-explanatory. Those three ingredients are the stars, and they blend successfully into a nutritious mix with an appealing nutty flavor. The half portion served in combination with a cup of soup will satisfy only the smallest appetites. Go for the full serving if choosing this entree.

half serving of quinoa garbanzo spinach salad

No doubt, Tom’s experiences its heaviest traffic at lunch, drawing regulars from nearby office towers and government buildings. The restaurant serves breakfast until 10:30 with pancakes made from a choice of three different batters and French toast glazed with orange-flavored syrup. They all come with a choice of breakfast meats on the side. The bacon is familiar favorite, but it’s the turkey sausage that is an unexpected hit. The big, spicy, smoky patty is made on premises from coarsely ground meat and not dry at all like so many turkey sausages.

French toast with turkey sausage

Unlike the old Tom’s, this incarnation is trying to stay open a little bit later in the evening and on weekends. That’s a bit of a gamble given how empty this section of Downtown can seem when major events are not occurring. Tom’s is a short distance from theater, nightclubs, and arenas, so any activity at those venues can be combined with a meal there. Nevertheless, the updated menu and decor make Tom’s worthwhile as a destination on its own. The next local Super Bowl is still three years away, but the resurrected Tom’s Tavern can be enjoyed right away.

apple pie a la mode

2 N. Central Ave., Phoenix AZ 85004
(602) 257-1688
http://www.tomstavernphoenix.com/

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Republic Ramen

2011-10-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

For all their simplicity, ramen noodles can inspire complex reactions. Of course, there’s the stereotype of the instant version consumed by cash-strapped college students. At the other end of the spectrum, there are ramen connoisseurs who claim that no local noodles can compare to what’s available in Tokyo, Los Angeles, or wherever else one might prefer to eat the dish. In Tempe, Republic Ramen successfully defines a middle ground, offering a half dozen broths based on regional variations from Japan and a few pan-Asian influences.

exterior

The restaurant is just under the upper limit of what most planners would consider walking distance from rail transit. The location is a retail plaza on the southeast corner of University and Dorsey. It’s a half mile walk from either the University / Rural or the Dorsey / Apache light rail stations. The walk from the Dorsey station is the more pleasant one since it involves the quiet, partially shaded University Heights neighborhood rather than the heavy traffic of University Drive. If you can walk or bike from light rail to Four Peaks, you can make it to Republic Ramen.

Republic ramen with tofu

The strip mall exterior suggests nothing special, but the restaurant has its own casual style on the inside. Extensive natural light illuminates a mix of large wood tables and smaller high tops made of more contemporary brushed metal. Even the youngest noodle slurpers benefit from a bit of homegrown style when they sit in futuristic high chairs from Boon, a Tempe-based firm founded by a graduate of ASU’s industrial design program. With all the emphasis these days on local ingredients, locally-designed furniture is an interesting and refreshing detail.

shoyu ramen with chicken

The service model here is fast casual. Order at the counter and expect oversized bowls of steaming noodle soup to arrive at the table a bit later. Staff at the counter vary in their knowledge of the menu’s intricacies. Some are great, but more consistency in employee training would be an improvement. For most customers, the first decision is which broth to order. There are always half a dozen choices available, along with some special broths and ingredient combinations handwritten on a board near the counter.

shio ramen with beef

The first choice, the restaurant’s namesake “Republic Ramen” is a spicy, soy sauce flavored broth. It’s delicious for anyone who can handle the heat, although it’s probably not the best way for rookies to start their ramen explorations. The miso broth has the familiar fermented taste found in the soups served at countless Japanese restaurants. The shoyu broth is dark and salty from soy sauce but without the spicy aspect of the Republic broth. Tonkatsu is a cloudy broth rendered almost milky in appearance from simmered pork bones.

Republic tonkatsu with tofu

For novices, the two mildest choices are shio, a clear brine, and the vegetarian broth. The meatless version is unexpectedly dark, and although it’s not as salty and spicy as the other varieties, it has depth of flavor from a variety of vegetables. Regardless of the liquid base chosen, there’s a separate decision to be made regarding the protein source to be included. Choices include tofu, chicken, beef, spam, and char siu pork. There’s really no formula here. Tofu works well in the meaty tonkatsu, and the vegetable broth can hold its own with red meat.

vegetarian broth with chicken

The special broths are usually blends of two standard varieties, such as an amalgam of the Republic and tonkatsu broths, or augementations of a familiar broth, such as shoyu pumped up with thai chili flavor. Occasionally specials go a step further with predetermined add-ons. Butter corn miso uses the sweetness of maize to mellow the flavor of fermented soy with char siu defining a sort of neutral territory between the flavors. Various soup enhancements are available, including naruto, a cured fish product. One wish list item: Shrimp would be a nice option.

gyoza

There is life beyond ramen at Republic. Starters and side dishes include edamame nicely adorned with coarse sea salt, meat-filled gyoza sold three to an order, and seaweed salad sprinkled with sesame. There are also a few options involving soba or udon instead of ramen. All the noodles are well-prepared to an appropriate texture and without the unwelcome complication of strands that have clumped together. The only non-noodle entree is a Japanese-style curry served over rice, so this may not be the place for anyone strictly avoiding carbohydrates.

seaweed salad

There are no conventional desserts here, but the extensive boba menu provides plenty of sweet liquids in the form of snows, slushes, and milk teas, all served with the familiar thick straw needed for consumption of tapioca beads. There’s also a soda fountain, iced teas, sake, and a good variety of bottled beer, both American and Japanese. Somewhere between the instant noodle packets found in nearby dorm rooms and the longing for ramen that aficionados have experienced in other places, Republic Ramen has found itself a comfortable niche in Tempe.

milk tea with boba

1301 E. University Dr., Tempe AZ 85281
(480) 388-3685
http://www.republicramen.com

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Grilled Ave.

2011-10-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes there spaces that seem to have a certain role. They might serve another purpose for an interim, but then snap back to their original purpose. That might be true of the site on Forest Avenue in Tempe that was once home to the popular Mai Island Grill, known for its Hawaiian plate lunches. After Mai closed, the location hosted a gyros place for only a few months. Now, with the opening of Grilled Ave. at the same site, two blocks from the Veterans Way / College Avenue light rail station, teriyaki is back on the menu at Forest and Seventh Street.

exterior from Forest Avenue

That’s not to say that Grilled Ave. is a rerun of Mai Island Grill. To be sure, there are similarities: marinated meats cooked in small kitchens, producing powerful scents that can entice customers walking nearby, and combination meals that augments those meats with steamed rice and macaroni salad. Still, the emphasis is a little different at Grilled Ave. -- a little less south Pacific and a little more Korean and Japanese. The terminology is different with “bento” now being used in term of “plate lunch,” even if the results are similar.

outdoor seating

Throughout its various incarnations, this place has been a compact, bare bones space. Grilled Ave. has enlivened it a little with a few whimsical touches. The menu board above the counter is festive in its use of multi-colored magnetic letters. Off to the side, there’s a chalkboard where customers write in English, Korean, and unclassifiable slang. The second floor loft, closed during Mai’s run, is now open with a small seating area and a restroom. Outside, there a few tables, although the view is now of an unnecessary parking lot instead of the old Arches plaza.

teriyaki chicken bowl

Approach the counter and the first item listed is teriyaki chicken, either as a bowl (with rice) or as a bento (with rice, macaroni, and salad). This is probably a good place to start since good teriyaki is a foundational dish in a restaurant of this type. The teriyaki here, also offered in a beef version, is a solid, straightforward recipe with sweet, salty, and smoky notes imparted to the meat that has soaked in it prior to cooking. The portions are generous, although it might be nice to see a few more vegetables mixed in with the meat.

chicken katsu bento

If Grilled Ave.’s teriyaki ranks as very good, it’s the chicken katsu that is excellent. The restaurant’s take on this dish involves thin, lightly breaded breast meat -- not unlike a Milanesa preparation in a Mexican torta shop. The result is crisp on the surface, moist on the inside, and not at all greasy. Tangy dark sauce with sesame seeds enhances the dish. Like all the meat entrees, it comes over rice. The mac salad added with the bento is worthwhile. The pasta is tossed with bits of celery and other vegetables and coated in a relatively light dressing.

bulgogi bowl

The shop’s Korean influence is evident in its skillful handling of the beef-based dishes bulgogi and kalbi. The former is thin, tender slices of beef grilled after marination in a fragrant sauce tinged with ginger and garlic. The latter is short ribs, a heartier cut of meat but still one that comes out tender and highly flavored from the sauce in which it is anointed. There’s also orange chicken on the menu, an item that seems more targeted at an American-Chinese niche, and Hawaiian shrimp, another fried indulgence.

sushi bento

Besides the meat entrees, there’s a meatless tofu salad and three kinds of sushi. The sushi here takes the form of creamy, creative rolls. Expect some imitation crab, avocado, and cream cheese along with fish, whether “crazy lobster” in the roll of that name or salmon in both the New York and Las Vegas rolls. The sushi come six to an order and can also be upgraded to a bento with a slightly different assortment of sides. Instead of rice, there are two potstickers included. but their scant filling seems lost in the heavily cooked wrappers.

egg rols

The egg rolls, available a la carte as an appetiter or side, are far more successful. Their filling of julienned vegetables holds it own against a firm exterior, and the side sauce provided with each order is good for dipping. Another side, kimchi, is a Korean staple. The variety served at Grilled Ave. is not fiery hot, but still flavorful and generous in quantity given that it costs only a dollar. Miso soup is a familiar favorite here with slices of scallions floating over its cloudy base. The seaweed salad provides some aquatic greenery over a bed of more familiar salad lettuces.

seaweed salad

There’s a soda fountain and a refrigerated case full of bottled water and fruit juices as one approaches the counter. A freshly brewed icedtea would be a nice addition here. There’s no dessert on the menu, so walk a few blocks for a paleta or an ice on Mill Avenue if you have an appetite left. It’s a shame that Mai Island Grill is gone and that the gyros restaurant didn’t work out, but it’s nice to see this space once again filling a niche for teriyaki and the like near ASU and Downtown Tempe. Maybe Forest Avenue really is Grilled Avenue.

miso soup

705 S. Forest Ave, Tempe AZ 85281
(602) 281-5697
http://www.grilledave.webs.com

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Ncounter

2011-09-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

For a society supposedly obsessed with brevity and starved for time, we seem to have an unexpected and enduring fascination with word games. Scrabble, the classic, now exists in digital formats for smartphones, the iPad, and Facebook. The newer alternative, Words with Friends, provides a similar game with a social component added. Given the widespread enthusiasm for arranging letter tiles on game boards or LCD screens, it should not be surprising that a new restaurant, Ncounter, has used letter tiles as part of its logo and decor.

exterior from the south

Looks are a big deal at Ncounter, located conveniently right across the street from the Mill Avenue / Third Street light rail station in Downtown Tempe. The site was formerly home to Mill End’s, a place for coffee and crepes that should have been Tempe’s answer to Jobot but instead seemed to be running on fumes in its final years. The people behind T.C. Eggington’s in Mesa have had the place completely redone, opening it up to natural light on three sides and adding a patio. All that sunshine is a fit with the restaurant's emphasis on breakfast and lunch.

patio seats

Of course, with all that change, there’s definitely a need to get one’s bearings. The multiple entrances can be a bit confusing. For best results, skip the doors facing both Third Street and Mill; instead, use the one facing south toward Mojo Yogurt. This approach provides the most direct access to the “Ncounter” where customers place their orders. In keeping with both the restaurant’s fast-casual service model and its signature look, everyone then receives a metal placard in the shape of a letter. That letter lets staff know which order goes to which table.

letter placard

The counter service approach, apparently growing in popularity, takes some getting used to. There's always the question of whether to tip or how to obtain drink refills. Thankfully, the restaurant seems to have invested in hiring and training a good staff, even in a partially self-service environment. Employees at the counter are generally knowledgeable abount ingredients and preparation techniques. It is, however, frustrating to see apostrophe errors on the menu (e.g. "classic egg's benedict") at a place with decor related to good spelling.

bananas foster French toast

Given the alphabetical theme at Ncounter, it's tempting to assign the restaurant letter grades. That's an oversimplified approach, but if the restaurant has opened with an A in decor and service, the natural question is if the food also deserves that grade. Some items clearly merit high marks. The omelets are a success. The "veg" model is loaded with color and flavor thanks to abundant bell peppers, mushrooms, and cheese. Bananas foster French toast is another early favorite with a sweet, rum-based sauce enveloping two thick slabs of tender bread.

grilled wheat germ granola pancakes

Other breakfast food includes pancakes in several varieties. These are nicely textured, and the “original” option comes with variety of fruit toppings. The alternative version is “grilled wheat germ granola” pancakes. These are enjoyable due to their crunchy topping, although they’re not the whole grain choice that their name might suggest. Instead, they’re a variation on the standard pancakes with the granola on top adding another dimension. Meat sides such as bacon or sausage must be ordered a la carte since they don't come automatically with breakfast entrees.

turkey sausage

Since Ncounter stays open until the unusually precise time of 3:05 PM every day, the restaurant has a lunch menu as well. While the breakfast foods at Ncounter make the restaurant a straight A student in the morning, some of the midday foods still have room for improvement. There’s a different soup every day. Cream of asparagus was generously loaded with thin pieces of the green vegetable, but chicken noodle soup had little pasta to back up its name. Both suffered from the most common shortcoming of restaurant soups: excessive saltiness.

chicken noodle soup

The sandwiches are hearty lunch choices. The portabellini, a tasty meatless specimen full of mushrooms, spinach, and provolone, benefits from a balsamic dressing but would probably do even better with some time in a panini press so that the appealing bread could be toasted to match the grilled vegetables inside. Other sandwiches like turkey pesto and focaccia roma-chicken work well with their combinations of tender poultry and Mediterranean flavors. All sandwiches come with a choice of chips or a spring mix salad.

focaccia roma-chicken sandwich

Ncounter doesn’t have a dessert menu per se, but the same counter where orders are placed has display cases full of fresh baked goods. An apple streusel muffin showed initial promise with a crumbly, donut-like top; however, the muffin’s lower half was dry and less enticing. A maple oat pecan scone is a thorough success. The combination of ingredients yields a scone with a pleasing combination of bold maple flavor and assertive texture from nuts and grain. Get one to go even if you’re not immediately hungry for dessert during your visit.

maple oat pecan scone

When it comes to drinks, Ncounter covers the obvious morning choices well with fresh-squeezed orange juice ready at the counter and a coffee bar off to the side with a full selection of espresso beverages and loose leaf teas. Unlike many breakfast places, Ncounter has a liquor license, something that has been expected ever since fences were seen being installed around the perimeter of the patio during the extensive preparations of the site. Brunch cocktails like mimosas and bloody Marys are the unsurprising specialty here.

fresh-squeezed orange juice

Free wifi lets adults get work done while lingering over coffee, and plentiful high chairs coupled with quick service make this a good place for family meals. Ncounter is also welcome because it fills an often-neglected need for breakfast on Mill Avenue. The food still needs a few adjustments, but the restaurant shows enough promise that it’s easy to imagine customers asking for a closing time of 3:05 AM instead of 3:05 PM. Pancakes and omelets after a night at some of the nearby clubs and bars? That might just be a triple word score for Downtown Tempe.

peppered Italian salad

310 S. Mill Ave., Tempe AZ 85281
(480) 968-9288
http://www.ncounter.com

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Sens

2011-09-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

February 7, 2012 Update: Sens has eliminated lunch service, but remains open for dinner and drinks every night.

If you haven’t been to First Street in Downtown Phoenix lately, you may be surprised to see how its look is being transformed. Starting in late summer, the City of Phoenix commenced a project to make the street into a more pedestrian-friendly corridor, a logical goal given its proximity to the ASU Downtown campus and its status as a mini-restaurant row. The project became controversial, however, when it threatened a long-standing ficus tree on the west side of the street. After an outcry, project plans were modified to preserve the tree in its current location.

First Street and its ficus tree

That tree is a First Street landmark that been around for decades, thriving without much care or watering. Its perseverance reminds us that old trees, like old buildings, add character to a city. In fact, to paraphrase Jane Jacobs, new ideas are likely to grow in the shade they both provide. Three years ago, Johnny Chu’s Sens restaurant was a new idea -- a small, casual place for Asian tapas, sake, and cocktails just a few blocks’ walk from the Roosevelt / Central light rail station. Fast forward from 2008 to 2011, and Sens has matured without losing its vitality.

Sens

The menu hasn’t changed drastically in three years. Favorite appetizers like the soup gyoza are still offered. These are actually closer in shape to xiao long biao, a sort of dumpling associated with Shanghai, than they are to traditional Japanese gyoza. The little pork-filled pockets, four to a serving, rest on slices of ginger and are paired with a dark sauce redolent of soy and sesame. They’re a little messy, but in a fun way. Expect a little juice to land on your plate as you take the initial bite.

soup gyoza

Other favorites remain Chu’s inventive tofu dishes. The fried cubes come out crisp on the outside and more yielding on the inside. Available preparations include sesame and wasabi with subtle infusions of flavor in the tofu per se and more punch delivered via accompanying dipping sauces. For a lighter starter not involving meat or deep frying, try the mango papaya spring rolls with slivered tropical fruit and bean threads inside, wrapped in rice paper, accessorized with lettuce, and paired with a spicy and salty dipping sauce.

sesame tofu

There are two soups: miso and hot and sour. Both are departures from the typical versions known, respectively, from Japanese and Chinese restaurants around town. The miso has the familiar cloudiness and fermented taste but benefits from the addition of generous quantities of enoki and shiitake mushrooms. The hot and sour is pungent in flavor and full of unexpected vegetables such as okra, baby corn, and an unidentified root or tuber reminiscent of lotus. The only aspect that doesn’t quite work is a sweet dipping sauce on the side.

hot and sour soup

The duck mint salad is exactly as it sounds. Thin slivers or rare duck meat are tossed with shredded cabbage, nuts, fresh mint, and plenty of chili for heat. Edamame are usually served with truffle butter, but a recent daily special paired the boiled soybeans with pesto. Since in both preparations the beans are still within their pods, the flavor does not penetrate them directly. Instead, the toppings add aroma and then taste as the pods are opened and exposed to the surrounding accouterments.

duck mint salad

At a place like Sens, there’s no clear demarcation between appetizers or entrees, but there are definitely some larger, more filling dishes toward the bottom of the menu. Tofu red curry is quite spicy due to its intense sauce based on coconut milk. The large slivers of tofu, rather than small cubes throughout, can be a bit awkward, but worth the effort. A daily special of pad thai is prepared with garlic chili paste and results in a version that is more spicy and less sweet than the customary Thai restaurant version of the dish.

red tofu curry

Of course, Sens has always been as much about drink as it has been about food. There’s a copious list of sakes and shochus available in their pure forms, but the cocktail list is fun to explore. The “Hot Mama” lives up to its name with chili-infused shochu, citron vodka, and a sliced cucumber on top to mellow it all out a bit. The Mango Monkey is gentler in taste but still a strong drink due to its combination of Bombay Sapphire gin with a puree of the world’s most popular fruit.

Hot Mama

One addition since the 2008 opening of Sens has been lunch service, featuring some wok entrees more appropriate for a quick, individual meal, as opposed to the leisurely sharing experience associated with dinner. The spicy basil dish bear a strong Thai influence with an unexpected vegetable, cauliflower, paired with a choice of tofu, shrimp, chicken, or beef tenderloin. Interestingly, lunch time is when diners are most likely to see Chu himself in the kitchen, usually working solo to fill orders.

spicy basil

Chu is less likely to be seen in the evening because he’s involved with two other projects: Tien Wong, his hot pot restaurant in Chander, and the Mint, an upscale Scottsdale club known as much for its strict dress code as its food. The cooks on duty during the evening at Sens do a fine job with Chu’s menu, but it’s easy to worry about talent being spread too thin. An unfortunate scenario would be a repeat of the events of late 2008, when Chu found himself locked out of his prior establishment, Fate, soon after opening Sens.

papaya mango spring rolls

A better outcome would be continued operation of multiple restaurants, or maybe consolidation of the various menus and approaches at a site larger than the small space at Sens but as central and accessible as the restaurant’s current location. Regardless of exactly what happens, it’s encouraging to see Sens having grown into adulthood three years after its birth. That’s nowhere near as old as the recently-saved ficus tree just across from the restaurant, but still a hopeful sign of persistence along First Street.

Mango Monkey

705 N. 1st St., Phoenix AZ 85004
(602) 340-9777
http://www.sensake.com

Previous review: November 30, 2008

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La Bocca

2011-09-16T16:05:00.001-07:00

October 27, 2011 Update: Crave, the ice cream supplier mentioned in the review below, is no longer in business. La Bocca now obtains its ice cream from Sweet Republic.

If it’s not too painful, think back three years. Around this time in 2008, the nation’s financial system faced collapse, and the local real estate market was going from downturn to freefall with the Mortgages Ltd. debacle becoming a poster child for the burst bubble. In Downtown Tempe, that bankruptcy left the Centerpoint Condominiums standing half finished as a testament to unfulfilled dreams along Mill Avenue. It wasn’t exactly the best time to open a restaurant designed to appeal, in part, to residents of towers that were indefinitely delayed.

West Sixth, formerly the Centerpoint Condominiums

La Bocca was such a place, and it would have been easy to expect its failure as the upscale clientele expected to live in Downtown Tempe failed to arrive. Instead, La Bocca has survived over three years with subtle, ongoing changes to its menu but without departing from its basic approach. The vision was, and continues to be, one that combines Italian and Mediterranean touches with a wine bar atmosphere in a walkable urban environment. The location in the Brickyard building situates it just three blocks from the Mill Avenue / Third Street light rail station.

exterior from Mill Avenue

La Bocca inserts the word “urban” into its full name (“La Bocca Urban Pizzeria + Wine Bar). Often, that’s a bad sign that means a place isn’t urban at all. La Bocca gets it right, though, by addressing both Mill Avenue and the walkway through the heart of the Brickyard development with an L-shaped patio that wraps around its space. Sit there in mild weather or take in the dark wood furniture inside and the imposing painting reproduction over the bar. Indulge too much in the wine bar aspect of La Bocca, and it’s easy to imagine the subject’s eyes are following you.

wraparound patio

The wine choices focus on California with some representation from South American and Spain, but not Italy. The Italian beer Peroni appears among the draft brews, but the domestic selections are the more interesting ones with local favorites from Four Peaks alongside beers like Full Sail Amber Ale from Oregon. Signature drinks include potent red and white sangrias, neither of which succumbs to the excessive sweetness of so many restaurant versions, and a “voodoo lemonade” that adds vodka and muddled blackberries to the familiar summer beverage.

white sangria

The menu, which is the same for lunch and dinner, focuses on individual pizzas, salads, sandwiches, and appetizers meant for sharing. Simple starters include local Queen Creek olives served warm with toast points and the ubiquitous mix-and-match bruschetta. As at Postino, the serving is four pieces, which can be combined in any way requested. One unanticipated favorite is the Mediterranean plate, which combines crisp flatbread with smoky baba ghanoush, salty olives, roasted bell peppers, and hummus enlivened with an unexpected touch of basil.

Queen Creek olives

Sandwiches here are all built on a foundation of crusty, slightly charred ciabbatta. The bread is made on site, but most of the meats are from Boar’s Head in a departure from La Bocca’s frequent emphasis on local ingredients. One turkey sandwich includes provolone and mushrooms, a nice way to add heft and flavor to the sandwich in place of bacon, which seems the preferred add-on to nearly everywhere else. Another turkey sandwich features brie and figs, although not in enough quantity for them to stand out as much as they should.

turkey and mushrooms sandwich with slaw

The chicken salad sandwich may be the best since it relies on a simple but effective filling of freshly-cooked poultry in sizeable chunks with romaine. All sandwiches come with a choice of cole slaw, green salad, or chips. The first option is usually the best. La Bocca’s slaw is a light, Mediterranean-inspired take on the deli classic; its dressing is closer to a vinaigrette than a more typical thick mayonnaise preparation. The green salad is a straightforward mix of mesclun lettuces, and the chips are just that -- chips that you’ve probably had a thousand times before.

turkey and brie sandwich with chips

Salads at La Bocca are hearty, entree-sized bowls. The heirloom beet salad is populated with big hunks or ruby beets on top of two huge slices of tomato, arugula, and goat cheese. The figure-eight shape makes it an obvious candidate for splitting between two diners. The dayton caesar comprises as much roasted chicken as romaine, making it better as a entree than a starter. Goat cheese and pears are the principal ingredients in the lightest of the salads, a sweeter option with cranberries and candied walnuts.

heirloom beet salad

La Bocca’s pizza, never too shabby, has improved over the last three-and-a-half years. The crust is slightly crisp and charred toward the outer edges with a ring of pillowy softness just beyond and then becomes thinner toward the center. There are half a dozen signature pies such as truffled mushroom, with plenty of fungus matched with spinach and goat cheese, and the garden pizza, with an engaging juxtaposition of mild white cheddar and more pungent blue cheese beneath a cold topping of peppery arugula.

garden pizza

There’s also a make-your-own pie option, and all of the same toppings available for pizza can be used in a custom-made calzone. While the pizzas lend themselves to immediate sharing, the calzones are probably big enough for two as well, especially if preceded with appetizers or salads. They’re served with big steak knives, and cutting them open immediately releases steam redolent of the tomato sauce and chosen fillings mixed in. Mozzarella is the standard cheese with ricotta available as an upgrade.

calzone

Just in case there isn’t enough dairy in those cheeses, La Bocca’s dessert menu emphasizes ice cream. The flavors come from local purveyor Crave, making them worth the indulgence. Banana Toffee mixes bits of confection into a creamy, fruity base. Mint chocolate chip is authentic with flecks of green rather than uniform color from food coloring, and anyone who knows a bit of local history would find it difficult to resist a flavor identified as “Mary Coyle Vanilla,” named for the vintage ice cream shop in Central Phoenix.

mint chocolate chip ice cream

From bruschetta to ice cream with salad, sandwiches, and pizza in between, La Bocca seems to have steadily grown into the role it defined for itself during the turmoil of 2008. While the economy remains stalled, at least the Centerpoint towers, now renamed “West Sixth,” are nearly complete and filling rapidly with residents. Likewise, La Bocca now has a sister restaurant, Canteen Modern Tequila, across the street. With those developments, it can be said that things are looking up on Mill, both literally and figuratively.

dayton caesar salad

699 S. Mill Ave., Tempe AZ 85281
(480) 967-5244
http://www.laboccapizzeria.com/

Previous review: May 13, 2008

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Paletas Betty

2011-08-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

When locals compile lists of things they wish Phoenix had more of, the latest food trends from coastal cities are often near the top. There’s something really basic, however, that we don’t have enough of: top quality places for icy sweets. Given our hot climate, cool places for a cool treat should be on every corner. One neighborhood that is doing better than most is Tempe’s Mill Avenue District. Along this pedestrian-friendly corridor, served by the Mill Avenue / Third Street light rail station, there are now nearly half a dozen different shops devoted to frozen desserts.

exterior

Mill Avenue’s newest frozen arrival is Paletas Betty. A paleta is essentially a Mexican popsicle, but that’s sort of like saying salsa is Mexican ketchup. In reality, paletas can be complex, hand-crafted treats with varied, bold flavors derived from fresh fruits and ground spices. Many Phoenicians are used to seeing paletas sold from carts pushed or pedaled on neighborhood streets, but Betty Alatorre has created her own walk-in shops. The first was in Downtown Chandler, which like Mill Avenue, is walkable and full of independent businesses.

patio

Now, Paletas Betty has expanded to a second location on Fifth Street just off Mill. It’s a clean, modern, minimalist space enlivened by a few colorful paintings on the wall and jars of the spices used in the paletas behind the counter. The paletas are made at the Chandler location and then brought up to Tempe. Betty herself is often at the counter and can answer questions about the flavors, which vary daily and are announced via the shop’s Web site and on screens behind the counter. There are a few seats inside and out on the patio, but these paletas are good to go.

aradano

Most flavors are priced at 2.79 with a few priced a little lower at $2.49. The lower-priced paletas are usually those based on fruit bases. These are the ones with most vibrant colors and boldest flavors. The arandano is identified as “blueberry lemonade,” and that’s an apt description since the berry sweetness is balanced with a slight bit of tart flavor from citrus. The puro mango is exactly as it sounds -- nothing but mango. It’s the simplest and more straightforward flavor, but a welcome refresher after a spicy meal of Vietnamese or Thai food.

puro mango

Of course, many of the paletas allow spices and dairy to play a more prominent role. Mango makes a second appearance, this time flavored with chile, in a bold use of the world’s most popular fruit. Likewise, the chocolate paleta is spiced up a bit. Some of the most interesting varieties are those that blend fruit into “on a stick” versions of classic desserts. Fresa con crema is a play on strawberries with cream, and the platano paleta recreates the tastes of bananas foster with bits of fruit, smooth caramel, and a shot of flavor from rum.

nuez

While fruit and dairy may be the most obvious ingredients, some of the flavors at Paletas Betty go into more innovative territory by incorporating nuts and grains. The nuez is full of orasted pecans in a creamy base. Texturally, it’s the most interesting of the flavors on regular rotation here. Arroz con leche is less crunchy, but still a lively mouthful due to its basis of rice pudding. Most impressive is the reliance on fresh, natural ingredients. That’s a welcome contrast with some of the ice cream and froyo served nearby.

fresa con crema

Regardless of ingredients, every paleta has two common traits. The first is a small bite mark in the corner. Don’t worry, it’s not from an actual bite, but instead part of the mold used to make the paleta, a little signature signifying its readiness to eat. The second is a removable sticker on the wrapper. In a bit of clever marketing, the Web site of Paletas Betty invites customers to send in photos of the stickers, which bear a caricature of Betty, taken in exotic places. So far, the longest distances traveled appears to be trips the stickers have taken to Beijing and Hong Kong.

sticker

Fortunately, these paletas are found a lot closer than China. They make ideal treats after a meal at many of the nearby casual restaurants that do not serve dessert or function well as snacks while walking from one point to another in Downtown Tempe. At this point, that community is well above average in terms of frozen dessert offerings. There’s still room for improvement -- maybe with ice cream of Sweet Republic’s quality or a gelateria like Grateful Spoon. Still, the arrival of Paletas Betty has made Mill Avenue a cooler place in every sense of the word.

sticker

Note: PHX Rail Food does not encourage posting promotional materials, even for a business as worthwhile as Paletas Betty, on any Metro Light Rail or City of Tempe property. The sticker in these photos was temporarily applied while the pictures were taken and then promptly removed.

425 S. Mill Ave., #109, Tempe AZ 85281
(480) 779-8080
http://www.paletasbetty.com

Cycle

2011-08-09T18:14:00.001-07:00

October 12, 2011 Update: Due to delays in the renovation of the Lexington Hotel, Cycle's lifespan has been extended through the remainder of 2011. You can blink a few more times and still enjoy a meal there.

Paul Weller told us a few years ago to “Blink and You’ll Miss It.” Weller rocked unexpectedly hard on that song given that he was decades into his career, and he used the song to make a point about the constancy of change. Cycle, the interim restaurant in the Lexington Hotel on Central Avenue, has been all about change during its short lifetime. It’s therefore unsurprising the restaurant used a similar phrase of “Don’t Blink” as its slogan. It’s a sort of pop-up phrase for a pop-up restaurant in a hotel slated for an extensive remodeling later this year.

hotel exterior

If you can’t visualize the Lexington Hotel, it’s because the property is currently little more than a drab beige box. The location is prime, though, with Hance Park just to the north, the Roosevelt Square apartments and Portland Place condominiums nearby, and the Roosevelt/Central light rail station just across the street. Habitat Metro, the firm responsible for Portland Place, is working with partners to renovate the hotel and give it a more urbane feel consistent with the successful projects nearby. Work is supposed to start at summer’s end.

"world's longest bike rack"

The Lexington’s on-site dining room has varied over the years, often functioning as just a plain vanilla hotel eatery but also harboring a secret Indian restaurant at one time. Since the announcement of the renovation plans, Cycle has been a way to use the space to enliven the local food scene while also generating buzz for the reinvigorated hotel planned for the building. Beginning after an unveiling of the pop-up concept at the Devoured event back in March, Cycle has been featuring a different guest chef each weekend.

pasta from Gio Osso

With Cycle changing its menu each weekend and scheduled to end its run soon, any review that evaluates specific dishes and recommends what to order would seem pointless. Instead, it’s time to look back on the events of the last few months and highlight a few final opportunities to enjoy a meal before the hotel undergoes its metamorphosis. There’s already been a bit of transformation after a “flash remodel” resulted in stripped-down look with chalkboards in the dining room and something claimed to be the world’s longest bicycle rack outside.

pasta from Gio Osso

Guest chefs filling in the pop-up slots have included well-known local names such as Payton Curry, cooking between his departure from Caffe Boa and whatever awaits him, and Josh Hebert, taking a break from his regular duties at Posh in Scottsdale to cook hearty bowls of ramen and Japanese bar foods like okonimiyaki, a large pancake studded with seafood and pork, for Downtown customers. Gio Osso, formerly of the defunct Estate House at Southbridge, checked in one weekend early in Cycle’s run with hearty handmade pastas.

dessert from Gio Osso

With the continuing economic challenges and the natural volatility of the restaurant industry, there are a lot of defunct restaurants that local diners mourn. Cycle has allowed for a brief revival of a few of them. Eric Gitenstein, sometimes known by his secret supper club moniker of “MF Tasty,” resurrected some of the Spanish dishes he prepared at his former employer, Lola Tapas. On another occasion, Chaka Chaka, having recently closed its doors at Seventh Street and Buckeye, was brought back to life for one more serving of its popular jerk chicken.

dessert from Gio Osso

Food trucks, a trend about as popular as pop-up restaurants, have played a role too. In Cycle’s earliest days, food trucks provided much of the food, interestingly matched with original cocktails from the restaurant’s bar. Since then, the actual food trucks have played less of role, but some of their operators, including those of Truckin’ Good Food, known best for crepes and duck fat fries, and Hey Joe, celebrated for its Filipino food, have had an opportunity to move from their normal mobile environments to the stationary ktichen at Cycle.

tofu from Josh Hebert

With Cycle winding down, there’s still time to catch a few of the final meals scheduled there. In August, local food enthusiast Joel LaTondress will take over the kitchen to create a prix fixe “summer cookout” menu, and Chef Cullen Campbell, formerly with Crudo in Scottsdale, will deliver what sounds like an adventurous mix of a diner breakfast and a multi-course dinner. Those events leave just a little time left before Labor Day weekend, a small window in which anyone who hasn’t visited Cycle yet can give it a try.

okonomiyaki from Josh Hebert

After Cycle serves its last supper, what’s next? Insiders might already know, but everyone else can have fun speculating about the type of restaurant planned for the Lexington Hotel after its renovation. Maybe one of the chefs who cooked as a guest at Cycle will find a long-term gig on the premises, or maybe we’ll be surprised by something entirely different. Like Paul Weller said, “Blink and You’ll Miss It,” or to use a more current musical example from the Australian band Cut Copy, “Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution.” If so, Cycle has helped inspire that revolution.

shiitake ramen from Josh Hebert

1100 N. Central Ave., Phoenix AZ 85004
(602) 252-2100
http://www.cyclephoenix.com

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Jobot

2011-07-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

It was nearly two decades ago that the band Cracker told us, “What the world needs now is another folk singer like I need a hole in my head.” Considering some of the current directions in indie music, David Lowery’s words seem prescient. Substitute “coffee house” for “folk singer” and a cynical person might say the same about Central Phoenix today, where independent coffee houses have multiplied in recent years. Jobot, located on Fifth Street just five short blocks east of the Roosevelt/Central light rail station, is among the latest arrivals.

view from Fifth Street

In actuality, Phoenix still has room for a lot more quality coffee houses before it becomes overloaded, especially in comparison to other cities with more established coffee cultures. Still, the perception of impending market saturation is a good reason for coffee houses to find ways to differentiate themselves. Jobot smartly sets itself apart with a large patio, late hours (until midnight most nights and all night on weekends), and, most importantly, its decision to make itself into something Phoenix needs more than either folk singers or coffee houses: a creperie.

peanut butter, banana, and raspberry jam crepe

Like every business on the artsy stretch of Fifth Street between Roosevelt and Garfield, Jobot occupies an old house, one of the Evans-Churchill survivors that stand in sharp contrast to the land-banked vacant lots to the south. The space is used wisely, with one room functioning as a bar. That’s where orders are placed and paid for. There’s a counter where anyone wanting to interact with the barista can sit. Next door (literally, because it’s necessary to go outside to get there) is a separate room with comfortable chairs for lounging.

entrance to the side room

Most of the seating, however, is found on the patio in front. With canopies and misters, it’s comfortable year-round. You’re just as likely to see people working on laptops or families with kids there. The only downside to the patio is Jobot’s decision to allow smoking there. To their credit, most customers who smoke park themselves off to the sides, but it’s still tempting to envision the red ashtrays being reused as mock flowers in some sort of guerrilla art project, a fate that would be not at all out of place on Fifth Street.

front patio

The essence of Jobot is of course good coffee, and that was assured by the shop’s history. The coffee part of Jobot grew out of Conspire, the place across the street that has now become a vegan restaurant, among other things. The beans from Cartel are used to produce quality hot drinks and toddies. Baristas are knowledgable of their craft and will sometimes even critique their own technique in pulling espresso shots. The person making the drinks is often the person taking your order, so don’t be shy about approaching the counter and asking for what you need.

cappuccino

Jobot does not stock every flavor of syrup imaginable and does not pretend to be able to cater to every whim that might exist in the chain coffee house universe. Even with a deliberately constrained drink menu, most coffee house have at least one unique drink. At Jobot, it’s the “espresso sunrise,” two shots of espresso with orange juice. Surprisingly, it works, least for those with bold palates. A layer of crema floats above the coffee, which in turn, tops the juice. As the layers gradually blend, the acid notes in the coffee complement the citrus flavor of the juice.

espresso sunrise

The real distinctiveness of Jobot is found in the crepes, however. The board behind the counter features about a dozen choices, all freshly made to order in the small kitchen in back. The simple classics are crepes that not stuffed, but instead topped with lemon juice and powdered sugar, or cinnamon and brown sugar. Those work as a snack or a desert, but to make a meal out of a crepe, choose one with a filling. They’re divided in roughly equal proportions among the sweet and the savory with a few inventive recipes blending both.

pizza crepe

On the sweet side, the combination of sliced banana, peanut butter, and raspberry jam is a hearty one that would satisfy almost any child and a lot of adults. Bananas appear again in a crepe with Nutella and whipped cream. Another mixes almonds, chocolate chips, and ricotta cheese. The chips melt into the ricotta, resulting in streaks of chocolate distributed throughout the sweet cheese and a uniform blending of flavors punctuated by bits of crunch from the slivered nuts.

almond, chocolate chip, and ricotta crepe

The savory crepes lean heavily on southern European flavors such as pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and mozzarella. Smoked turkey with spinach, cheese, and pesto blends complementary flavors in a filling mix, and the chorizo and egg combination adds a Southwestern touch. The most original recipe is one that matches Canadian bacon and turkey with raspberry jam. Eggs and Swiss cheese define appropriately neutral territory between the salty meats and the sweet fruit taste.

chorizo and egg crepe

All the crepes have admirable consistency in two senses of the word. They have appropriate crepe texture: slightly crisp toward the edges but never dry or stiff. At the same time, they don’t veer toward the opposite extreme of gumminess. That’s the first type of consistency; the second is that they tend to be equally good regardless of when ordered. Given their strengths, the crepes should not be skipped, but for anyone who must avoid them for dietary reasons, Jobot will also serve its crepe fillings with corn tortillas or salad greens.

vanilla buttermilk scone

Other foods include a daily selection of scones with rotating flavor choices such as blueberry, vanilla buttermilk, and even basil chocolate chip. Big cookies and cupcakes also showcase the kitchen’s talent with sweets. In light of its original approach to food and classic approach to coffee, it’s hard not to like Jobot. It’s a place where you’re more likely to hear hip-hop or indie rock than “another folk singer,” and it’s also more than just another coffee house. It’s a creperie and gathering place, both of which Phoenix can always have more of.

espresso chocolate chip cookie

918 N. 5th St., Phoenix AZ 85004
http://www.jobot-coffee.com

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Robbie Fox's Public House

2011-07-08T21:40:00.006-07:00

Ask anyone to name the most pedestrian-friendly part of Tempe, maybe even the entire Phoenix Metropolitan Area, and the answer will almost always be the Mill Avenue District. Of course, that last word “district” is key, because not every business there faces Mill Avenue itself. Some are on side streets, and the one with most activity right now seems to be Sixth Street, home not only to multiple restaurants, but also to the West 6th Tempe high-rise towers, recently brought tack to life as rentals after languishing for years as partially complete condominium buildings.

exterior from Sixth Street

Robbie Fox’s Public House opened in early 2010 as part of the Sixth Street restaurant row. Even though the restaurant’s official location reads Mill Avenue, that’s an unhelpful generic address for the entire CenterPoint project. Instead, look for Robbie Fox’s on the south side of Sixth Street between Mill and Ash, just three blocks south of the Mill Avenue / Third Street light rail station. It’s the second Irish pub to establish itself in Downtown Tempe, joining nearby Rula Bula, which preceded it by a decade.

front entrance

Of course, comparisons between the two pubs are inevitable. Both have imported Irish decor, both serve a selection of draft beer and whiskeys, and both are lively on weekend nights, with their back patios serving as popular gathering places. Robbie Fox’s seems to aim for a slightly older crowd and is emphasizing some surprisingly good food, not all of it Irish, that goes beyond familiar “pub grub.” The restaurant’s expansion during its short life suggests there may be a market for at least two pubs in Downtown Tempe.

Fox's den banquet room

Enter from Sixth Street and you’ll be greeted at a host station that may be inside or out depending on the weather. There are two dining rooms and well-worn bar brought over from Ireland. This is where pints of beer, both traditional favorites from Ireland and the British Isles such as Guinness, Harp, and Smithwick’s and American crafts brews like Odell 90 Shilling and Rogue Dead Guy, are poured. And, yes, if you absolutely must have it, there is Bud Light on tap. There’s even a decent wine selection.

a pint of Odell IPA

Obviously, nighttime is a more lively and adult-oriented time, especially on the back patio where smoking is allowed and the well-chosen beer selection is sometimes subordinated to $2 vodka shots, cocktails with risque names, and promotional appearances on behalf of domestic macrobreweries. During the day and early evening, however, Robbie Fox’s is a more grown-up and sedate place with classic crooners like Tony Bennett playing on the speakers and an atmosphere appropriate for casual business meals or family dining.

fish and chips

The benchmark for most Irish pubs is a simple meal of fish and chips. At Robbie Fox’s, that dish comes in two sizes, one on which is merely large and the other huge. The preparation here is a reasonably good one, but a bit on the greasy side, even for a fried dish. How the fish and chips compare with those available down the street will largely be a matter of personal taste, but Robbie Fox’s kitchen impresses more with its daily specials and it menu choices that step outside the boundaries of pub grub.

house salad

Let’s not use the dreaded “gastro” word here because it has been so often misapplied. Instead, let’s just say that Robbie Fox’s is allowing the kitchen to exercise a little creativity. That’s evident in the daily soup, which might be a peppery combination of fish and mushrooms with orzo at one time and a cold puree of English peas and fresh mint on a blazing hot summer day. Served in a glass rather than a bowl, the latter choice is particularly inventive because it reinterprets the classic “mushy peas” in a lighter and more flavorful version suitable for 110 degrees..

soup of English peas and mint

Other starters include a simple house salad that in unexpectedly vibrant and colorful, incorporating grape tomatoes and hearts of palm over mesclun instead of a more typical pub salad of iceberg or romaine. A beet salad is another unexpectedly light bit of greenery with golden and red beets, lettuce, red onion, and goat cheese. The Irish potato cakes appetizer is essentially two dollops of mashed potatoes rather than crispy cakes, layered over baked white beans with a fried egg on top. Crab cakes are small but rich in actual crab meat.

Irish potato cakes

Among the entrees, the pot pie is a strong choice. It’s not as heavy as one would expect. Instead the interior relies on a flavorful sauce enlivening white meat chicken, mushrooms, celery, carrots, and peas. The flaky crust overlaps the side of the vessel in which it is served. The pork chop is a heavier choice due to the breading, but the meat is quite tender and pairs well with the accompanying baked beans and mashed potatoes. There’s usually an entree special such as an open-faced turkey sandwich available.

chicken pot pie

If you can handle dessert after that hearty fare, the chocolate tower is a simple but attractively-presented confection with layers of white and milk chocolate over a bit of chocolate cake. To work off those calories, do some walking after the meal along Sixth Street and throughout the rest of the Mill Avenue District. Walkable neighborhoods are something the metropolitan area needs to cultivate more of, and sometimes their best attractions are found on the side streets rather than the main artery.

chocolate tower

640 S. Mill Ave., Tempe AZ 85281
(480) 642-6442
http://www.robbiefoxs.com/

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Windsor & Churn

2011-07-05T21:02:00.005-07:00

Anyone who has read “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” knows that the seemingly ordinary number 42 turned out to be the answer to “the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.” While the number 42 may have cosmic significance, it also sounds like it might fit in closer to home among the cocktails on the menu at recently-opened Windsor. In actuality, there is no cocktail named “42” at the restaurant, but with specialty drinks listed as “No. 89,” “No. 11,” and even the “No. 1,” a refreshing blend of vodka and watermelon aqua fresca, it’s natural to wonder what’s behind the numbers here.

front entrance

The origin of the numeric names remains a mystery, but the formula behind Windsor, along with neighboring ice cream shop Churn, seems clear: Take an interesting but underutilized building (a relatively old one by Phoenix standards), renovate it and open it up with a patio, and turn it into a popular bar and restaurant. It that strategy sounds familiar, it’s exactly what happened two years ago when Postino opened across the street. Now Postino’s owner, Craig DeMarco, has crossed Central Avenue with a new creation that has quickly become another Uptown dining destination.

rear entrance

That destination is easy to reach via light rail. Take the train to Central / Camelback and then walk a quarter mile north on the east side of Central. To be safe, make sure to cross Central at Camelback rather than braving the unsignaled crosswalk at Colter. There are also large bike racks on the restaurant’s patio for anyone using two-wheeled transport to reach the restaurant. Windsor and Churn occupy two storefronts facing the street, but the real action is in the back on a shaded, mist-cooled patio that is comfortable even in summer heat. The bar, located toward the rear of the dining room, is also a popular spot. From there flow not only the inventive cocktails with herbs and fruits muddled on site, but also impressive selections of wine on tap, draft beer, and even alcohol-free beverages such as lemonade infused with fresh seasonal berries.

No. 1 cocktail

Windsor has been marketed as serving “pub grub” or “glorified bar food.” To an extent, that’s true. A smorgasbord offers thickly-cut smoked salmon alongside hummus, pickled vegetables, nuts, pita bread, and cheese. It’s an assertive assortment of tastes and the best way for a table to share a generous starter. Simple foods like hamburgers, however, are cleverly reinterpreted as updated classics. Choose to have a burger “Windsor style” to elevate the flavor with sharp cheddar, caramelized onions, and garlic aioli. The soft bun verges on brioche, and the accompanying fries are rough cut with skin-on.

smorgasbord

Sandwiches branch out beyond burgers into fare based on fish and poultry. The halibut bahn mi is a clear success, even though it’s less authentic and more expensive than the Vietnamese sandwiches served just a mile or two west along Camelback Road. It works its own magic with a generous slab of fish instead of more familiar pork fillings and via the substantial heat added by spicy sambal mayonnaise. The crab cake BLT sounds at first like it might be a case of the overplayed bacon fad, but the dish relies on minced bits of bacon judiciously mixed into three small crab cakes. The result is a smoky flavor that does not overpower the distinct taste of the crab meat.

burger and fries

A “Brown Bag Chicken Sandwich” lands somewhere halfway between pulled barbecue and a deli salad on a bun. As weird as that sounds, it works, largely due to sun-dried tomatoes enlivening the flavor while watercress and avocado provide contrasting crisp and smooth textures. Besides the obvious fries, some of the other side dish options for any sandwich include cheesy “church potatoes,” creamy mac-and-cheese, a cold bean salad, a hearty slaw made with savoy cabbage, and a daily vegetable such as grilled asparagus or corn on the cob with an intense herb butter.

chicken sandwich with slaw

In fact, it’s Windsor’s approach to vegetables and grains that makes its bar food indeed “glorified” -- in the most sincere sense of the word. Kale, a vegetable that until recently was often relegated to neglect as a garnish, is used in abundance here. Kale chips are an interesting trend. It’s unclear how much of the leaves’ considerable nutritional power survives frying, but they’re an appealing starter nonetheless. A kale Caesar salad blends a little romaine with a whole lot of kale, chunky croutons, and a relatively light dressing to create a more nutritious take on a typically indulgent salad.

mixed grain salad

Grains get special attention via a hearty and flavorful entree salad that combines quinoa, kamut, and barley with roasted vegetables and just a bit of ricotta salata cheese. Eat this to atone for a burger indulgence during a prior visit or in anticipation of a rich dessert at Churn next door. The short walk at the end of the meal is a necessity for anyone wanting dessert because there’s none on the Windsor’s menu. Instead, stroll for ice cream and enjoy the wall of old cassettes that connects the two establishments. If dining with children, who are welcomed and given their own menu at Windsor, take this opportunity to show them a discontinued medium they will never own.

two scoops of ice cream

Churn is an old-fashioned ice cream shop with traditional flavors and a few innovative ones like Vietnamese coffee. There are also baked goods, including big chewy cookies and Rice Krispies treats with M&Ms, and even some candies and novelties. Any two cookies can be combined with any flavor of ice cream, or even a mix of half-scoops, to create an original ice cream sandwich. The shop definitely has a retro feel, as if it’s been around for years despite just having opened. Speaking of things that have been around for years, the supercomputer that figured out 42 was the ultimate answer took 7.5 million years to arrive at that conclusion. If we’re lucky, Windsor and Churn can last least a few millionths of that time span.

ice cream sandwich

Windsor
5223 N. Central Ave., Phoenix AZ 85012
(602) 279-1111
http://www.windsoraz.com/

Churn
5223 N. Central Ave., Phoenix AZ 85012
(602) 279-8024
http://www.churnaz.com/

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Haiku Grill

2011-06-30T21:42:00.016-07:00

Nearly twenty years ago, the movie "Wayne's World" left us with endless off-the-wall quotes from its hilarious dialogue. At one point, a conversation about a studio set that resembles Wayne's basement leads Wayne to proclaim, "Garth, that was a haiku!" In the age of Twitter, it might seem that we're all engaging in some amateur attempts at short-form self-expression. In between all those tweets, texts, and emails that might occupy a typical office worker's day, there's always a need for quick meals nearby. That's the niche filled by Tempe's Haiku Grill.

path from the light rail station to the shopping center

What a witty tweet, or even a "twaiku," is to traditional Japanese poetry is what Haiku Grill is to traditional Japanese food. In other words, neither is strictly authentic, but both can offer quick satisfaction on their own terms. Haiku Grill is a fast food restaurant, one of half a dozen in a plaza at the corner of Priest and Washington and just across the street from that intersection's light rail station. The restaurant shares outdoor seating with its neighbors. There's some in front and more in back.

exterior

On the inside, Haiku Grill is clean, modern, and minimal. It's essentially a quick teriyaki place that has branched out into sushi rolls,along with some noodles and salads. The food is primarily Japanese with some Korean and Hawaiian influences, but the decor is not strongly oriented toward any of those cultures. Instead, expect basic furnishings and soft music. Order at the counter after studying the overhead boards, making sure to take a look at the sushi menu written by hand on a whiteboard.

shrimp tempura bowl

The most obvious place to start at Haiku is with a chicken-and-vegetable bowl. It's a mix of white and dark meat marinated in teriyaki sauce and then served over rice with steamed broccoli and carrots and more of the same sauce. The marinade here is flavorful but restrained with sweet, salty, and smoky tastes most prominent. Teriyaki is also available as a plated entree, augmenting the meat and rice with a green salad and a side of Hawaiian-style macaroni salad with peas and green beans.

chicken and rice bowl

Yakisoba dishes are another specialty here with abundant noodles in a gingery sauce topped with a choice of chicken, beef, or jumbo tail-on shrimp with napa cabbage, and bell peppers. Tempura shrimp are also a good choice. Four large prawns come over rice with teriyaki sauce and another sauce for dipping. A less successful option is the bulgogi, in which the beef seems tough and underflavored compared to the rest of what the restaurant has to offer. For the most part, Haiku Grill is at its best with chicken, seafood, and vegetarian dishes.

bulgogi plate

Bowls full of rice or noodles are a natural match to the steady stream of weekday lunch visitors; however, Haiku has also found a way to bring some rather attractive sushi to the midday office crowd. To be sure, this is not a place to sit at a counter and choose something that has come in fresh that day. The menu is all rolls, no nigiri or sashimi, and is fixed on a few popular protein sources: shrimp, tuna, eel, and plenty of imitation crab. All of these are artistically presented, eight rolls to an order, on a plate with a side of edamame. The results are filling and appealing lunch entrees.

two-in-one roll

California rolls are the workhorse here. They're fine in their original form, but Haiku reinterprets the unabashedly Americanized classic with a "Red Ruby Roll" in which spicy minced tuna sits atop the usual assemblage of "krab" and avocado. If you'd rather follow the Offspring's advice and "keep 'em separated" when it comes to types of rolls, try the 2-in-1 rolls, which is really just a plate with four California rolls and four spicy tuna rolls. The most visually appealing option is Haiku's caterpillar roll, which combines eel meat with creamy avocado and crunchy cucumber in a green motif.

caterpillar role

Other greenery includes the seaweed salad. Most places serve this dish in a small vessel as a side or appetizer. Haiku put a generous quantity in a big bowl over a larger bed of lettuce. It's a hearty serving for a price just under five dollars. Other sides and appetizers include meatless egg rolls, three to an order, with thick, crisp exteriors and julienne vegetables inside. The potato croquettes are another good choice as far as fried foods go. These feature minced spuds inside a crunchy coating. Think of them as oversized Tater Tots.

seaweed salad

Since Haiku caters to cubicle dwellers who inhabit mostly alcohol-free workplaces, there's no beer, wine, or sake here. Instead, it's all about the soda fountain, iced tea, and some bottled fruit drinks for liquid refreshment. Dessert is limited to small containers of chalky Japanese ice cream made off-site; the flavors are red bean and green tea. For more sweets, there's a Starbucks a few doors down with coffee and pastry that Wayne and Garth would have enjoyed. Garth's unintentional haiku may not have been 100% authentic, but it was enjoyable. The same can be said for lunch at Haiku Grill.

shrimp yakisoba

1158 W. Washington St., #105, Tempe AZ 85281
(602) 267-1715

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The Breadfruit

2011-06-13T22:17:00.009-07:00

February 7, 2012 Update: The Breadfruit has eliminated lunch service, but remains open for dinner and drinks every night but Sunday.

Almost every child gets to hear at least one relative say, "You've gotten so big," or "You're all grown up," especially when a few years have passed between encounters. On Pierce Street in Downtown Phoenix, just a few blocks south of the Roosevelt / Central light rail station, the Breadfruit has done its share of rapid maturation. The Jamaican restaurant started in 2008 as a small BYOB, but has since obtained a liquor license and opened Rum Bar in the space next door, all without losing sight of the quality of the food served in the restaurant's compact dining room.

exterior

When the Breadfruit opened three years ago, it was welcome not only as a harbinger of a restaurant cluster emerging near the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, but also as one of the few Caribbean restaurants in the metropolitan area. The restaurant gained a following, and customers who wanted wine or beer with their meals brought their own beverages to the restaurant or else enjoyed non-alcoholic choices like mango lemonade with fresh mint. While BYOB had its charms, it also meant that drinks based on rum, the chief spirit of Jamaica, were not available.

mango lemonade

With its new bar, the Breadfruit addresses that shortcoming many times over. There are over 100 types of rum available, many from Jamaica but some from places as exotic as Tennessee or Nepal. To appreciate rum on its own terms, try a flight of premium rums with as much terroir as wines or single malt scotches. Alternatively, Rum Bar has abundant cocktails, many based on freshly muddled herbs and fruits instead of syrups or mixes. Mojitos burst with mint, and daily drink specials have included daiquiris made with fresh berries from the market.

curried prawns

While you could drink and even order food in the long, dark confines of Rum Bar, the dining room next door is open and full of natural light. It's the logical counterpart to the bar, and the choice of environments will grow again as the restaurant opens a small cigar-friendly patio in the back. The small menu isn't that hard to master, but the Breadfruit's staff should be commended for describing its intricacies thoroughly. Gone are the occasionally inaccurate descriptions and service errors from the restaurant's early days.

spring rolls

Servers will often encourage the curried prawns as an appetizer. Think of this as a spicy, salty shrimp cocktail. The salinity is almost too much when the entire dish is eaten as a curry. Instead, pull the prawns out and savor each one individually. A gentler touch is found in the spring rolls, a meatless starter stuffed with mashed plantain and creamy avocado. Keep in mind that portions are restrained at the Breadfruit. One order of these will suffice for two people but not a larger table. The empanadas, pattties stuffed with either spinach or spiced tilapia, are more filling.

tilapia empanada

Seafood is a big fish in the small pond of the Breadfruit's menu. Every night, there's an "esovitch fish," essentially a fish of the day such as red snapper, served blackened so that it comes out peppery but not especially spicy. The real heat is in the accompanying sauce, which looks innocuous due to its clear, colorless state; however, that's a slice of incendiary scotch bonnet pepper floating inside. The sides are a festival (a sort of whole wheat breadstick), slaw, and grilled pineapple, with the last offering a sweet fruit taste to offset any burn from the sauce.

escovitch fish

Scallops are an everyday entree choice with four plump ones served slightly charred on the exterior, supple and buttery on the inside; These are spicy on their own without any added heat from condiments needed. They're paired with a mix of kidney beans and rice that adds some heft to the meal and a balance to the high-intensity flavors on the main plate. Jerked shrimp is another fiery choice, plated as the center of its own entree or atop a generous salad with chunks of mango as a mellowing influence.

scallops

There's no red meat on the menu here, so the alternative to seafood is chicken -- served jerked in a plated entree, a sandwich, or a salad; in a curry with roasted vegetables and plantains; or in a gentler brown stew. The vegetarian entree is tofu in the same curry as the shrimp and chicken. With almost all these dishes, the flavors are bigger than the portions, leaving plenty of room for cocktails and dessert. For the most part, the value is good, although a distinct lunch menu with a few items at lower prices might make the Breadfruit a more appealing mid-day choice.

jerk chicken salad

Even as the Breadfruit has grown up, it hasn't forgotten a little child-like fun with sweets. Conclude the meal with either the sweet potato "pudd'n" topped with vanilla ice cream. It’s a desert that is restrained in its sweetness and full of genuine sweet potato flavor. Otherwise, order a parfait based on the same ice cream. The non-traditional sundae is a mix of tastes and textures: chewy from raisins, crunchy from Grape-Nuts, and tart from cherry agar-agar, a vegetarian alternative to gelatin.

sweet potato pudd'n

With some nearby restaurants such as PastaBar and Verde not having survived to adulthood, it's encouraging to see the Breadfruit doing well at it matures. There will be some challenges, including the upcoming construction project on First Street and Pierce Street. At the same time, the restaurant promises some new menu items after an upcoming trip to Jamaica and has engaged in some joint marketing with the nearby FilmBar. That forward momentum should help the Breadfruit continue to grow and enjoy a long life.

parfait

108 E. Pierce St., Phoenix AZ 85004

(602) 267-1266

http://www.thebreadfruit.com

Previous review: May 8, 2008

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Canteen Modern Tequila

2011-05-24T22:23:00.009-07:00

You've probably heard it whether you wanted to or not -- a simple song with lots of saxophone, but only three chants of its title, "Tequila," interrupting the mostly instrumental composition. The 1958 hit by the Champs has survived more than five decades of changes in popular music and dozens of cover versions. Judged by that song, tequila might seem a one-dimensional drink, but just as aficionados have learned to appreciate small batch bourbons, single malt scotches, and craft beers, tequila bars are cultivating connoisseurship of the agave-based beverage.

front entrance

Canteen Modern Tequila, located a few blocks south of the Mill Avenue / Third Street light rail station, is Tempe's contribution to the new wave of tequila enthusiasm. It's a place that in some ways seems like a slice of Old Town Scottsdale transplanted to the Mill Avenue District. The interior is decorated like a living room with couches and coffee tables dominating the center, and two patios accented by gabion columns and copper address both Sixth Street and the interior of the Centerpoint complex that Canteen is part of.

back patio

With its slick decor, lively music, evening crowds, and lounge atmosphere, Canteen might easily be dismissed as just a nightlife destination. That stereotype begins to vanish after a look at both the beverage list and the food menu. Canteen is serious about tequila. The spirit is not abused in slushy frozen margaritas but instead offered in countless varieties, including familiar young blanco tequilas, "rested" reposado tequilas, and aged or añejo versions. Of course, there's a house margarita as well as more distinctive cocktails with additions such as prickly pear or serrano peppers.

serrano mango margarita

The commitment to tequila is a pleasant affirmation of the restaurant's name, but what's even better is that the food at Canteen is a whole lot more impressive than might be expected given the emphasis on lounging and libations. The kitchen produces dishes here that are neither Americanized border fare nor deeply exotic interior Mexican food, but somewhere nicely in the middle that works for most palates. There are a few hefty entrees such as pan-seared halibut or a pork chop glazed with tamarind, but much of the menu is meant for snacking and sharing.

chips and trio of salsas

The most obvious place to look first is the section of the menu devoted to tacos. At Canteen, they're small "street" tacos served three to an order on accordion-style trays. Both soft corn and flour tortillas are available. Fillings include moist shredded chicken with cilantro and lime flavors, lightly-breaded fish with cabbage, slow roasted pork with mango salsa, and a particularly good vegetarian option, earthy grilled portabello mushrooms with blue cheese, that is far more interesting than a standard meatless taco full of black beans.

trio of tacos

Of course, black beans have their place, and Canteen serves them in a smoky puree as a side. Likewise, fluffy rice tinged green from cilantro and topped with crunchy pepitas can be ordered as an a la carte add-on to any entree. What you won't find at Canteen, however, are big combination plates that include these popular accompaniments by default. Likewise, chips and salsa are a la carte, paired either with a flight of salsas or chunky guacamole. Beyond tacos, entree options range from light bites like a blue crab salad to a richer choice, a quesadilla built on a foundation of a thick corn tortilla, making the final product more like a sope or a huarache than the familiar folded flour tortilla associated with border cuisines.

rice and beans

Interior Mexican food is about sandwiches, or tortas as they are known, and Canteen’s take on these is rooted in tradition but not afraid to part with it when necessary. The bun isn’t a traditional telera, but instead it’s an appealing sesame seed roll. As it should, it comes out of the kitchen slightly toasted on top but more yielding and absorbent of condiments on the inside. Those condiments and toppings go beyond the usual mayonnaise and avocado. The chicken torta features crisp watercress adding a little greenery to the tender, thin breast meat in the sandwich. Each torta is paired with spiced fries or familiar onion rings served with an aioli flavored by chile and lime.

torta and fries

For dessert, Canteen offers some surprisingly good sweets. To cleanse the palate of the food's spicy, smoky flavors, an ideal choice is a trio of ice creams from local purveyor Sweet Republic. The three flavors are well matched to the cuisine: mango, horchata, and jalapeño avocado. It is frustrating, though, that Canteen can't seem to make up its mind about serving dessert at lunch. One week, sweets are offered all day; the next week, staff insist they're available only at night.

blue crab salad

Another area for improvement in Canteen's lunch service: The restaurant offers special daytime prices on its house margaritas, but polices about drinking during work hours make it hard for visitors from nearby offices to enjoy them. Non-alcoholic beverage choices are currently limited to the soda fountain and plain iced tea. It would be nice to have more inventive work-safe beverages like a house-made lemonade, aquas frescos, or horchata -- not just for the lunch crowd, but for designated drivers and anyone else who chooses to forgo the restaurant's namesake drink.

quesadilla

These issues are minor in comparison to amenities like free wifi, however. The good news is that Canteen is bringing an original, fresh take on Mexican food and drink to an area of Mill Avenue that has had its share of turbulence in recent years. Just removing the bad juju from the location's twice-closed previous occupant, Regions Bistro, is a feat in itself. Even if you never want to hear the song "Tequila" again, it's worth a visit to Canteen to gain a new appreciation for the drink and the food that goes with it.

trio of ice creams from Sweet Republic

640 S. Mill Ave., Tempe AZ 85281
(480) 773-7135
http://www.canteentequilabar.com

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Pizzeria Bianco

2011-05-03T20:16:00.006-07:00

Even people too young to be around in 1979 have probably seen that year's feel good movie, "Breaking Away." The coming-of-age film follows a young "townie" whose fascination with bicycle racing and all things Italian leads to a triumphant victory in Indiana University's annual Little 500. At the story's climax, the main character, Dave, is injured and must rely on his less experienced teammates until he can rejoin the race. Maybe something similar has happened at the legendary Pizzeria Bianco, only with the Italian angle about food rather than bicycles.

The parallel is in the news, broken in early 2010, that proprietor Chris Bianco was no longer able to work in his own kitchen. Asthma, exacerbated by exposure to flour used to make pizza crust and smoke from the pizza oven, made it impossible for Bianco personally produce the acclaimed pies that have made him a recipient of the James Beard Award. That development, while originally seen as a setback, seems to have opened the door for some positive changes at both Pizzeria Bianco and its Uptown sibling, Pane Bianco.

Chris Bianco himself has been helping the Wigwam in Litchfield Park rethink its approach to on-site dining while Pizzeria Bianco relies more on a team approach these days. The restaurant's talent bench has recently been strengthened by the addition of Claudio Urcioli, known for his Slow Food approach and stints at several resort restaurants around the metro area. Urcioli can often be seen tending the pizza oven Downtown, although it's not unusual to see Chris Bianco himself on the premises, usually acting as a sort of conductor.

The biggest change enabled by recent developments has been the re-introduction of lunch service after nearly a decade of serving only dinner. Pizzeria Bianco's location lends itself to lunch. The restaurant occupies an historic building in Heritage Square, near many daytime attractions and just a few blocks from the Third Street / Washington (westbound) and Third Street / Jefferson (eastbound) light rail stations. For best results, walk along Washington and then ascend the stairs or ramps leading from that street to the Arizona Science Center.

Lunch at Pizzeria Bianco not only aligns well with excursions to nearby museums, but also offers some relief from the long waits, often measured in hours rather than minutes, that have characterized dinner at the restaurant in recent years. Sure, Bar Bianco next door has provided a welcome place where friends can snack and have drinks while waiting for a table, but for some Phoenicians the situation at Pizzeria Bianco had become a case of, in the words of Yogi Berra, "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

The midday scene at Bianco is one with little or no wait involved -- at least for now. There isn't a distinct lunch menu -- no pizza by the slice, for example. The only difference between night and day is that the antipasto is not available until 5. Otherwise, it's the same set of appetizers and half a dozen signature pizzas that the restaurant has offered for years. While the antipasto can't be beat at night, lunch is a good meal to start with a simple salad of local lettuces or with the changing market salad, which has recently featured arugula with strawberries, goat cheese, and pecans.

Of course, people come to this restaurant for one purpose: To eat pizza. Most love it, some find it okay but not worth a long wait, and a few even find it disappointing. The range of opinions is typical of a handcrafted product. All the pies made have certain characteristics in common, but no two are the same. Expect a product that is not perfectly symmetric with a thin, soft center and with some char on the bottom and around the edges depending on exactly where the pizza was placed in the cylindrical oven that dominates the restaurant's interior.

The Margherita is the most familiar of the pies offered. It's a simple concoction with basil and melted mozzarella teaming with tomatoes in a classic taste. For a smoky flavor, try the Wiseguy with generous slices of sausage redolent of fennel and smoked mozzarella. The Rosa omits tomato and relies instead on sharpness from parmesan and crunch from pistachios. At the other end of the spectrum, the Marinara has no cheese and relies just on tomato sauce for flavor. In the alleged tradition of not mixing seafood and cheese, it's a good pie to top with anchovies.

While some Pizzeria Bianco advocates have claimed that the evening wait is part of the experience, the new lunch hours have allowed some long-absent customers to return to the restaurant and appear to have reduced evening crowds by shifting some of the traffic to earlier in the day. Who knows how long that will last. It's possible that lunch will eventually attract its own crowd, so now's a good time to rediscover the restaurant or try it for the first time. You can use the time not spent waiting to watch a good movie -- maybe even "Breaking Away."

623 E. Adams St., Phoenix AZ 85004
Map
(602) 258-8300
http://www.pizzeriabianco.com/

Previous Review: March 18, 2008

Dave's Electric Brewpub

2011-04-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

Think back to a physics course in high school or college. Even if the knowledge is long forgotten, chances are there was at least a brief discussion of the myriad ways to measure electricity. There are numerous units involved, ranging from amps to ohms, but the two that most people remember are volts, a measurement of electrical potential, and watts, a measurement of power. When a restaurant puts the word "electric" in its name, it's almost guaranteed that impressions of the food, beverage, and service can be expressed in terms of volts and watts.

Dave's Electric Brewpub, located in Tempe just across the street from the Veterans Way / College light rail station, has invited those comparisons since its launch in late 2009. If volts equal potential, then Dave's might be considered high voltage given its prime location in the heart of the city and blocks from ASU. Measured in terms of watts, however, Dave's has been building slowly from the start, is now running with moderate power as it begins to brew its own beers on site, and would benefit from increasing its energy level in the years to come.

To understand why Dave's has so far been more like a reliable household circuit than a mighty overhead line, it's helpful to know about the origin of the beers served. Despite the 'brewpub" in its name, Dave's did not open with beers made on site. Instead, the four house brews originated in Bisbee, where they've been created by one Dave (Harvan) since 1987. In Tempe, another Dave (Hoffman) and his partner Scott Burge have showcased the Bisbee brews alongside an evolving menu of American "pub grub": wings, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and pizzas.

The setting is a basic one despite the prime location. The dining room is defined by cinder block walls and lots of metal. The more pleasant environment is the linear patio facing Fifth Street. Most diners will want to seek out the northern portion of the patio, close to the entrance and the bar, for the southern end is a zone where customers, and even the occasional employee, smoke. Dave's is full service, but casual in tone. There's no host station, so sit where you please and don't be surprised if the bartender is also your server.

In the year-and-a-half the restaurant has been around, some of the more wide-ranging items such as crab cakes and burritos have been culled from the menu, but the result is a better focus on those things the kitchen does well (e.g. onions rings) or that it obtains from others (e.g. french fries from Shamrock Foods). Both are quite good, by the way. The rings maintain a distinct onion taste and glisten lightly from oil without being excessively greasy in taste or feel. The fries are thick with skin still on the potatoes and a sprinkling of coarse salt.

Of course, fried aromatics and tubers are just accompaniments to main dishes such as sandwiches and burgers. Menu favorites include the sausage sampler platter with an assortment of brats and mustards and classic deli sandwiches like a reuben and pastrami on marble rye. The burgers are reliable choices, and a chicken breast can stand in for a beef patty on any of them. Dave's veggie burger is also good; it's a patty of vegetables and grains, rather than soy protein, paired, not surprisingly, with sprouts, avocado, and whole wheat bread.

The pizzas, available in either 10-inch or 14-inch diameters, come in a skillet with a pie server to lift the hefty slices out of the deep pan. Everyday choices include a version of the classic Margherita and the appealing Mediterranean with grilled chicken, feta, spinach, and kalamata olives. A recent daily special pairing barbecued chicken with pineapple salsa would no doubt offend some pizza purists but successfully blends tangy flavors from the barbecue sauce with the sweetness of pineapple.

The brewpub name of course requires some attention to the beverage selection. Dave's Electric Beer, a golden lager with relatively low alcohol content of 3.2% is the workhorse here. It's refreshing up front and slightly bitter at the back end. The Industrial Pale Ale has a name that matches the sparse look of the pub, but it's not a traditional IPA. It's a decent amber brew, but without the desired level of bitterness that characterizes most IPAs. Other choices include a smooth, amber OK Ale and a darker, malty Old Frog Grog.

The latest development at Dave's is the first beers brewed on the premises. The first is an IPA named "Trident." It's closer to a traditional IPA than the Bisbee one. The second is a hefeweizen which needs more carbonation to realize its potential. Despite the mixed results of Dave's in-house brewing efforts so far, the willingness to make beer on site is a sign that the pub wants to increase its energy output. With a focused menu and more attention to its own brewing efforts, there's hope that Dave's can produce both the voltage and wattage needed to add to the sometimes underpowered local beer and pub scenes.

502 S. College Ave., Tempe AZ 85281
Map
(480) 967-5353
http://www.daveselectricbrewpub.com/

The Downtown Deli

2011-04-07T18:38:00.005-07:00

It has now been 13 years since the final episode of “Seinfeld” aired, and soon we’ll know generations who don’t share in the collective memory of the show. Still, when a "Seinfeld" reference applies, it’s hard to ignore, and one of the comedy’s best moments involved Jerry’s robbing a woman of her loaf of marble rye. While Seinfeld had to steal to get his share of the two-tone bread, Phoenicians can lawfully enjoy marble rye at the Downtown Deli, located just a block or two from several light rail stations in the Downtown Phoenix Core.

New York-style delis have had a troubled history in the metropolitan area. A branch location of the legendary Carnegie Deli was briefly part of the lineup of restaurants at the Scottsdale Galleria when that development opened 20 years ago. Stan’s Metro Deli reopened last year after a long absence from Mill Avenue in Tempe but then closed just a few months later. The Downtown Deli, in contrast, has steadily turned out pastrami, brisket, and more since 1961, operating for many of those years under the Bickoff’s name before adopting its current self-explanatory identity.

The continuous success of the Downtown Deli owes a lot to two elements: First, a focused approach. Unlike many delis, this restaurant doesn’t present a voluminous menu with seemingly infinite choices. Instead, it offers about twenty different sandwiches, daily soups and entree specials, and a few salads and sides. Second, the Downtown Deli operates like a cafeteria with customers lining up and blurting out orders quickly while staff assemble the dishes ordered with equal alacrity. It’s rare to be left waiting at the cash register for food still in production.

With this level of efficiency behind the counter and lunch customers lined up for a quick meal before returning to the office, it’s best not to approach the queue without at least an idea of what to order. Start by scanning the signs announcing daily specials; they’re visible as one enters the restaurant from Central. Each day, there’s a different hot entree ranging from lasagna to chicken fried steak; the same special seems to recur each week on the same day, however; with repeat visits, it’s easy to memorize the details of rotating menu.

In addition to the daily entrees, the Downtown Deli always has a soup of the day, usually a meatless one such as split pea or navy bean (both without ham or bacon). These are satisfying bowls of hearty legumes in thick broth without excessive saltiness. The soups might be enough for someone with a modest appetite, but most customers will want to pair them with a half sandwich and a side in a combination meal. Beyond the daily soup, there’s always chicken noodle on the menu with generous chunks of poultry, carrots, and celery in the bowl.

Specials and soups are nice for sure, but most customers come here for meaty sandwiches, and those are clearly a strength of the Downtown Deli. Brisket, pastrami, and corned beef are the stars here and are served hot with any of several types of bread: wheat, rye, onion rolls, kaiser rolls, sourdough, and, or course, marble rye. Cold sandwiches focus less on beef and lean instead toward egg salad, turkey, ham, chicken, and a vegetarian offering. Expect a pickle and a choice of side (coleslaw, pasta salad, or potato salad) with each one.

Every decent deli has to have a few signature sandwiches, and in this case two of them are the New Yorker and the Straw, both based on pastrami, corned beef, or smoked turkey. The former adds a layer of coleslaw and a light coat of Russian dressing. The latter accentuates the meat with melted Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. In both, the light crunch of the cabbage contrasts nicely with the softer textures of the bread and deli meats. These hot specialty sandwiches go well with the fries, crisp and nicely seasoned, another of the side dish options.

A different approach to tubers is found in the potato pancakes, seemingly offered every day although always listed as a special. They’re prepped in advance & then given a final dunk in the fryer upon order. Served three to an order, they come out crisp and consistent in texture. The only letdown is that they’re served with excessively sweet apple sauce & packaged sour cream on the side. For a more savory alternative topping, try them with either ketchup or one of the hot sauces placed at each table in the restaurant’s dining room: Tabasco and Arizona Gunslinger.

Because the Downtown Deli is open only for breakfast and lunch on weekdays, beverages are limited to sodas and similar drinks. Desserts are not emphasized, but there are some individually-wrapped baked goods at the counter, including another subject of food fascination on "Seinfeld," the black-and-white cookie. While today’s television audience may prefer documentary-style comedies without laugh tracks, there are certain things about "Seinfeld" that are timeless -- just as a good deli in the heart of the city can retain its appeal over 50 years.

130 N. Central Ave., Phoenix AZ 85004
Map
(602) 258-3069
http://www.phoenixdowntowndeli.com/

Sami's Gyros

2011-04-05T21:26:00.004-07:00

Some of the funniest “Saturday Night Live” sketches have been about food and restaurants. From the classic early ‘90s cast, one of the best was a scene based on Hub’s Gyros of Chicago. A customer requests more of the juice, or “au jus,” that goes with his sandwich, and staff with thick accents find endless occasions to say “You lika da juice” back to him. Of course, the whole thing went on too long, and in a bit of self-referential contrivance, David Spade had to come on stage to request that the sketch come to an end.

exterior

Sami’s Gyros at Priest and Washington, located just across the street from the light rail station at that intersection, doesn’t have the tradition of Hub’s or the silliness of an SNL sketch, but it’s a solid choice for lunch or early dinner in this office district just on the Tempe side of that city’s border with Phoenix. Find Sami’s in a little retail plaza on the northeast corner. On the walk from the train, there are surprising touches like a pedestrian path from the street and a gazebo with a memorial to the developer of the Papago Park Center, the surrounding cluster of office buildings.

memorial plaque

This is clean, modern fast food place. It’s every bit as casual as a veteran Chicago gyros place, but without the decades-old patina that most customers either love or hate. Take away a few decorations on the wall, the Greek music on the speakers, and the vertical rotisseries for the gyros, and any type of food could be served here. That’s not really an issue because most clientele come from nearby corporate environments and are more interested in quick, hearty, moderately-priced meals than distinctive atmosphere or deep Mediterranean authenticity.

gyros sandwich with rice

The rotisseries produce the restaurant’s namesake dish -- either stuffed in sandwiches with pita bread or presented as part of a platter with rice. The gyros cones used by Sami’s produce tender meat, although it can be on the dry side. You could try to re-create the SNL sketch by asking for some “juice,” but the accompanying tzatziki, generously seasoned with dill, moistens the gyros nicely. The gyros sandwich is available in a combination special with fairly standard fries, although anyone wanting a lighter and tastier side might want to upgrade to fluffy yellow rice for a dollar extra.

Mediterranean chicken sandwich with fries

Some of the best items may just be elsewhere on the menu, though. While gyros cones are often prepared in advance by national producers, the Mediterranean chicken at Sami’s is grilled over an open flame in plain view right behind the counter. The white meat turns out plump, juicy, and flavorful. Like the gyros, it’s available tucked inside a pita with fries on the side or paired with fluffy golden rice on a platter. Falafel is the vegetarian protein source at Sami’s, and the version here has a nice, crisp exterior, with a bit of spiciness and saltiness lurking inside.

falafel sandwich with rice

The falafel comes in a sandwich generously stuffed with four balls, but the sandwich seems dry because the tahini is thick and served on the side, making it difficult to moisten the falafel evenly. One remedy is to buy a side of tzatziki, which has a thinner consistency, and pour that over the sandwich. The falafel is also featured in a vegetarian platter with creamy, airy hummus; plump meatless dolmas; rice, tzatziki, and a pita. There’s even a side salad included, but it relies heavily on iceberg lettuce and seems superfluous next to the already-generous combination.

vegetarian combination

If gyros, falafel, and tzatsiki represent the Greek side of Sami’s, remember that the restaurant is as much about Chicago as Athens. To that end, there’s a section of Chicago favorites on the menu. The most distinctive item from there is an Italian beef sandwich, with thinly sliced meat and peppers on a roll. Sides of au jus for dipping and giardiniera as a garnish add flavor, although the sandwich is not as messy and wet as the classic version. For customers in business attire who need to return to the office, that may not be an entirely bad thing.

Italian beef sandwich with fries

Sami’s does not serve alcohol, so drink choices are found in the soda fountain and a case full of bottled drinks near the front counter. A few basic fruit juices might be a nice enhancement here. For desert, there are some individually-wrapped cookies and brownies also near the counter, but the sweet to order is without doubt the baklava. It’s a standard triangular piece filling enough for two to share and possessing the right combination of buttery softness, indulgent sweetness, and nutty crunch.

baklava

For the most part, Sami’s focuses on a weekday lunch crowd. Saturday hours with $5 sandwiches are advertised, but on a recent visit the restaurant was closed without explanation on that day. Sami's is open reliably on weekdays, but call head before making a weekend trip there. On “Saturday Night Live,” the original Hub’s Gyros sketch inspired a follow-up a few weeks later in which the restaurant staff travel to Mount Olympus in search of “more juice.” If your travels take you near Priest and Washington, a few follow-up visits to Sami’s might be a good idea.

back patio

1158 W. Washington St., Tempe AZ 85281
(602) 244-9667
http://www.samisgyros.net/

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Chicken Noodle House

2011-03-10T21:12:00.002-07:00

December 8, 2011 Update: Chicken Noodle House has been replaced by another Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant in the same space, Tay Do. Look for a new review in early 2012.

Chicken soup is probably one of the most universally-loved foods. From a store-bought can of Campbell’s to a homemade version simmered for hours on the stove, the soup is a classic comfort food that crosses any number of cultural barriers and national boundaries. Whether it’s a Mexican caldo de pollo full of generous chunks of potato or a Jewish deli treat made with kreplach, combining chicken meat with an herbed broth and a filling starch is almost always a recipe for success. It can seem hard to find a country without its own version.

In Vietnamese cuisine, however, it’s beef soup, usually in the form of pho, that is best known in America. That’s why the Chicken Noodle House, a new restaurant at Mekong Plaza, a shopping center just a short walk from the Sycamore / Main light rail station in Mesa, is so intriguing. Given the restaurant’s name, you’d expect this restaurant to specialize in, well, chicken with noodles. It does -- sort of. There is a chicken noodle soup on the menu, and it’s an immensely satisfying meal in a bowl, whether made with rice noodles, egg noodles, or a combination of the two.

Because unPhogettable has the shopping center’s pho franchise effectively locked up, don’t expect this dish to look like a chicken version of the Hanoi favorite. Instead, the rice noodles are flat and thin like fettuccine, and the stock is made with chicken rather than beef. Minced scallions and cilantro float in the broth, and the familiar table salad is replaced by lime wedges and jalapeno slices.The chicken is flavorful from being cooked on the bone, but restaurant staff will ask new customers if they’d prefer to have the bones removed before the soup is served.

The restaurant’s namesake entree is the best place to start on a first visit, but you’d expect a lot more variations of chicken and noodles on the menu. This is where Chicken Noodle House defies expectations. There are actually more beef and pork dishes on the menu than ones based on poultry. There’s an omnibus approach to Vietnamese food with dishes of every type and regional origin represented. The one underlying theme seems to be relatively low prices, with daily specials making the restaurant a place where it’s hard to spend more than $10 per person.

Banh xeo, a Vietnamese crepe, is crisp without being brittle and browned without being burnt. It bursts with fresh bean sprouts and has a generous serving of herbs and lettuce; however, the pork and shrimp in the filling are scarce. Likewise, the goi cuon, fresh spring rolls, are ideal in terms of texture but also light on the promised fillings. The bun rieu, on the other hand, is a bountiful bowl of meatballs, tofu, noodles, and cubes of congealed pig blood, but lacks the assertive broth, often defined by tomato, that characterizes the best versions of this soup.

Given that some of the more esoteric regional Vietnamese dishes are also available from specialized shops in the nearby Mekong Plaza food court, it’s easy to wonder what niche Chicken Noodle House fulfills. It’s not exclusively poultry, and it’s not really deep Vietnamese either. Digging a little deeper, clues begin to emerge: Chinese characters are prominent on the menu. That’s not uncommon in Vietnamese restaurants, but there are also many dishes wish a strong Cantonese influence: chow fun, chow mein, and even a little sweet and sour stuff.

The unstated specialty here appears to be Chinese-Vietnamese food, not a far-fetched proposition given the considerable influence China has historically wielded in Vietnam and the large population of southern Chinese heritage in and around Saigon. Understand that focus, order dishes in that vein, and a meal at the Chicken Noodle House becomes easier to understand and more satisfying. Simple grilled pork dishes form an entire section of the menu here and work well in satisfying no-frills preparations with salad and rice on the side.

Lemon grass chicken and orange chicken are both breaded and stir-fried with relatively gentle flavors; the latter is unashamedly sweet. They’re well within the comfort zone of anyone who want to explore Vietnamese food only slightly removed from what might be found at a neighborhood Chinese restaurant. Cantonese-influenced noodle stir-frys are mildly flavored but redeemed by both the accompanying crisp vegetables and tender meats and the broad array of condiments (sriracha, garlic chili, and hoisin sauce) at each table.

The restaurant’s look is clean and contemporary with lots of natural light. The music is as unlikely to offend as the food. Think lots of Maroon 5. Given all these solidly middle-of-the-road traits, Chicken Noodle House probably isn’t the place for the culinary daredevil to push the limits of his or her palate. Instead, it’s a cheerful and cheap place for straightforward food that blends influences from southern China and southern Vietnam. Enjoy the restaurant on those terms, and it becomes sort of comforting -- just like a good bowl of chicken soup.

66 S. Dobson Rd., Mesa AZ 85202
(480) 649-2878

The Arrogant Butcher

2011-03-07T21:55:00.002-07:00

Jane Jacobs, a thinker, activist, and writer known for her perspective on what makes cities work, is known for saying that “new ideas require old buildings.” When so many buildings in Phoenix’s core have been foolishly torn down, sometimes the best that can be done is to make a new place look and feel older than it really is. When local restaurateur Sam Fox unveiled his latest venture, the Arrogant Butcher at Downtown’s CityScape development, he told visitors that he wanted the brand new restaurant to feel like it has been around for decades.

the new looking old

CityScape is the latest attempt at Downtown revitalization via big project. For the most part, its design is unimpressive, but the Arrogant Butcher’s location at the northwest corner of Jefferson and First Street is one part of CityScape that was designed with some true urban sensibility. Patio seating wraps around the corner, and extensive windows create a dialogue between the restaurant’s interior and the sidewalk. Light rail stations at Washington / Central, First Avenue / Jefferson, Third Street / Washington, and Third Street / Jefferson are all just a few blocks away.

exterior and patio along First Street

Inside, there are design touches that try to make the restaurant look decades, rather than weeks, old. At the bar, lanterns with retro light bulbs cast a warm light. Nearby, a giant clock towers over the dining room. Art in private dining rooms at the back mixes Arizona history with some more generic images. The sounds are retro by only a decade or so. Expect a playlist that relies heavily on ‘90s rock. You won’t hear much Sinatra or Bennett here, but you’re also not going to hear a lot of Broken Bells or the National either. Free wifi is a welcome specimen of unabashed modernity.

pretzel buns with melted provolone

The Arrogant Butcher was originally planned as a high-end steakhouse, but was redefined prior to opening to align with the recessionary economy and the scaled-back plans at CityScape. Sam Fox may not get a lot of respect in some of the more rarefied “foodie” circles, but he’s to be commended for following through on a commitment to Downtown after having built his empire largely in Scottsdale and northeast Phoenix. It’s also impressive that Fox has at times been seen personally supervising the kitchen line at his newest creation.

corn chowder

The redefinition of the Arrogant Butcher has led to a mostly American menu with an emphasis on updated classics and a few flourishes from around the world. If if seems like that’s what everyone is doing these days, then it’s important to at least execute the menu well. For the most part, Arrogant Butcher is doing so, although with some room for growth and improvement as the restaurant matures. The staff are earnest and well-trained, although such a new eatery can’t have the veteran career servers who make a truly old place like Durant’s so interesting.

sweet potato soup

The restaurant borrows liberally from dining trends and even other Fox restaurants. Pretzel buns are big these days, and Arrogant Butcher offers them with melted provolone as an appetizer, or as the bread in a turkey pastrami sandwich. The kale salad recalls a similar dish at Fox’s True Food based on a green that has long been relegated to use as a garnish. Champagne vinaigrette might normally be too sweet as a dressing but offers nice a counterpoint to the slightly bitter leaves. Roasted cauliflower and marcona almonds add depth and crunch to the dish.

salmon chopped salad

Those almonds also make an appearance in one of the best items on the lunch menu: a grilled chicken tabbouleh salad. Spell tabbouleh any way you like, but the base is always a salad of soaked bulghur wheat with minced parsley, tomato, and mint. This version adds feta, almonds, cucumber, mesclun lettuces, and hearty slices of unexpectedly flavorful grilled chicken. Among the daily specials, Tuesday's rainbow trout, cooked skin-on with green beans and a butter sauce, is a case study is preparing good ingredients with minimal adornment and fuss.

rainbow trout

When the kitchen stumbles, it’s usually due to a heavy hand with the salt shaker. An NaCl overload is apparent in soups like the corn chowder, which is otherwise pleasing with firm pieces of potato and corn cernels in a velvety base. It’s also evident in the jambalaya. The generous serving is nice and spicy, full of chicken, sausage, and firm okra without slime, although a little light on the rock shrimp. Both dishes show genuine promise, but someone please page Dr. Weil, Fox’s partner at True Food, to desalinize some of the Arrogant Butcher’s menu stat.

chicken tabouleh salad

Given the consistent business at Arrogant Butcher during its first few weeks of life, this restaurant may be a pocket of success in a project sometimes seen as struggling. The unanswered question, both for the Arrogant Butcher and CityScape as whole, is if the crowds will persist or fade away as they did a few years after the Arizona Center opened two decades ago. It’s much too early to reach a conclusion about that, but for now, it’s at least possible to eat well while pretending what’s new is old.

sweet potato tortellini

Author's Note: The pretzel buns mentioned in this review were provided at no charge to all attendees at a Radiate Phoenix event hosted by the restaurant. All other food described was purchased during several meals that led to this review.

2 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix AZ 85004
(602) 234-8502
http://www.foxrc.com/the_arrogant_butcher.html

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Tasty Kabob

2011-03-01T21:36:00.001-07:00

Think back to the TV series “Charlie’s Angels,” and what name comes to mind first? For most people, it’s Farrah Fawcett, even though she was on the show only one season. The premise was that all the detectives were alluring, but often the other stars were overshadowed by the woman known for her red swimsuit poster. It’s unlikely that reruns of “Charlie’s Angels” show in Iran, but the cuisine of Persia displays its own beauty at Tasty Kabob, a restaurant which, like Charlie’s other angels, is often overshadowed by its better-known neighbor.

In this case, the neighbor is Pita Jungle; in fact, it’s the chain’s original location. Both restaurants are in the L-shaped strip mall diagonally across the street from the Apache / Dorsey light rail station in Tempe. While Pita Jungle is consistently and deservedly crowded, Tasty Kabob almost always has tables to spare. That’s unfortunate because Persian food is distinctive from other types of Middle Eastern food with an array of flavors all its own. Combine the quality of the food with the gracious service, and it’s clear this is a place worthy of more support.

Although Iran is often classified under the vague term “Middle East,” Persians consider themselves ethnically, linguistically, and culturally differentiated from the Arab nations to their homeland’s west. Likewise, the traditional food of Persia shares traits with the Arab cuisines represented along Apache’s restaurant row, but charts its own course through the use of yogurt, eggplant, and rice, along with herbs such as dill, cinnamon, and saffron. It’s a logical next step for anyone who has had one too many falafel sandwiches, as delicious as those can be.

Meals can start in familiar territory with hummus or vegetarian stuffed grape leaves. Both are quite good, but it would be shame to ignore the Persian appetizers. A dip, eggplant borany, is similar in texture to baba ghanoush but adds its own layers of taste from mint, garlic, and onions topped with a bit of yogurt. Aash, a traditional soup, is a hearty bowl full of beans, wheat noodles, and vegetables. Paired with a shirazi salad, which combines diced tomatos, onions, and cucumbers in a way that resembles ceviche without the fish, it can suffice as a meal.

Rice is at the foundation of almost all the entrees. Fluffy basmati grains prepared in the chelo style are abundant, matched in most cases with a kabob, usually chicken breast, sirloin, or filet mignon. All are tender and mildy flavored, leaving the meat to speak for itself next to the rice. The barg versions of the meats add another layer of taste with larger pieces and more assertive flavor. With all the main dishes, the usual heaping serving of rice can be replaced with a half-and-half combination of rice and salad, a nice way to add some vegetables to the meal.

With most entrees, Tasty Kabob offers both dinner and lunch prices, with the latter costing around $2.50 less. For a few dollars less, there are also sandwiches based on pita bread wrapped around the same choices of meats or vegetables found on the kabobs. While the sandwiches are a relative bargain, there’s a price to pay: They lack the bountiful rice of the kabob platters. Instead, they come with a bag of potato chips on the side. It’s an odd choice that seems out of place given how attractively the rest of the food here is presented.

At the other end of the spectrum, anyone willing to spend a little more should explore the “daily dishes” section of the menu. This section is home to more adventurous traditional Persian entrees. Ghormeh sabzi is a thick, dark beef stew seasoned with cilantro, chives, and preserved lemon. A generous plate of rice is handy for soaking up the rich sauce. Zereshk polo takes the restaurant’s signature rice to another level by topping it with saffron and barberries, a fruit with a tart taste that contrasts effectively with mild white meat chicken.

To drink, there’s a full bar, sodas, fruit juices, and the Persian yogurt soda known as doogh. Yogurt drinks can be strongly salted or sweet, but Tasty Kabob’s version strikes a happy medium with a taste accentuated by fresh mint. There’s an espresso machine and a wide variety of teas to drink. For dessert, the known quantities are cheesecake and baklava, but the Persian touch is evidence in the “special ice cream,” which derives its intriguing flavor from rose water, rich golden color from saffron, and a little crunch from pistachios.

“Charlie’s Angels” lasted only five seasons with a noticeable decline during the last two. Tasty Kabob, however, has been around for over two decades despite being less crowded and less known that its popular neighbor. That longevity is a testament to the restaurant’s quality and the perseverance of the family that owns and operates it. By all means, enjoy Pita Jungle, a local success story not only in Tempe but at its newest location in Downtown Phoenix, but next trip to Apache Boulevard, why not try a Persian meal at Tasty Kabob?

1250 E. Apache Boulevard, Tempe AZ 85281
Map
(480) 966-0260
http://www.tastykabobaz.com/