Recap of visit to Bloom (Scottsdale)

Ciaogal, I find it rude as well, especially if you have just two people dining!

Years ago my parents told me about their little "trick" to keep waiters from clearing the table. Even if one of them has a completely empty plate, as soon as a staff member starts coming in their direction, the person with the empty plate picks up a utensil and starts pushing it around the plate. That usually causes staff to retreat.

Restaurants need to find the balance between turning tables and letting diners have a relaxed experience. I have been places that have managed to achieve this balance, and I don't think it is really that hard.

Back to Bloom - I am curious as to what other CH'ers think - is Fox suffering from too much, too fast? I watched a BBC Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares last night (so much better and less-sensationalized than the Fox version, of course) and he pointed out to an owner who was experiencing much success and had lost her way quality-wise that she didn't have to take every single reservation that came in, nor did she have to expand just because her food was in demand. Perhaps Fox has become too focused on the corporate-defined version of success and has forgotten his passion, which used to be the food.

pickychick in Southwest

Review: Switch - Phoenix (w/ photos!)

Wow! I'm am really bummed to read your responses. How crazy that experiences can be so varied. I guess I should consider myself lucky! I do tend to stick to the same dishes once I find something I like, so perhaps that is the secret behind me having more favorable experiences. At Fez I order either the Pesto-Caesar with chicken or the Tangier Burger. At Ticoz I stick to the House Enchiladas. The last time we went to Ticoz, we were informally celebrating the engagement of my sister-in-law (just me, hubby, sis-in-law, and her newly betrothed). I called ahead to see if we could make a reservation and have a bottle of champagne chilled and ready at the table. I was told that they don't do reservations but they would put me in their "no-rez" book (first time I ever experienced this kind of approach). When we arrived, there was a table set aside for us with champagne waiting. The waiter had been briefed about our celebration previously and upon greeting us, offered congratulations. My only complaint is that they still serve those horrible tostitos-type chips.

I hope they can get some consistency going at all their locations!

pickychick in Southwest

Review: Switch - Phoenix (w/ photos!)

winedubar - when did you last visit Fez or Ticoz? I was very surprised to read that you find Switch so much better than those places. I was last at Fez in late July and at Ticoz last month. I loved my meals at both, and the service was flawless.

pickychick in Southwest

Review: Switch - Phoenix (w/ photos!)

I agree with you, Seth. They need to take it up a notch in a few areas. I have been there twice for breakfast and the issues I had related to both the food and the execution of things.

The first visit, I ordered a large latte and it was served in a tall paper cup as if I was ordering it to go. The second visit, my "large" latte was served in a small teacup/coffee mug that regular coffee was being served in...how odd! For food I had the French toast the first time, and it was so-so. The second time I ordered the croissant with ham & cheese expecting a warm breakfast sandwich. What I got was a cold croissant with some slices of swiss cheese on one side and a pile of cold ham lunchmeat on the other. Also, on both visits the wait staff was unpolished and confused, but in their favor, they were very friendly. I am pretty surprised by all of this since the owners are behind two other successful establishments.

When I read your review and your take on the Caesar, I immediately thought of the pesto-
Caesar with pistachios at Fez. Why hasn't the same kind of innovative thinking made it to Switch? My final gripe is that for a place that is called a "Bakery & Restaurant" they sure don't have very many baked goods on the menu. Where are the muffins and breads?

Despite my complaints, I still think that they will hit their stride. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.

pickychick in Southwest

Restaurants between Tucson & Phoenix

LOL! Yes, boring can be bad. My food hasn't been THAT boring there, but I agree that it isn't exciting. It is however, better than most of the fast food places and gas station fare surrounding it.

pickychick in Southwest

Scrapple in Phoenix

LOL! I wonder what the luggage screeners at the airport thought about that!!!

pickychick in Phoenix

Wedding Rehearsal near Pointe Tapatio (Phoenix)

tkanelos - I'm guessing you aren't from Phoenix and I'm sorry this didn't occur to me earlier because if it had, I would have clarified that Aunt Chilada's at Squaw Peak isn't that far from the Pointe Tapatio. It is only about 5 miles. So you probably could have stuck with that plan.

Now, the Aunt Chilada's down at the Pointe South Mountain is a different story, being about 20 miles away from Tapatio. All these "Pointe" resorts - it can definitely get confusing!

Has your event already passed?

pickychick in Southwest

Restaurants between Tucson & Phoenix

I second silverbear's recommendation. Mi Amigo has been around forever and is consistently good. There's also Eva's Mexican Food just off of I-10 right outside of Casa Grande. I've eaten there a few times on my way to and from Phoenix.

Honestly, there isn't much between the two cities once you get outside of the city limits of each. After Casa Grande, it's pretty quiet until the very northern edges of Tucson. Unless, of course, you want to check out the Dairy Queen across the highway from Picacho Peak. ;-)

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Eva's Mexican Food Restaurant
7087 S Sunland Gin Rd, Eloy, AZ 85231

pickychick in Southwest

Favorite Coffee Shop in PHX?

Does anyone know of any places between the east/west boundaries of 7th St & 19th Ave and north/south boundaries of Thunderbird & the 101 (basically Beardsley). I would love, love, LOVE to find a Starbuck's alternative on my route to work. Haven't found anything yet.

pickychick in Phoenix

Wine Bars and Restaurants

For an extensive Italian wine list, you can try Grazie Pizzeria Winebar. Here's the wine list: http://www.grazie.us/winelist.html

And location:

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Grazie Pizzeria & Wine Bar
6952 E Main St, Scottsdale, AZ 85251

pickychick in Southwest

Wedding Rehearsal near Pointe Tapatio (Phoenix)

I have been to Greek Town a couple times and the atmosphere was festive and it was a lot of fun overall. But, I live in the area and pass the place frequently and I have noticed that the exterior has become really run-down (weeds in front, etc.). I thought for a little while that maybe they had closed. This isn't to say that the food isn't still great, just kind of a "heads-up" on impressions from the exterior.

I think Ninetta's or Salute would be good ideas - silverbear's advice about buying out the space applies to Ninetta's as well. I have been to NInetta's and can confidently say that they would overwhelm you with hospitality and great food. I haven't eaten at Salute, but as I said - I live in the area - and the parking lot is always full.

Here are some links to previous discussions that include mentions of Salute:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/358062
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/415885

pickychick in Southwest

Tony's Italian Deli - Sunnyslope (PHX)

We live in the area as well, and visited Il Posto a couple weeks after they opened. We were VERY disappointed. All the ambiance from Our Gang is gone. And so are most of the dishes/pizzas we liked. They advertise in our neighborhood newsletter and I guess things must not be going very well because a recent ad had in big letters something about "same owners as Our Gang!!!" I will keep an eye out for a review from you and honestly hope they have figured out their new look, feel, and taste!

pickychick in Southwest

Tony's Italian Deli - Sunnyslope (PHX)

Bill, do you have a review of Il Posto? (the former Our Gang)

pickychick in Southwest

Scrapple in Phoenix

I was in the Fry's at Dunlap and Cave Creek tonight (always an adventure!) and spotted Scrapple in their frozen food aisle. I stared at it for a minute trying to remember where I had seen that word before. Then I remembered, Chowhound!! But, my discovery doesn't seem like it will help you, ajs228, since you were seeking a place that served it. But, for future reference, if you want to purchase some it is at Fry's on the second shelf from the bottom next to the Morning Star products in the frozen food aisle. ;-)

pickychick in Phoenix

Fast, high-quality food in Phoenix

I know there will be disagreement, but I personally like Zoes. I always get the Lean Turkey Pita. I have never had a bad experience at either of the two Zoes locations I frequent. Note that there is no longer a location on Central. (I linked to the McDowell and Camelback locations in my post, but only one showed up. I went back to edit and the 'add a link' function isn't available. Guess that is why it is still in beta. ;-)

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Zoe's Kitchen
521 W McDowell Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85003

pickychick in Phoenix

Phx: Im search of...

You bet there is!

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Swensen's Ice Cream
10400 N 28th Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85051

pickychick in Phoenix

Dinner suggestions 7th./Bell Phx.

Il Posto is the old Our Gang. Same owners, different menu. They ditched most of the pizza offerings and are attempting to be "upscale Northern Italian." I found it boring and the new decor to be lacking the charm of the previous look (even if it was kitschy). Totally disappointed especially since I have lived in the vicinity of this restaurant for two years, had made it a reliable standby, and then they went and changed everything.

Le Peep next door closed, and looks like the space is being renovated. Hopefully something independent and tasty will go in...who knows...

pickychick in Southwest

Sweet Potato Fries - Phoenix

I'm not really contributing anything new to this discussion...Delux spf's rock, FEZ falls flat.

I guess I just want my fries to be a salty side dish and not dessert-like. The sweetness of the FEZ fries totally threw me off the first time I tried them. The experience was very unsatisfying. The only plus side is now I don't order fries at FEZ, leaving me room for packing on all the calories in the Tangier burger! :-)

pickychick in Southwest

suggestions on cafes for studying at night in phoenix?

Unlimited Coffee is good because they have free wifi and lots of seating - a HUGE long table in the middle of the room with power outlets available if you start to drain your battery. You can spread out all of your books, paper, computer, etc. with no worry about space. They also have tables and couches. The only negatives about the place are that I don't always like the music selection and sometimes it is quite empty (usually later in the evenings - there is a pretty steady flow of people on weekends) which can be good if you are trying to study, but sometimes it just feels a bit odd.

pickychick in Southwest

THE FOODBAR (Scottsdale)

My husband and I went to check out FOODBAR on Friday night. It is located across the street from Cowboy Ciao to what I think is the northwest. For anyone who remembers, it is on the site where Madison's used to sit.

FOODBAR is housed in a long rectangular space, and you can enter either side. On one end, you enter into the breakfast/coffee bar area, and on the other end you enter into the lunch and dinner area. Connecting these two spaces is a long hall-type space with seating. There is also a patio outside, and judging by the fans overhead along the front of the establishment, there will eventually be seating along the sidewalk.

The space was very airy, lots of windows and light. I was impressed with the materials used in the construction - dark rich woods, steel, glass...it had a modern feel with a twist of retro.

I don't know why, but from the few things I had read about the place, I expected it to be a full-blown sit down restaurant. It isn't. It has more of a market/cafe sort of feel, where you go through a line viewing options and placing your order along the way. As you enter the queue in the lunch/dinner area, you first encounter Chef Allan's Salads in a display case. The options consisted of Curried Chicken, Herb Buttermilk Chicken, Mediterranean Tuna, Classic Tuna, Moroccan Spiced Carrot and Currant, Pickled Seasonal Vegetables, Couscous with fruit (called the North African), Caprese (a cool twist – orzo, pesto, mozzarella, and “moon-dried” tomatoes), and the Tuscan. You can see pictures of the menu by visiting the link at the end of this post.

We were offered samples of everything so we tried the Moroccan, Buttermilk, and Caprese. I was most impressed with the Caprese. The Buttermilk was rather bland. The Moroccan was really interesting – my first bite was a blast of carrot and cinnamon and then cilantro kicked in. A few seconds later I felt the spice (not sure what it was, but it had a black pepper-like zing) while the cilantro went full force in my mouth. It was a very busy experience for my taste buds – there was so much going on! And then I got to some raisins and yet another flavor was tossed into the mix. I don’t know if I could eat an entire serving of this particular salad, but it certainly gave me something to think about.

Next up in the cases were more standard salads – field greens, a Caesar, etc.

After the salads you encountered a staff member at a register-type station. This is where you place your order for hot or cold sandwiches. It was a little odd because you don’t pay at this point – you just place your sandwich order and also indicate if you want any sides like mashed potatoes or roasted new potatoes, etc. Then the staff member punches your order in and hands you a number. You move on and pass the full dinner options – Spit Roasted Chicken, Pasta, Fish – and then as you swing back around in the queue you come to the desserts, and finally the beverages. After the beverages you end up at the register, where you would normally pay but because this was part of their “dress-rehearsal,” everything was on the house.

My husband had the Soft Shell Crab Po-Boy and I had the Chicken Panini. We ordered a slice of the Chocolate Pave to split. We left the register with our dessert and drinks (lemonade for me, melonade for my husband) and found a table. After about 5 minutes, our sandwiches were brought out to us. They were served alone on white plates. The Po-Boy came on a round plate, while the Panini was on an oblong plate.

After we each had a few bites of our own sandwiches, and a sample bite of each other’s, I asked my husband what he thought of his selection. He stated that it wasn’t bad, but he certainly wouldn’t order it again. I concurred. There wasn’t much flavor to the sandwich and all I could really taste was the sauce. The Panini was better, but not a standout from all other paninis I have had. I would simply describe it as, “good.” However, I did like the “moon-dried” tomatoes a whole lot. They were flavorful and manageable, not like when you have giant fresh tomato slices slipping all over your sandwich and making it hard to gracefully eat your sandwich. They were small like sun-dried tomatoes, but soft, juicy, and flavorful.

The dessert was a lot less dense than I expected – when I hear “flourless chocolate cake” (which, when used together, are my three favorite words in the world!) I imagine a very dense texture. This had a flaky brownie texture on top and was a little dry but it worked. The flavor was rich but didn’t overwhelm. There was also a light and airy puff of a marshmallow-tasting filling in little pockets of the cake here and there. I would definitely order this dessert again and NOT share. :-)

I can see the FOODBAR becoming the hot spot to meet for lunch or breakfast – not quite like LGO, but perhaps its streamlined and more contemporary cousin. FOODBAR sells merchandise such as kitchen textiles, bags of trail mix, bottled drinks to go and the like but it definitely doesn’t have the dedicated market area like LGO. And despite all the complaints about seating and space at LGO, FOODBAR is definitely smaller. The seating inside was geared towards parties of two, so larger parties will have to sit outside.

Beer and wine will be available, but they don’t have their license yet. We heard Chef Schanbacher talking to some friends and saying they will be opening on Monday or Tuesday of this coming week, but aren’t going to make a big deal about it or publicize it too much right now. He said the reason for this is because there is still so much construction in the area and it is summer. I guess he is approaching this more as a quiet and steady build rather than a big fanfare and fizzle.

If you have a chance, check out FOODBAR and have a piece of Chocolate Pave for me!

more pictures: http://www.flickr.com/gp/8854511@N08/3N97J5

pickychick in Southwest

Need a date recommendation in Phoenix ASAP!!!

I concur - Caffe Boa on Mill is a great choice! As far as what to do afterwards...depends what you are looking for - music? movie? lounge? Check the Phoenix New Times and AZCentral web sites - they both have calendars that list a variety of events. Otherwise, just wandering up and down Mill can be entertainment in and of itself...

pickychick in Southwest

THE FOODBAR (Scottsdale)

The times are as follows:
June 6th, 7-10am
June 7th, 11am-2pm and 4-7pm
June 8th, 7-10am, 11am-2pm, and 4-7pm

pickychick in Southwest

THE FOODBAR (Scottsdale)

There are multiple preview times - June 6 for breakfast, June 7 for lunch and dinner, and all three meals on June 8. You have to RSVP - if you want that info, lemme know.

pickychick in Southwest

Summer Dining Deals- (PHX)

I received the Ninetta's Passion Bistro weekly mailing today and they are having some summer specials:

Sizzling Sensational Summer Prefix:
Designed for 2 people.You get 2 appetizers, 2 entrée’s, a dessert for two & a bottle of wine for $56. We will feature our Prefix menu on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Nights. This week's menu:
Appetizers (choice of 2) House Salad, mussels in a spicy red sauce, clam chowder.
Entree’s (Choice of 2) Fettuccini Alfredo, Penne with Shrimp & A rosa sauce or Lasagna.
Dessert (Choice of 1) Lemon Sorbet or Spumoni
Wine (Choice of 1) Esperanza Sauvignon Blanc, Micheal Angelo Chianti or Sangria

Grillin-N-Chillin Thursdays:
Starting June 7th Thursday nights will be grillin-n-chillin nights. We will have some great
features from the grill paired with either wine or beer.

http://www.ninettaspassionbistro.com/

pickychick in Phoenix

THE FOODBAR (Scottsdale)

Sorry for all-caps, but that is how they format the name...has anyone heard anything about this new place beyond what was written up in the New Times? (http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bella/2007/04/scottsdales_southbridge_develo.php)

My husband received an email invite for a preview and not only were we curious about the restaurant, but we were trying to figure out how the PR group got his email since he's probably on, at most, one restaurant email list.

pickychick in Southwest

Summer Dining Deals- (PHX)

I agree with Bill - people don't leave town like they used to...Phoenix has become a lot less of a winter-only spot. I miss the days when traffic would become a bit more tolerable, restaurants were a bit less crowded, and even though it was searing outside, you felt like you had just a wee bit more room to spread out.

Beyond gimmicks like Macayo offering discounts equivalent to the temperatures, I haven't heard of any really good summer-only specials. Instead of staying open and offering some deals, a lot of places close for 2 weeks or even a month. Heck, if I could get out of town for a month in the midst of the meltdown, I certainly would!

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread in the hopes that there are still some businesses out there that will reward us for slogging through summer!

pickychick in Phoenix

Canadian in Phoenix for 5 days - where should I eat?

You might want to check out some of the the Chandler-related threads in the boards...but with the older posts, you should probably call the restaurants to make sure nothing has changed! Here are a few to get you started:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/95322
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/387539
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/95551

pickychick in Southwest

Canadian in Phoenix for 5 days - where should I eat?

Hey silverbear - did you mean "and not counting the myriad sprawlburbs"? ;-)

pickychick in Southwest

Canadian in Phoenix for 5 days - where should I eat?

El Bravo on 7th Street!!

BTW, where are you staying and will you have your own transportation?

pickychick in Southwest