Dining at the Phoenician in Scottsdale Arizona

Drinks, dinner, and dessert!  Tonight kicked off restaurant week here in Arizona. We used this as our motivation to head up to the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Before dinner, we took a walk around the property.  The elegant Phoenician Resort sits in a gorgeous location right at the base of Camelback Mountain.

Secluded, cozy seating areas dot the property. These are often nestled in the shade of mature trees.

Ponds and fountains add to the lush feel of the property.

Drinks at the Thirsty Camel Lounge

We started our evening with drinks at the Thirsty Camel Lounge.  I was happy to see two mocktails offered on the menu. We tried the Ginger Azul and the Desert Pear.  The Ginger Azul is made with blackberries, mint, lemon juice, simple syrup, and ginger beer.  The Desert Pear is made with prickly pear syrup, lemon juice, pineapple juice, and soda.  Both were bright, colorful, and refreshing.

We sipped our drinks while listening to live, acoustic music and enjoying the view.

Dinner at Mowry and Cotton

When it was time for our reservation, we made our way down to Mowry and Cotton.  The restaurant setting is relaxed with large tables, comfortable seating, and a huge covered patio for al fresco dining.  It was 99 degrees when we arrived so we decided to sit indoors. The spacious inside dining area has wood inlaid ceilings and a large, open kitchen area with a wood-burning oven where they cook various flat breads. Service was friendly and prompt.

For the Table to Share

The special restaurant-week menu started with a plate of buttermilk buns with two types of duck fat butter. These were delicious – warm, soft yeast rolls served on a wooden log slab.  The artistic plating elevated the dish to a presentation piece. It was hard to stop at one bun!

Starter

For our starter, we each chose the Mowry Chop Salad.  Instead of a traditional chopped romaine, this was an arugula salad with avocado, corn, peppers, cotija cheese, black currants, pheasant, and a mole sauce.  The salad was a generously-sized portion and the flavors complemented each other nicely.

Entrées

For the entrée, Kevin chose the roasted salmon and I chose the charred hanger steak. The roasted salmon was topped with pomegranate and served with charred cedar.  When I read the menu I thought this meant it was cooked on a cedar plank but what came to the table was the  plated salmon alongside a smoking ember of cedar wood!  It quickly extinguished itself but it briefly smelled like a burning cedar campfire. I’ve never seen this presentation before. It was very unique.

The hanger steak was accompanied by wild mushrooms, pickled blueberries and a sunflower pesto.  The brightness of the pesto was a nice counterpoint to the rich, meaty steak and savory mushrooms.

Desserts

For dessert, we chose one lemon meringue pie and one apple crumble.  The desserts were very creative. Instead of a traditional lemon pie with a baked meringue topping, the lemon pie was topped with pomegranate seeds and mini meringue cookies.  The lemon pie reminded me of lemon bars that my grandma used to make, nicely tart but not overly so.

The apple crumble was very artistically presented.  It came to the table with what I first thought was half of an Asian pear.  See the photo, what do you think the fruit piece looks like?

I soon learned that it was not a piece of fruit at all but it was actually molasses ice cream airbrushed to look like an apple with a chocolate “stick” for the stem.  Amazing!   The apples were cooked just enough to still have a firm texture and hold their shape but cooked long enough that the cinnamon flavor infused each bite. The sauced apple pieces were tossed with the crumble topping. The dessert portions were surprisingly large.

Wine Cellar

On the way out of Mowry & Cotton, we noticed a stained-glass door with a sign that read “Praying Monk.”  I was intrigued so I asked the hostess what was behind the door.  She explained it was their functioning wine cellar where they store bottles of wine, hold wine tastings, and offer the room for private parties.  She let us take a peek inside. She told us that the room is made completely of brick and that the bricks in the cellar were imported from an old, demolished castle in Europe.

A quick stop in the lobby to snap a photo of us on date-night then it was time to head home.

We headed back out to the valet to get our car for the quick drive home.  Pro tip: Valet parking is free with validation when dining at the restaurants on the property. The large fountain at the lobby entrance is beautifully illuminated at night.

 

 

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