Travel Spot: The Arrogant Butcher

Nothing like a Friday night out with a great friend in a busy city like Phoenix right? When Amy was planning places for us to go on my visit to Arizona, she let me know Friday we were going to dinner at The Arrogant Butcher, another awesome AZ restaurant from Fox concepts which coincidentally also operates the fabulous place I ate last year, Culinary Dropout. The Phoenix Suns were home (and playing across the street) so no reservations, but we were absolutely okay hanging out in the bar and having a few drinks before dinner. In fact, for a busy Friday night our table wait was only one beer long!

The dining area was very cool and nicely separated from the bar area.

Our server was Mark ("like what you make on a paper" is what he said when he introduced himself...and I will consequently never forget his name) and he was also Amy's server the last time she dined there. He was FANTASTIC and the moment we said we wanted to start with items for Charcuterie, he helped us build a very tasty selection:

In all honesty Amy and I could eat bread and meat and cheese as a meal, probably daily. In fact we joke about starting a "Charcuterie Diet", but it really was delicious and just the right amount to start.

Dinner was a tough choice even though the menu is very straight forward (only 12 entrees in all) and Mark sadly told us they were already out of their Friday special, the King Crab Cioppino. Seafood still sounded good to me so I went with their scallops...mostly because the menu said BACON.

Melt in your mouth buttery scallops, bacon, cranberry beans, spinach and delicate pasta shells....oh my. It was incredible. Amy chose the sweet potato tortelli (her personal favorite):

Mushrooms, Brussels sprouts and hazelnut in a light creamy sauce and those sweet potato tortelli! I was lucky she felt generous enough to spare one for me to try. At this point, in all honesty, we were stuffed, but I could not leave without dessert (and frankly Mark is quite the convincing guy). We selected the warm peanut butter cup.

Let me explain that you are looking at a dish of warm fluffy peanut buttery goodness in which a large dollop of chocolate gelato has been placed and on the side are two peanut better cookies with chocolate centers. I love peanut butter. I LOVED this dessert...I just could not force myself to finish it and almost considered taking it to go!

Thank you Amy for another great restaurant selection. Thank you Mark and the chefs of The Arrogant Butcher...I WILL be back and next time I am bringing my scallop-loving husband!

Travel Spot: Pita Jungle

My first day out in Arizona was a shopping and lunch day with my pal Amy and her cutie-patootie 6-month old Benjamin while her oldest was at school. She asked me what I was in the mood for and my criteria was simple: I wanted something I could not get in Virginia Beach. So she selected Pita Jungle.

Pretty unassuming form the outside and located in a strip mall, it is a very simple and open space with lots of tables. Walking in you also can't miss the wood fire oven:

My stomach was still adjusting to a time change so I selected a burger...specifically I selected one of their house special burgers, The Kafta Burger: Angus beef mixed with parsley, jalapenos, onions, and pomegranate molasses, on Ciabatta bread with chipotle hummus, and a chopped salad of lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and sumac, served with garlic new potatoes. Should be no questions as to why this was my selection right? And it arrived looking like this:

Excuse me why I salivate remembering...Amy ordered one of the lunch specials, the black bean burger, also a gorgeous plate of lunch food:

I will go on record as that it was one of the best gourmet burgers I have had (more on another burger adventure in a future post) and the freshness of the ingredients was readily apparent. In fact, it never would have occurred to me to put hummus on a burger. Combine that flavor with the chopped salad and deliciousness was in the house.

I briefly considered taking half back to Amy's house...that thought was short-lived. It was just too good! I wish VB had more places like this that make things like lavash and hummus and their own pita chips. I think I may try to recreate that burger..maybe this Memorial Day party will be a burger bar instead of a hot dog bar!

Back from AZ...with so many food tales to tell!

I may be a day late for Wordless Wednesday, but this picture needs no words:

Arizona is breathtaking...and I just returned from 5 days with one of my best friends enjoying the beauty and of course..the food!!! I ate at some amazing restaurants and captured some great dishes on film. So for the next few days I will be sharing my culinary adventures in AZ....tonight I am going to be lazy and try to get the 5-mile To-Do list that awaits a person who has been gone 5 days!!!