Finally, a carpaccio!

Mired in a food slump, ESPN colleague Amy K. Nelson (as opposed to Craig T. Nelson) invited me to Modern Steak for lunch. Lunch in a mall rarely bodes well unless Johnny Rockets is your idea of fine dining.

Nevertheless, Modern Streak was sleek and comfortable, attempting an airy country club feel, replete with plush, wicker seating and shade umbrellas all designed to give an afternoon cocktail a breezy, carefree edge. Contained withing the encroaching and antiseptic indoors of the mall, it achieved the faux version of its goal perfectly. Call it the Las Vegas of lunching...

I had been down all weekend, so imagine my optimism when I saw a beef carpaccio on the menu. I leapt, adding a refreshing margarita to it (it came in a martini glass, with floating cucumber slice - a nice touch) and the slump seemed to be ending.

But the carpaccio was awful. The beef was fresh, sliced thinly enough, but it tasted unseasoned and weak. A generous, unsatisfying portion it was.
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The slump persists

O-for-Arizona. Surrounded by impenetrable bad energy (despite the best efforts of some members of the inner circle), the slump persisted Sunday at Havana Cafe on Camelback.

Havana Cafe has always been something of a curiosity to me. It is a Phoenix staple, both for the locals and the ballplayer set in for spring training, and yet has never been a must-destination for me.

Perhaps the reason is that I wind up ordering the same meals I hate. For example, the mojito was delicious - though if Havana Cafe wants to be authentic, the mojito should be served with a stick of sugar cane - but the minute I ordered the bacalaitos fritos (fried cod appetizer) I regretted it. Why? Because they look like cheese balls and taste like sawdust.

And then to add to the gastronomic misery was a moment of hilarity, when the woman at the table adjacent ours asked me if I was eating "cod balls."

Well, technically, yes. And that made it all the worse.

The ropa vieja (shredded beef with peppers, onions in a light tomato sauce) was much better but I had been in town three days and had not yet been uplifted by food, which never happens...
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An amazing first!

Cleansing the palate from the Frasher's dining disappointment, I then turned my attention to the cuisine Arizona does best: Mexican food. This was exciting both because I was eager to improve the declining direction of my food choices and also, when you live at The Compound, good Mexican food is a delicacy available only when you happen to be, say, 2600 miles west of home.

The choice was Taberna, an upscale joint in North Scottsdale, not far from the Hyatt Gainey Ranch - my preferred hotel destination denied me by ridiculous pricing ($451/night!)

There were other choices recommended, Los Dos Molinos and Los Sombreros especially. I chose the power of the MagicPad, which suggested through the Open Table app Taberna.

Warning signs abounded: Good people recommended two different restaurants, and the customer reviews of Taberna were specific in their criticisms beyond the usual, "The waitress, Tammy, too seven minutes instead of five, to bring my ice water..."

No, these reviews noted Taberna's odd propensity for running out of menu items and overcooking its entrees, like the filet mignon tacos.

And with that, an amazing first occurred at Taberna - a Mexican restaurant ran out of Guacamole.


This bears repeating.
Out.of.guac.

The cocktail, a habanero margarita, was spicy and delicious. The scallop ceviche, was flavorful, but uncharacteristically slimy.


So, what do I do? I order the filet mignon tacos, which were overcooked just like Open Table said.
Tough trip...

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A downward spiral, but Kasey (sp?) samples the cheesecake...

Bad journalist points will be accepted by me for not asking the proper spelling of our waiter's name, but Casey (Kacey? Kasey? KC? K-See?) was the star of the night when we entered Frasher's on Scottsdale Road.

For years, I have railed against (and have not always been successful in avoiding) the culture of complaint. People, regardless of their good fortune, can always find something to complain about. It is, well, unattractive.

Kacey was not a member of this tribe. She laughed a huge laugh - warm and genuine. She bathed in her reckless good nature, amusing herself when she leaned too far, for too long, over the table and candle, nearly incinerating both her apron and (more importantly) the unborn baby along for the ride beneath it. She said smiling that she was five months along...

Despite a vibrant and fun bar scene with a terrifcally enthusiastic staff, the food at Frasher's was regrettably disappointing - so much to the point that a few of my friends questioned my standing in the gastronomic community.

There were no winners on my plate - not the mashed potatoes or the prime rib or the vegetables. It was not a promising start...

Still, when Kacey sampled four of Suzy Watson's mini-cheesecakes, even her good mood improved, as if that were possible.
"This is the most fun table I've ever had!" She, of course, was 100 percent correct.
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Behind every good cheesecake is a good woman...

"Who made all these cheesecakes?" I said while crushing a blueberry offering, forgetting the progress we've made in the weight-loss department, willing to descent into the depths of decadence. "Well, I did, silly."
That was the voice - proud, with a lilac drawl - of Suzy Watson, who was surprisingly reluctant to pose with her handiwork. Ms. Watson caters for Mesa's own Cucina di Vita (www.cucinadivita.com), and the world is better for it...how can a name that translates into "Kitchen of Life" be anything but positive?
Thank you, Suzy!
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A positive start...

Friday night, the bottomless book tour made a stop to the Arizona Historical Society Museum where the Play Ball exhibit was on display. I spoke and signed books, but the real winner came after the signing, with a perusal of the dessert table.

A platter of mini-cheesecakes of such delightful variety...rum, plain, blueberry, peach-berry, four-fruit, and my favorite name (though I dislike chocolate) "chocolate rhapsody."

Sometimes you have to make your own luck, which is why I decided right then and there, to be bold:
"I can't decide which of these to pick," I said of my mini-options. "I'd like to take them all."

And that is how I left the Arizona Historical Society Museum with a full platter of cheesecakes. Since it's spring training, it was like hitting a home run in your first at-bat...

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The Cactus League - On a Platter

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Two full days remaining in Arizona, which means two full days to salvage what has been a surprisingly disappointing adventure in gastronomy.

Scottsdale has always been the tony alternative to the more rugged Phoenix. Few places in the United States flaunt and encourage the audacity of wealth like it. For the food lover, such an uncomfortable characteristic can be a hidden boon. On this trip, it remains so...
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And finally....

The coconut and passion fruit creme brulee!
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Correction!

It's the Gramercy Bistro, not Grammercy! Mi culpa...
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Blue cheese and date stuffed filet mignon

With bacon! -- Grammercy Bistro
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French Onion soup, Grammercy Bistro

An appropriate choice on a nine-degree night...
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First sidecar of 2011

Courtesy of Grammercy Bistro, North Adams, MA...delicioso!
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