Arizona Restuarant Week - True Food
We voyaged out for our first Arizona Restaurant Week meal on Sunday night. The choice was True Food at Biltmore Fashion Park. I’d never been there but had heard good things about it. It’s a Sam Fox restaurant and all of his establishments have been notable.
I was the first one there and the place was buzzing with patrons at 6 PM. The hostess promptly seated me and did a nice job of chatting. “Is this your first time here? You’re going to love it!” Our waiter was also Johnny on the spot and fetched me water and a glass of wine while I waited for my companions.
While I was waiting, I perused their regular menu. The concept is Globally Inspired Cuisine and the menu reflected that. I loved that the wine was coded Biodynamically Farmed, Certified Organically Farmed or Sustainably Farmed and Organic and Gluten Free food items were noted.
Here’s the menu they offered for Restaurant Week:
* First Course (choice of):
o Shrimp Dumplings, Shiitake Mushrooms, Ginger & Cilantro
o House Smoked Salmon, Greek Yogurt & Pita Chip*
o Farm Vegetable Salad, Manchego Cheese, Pistachios & Sesame Chili Vinaigrette (gf, veg)
o Tuscan Kale Salad, Lemon, Parmesan & EVOO (org, veg)
* Second Course (choice of):
o Grilled Steelhead Salmon, Quinoa, Local Beet & Preserved Lemon Salad
o Turkey Bolognese, Brown Rice Penne & Parmesan (gf)
o Teriyaki Bowl, Brown Rice, Asian Vegetables, Sesame & Avocado - Choice of: tofu or chicken (v)
o Pan Roasted Natural Chicken Corn, Fennel, Farro, Walnut & Herb Vinaigrette
o Steak Tacos, Avocado, Tomatillo Salsa, Cotija Cheese & Anasazi Beans*
* Third Course (choice of):
o Flourless Chocolate Cake, with 72% Cocoa, Vanilla Ice Cream & Caramel (gf)
o Dairy Free Organic Chocolate Pudding, Walnuts and Pistachios (gf)
o Apple-Cranberry Crumble, with Dairy-Free Maple Ice Cream
o Banana Chocolate Tart, with Mesquite Flour Crust & Brazil Nuts
o Lemon Olive Oil Cake, with Marinated Strawberries & Greek Yogurt
o Lemon-Ginger Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt, with Fresh Berries (gf)
o Orange Olivello Sorbet, with Fresh Berries (gf)
* Additional Items (choice of):
o Herb Hummus, Pita Bread, Tomato, Onion & Feta (veg)
They brought out two plates of the Herb Hummus for us to start with. I’m not a hummus fan in any way but I did try it. The pita bread was excellent and the extra veggies were tasty and the hummus wasn’t bad. I think a hummus fan would have really liked it.
I chose the Shrimp Dumplings, Pan Roasted Chicken and Apple-Cranberry Crumble for my selections. The waiter let us wait to choose our dessert at the end so we didn’t have to stress over making three choices at once.
The Dumplings were Chinese style and were OK. One of my friends didn’t care for them and barely took a nibble. The waiter noticed (she didn’t say anything), offered immediately to get her a different option and ultimately gave her an extra dessert to go. That’s great customer service in my book.
The Chicken was great! Cooked perfectly, very moist and the Fennel gave the sauce and veggies an interesting flavor. If you like black licorice, I’d say try this. It wasn’t an overwhelming flavor, however, unless you munched the Fennel itself.
One thing I’ve noticed about Restaurant Week, the desserts are usually awesome. This one was no exception. There were big chunks of crumble and the small scoop of ice cream just hit the spot. I actually didn’t finish the whole thing but that was just because I was too darn full.
If you’re into people watching, you can’t go wrong at the Biltmore and there were plenty of pretty people at True Food. I was quite intrigued by a Barbie sitting at the table across from us who had Farrah Fawcet hair and a face she couldn’t have wrinkled if her life depended on it. I can only imagine how much money went into that look.
I’d definitely go back to True Food so it’s a win for Arizona Restaurant Week.
I was the first one there and the place was buzzing with patrons at 6 PM. The hostess promptly seated me and did a nice job of chatting. “Is this your first time here? You’re going to love it!” Our waiter was also Johnny on the spot and fetched me water and a glass of wine while I waited for my companions.
While I was waiting, I perused their regular menu. The concept is Globally Inspired Cuisine and the menu reflected that. I loved that the wine was coded Biodynamically Farmed, Certified Organically Farmed or Sustainably Farmed and Organic and Gluten Free food items were noted.
Here’s the menu they offered for Restaurant Week:
* First Course (choice of):
o Shrimp Dumplings, Shiitake Mushrooms, Ginger & Cilantro
o House Smoked Salmon, Greek Yogurt & Pita Chip*
o Farm Vegetable Salad, Manchego Cheese, Pistachios & Sesame Chili Vinaigrette (gf, veg)
o Tuscan Kale Salad, Lemon, Parmesan & EVOO (org, veg)
* Second Course (choice of):
o Grilled Steelhead Salmon, Quinoa, Local Beet & Preserved Lemon Salad
o Turkey Bolognese, Brown Rice Penne & Parmesan (gf)
o Teriyaki Bowl, Brown Rice, Asian Vegetables, Sesame & Avocado - Choice of: tofu or chicken (v)
o Pan Roasted Natural Chicken Corn, Fennel, Farro, Walnut & Herb Vinaigrette
o Steak Tacos, Avocado, Tomatillo Salsa, Cotija Cheese & Anasazi Beans*
* Third Course (choice of):
o Flourless Chocolate Cake, with 72% Cocoa, Vanilla Ice Cream & Caramel (gf)
o Dairy Free Organic Chocolate Pudding, Walnuts and Pistachios (gf)
o Apple-Cranberry Crumble, with Dairy-Free Maple Ice Cream
o Banana Chocolate Tart, with Mesquite Flour Crust & Brazil Nuts
o Lemon Olive Oil Cake, with Marinated Strawberries & Greek Yogurt
o Lemon-Ginger Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt, with Fresh Berries (gf)
o Orange Olivello Sorbet, with Fresh Berries (gf)
* Additional Items (choice of):
o Herb Hummus, Pita Bread, Tomato, Onion & Feta (veg)
They brought out two plates of the Herb Hummus for us to start with. I’m not a hummus fan in any way but I did try it. The pita bread was excellent and the extra veggies were tasty and the hummus wasn’t bad. I think a hummus fan would have really liked it.
I chose the Shrimp Dumplings, Pan Roasted Chicken and Apple-Cranberry Crumble for my selections. The waiter let us wait to choose our dessert at the end so we didn’t have to stress over making three choices at once.
The Dumplings were Chinese style and were OK. One of my friends didn’t care for them and barely took a nibble. The waiter noticed (she didn’t say anything), offered immediately to get her a different option and ultimately gave her an extra dessert to go. That’s great customer service in my book.
The Chicken was great! Cooked perfectly, very moist and the Fennel gave the sauce and veggies an interesting flavor. If you like black licorice, I’d say try this. It wasn’t an overwhelming flavor, however, unless you munched the Fennel itself.
One thing I’ve noticed about Restaurant Week, the desserts are usually awesome. This one was no exception. There were big chunks of crumble and the small scoop of ice cream just hit the spot. I actually didn’t finish the whole thing but that was just because I was too darn full.
If you’re into people watching, you can’t go wrong at the Biltmore and there were plenty of pretty people at True Food. I was quite intrigued by a Barbie sitting at the table across from us who had Farrah Fawcet hair and a face she couldn’t have wrinkled if her life depended on it. I can only imagine how much money went into that look.
I’d definitely go back to True Food so it’s a win for Arizona Restaurant Week.
