In 1993, I dined at Aqua in San Francisco, a restaurant headed by a 20-something, Egyptian-born, American-bred chef named Michael Mina. To me, it was revolutionary.

It was the first time I ate a piece of fish that wasn’t caught by my mother and subsequently fried. I don’t remember what type of fish it was, but I remember it was buttery, delicate and visually stunning. And I remember being mesmerized by the look and feel of Aqua — a sparkling Poseidon wonderland.

Before that exalted dinner, I was in the early stage of a fateful affair with food, the result of marrying into a family whose womenfolk were phenomenal Southern home cooks. The Aqua experience was another piece of a puzzle I was subconsciously putting together — revealing a map that would lead me in whole new direction. Less than two years later, I left the corporate world and moved across the country to attend culinary school.

Fast forward to the summer of 2008, when I received an assignment from my editor at PHOENIX magazine to review a new steakhouse at The Scottsdale Princess resort called Bourbon Steak — a Michael Mina restaurant. There was plenty of scandalous buzz surrounding the opening of Bourbon Steak, most notably a $175 Japanese A5 Kobe strip steak on the menu. I blew my generous budget before the end of my second visit, but I went back one more time on my own dime before I wrote the review to dive deeper into the estimable menu. (Yes, I did eat that conspicuous steak, and loved every bite.)

Mina recently celebrated 20 years as a successful chef and restaurateur during a tribute dinner in his eponymous San Francisco restaurant, Michael Mina — the former home of Aqua, where he began his meteoric rise.

Instead of kicking back and enjoying the spoils of celebrity chef fame, Mina is doing what he knows best: he is opening his 20th restaurant, a new concept called Pabu, a Japanese izakaya at the Baltimore Four Seasons, in collaboration with his friend, Chef Ken Tominaga, owner of Hana Japanese in Santa Rosa.

Mina was in Scottsdale last week to visit his team and help introduce a few new seasonal dishes. I caught up with him after he’d spent the day writing the new menu, tasting the new dishes and generally cheer-leading his team, headed by Executive Chef Daniel Patino.

Mina and Patino courtesy of Bourbon Steak

Sitting outside, he comments on one of the reasons he looks forward to coming to town: the weather.

“It’s so calm, so still — there’s no wind,” he says. “Where we are, you don’t have many nights where you can sit out after work and relax.” He doesn’t even mind the hot Arizona summers, a welcome change of pace from his usually chilly base in the Bay Area.

I tell him about trying the infamous $175 steak, and he laughs. I ask if the economy drove it off the menu. The steak did generate buzz, he says, but no, it wasn’t the economy. Japan stopped exporting their Kobe beef to the U.S. It’s just as well, Mina says, citing the sensibilities that came with the economic crash in late 2008, plus the increasing quality of the more reasonably priced American Wagyu.

“Anyone who tells you the economy doesn’t impact high end restaurants? Well, that’s not the case. Only a few restaurants are that bullet proof,” he says.

Bourbon Steak in Scottsdale has weathered the recent rough waters by building a loyal, local clientele. Relying on resort guests, Mina says, can only take a restaurant so far. He believes the reason the restaurant has not only survived, but thrived, is because they work hard to appeal to locals through seasonal menu changes and attention to detail, especially focusing on the guest experience via exceptional service.

Mina’s Recipe for Success

With 19 — almost 20 — restaurants in 10 different cities, Mina has plenty to keep track of, including more than 1,300 employees. How does he do it?

“Well, I was very fortunate. I’ve had two opportunities to do this, first with Aqua. When I spun off [to form the Mina Group], I had the chance to start over, and I made a commitment to building an infrastructure before building a restaurant. I’ve had a lot of good people who worked with me for many years. We’ve grown up together, really, and that team became the core of my company,” he says.

Part of Mina’s infrastructure is a website developed for just the staff, both in the kitchen and the front of the house. Mina is also committed to constant training and education. The website, which took five years to create, contains thousands of recipes and videos.

Chef Matthew Taylor of Phoenix-based Restaurant noca, who was Executive Sous Chef at the Las Vegas Michael Mina restaurant at the Bellagio and the Nobhill Tavern at the MGM Grand for two years before taking over at noca last fall, says “Mina surrounds himself with great people and he’s not ego-driven — at all.”

Taylor also says that at any given moment, Mina can tell you exactly what’s going on in each restaurant — from what is on the menu to the financial forecasts. Taylor helped create content for the staff website, and says there’s nothing else like it.

“It’s really cool,” Taylor says. “There are recipes for every dish and videos for each dish — videos showing how to cook the dish, videos on how to plate it, and in some cases, how to serve it.”

While the rest of us can’t access the private staff database, we can get a glimpse of Mina’s cooking philosophy on the public website through a series of short cooking videos demonstrating his mantra of “acidity, sweetness, spice and richness.”

“What’s really fun is when you get into things that combine these [attributes], like pineapple or green apple, with both acid and sweetness,” he says.

Some of Mina’s favorite ingredients? They all fit into one of his four cornerstones of balanced cooking. He adores citrus and Banyuls, an aged French red wine vinegar (acid); and radishes, ginger and chiles (heat); and coconut cream and avocado (richness).

Exchange of Knowledge

Mina says he was lucky. “I was center stage of a major restaurant at a young age. That doesn’t happen very often. I got to learn from watching great people who came to work for me and I had a very open mind. I still do. Now when I want to learn something, I learn from my chefs. It’s an exchange of knowledge and it’s great.”

Twenty years later, Mina is still drawn to the same thing that led him to cooking in the first place: a desire to understand the craft of cooking.

Almost as many years later, so am I, thanks in part to Mina.

Details:
The Mina Group

Bourbon Steak
The Scottsdale Fairmont Princess Resort
7575 E. Princess Drive, Scottsdale
480-513-6002

Tags: Bourbon Steak, Daniel Patino, Michael Mina, noca, Pabu, restaurant
Posted in Restaurant Journal | 4 Comments »

Steam rose seductively from the pushcart’s top like the smoke from an illicit cigarette. We just had to stop because the tamal lady and her tiny, wrapped bundles of “corn love” might not be there on the way home.

Of course, stopping meant that we would be late picking up my father from work, which had consequences. He was the editor of our hometown newspaper and punctuality, like grammar, was akin to godliness; not so much in the religiousness sense, but in the goodness sense. If you tell someone you are going to be there at noon, by goodness, you’d better be there at noon.

The tamales were a fleeting luxury and one my mother couldn’t pass up. Once spotted, an eager gringo public snapped up the tamales, and the tamal lady might not show up again for months. Dad eventually stopped complaining about the brawny pork smell that permeated our car on these rare occasions, but he never developed mom’s love of homemade tamales.

I suspect Mom wouldn’t have been so enthralled with the tamales either if she’d attempted to make some herself. There is a reason homemade tamales are reserved for special occasions like Christmas, or the birth or baptism of a child, or any number of familial celebrations that bring loved ones together.

A Labor of Love

Making tamales is a time-consuming, tedious endeavor, which is why many families, even in Mexico, says Azucena Tovar, owner of Los Sombreros restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona, opt for buying tamales from other families instead of making their own.

Cornhusks must be soaked for hours. The masa must be laboriously whipped to perfection with just the right amount of fat and liquid. Tamal fillings must be prepared in advance, some taking a day or two to prepare alone.

Once all the components are assembled, the real work begins. Masa is spread just so on the soaked corn husks. A dab of filling is added, and the masa is gathered up and gently squeezed to encase the filling. The husks are folded and then tied with thin strips of more cornhusks. Finally, the tamales are steamed until they are just done: the masa firm, but not too firm. It’s a process best tackled by multiple hands.

Tovar remembers her own family buying tamales from a neighbor, instead of making them at home. “My mom was very busy, she was an entrepreneur,” says the equally busy and entrepreneurial Tovar, “and she had 11 children, so there was no time to make tamales. But we always had tamales at Christmas, of course. We just bought them from neighbors instead of making them ourselves.”

Tovar’s mother owned a market, selling among other things fresh poultry, artisan cheeses, and milk straight from a nearby farm. Tovar grew up in the Mexican colonial city of San Miguel de Allende with a household cook – drinking fresh squeezed orange juice and nibbling on homemade tortillas – but apparently the cook drew the line at the arduous task of making tamales. With neighbors nearby willing to sell them to other neighbors, it seemed the rationale way to go.

When Tovar opened Los Sombreros with partner Jeffrey Smedstad in 1994, it didn’t take them long figure out that their busy neighborhood residents could also use some handmade tamales. So in 1995, the couple began offering The Twelve Tamales of Christmas during the holiday season. When Tovar bought out Smedstad’s interest in Los Sombreros in 2006, she was determined to keep the twelve tamales tradition alive.

The first year Los Sombreros sold a couple hundred packages, and the next year, as word spread beyond the neighborhood, residents from all over the valley were calling to order the tamales, all beautifully boxed up and decorated with Christmas ornaments. As the restaurant gained national attention from the top food magazines, people from all over the country were calling to order the Christmas tamales.

Tovar says that’s when things got a little crazy, the year they tried incorporating mail order into the mix to satisfy the growing demand. She’s comfortable producing about 2,000 packages during the season these days, and selling them strictly in the valley. Still, 2,000 packages equates to 24,000 tamales. The key to producing that many handcrafted tamales is organization – that, and nimble fingers.

Because Los Sombreros is only open for dinner, the staff takes advantage of early November and December mornings, transforming the tiny kitchen at the corner of Scottsdale Road and Virginia into a virtual tamal factory. Shortly after 6 a.m. each morning, soaked cornhusks are spread out, covering every inch of kitchen counter space. The next eight hours are a Zen-like whirl of masa-spreading, filling topping, rolling, tying, steaming, cooling and packaging.  At 2 p.m., the operation is halted; the kitchen is scrubbed clean and restocked for the evening service.

Tamale Time

For the 16th year in a row, Los Sombreros is taking orders for the 12 Tamales of Christmas between November 16 and December 23. Sometimes the line of customers waiting to pick up their bundles of corn nirvana, stretches a city block.

Avoid the long lines by ordering early (the restaurant needs 48 hours notice and pre-payment anyway). Even though the tamales are fresh, Tovar says you can freeze them for a couple of weeks.

The flavors of the 12 tamales are partially inspired from her hometown of San Miguel de Allende, where six flavors – not a dozen – are more common. Other flavors are gleaned from Tovar’s travels throughout Mexico, like Oaxaca where chocolate tamales are common, and the Yucatan, the inspiration for spicy pork seasoned with a touch of habanero.

There are vegetarian tamales, meat lover tamales, cheese lover tamales and dessert tamales. Traditional tamales, such as beef and pork, are part of the dozen, but these “traditional” tamales are far superior to those street corner tamales my Mom coveted all those years ago.

In essence, there are tamales for every taste among the delectable dozen.

Best of all, they’re already gift wrapped, so to speak.

The Twelve Tamales of Christmas

Fresh Green Corn
Chorizo & Black Bean
Rajas & Cheese
Pineapple & Raisin
Red Chile Beef
Spicy Pork
Chipotle Pork
Beef & Cheese
Smoked Chicken & Chipotle
Tomatillo & Chicken
Dark Chocolate
Canela

photos courtesy of Los Sombreros

Los Sombreros
2534 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
480-994-1799
www.lossombreros.com

Call or visit the website to order.
November 16 through December 23
$29.95 for 12 Tamales of Christmas

Tags: Christmas, Los Sombreros, Scottsdale dining, tamales, Twelve Tamales of Christmas
Posted in Restaurant Journal | 2 Comments »

Chef Jeff Smedstad is one cool cat. The bandana tied around his head keeps his curly, salt-and-pepper locks out of his eyes. Dressed in chef whites, he’s rocking out at his temple to corn, the Elote Cafe in Sedona, Arizona.

Smedstad has a tight-knit band of brethren (others might call them employees) who understand and execute his vision. As a result, Smedstad’s four year-old, casual Elote Cafe is one of the best Mexican restaurants in the state — possibly in the whole U.S. People are starting to notice.

Tourists are mesmerized by Elote. Locals are charmed. Mention dining in Sedona, and Elote bubbles to the top.

Smedstad, tall, handsome, and rather Zen-like, isn’t fazed by awards or accolades or whatever. He’s just doing his thing. His “thing” drives people in droves to the second floor of the King’s Ransom Hotel, only to cool their heels because a drove of others arrived before them.

Elote Cafe — without apology — doesn’t take reservations, and when the doors open at 5:00 p.m., there is only so much a 70-or-so seat restaurant can do. Waits ensue. People don’t seem to mind too much, though, because Smedstad doesn’t take those waiting to feast on the king’s corn for granted.

The bar, just left of the hostess stand, is ready and waiting with a bowl of spiced popcorn and a margarita or a local beer (or Mexican beer), or a glass of Arizona wine.

If you like ginger, try the ginger margarita. It’s biting — in a good way — with reposado tequila, fresh ginger-lime juice, and a rim of salt mixed with ground ginger.

Like that spice on the popcorn? You can pick up a jar from the wooden case next to the hostess stand. Smedstad is laid back, but he’s also savvy. He’s successfully packaged Elote in to-go mementos, such as the spice mix and his Elote Cafe Cookbook, now in its third printing. He’s even working on a second cookbook, which he says will be more personal, but still grounded in the cuisine he’s loved and cooked for more than 20 years.

Elote, the Mexican word for cob, generally refers to a hand-held street snack of grilled corn on the cob, slathered in mayo, rolled in tangy cotija and sprinkled with ground chile.

Smedstad’s twist is deconstruction. He cuts the corn from the cob, mixes it with mayo and a splash of cream and hot sauce, and cooks it in a seasoned skillet until it’s thick and creamy. The kitchen makes gallons of it every night. It looks rich but it’s not heavy, unless you eat the whole bowl yourself. Easy to do.

Although he doesn’t shout it from the rooftop (or even splatter it all over the menu), Smedstad embraces seasonality, sourcing local products like heirloom tomatoes and sunflower sprouts from a farmer down the road in Cottonwood.

Oaxacan cheese, layered between juicy tomato slices in his tomato salad, is pulled daily in the kitchen.

Forgive my blurry pictures. I couldn’t adjust the camera in time to capture the fast pull-and-stretch and ultimate gathering-in-a-ball of this mozzarella-like cheese.

Back at the table, my hand is much steadier. But not for long, as I tear into smoked pork cheeks sitting on top of a corn pancake, surrounded by a fresh tomato sauce tinged with Mexican oregano, the whole thing drizzled with a lime aioli.

Succulent doesn’t even begin to describe the fork-tender meat. It practically melts in my mouth.

Smedstad sends out a butternut squash soup with an aged sherry reduction, salsa verde and toasted pepitas. The flavors silently scream, or was that me?

If the elote dish is the signature appetizer, the lamb adobo is the signature entree.

The magic starts with a slow smoke outside the restaurant in an old commercial banquet cart that Smedstad rigged as a smoker. After the smoke, the lamb shanks are simmered in a sauce of chiles, garlic, a touch of brown sugar, cinnamon and clove until the sauce is as thick as molasses.  If you can only order one dish, this is the one.

Of course you must save room for dessert, and Elote’s chocolate tamal and pumpkin flan are exquisite. We took advantage of a special dessert, blackberry ice cream made with blackberries foraged nearby.

Sedona is Arizona’s second most popular tourist attraction, after the Grand Canyon. And while there are several noteworthy restaurants in Sedona, there is only one Elote Cafe … well on its way to becoming the third most popular attraction, and well worth the wait.

Details:

Elote Cafe
771 Highway 179, Sedona, AZ

928-203-0105

Open Tuesday through Saturday

5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Reservations are not accepted

Tags: Elote Cafe, Jeff Smedstad, Sedona dining
Posted in Restaurant Journal | 6 Comments »

Hank Shaw is more than just a modern day Euell Gibbons.

This former line cook-turned-journalist says he hasn’t bought meat or fish for his home since 2005, yet he is most decidedly an omnivore, feasting on grouse, rabbit and boar as well as wild morels, berries and mint.

He hunts, fishes, gardens and forages.

Shaw’s blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook has been nominated twice for a James Beard award. It won best blog from the International Association of Culinary professionals in 2010, and was nominated again this year. His articles have appeared in Food & Wine and Field & Stream.

Now he has a brand new cookbook,  Hunt Gather Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast and he’s hitting the road, bringing his back-to-basics methods of gathering and hunting for food to share with the rest of us.

On Wednesday, June 8, Shaw will be at Rancho Pinot in Paradise Valley, AZ, cooking with a kindred soul, Chef Chrysa Robertson.

Robertson, founder of the Phoenix chapter of Slow Food USA, was recently inducted into the Scottsdale Culinary Hall of Fame. She has cooked at the James Beard House and has been featured in Gourmet and Food & Wine, and yet she prefers to raise hens, forage the desert and keep a low profile at her cowboy chic restaurant, letting the simplicity and freshness of her food speak for itself.

Shaw and Robertson walk the same talk when it comes to food, so when Shaw decided to make a stop in the Valley, Robertson’s Rancho Pinot was a natural fit.

The two will prepare a feast of wild harvested foods from the area: prickly pears, mulberries and cholla buds, to name a few.

The menu is a work-in-progress, as Robertson is still gathering local foodstuffs, but it might look something like this, paired with three Arizona wines:

APERITIF
Mulberry ’elixir’

APPETIZER ‘BITS’
Crisp guarijio squash blossoms
Sweet n sour iitoi onions
Sauteed spanish peppers
Acorn meal piadini
Venison sausage

TROUT
New Mexican cornmeal-crusted, on a salad of tepary beans, grilled nopales, corn, iitoi onion & bacon with Mexican oregano vinaigrette

QUAIL
Elderberry glazed, mesquite grilled, with a mole of cholla buds & local squash

MESQUITE FLOUR CREPES
Local peach ice cream with chiltepin chile & prickly pear-desert honey sauce

Photo © Holly A Heyser from Hunt, Gather, Cook by Hank Shaw

Details:
Wednesday, June 8, 6:30 p.m.
Rancho Pinot
6300 North Scottsdale Road, Paradise Valley, AZ
480-367-8030
$75 per person, including 3 Arizona wine pairings (excluding tax and gratuity)
Copies of Shaw’s book will be available for purchase

Tags: Chrysa Robertson, Hank Shaw, Hunt Gather Cook Cookbook, Rancho Pinot
Posted in Restaurant Journal | 5 Comments »

The first question I asked Danielle Griffin is “did you know the position you were interviewing for was Tequila Goddess?”

She laughs, “Yes, yes I did.” Despite the playful title, being a Tequila Goddess is serious business.

Griffin acquired the title in January of 2010, when the fine dining Mexican restaurant, La Hacienda, reopened at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess after an 18-month hiatus.

With a fresh new look and a menu designed by acclaimed Mexican chef Richard Sandoval, La Hacienda needed a tequila expert on staff to oversee the 136 bottles of agave spirits.

So Sandoval created the Tequila Goddess position.

Griffin wasn’t destined to be a Tequila Goddess. Oh sure, she’s stunningly beautiful, with ivory skin, blue eyes and a dimpled chin, and she drank her fair share of cheap tequila during college, but she was by no means a tequila expert.

Her background is in music. She studied classical flute at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (she even played on a BBC program), and while she still practices her flute, she no longer plays professionally.

After returning home from Australia (Griffin is a 4th generation Arizonan), she was tending bar around town to make ends meet when she heard about the La Hacienda position.

“Within a week of having this job, I fell in love,” she says.

Not with a person — with tequila.

She jetted off to Mexico to learn more about the industry beyond the standard gold shot accompanied by lime and salt.

Her job, despite the image of Tequila Goddess, doesn’t consist of floating through the resort in a silky white gown, pouring shots of tequila down the throats of goo-goo-eyed, thirsty patrons.

Quite the contrary, her primary mission is education (and if that helps sell tequila, all the better).

Griffin has a counterpart in New York, Sandoval’s Tequila Librarian, who oversees his Tequila Library (despite the titles, these people are very serious about tequila).

Griffin plays the role with professionalism (of course, it doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous, but this former musician-turned-goddess knows her stuff). She’s on site six days a week (La Hacienda is closed Mondays) to help guide guests through the dizzying array of tequila choices. The 136-bottle inventory is about to expand to 240 bottles.

“The hot new trend is to develop a tequila brand,” she says, pointing out there are more than 1,200 brands, yet all are produced in only 165 distilleries in Mexico.

This past January, Griffin returned to Mexico to attend a two-day diploma course on tequila administered by the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT), the organization that officially certifies all tequila in accordance to Mexican law.

Back at the resort, Griffin now offers classes to guests, modeled after the CRT diploma class. Part of the resort’s Passion Project, a slate of experiences design to showcase the resort’s assets (like a table-side Bloody Mary experience at LV Bistro, a Snake River Waygu beef tasting at Bourbon Steak and a local San Tan Brewery tasting at TPC Grill), Griffin’s tequila class is designed to educate guests on tequila from field to bottle.

What’s Griffin’s favorite tequila?

“It depends,” she says, “on my mood, the time of day, what I’m eating.”

Griffin loves to guide guests to new tequila experiences and share her passion for cooked agave. She personally prefers tequila from the lowland regions of Mexico’s five designated tequila-producing areas.

“The lowlands tend to produce a little more pepper and citrus notes,” she says, “and tequila from the highlands — like Don Julio and Clase Azul — tend to produce more floral and herbal notes.”

But, she says, it’s not about what she likes — it’s about what her guests like.

“Everyone has a different palate,” she says. Her job is to listen to the guests and guide them to a tequila that suits their tastes. Along the way, she hopes to educate her guests about the national Mexican spirit and introduce them to the cultural experience of drinking tequila.

For some guests (with deep pockets) that might be a sip of of Dos Lunas Grand Reserve ($220 per shot), an extra añejo aged for 10 years in Spanish Sherry oak barrels.

For others, it might be the Snake Bite flight ($16), an agave spirits lesson disguised in a touristy gimmick.

Guests are presented a platter of three of Mexico’s five agave spirits garnished with a real — but thankfully dead — rattlesnake head and tail.

The three pours are tequila, smoky mezcal and sotol.

“It’s a fun way to experience the differences [in Mexico's agave spirits],” Griffin says.

And, if she sneaks in a little agave spirit wisdom in the process, so be it.

She is a goddess, after all.

Details:
La Hacienda at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort
7575 East Princess Drive, Scottsdale
(480) 585-4848 

Passion Project: Demystifying Tequila
Tuesday through Sunday, 5:30 p.m. to close
$30 – reservations recommended

(photos courtesy of the resort)

Tags: Danielle Griffin, Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort, La Hacienda, Passion Project, Scottsdale Restaurant, tequila, Tequila Goddess
Posted in Restaurant Journal | 3 Comments »

Saddle up partner, there’s a new BBQ sheriff in town, and when he’s not confit-ing duck legs and escargot-ing snails, he’s manning a smoker just a few blocks away.

That’s right, Chef James Porter of Petite Maison has thrown his hat into the Valley’s BBQ ring with the February 4th opening of Big Earl’s BBQ in Old Town Scottsdale.

Up until now, central Scottsdale residents had to cattle drive south to Joe’s Real BBQ in Gilbert or mule pack up north to Cave Creek to Bryan’s BBQ for some serious ‘cue.

Big Earl’s (named for Porter’s father, Earl) hits all the BBQ styles from Texas brisket ($14.99) to Carolina pulled pork ($13.99) to St. Louis pork ribs ($19.99).

‘Cue isn’t BBQ without sides and Big Earl’s is slinging $2.99 goods like fried okra, potato salad, coleslaw and mac ‘n cheese.

Look for sandwiches, plates, ribs and combos, and even a “tasty parts” menu section featuring fried sweetbreads, pickled pigs feet and crisped pig tails.

And what’s ‘cue without something to whet your whistle? Big Earl’s is stocking the usual suspects, like Lynchburg Lemonade made with Jack Daniels and draft beers like Bud Light and Shiner Bock (along with some decent craft brews like Four Peaks and Odell). Sweet tea is, of course, also on the menu along with Monster Energy Drink (huh?)

They say the sauce is the secret, although some ‘cue aficionados insist sauce is optional. Big Earl’s has teamed up with the Valley’s Desert Smoke BBQ, headed by larger-than-life Tony Morales. Big Tony has custom-bottled an original Big Earl’s sauce as well as his popular sweet and spicy blend.

Several things on the menu don’t involve BBQ at all, like fried catfish po’boy ($8.99), a veggie burger ($7.99) and southern style sausage balls with hot mustard ($5.99).

But make no mistake, this is a barbecue joint. It’s just one with solid Southern roots, punctuated with Georgia grits and collard greens.

Expect a little fancy cheffing here and there, too. After all, Porter is a French classics trained chef — who happens to love barbecue.

Big Earl’s BBQ
7213 East 1st Avenue, Scottsdale
480-947-6800
bigearlsbbq.com (website under construction)

Opens for dinner February 4 at 5 p.m. and opens for lunch beginning Saturday, February 5 at 11 a.m.

Tags: Big Earls BBQ, Bryan's BBQ, Desert Smoke BBQ, James Porter, Joe's Real BBQ, Petite Maison, Scottsdale BBQ, Scottsdale Restaurant, Tony Morales
Posted in Restaurant Journal | 7 Comments »

Harvest is over, the grapes are pressed and the juice is snuggled away in wine casks, so what’s a winemaker to do during this lull time?

Prune the vineyards? Sure, but wouldn’t it be more fun to hit the road and pour samples of previous vintages?

That’s exactly what the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, a group of 500 winemakers, grape growers and other related partners, plans to do.

Scottsdale is the first stop on a multi-city Grand Tasting Tour and February 7 – 11, more than 30 winemakers will escape pruning duties and pour wines in a variety of venues.

Here’s the schedule:

February 7 & 8 — Winemaker dinners

Meet winemakers and enjoy Paso Robles wines with specifically crafted menus by top Scottsdale chefs:

February 7 Chef James Porter of Petite Maison and Chef Chrysa Robertson of Rancho Pinot.

Petite Maison’s 6 p.m. dinner is five courses, $75++, call 480-991-6887 for reservations.

1st course: tuna crudo with candied kumquats paired with Ancient Peaks 2010 Savignon Blanc
2nd course: Brandade de Morue paired with Lone Madrone 2008 Points West White
3rd course: roasted pork crépinete with maple glazed root vegetables & foie gras emulsion paired with Grey Wolf 2008 Instinctual
4th course: Petite Bistro filet with Roquefort spoon bread & bone marrow red wine jus paired with L’Aventure 2008 Estate Cuvee
5th course: chocolate “croissant’ and Show Pony Syrup paired with Clayhouse 2007 Show Pony Petite Sirah

[note: Rancho Pinot dinner is sold out, but call 480-367-8030 to be wait-listed.]

February 8 Cowboy Ciao & 5th & Wine & Big Daddy’s BBQ

Cowboy Ciao’s 6 p.m., pork-centric dinner is 5 courses, $65++, Call 480-946-3111 for reservations.

1st course: apple wood smoked pork belly, cranberry beans & chard paired with Clavo Cellars 2009 Albariño
2nd course: grilled pork tenderloin, carpaccio style paired with Austin Hope 2009 Grenache
3rd course: pork osso buco braised with oranges paired with Silver Horse 2008 “The Main Thing” Malbec blend
4th course: pork cheeks in mesquite bean crepes paired with Victor Hugo 2007 Petite Sirah
5th course: crème fraîche cheesecake with bacon & butterscotch paired with Hearst Ranch “Lone Tree” Cabernet Franc

Why not add the optional after-tasting (9 to 10 p.m.) at Kazimierz World Wine Bar a couple of doors down to sample several other Paso wines for only $5?

February 9 — The Grand Tasting

This showcase event at the beautiful El Chorro Lodge will feature more than 150 wines plus nibbles and noshes from El Chorro. Tickets are $55 in advance or $65 (cash only) at the door. If you’ve seen the patio at El Chorro, you’ll understand why the Paso Robles group picked this spot. It starts at 6 p.m. and runs through 8 p.m., just in time to catch the breathtaking Arizona sunset. Sample antipasto, hang out at the bruschetta bar, or indulge in small plates of red wine braised shortribs, oven roasted chicken or pork tenderloin sliders while rubbing elbows with noted winemakers from Eberle, Robert Hall and J. Lohr among others.

February 10 — Late Night with Chef James Porter, Petite Maison

Chef Porter has made late night dining a sport, offering up gussied up comfort foods for $10 or less, and he’s inviting some game winemakers over to Petite Maison for a late-night bacchanalia evening of debauchery. Call 480-991-6887 to secure your spot.

More information & Tickets to the Grand Tasting Tour:

Visit Paso Robles Grand Tasting Tour

On a personal note…

We’re excited that Eberle is one of the winemakers on the tour. Why?

In 2003, we were ensconced in the basement of Eberle Winery, tasting and blending our own special bottle of wine. We still have that 10 year-old bottle, and perhaps we’ll crack it open in February to celebrate the Paso Robles Tour hitting town. Hope it aged well.

Tags: Cowboy Ciao, Eberle Winery, El Chorro, Paso Robles Grand Tasting Tour, Paso Robles wines, Petite Maison
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Partners Becky Windels and Susan Smederovac-Wilcox were hoping for a quiet, “soft” opening for The Herb Box, as most restaurant owners do, but that didn’t happen.

The Herb Box in Old Town Scottsdale officially opens today, just in time for the mayhem known as Fiesta Bowl week.

“We ended up with a hard opening — The Herb Box way,” Chef Windels quipped.

As if opening to the public wasn’t enough, the new Herb Box is hosting ESPN’s “green” room for the coming week, too.

Fortunately, this isn’t the dynamic duo’s first rodeo. The Herb Box started out as a catering business (which still accounts for a significant part of the business) in 1995 at Shea Boulevard.

Windels says that location is transferring to this new Southbridge prime spot, while the DC Ranch restaurant and market will continue to serve North Scottsdale.

Oh, and they just opened an Herb Box branch in a Minnesota health club last month, too.

In just over two months, Windels and Wilcox transformed the former Estate House restaurant space into a contemporary, bright and airy space, adding patio doors and moving the bar from one side of the room to the other. The patio doors and the new windows to the bar will bring a little bit of the outside inside.

The Estate House’s muted, butter-colored walls have been replaced with splashes of color — tangerine, navy blue and cream — and The Herb Box’s trademark use of bold accent patterns add just a touch of whimsy here and there.

There is just as much seating outside on the wrap-around, two-tiered patio as there is inside.

On the way to the bathrooms, a portal offers a tiny glimpse into the sparkling white kitchen.

On the other side of the door, the staff gets a gentle reminder that it’s “showtime” before they step into the dining room.

The menu is packed with dishes that have put The Herb Box on the fresh-is-best map with huge market salads (my favorite is the Urban Market Steak Salad ($15) a mixture of medium rare steak with watercress, avocado, bacon and sweet dried corn with a tangy blue cheese vinaigrette.

There are shared plates (I’m crazy about the fried olives), wraps, sandwiches, flat breads and The Herb Box’s signature butternut squash corn enchiladas with a tomatillo sauce (vegetarian and gluten free, by the way).

Facing Steton Drive is the grab-and-go Herb Box Market. In the morning, sit at French market patio tables with an espresso and a house-made pastry, or at lunch, pick up a cup of soup or a sandwich to go.

Soon you’ll be able to buy a bottle of wine to take with a wrapped plate of cheese and salumi, or grab an entree to take home for dinner.

“This is my baby, my playground” Windels said, gesturing to the corner market.

The Herb Box is a member of Slow Food and supports local growers like The Simple Farm and Maya’s Farm.

Today’s opening of The Herb Box is another compelling reason to linger in the Old Town Scottsdale/Southbridge area, already populated with the award winning FnB, Cowboy Ciao and Metro Brassiere, just to name a few.

Congrats to Chef Windels, Wilcox and The Herb Box team.

The Herb Box
Old Town Scottsdale
7134 East Stetson Drive, Scottsdale
480-998-8355

Tags: Chef Becky Windels, Maya's Farm, Old Town Scottsdale new restaurant, Scottsdale, Southbridge, Susan Smederovac-Wilcox, The Herb Box, The Simple Farm
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Instead of an acquired taste, perhaps an acquired texture is more accurate.

On the menu at a Chinese noodle shop (where I adored the hand pulled noodles, by the way) I spot “spicy pig’s ear” offered in two sizes: small ($4.50) or large ($7.75).

Pig’s ear was also printed on the daily specials board.

Curious? You bet, since I’d never had them before — and they were not only on the menu but the specials board, too. It was time.

Now that I have had them, I can confidently say: I don’t care for them. But after some research, I learned there are plenty of people who do.

I even found a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, David Tanis’s A Platter of Figs, although his experience with pig’s ear came in Paris. How did I miss that the 15 times I’ve read through his book?

Apparently, chilled, sliced pig’s ear is a common treat in China, usually served with beer.

Admittedly, the flavor was appealing — the ears were glazed in a barely-sweet, dark soy sauce, and there was that unmistakable delicious pork flavor.

The problem for me was the texture. Crunchy isn’t quite accurate and neither is chewy — it fell somewhere in between crunchy and chewy.

No offense to anyone who delights in chilled, sliced pig’s ear, but I think next time I’ll skip the ear and take the beer.

Tags: A Platter of Figs, Chinese pig's ear, David Tanis, pig's ear
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Chef Bryan Dooley of Bryan’s Black Mountain Barbecue is a thoughtful guy. In the midst of smoking hundreds of pounds of beef, pork and chicken, he thinks about vegetarians.

“I think about vegetables the way a vegetarian restaurant does,” he says. “To me, vegetables shouldn’t be an afterthought.”

True, and that’s why I named his vegetarian “pulled” spaghetti squash sandwich one of the best sandwiches (meat or otherwise) in the January 2010 issue of PHOENIX Magazine.

Make no mistake, Bryan’s BBQ is a meat lovers haven, but Dooley always has something up his chef’s coat sleeve for those who eschew meat. Besides the pulled squash sandwich that’s on the menu year-round, Dooley offers seasonal items, often geared toward the non-meat eaters.

This past summer, he whipped up a juicy heirloom tomato sandwich and this fall, he dazzled diners with a fried artichoke po’ boy.

He’s tinkering in the kitchen again, thinking about what to offer his vegetarian friends this spring.

And he’s come up with something creative, incredibly tasty, and yet, a tad on the quirky side.

He calls it Veg-A-Pickle-Pie.

Veg-A-Pickle-Pie? I snickered when he first told me the name, but then I tasted it, and while it has a funny name, there’s nothing silly about the layers of flavor Dooley’s packed into his vegetable pie.

So what is it, exactly?

It’s a savory pie with a natural sweetness that comes from two root vegetables roasted to coax out the inherent sugars. He layers a pie crust with pureed roasted sweet potatoes spiked with chipotle.

Next, he sprinkles chopped, pickled green beans over the sweet potatoes. He experimented with spinach, but he’s leaning toward the pickled green beans. On top of the green beans, he layers a roasted beet and herb puree, and then he bakes it.

The kicker — what makes the flavors pop — is the topping of dill pickles.

“I made the pie and thought, yeah, this is nice, but then I put the pickles on it and said YEAH, that’s it,” he says.

I know what you’re thinking. Pickles? I thought the same thing until I tasted it with and without the pickles. The dilly vinegar really heightens the flavor of the beets.

Still, homey dill pickle slices on this gorgeous pie? Dooley likes the funky look of a crinkle-cut pickle covered pie, but I asked him, “why not julienne (matchstick) the pickles to dress it up a bit?” After all, he has a plume of lemon-pepper vinaigrette dressed watercress sitting on the side.

“I like the kinda Route 66 look of the down home pickle slices,” he says.

To humor me, he juliennes the pickle slices, and admits that it’s easier to get a taste of pickle with every bite of the pie.

Even though Dooley is a trained chef with years of high-end resort cooking under his belt, he considers himself, at heart, a simple BBQ guy.

OK, but what simple BBQ guy dreams up olive-studded coleslaw and root beer marinated apple rings with pink peppercorns?

Or, a roasted beet and sweet potato pie with dill pickles?

The verdict?

I’d order it — and I’m not a vegetarian. Of course, I’d order it with a side of the toothy pork ribs or the tender beef brisket that put Bryan’s BBQ on the must-eat Valley dining map.

Dooley’s still tinkering with the recipe, and hasn’t decided if this will be his spring Vegetarian special or not (there are some logistics to work out), but one thing is for sure:

The guy loves to play in the kitchen, and while he’s stoking the pecan wood fire in his smoker full of meat, he’s dreaming of delicious ways to bring vegetarians to his table.

So what do you think? Would you order the Veg-A-Pickle Pie?

Bryan’s Black Mountain BBQ
6130 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek
480-575-7155

photo credits:1, 2, 3: Bryan Dooley; 4, 5: Gwen Ashley Walters

Tags: beets, Bryan Dooley, Bryan's BBQ, savory pie, sweet potatoes, Veg-A-Pickle-Pie, vegetarian
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