Beckett's Table (Phoenix, AZ)

Restaurant Week is back.  Sweet.

We've been meaning to try Beckett's Table for a little while now.  Carli had passed by it several times on her way to and from yoga class.  The menu for restaurant week looked pretty appetizing so we decided to give it a try.

Restaurant Week Prix Fixe Menu

Carli found something on their regular menu that she had her heart set on, so she decided not to do the restaurant week menu; however, it looked great for me so I dove right in.

Legend City Cocktail

For just a few dollar supplement, I decided to try the Legend City Cocktail instead of the beer or house wine that accompanies the restaurant week menu.  It seems like this drink is Beckett's Table riff on a Manhattan/Old Fashioned.  The strength of the bourbon was balanced nicely with the citrus and bitters.  A nice start to the meal.

I should mention the menu seemed to be tailored to this blog.  Meat appetizer?  Check.  Meat Entree?  You Bet.  Meat dessert?  Boom!

 Chicken Meatballs | Smokey Tomato Sauce | Roasted Onions | Eggplant | Peppers

Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup | Sweet Corn Cream

I started with the chicken meatballs while Carli decided to go with the tomato soup.  The sweet corn cream of the tomato soup was surprisingly more potent than expected and it was a welcomed add-on to the already creaminess of the soup.  The chicken meatballs were better than expected.  The meatballs were quite juicy (I've had\made chicken meatballs that tend to be a little dry) and the sauce was a little spicier than expected.  Both surprises made quite a hearty (almost a little too hearty) of a first course.  This amount is probably better to be shared between two for an appetizer.

 Fire Roasted Green Chili Pork Stew | Cornbread | Cotija Cheese

 Roasted Red Pepper Cannelloni | Wood Oven Ratatouille | Almond Puree

While I stayed with the meat theme of the night, Carli created her own roasted red pepper theme.  The ratatouille was nice and tender and provided great flavor to the puree and cannelloni.  If I had one minor complaint, it was that between the vegetables, cannelloni, and puree, everything was a little limp texture-wise. The green chili pork stew was fantastic.  The pork was quite tender and absorbed much of the flavor of the green chili stew.  The cornbread was a great addition to help soak up much of the leftover stew.  

 Deconstructed Bacon S'Mores | Chocolate Dipped Bacon | House-made Marshmallows | Whipped Peanut Butter | Graham Crackers | Caramel

Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée

That's right.  Dessert meat.  Bacon is truly meat candy.  I was excited to try the chocolate dipped bacon.  I can't say it was what I expected, but I also don't know what I expected.  The initial flavor was quite interesting, with the salty of the bacon and the sweet from the chocolate mixing together nicely.  Once the chocolate flavor and texture dissipated, it was just that bacon flavor.  Which was good.  Just maybe not with dessert.  Glad I tried it though.  The rest of the s'mores were delicious; the marshmallows had the perfect amount of crunch and the whipped peanut butter was surprisingly nice and light.  Definitely an interesting take on the s'more.  The milk chocolate crème brûlée was quite enjoyable.  The surface was perfectly caramelized and the rest of the crème brûlée was considerably rich and chocolately.  

There were at least two other entrees that looked intriguing so my guess is that we'll be back to this Arcadia area restaurant.  And we're glad our restaurant week got off to a great start.

Jing Fong Restaurant (New York, NY)

One place we absolutely had to hit up was a dim sum restaurant in the Chinatown area of New York.  After walking around the area for awhile, we decided to stop in at Jing Fong.  From the street, Jing Fong looks like a typical New York restaurant; cramped and tight to make use of the smaller spaces.  But once we walked in, wow.  This place was huge!

The food itself is what one would expect from a typical dim sum cart service lunch.  The food was either piping hot or slightly cool, depending on how long it sat on the cart.  But even though the food itself was nothing special, it was still quite tasty and definitely filling.

Veggie and Shrimp Dumpling | Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Puffs

Potstickers | Shrimp Mousse Rolls | Taro Croquette (Woo Kok)

Shrimp and Pork Shu Mai

Shrimp and Vegetable Har Gow

Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan)

Friend Turnip Cakes (Lo Bak Go)

Hom Sui Gok

Pork and Vegetables Wrapped in Bean Curd (Sin Chet Kuen)

If we ever make it back, we'd love to try this place again or check out a different dim sum restaurant the New York Chinatown area has to offer.

Salute (New York, NY)

We were excited to spend a few days in New York for my sister-in-law's wedding and especially excited to try some of the restaurants in the area.  Salute is an Italian bistro/restaurant and was recommended to us by the hotel concierge, so we decided to try it out.

Di Campo | Baby Mixed Greens | Tomatoes | Balsamic Vinaigrette | Pizza Bread

Gazpacho | Heirloom Tomato | Cucumber | Onion | Jalapeno

We started with a salad and the gazpacho soup.  The salad was nothing above and beyond even though it was priced as such ($14).  However, the gazpacho was a good start to the meal with the sweetness of the tomato nicely balanced with the spiciness of the jalapeno.

As part of the recommendation from the concierge, she let us know Salute is known for their pasta dishes.  We accordingly ordered four separate pasta dishes to test this theory.

Tortelloni | Ricotta Cheese | Tomato Basil Sauce

Tagliatelle | Ragu of Beef, Pork, and Veal

Pappardelle | Lamb Ragu

Linguine | Lobster | Clams | Mussels | Tomato and White Wine Sauce

Each of the pasta dishes were quite delicious.  My favorite was the tagliatelle with the ragu of beef, pork, and veal.  The thicker cut pasta held up well against the robust three meat ragu.  The seafood linguine was also another favorite; however, the lobster was slightly overcooked.  Both the pappardelle and tortelloni dishes were delicious as well.

If there was any complaint about the restaurant, it was that the atmosphere and service was a little stuffy for the type of dining environment it seemed like Salute was going for.  Regardless, the homemade pasta was fantastic and a good start to our vacation. 

Cafe Muse (Royal Oak, MI)

After coming back to Michigan to watch the Wolverines beat Notre Dame in a football thriller, we were able to see my grandma at Sunday brunch before driving back to Chicago. We decided to try out Cafe Muse in Royal Oak. I'm usually not big on going out for breakfast, since I'm fairly lazy on the weekends and have no problem making most of what you can get eating out myself without leaving home. That being said, I was quite interested in Cafe Muse after perusing the menu in advance.

We decided to order both of the soups on the menu to start as appetizers, since none of us were having a sweet dish for breakfast. The tomato curry soup with coconut milk was a nice start, having a milder curry flavor that didn't dominate the soup. We also ordered the wild mushroom soup. Tasting purely of mushroom, this was the favorite of the two soups. A drizzle of truffle oil further heightened the earthiness of the soup. Unfortunately, we devoured it so quick that we forgot to take a picture. Oops.

My grandma ordered the smoked salmon scramble with gruyere and chives, with a side of sweet potato mash. I was expecting a cold smoked salmon with the eggs, and I was pleasantly surprised. The fish was well smoked, staying juicy on the inside while having a delicious crisp around the edges. I didn't taste the gruyere, but I only had one bite of the eggs. The sweet potato mash didn't necessarily pair well with the salmon, but was tasty on its own.


My grandma also ordered a side of seafood cheddar grits, which we all split. They were a bit disappointing, as they were more overcooked than creamy, and there wasn't much seafood.

My dad ordered the Ammoglio sauce scramble with fresh mozzarella. Ammoglio sauce is made from tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. The eggs were simply scrambled, but the Ammoglio sauce made quite a difference. It actually reminded me a bit of the Clancy's Fancy hot sauce (without the heat).

I ordered the chipotle chicken and eggs special, with fingerling potatoes. The eggs were soft and fluffy, and the chicken was good, but it was a bit one-note. I enjoyed these much more with a drizzle of the aforementioned Ammoglio sauce. The potatoes were buttery and cooked with soft, sweet, whole garlic cloves.

Kristen ordered the Grilled 3 Cheese sandwich, which was apparently featured as a 5 star dish on Oprah. I really enjoyed this. The Fontina, Mozzarella, and Havarti melded together beautifully to create a creamy, stringy filling. Tomato and basil kept the familiar and successful theme, while a honey added a touch of sweetness.

The Panzanella salad that came on the side was a closer to a bowl of croutons than a Panzanella salad. Both of the salads served to us had very little cucumber, tomato, etc. present. The waitress even noted that it had far too much bread, and offered a new salad when she saw that we hadn't eaten much of it.

My mom ordered the short rib Grilled Three Cheese sandwich. Similar to the previous grilled cheese, this version added braised short ribs. As good as Kristen's grilled cheese was, this was even better, with the tender, beefy short ribs stealing the show. For me, this was my favorite dish and a must order next time.

I really enjoyed Cafe Muse. I thought the food was well prepared, and there are a number of very good looking choices of both sweets and savories for brunch. Throw in a regularly rotating list of specials, and I would be happy to go back and try more the next time I am in the area.

Christopher’s Restaurant (Phoenix, AZ)

We were trying to find a nice restaurant for a little celebration dinner and came across Christopher's through some research.  I hadn't heard much about it before, but the little bit I had heard about Christopher's was positive, so we decided to head out to the Biltmore area to try it out.

Christopher's is a trendy establishment, serving the range from pizzas and cheeseburgers to escargot and foie gras, and is located in the Biltmore Shopping Center.  Typically I gravitate more towards restaurants that are less trendy and away from shopping malls, but we decided it was worth a shot.

Lobster Bisque

The base of the lobster bisque was very rich and creamy.  However, I prefer more of a pronounced lobster flavor and there was, unfortunately, no lobster meat as part of the dish.

Escargot en Croute w/ Garlic Herb Butter

This was a delicious variation of escargot I hadn't had before.  Instead of serving with bread, the escargot and butter were covered with a pastry dough and baked.  The escargot itself was nice and tender, while the crust deliciously soaked up the butter and melded well with the escargot.

Wild Mushroom Soup

The soup typically is served with foie gras, but the decision was made to order without.  The base was very similarly rich and creamy as was the lobster bisque, but this had much more of an earthy mushroom flavor as compared to the lobster flavor in the lobster bisque.

Frisée Salad w/ Poached Egg, Bacon, and Sherry Vinaigrette

I absolutely love frisée salads.  Or I really like bacon and eggs on my salad.  Either way, this was a tasty presentation of the dish, if not a little heavy handed with the vinaigrette.

Steamed Mussels w/ Spanish Chorizo in a White Wine Broth

I thought this was one of the highlights of the evening.  Some of the best steamed mussels I've had were from Hopleaf in Chicago.  This dish rivaled the dish in Chicago.  The mussels were quite tender while the chorizo provide an excellent spicy and smokey flavor to the dish.  

Duck Two Ways

While the mussels were one of the highlights to the meal, this was unfortunately one of the lowlights.  I never would have thought presentation would have put such a damper on the excitement of a meal, but this unfortunately did the trick.  It looked as if the duck had been sitting under a hot lamp for about 20 minutes too long.  It was especially unfortunate since the duck itself was actually quite tasty, especially with the confit preparation.  

The fish was prepared excellently, as it had a nice firm flavorful outside, while staying moist on the inside.  Why be so vague?  It's been a couple of weeks since we went here and I quite honestly can't remember what type of fish was served.  Oops....

Lamb Shank

I do remember the lamb shank though!  This was actually one of the better preparations of lamb I have had in a long while.  The meat was more than fork tender; it practically fell off the bone by just looking at it.  The beans provided a nice firm counterbalance to the to the tender lamb, while the accompanying sauce provided a great salty and savory robust flavor.  In addition to these dishes, grilled asparagus and mac and cheese w/ham was also ordered.  

Maybe Christopher's is a little overpriced, but probably not that unexpectedly because of its trendy theme and Biltmore location.  Regardless, it was definitely a meal that was not overshadowed by the few mis-steps along the way.