Thursday, June 25, 2009

Top 10 pizza joints in Phoenix

Top 10 pizza joints in Phoenix (from AZCentral.com/Howard Seftel)

I've tried 8 out of the 10!
  • Pizzeria Bianco
  • Humble Pie
  • Patsy Grimaldi's
  • Cibo
  • La Piazza al Forno
  • Grazie
  • La Grande Orange
  • Pizza a Metro
  • Vito's Pizza
  • Classic Italian Pizza

Monday, June 22, 2009

Fantastic food last Friday

For lunch, I went to A Touch of European Cafe with a few of my co-workers. None of us had been there before. It's a small restaurant in downtown Glendale. I had a tomato, basil, mozzarella, and turkey sandwich on ciabatta bread (served w/ a bag of chips). The sandwich was excellent. We also split a slice of chocolate cake for dessert. Great find B!

Here are a few pictures:
A Touch of European Cafe - exteriorA Touch of European Cafe - interiorA Touch of European Cafe - tomato, basil, mozzarella, and turkey sandwichA Touch of European Cafe - chocolate cake
For dinner that night, we went to Tuck Shop with a friend. We've been there twice previously, but I've never written about it before. With this visit, Tuck has solidified itself as one of our favorite places in the Valley.

Tuck Shop
On this visit, we ordered the following to share:
  • Wild mushrooms on short pastry, goat cheese, sherry, thyme ($7)
  • Medjool dates stuffed with Schreiners chorizo, melted gruyere ($9)
  • Halibut filet, herb garden pesto, lentils, zucchini, heirloom tomatoes ($19)
Everything was excellent, as it has been on our previous visits. I think "big, bold flavors" is a good overall description of the food at Tuck Shop. The star of this meal was the halibut entree. The fish was perfectly cooked and the tomato was bursting with juice. It was a fantastic summer dish.

Tuck Shop - Wild mushrooms on short pastry, goat cheese, sherry, thymeTuck Shop - Medjool dates stuffed with Schreiners chorizo, melted gruyereTuck Shop - Halibut filet, herb garden pesto, lentils, zucchini, heirloom tomatoes
We were too stuffed for dessert, but they do give you complimentary cookie dough balls...
Tuck Shop - cookie dough balls
I'm a bit concerned that they weren't busier for a Friday evening. On our previous visits (back in late January and early February), the place was packed and we had to wait for a table.

Here are some pics of things we've had on our previous visits:
Tuck Shop - panini bitesPanini bites: grilled pear, taleggio, arugula, honey w/ prosciutto ($7+$2)

Tuck Shop - roasted beetsRoasted baby beets, spicy mustard cream ($6)

Tuck Shop - fried chicken and wafflesCitrus-brined fried chicken, white cheddar waffles, braised greens ($17)

Tuck Shop - skirt steakPine AZ spiced skirt steak, parmesan lentil mashed yukons, mushrooms ($18)

Tuck Shop - blueberry buckleBlueberry Buckle ($7)

Tuck Shop - bananas fosterBananas foster ($7)

If you haven't tried Tuck, I strongly recommend that you give it a try!

After dinner, I suggested going to Lola Coffee - a recently opened coffeehouse. We had a "Matador" (mocha w/ cinnamon) and coconut cupcake (made by Sweet Pea Bakery). Both were excellent. Here are a few pics:

It was a very nice day...we tried two new places which ended up being great, and returned to one of our favorites.

Places mentioned:
A Touch of European Cafe
7146 N 57th Dr #C
Glendale, AZ 85301

Tuck Shop
2245 N 12th St
Phoenix, AZ 85006

Lola Coffee
4700 N Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85012

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Dinner tonight

Sauteed spinach w/ garlicSauteed spinach w/ garlic

Pan fried tilapia (seasoned w/ cajun spice mix) Pan fried tilapia (seasoned w/ cajun spice mix)

Massive U10-15 shrimp (cooked w/ butter and garlic)Massive U10-15 shrimp (cooked w/ butter and garlic)

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Movies all weekend

We watched four movies over the weekend:

The Man on the Train (L'homme du train) - This one was "ok" for me...

Flags of our Fathers - Good movie, though I thought the companion movie "Letters from Iwo Jima" was a much better film.

Up (in 3D) - Loved this movie!

The Hangover - Hilarious...funniest movie I've seen since "I Love You, Man". Thought it was a tiny bit too long though.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Stop Motion Video made from Post-It Notes

Stop Motion Video made from Post-It Notes...


Making of video:


Amazing! Thanks for sharing Pangu...

Monday, June 8, 2009

Friday, June 5, 2009

Tough times for CityNorth

Headline from AZCentral.com:
Bloomingdale's, Macy's pull out of CityNorth

Ouch!
Nordstrom's, Bloomingdale's, and Macy's have all pulled out of the project.

"The departures leave Phase 2 with no committed tenants."

Phase 1 is already a ghost-town...the restaurants seem to be doing ok (w/ the exception of Saito's Japanese Steakhouse), but the retail shops must be in major pain.

Related posting:
CityNorth a dud?