Macayo's for lunch

La Bocca and a play

ASU Alumni offered free tickets to see "Sunday in the Park with George". I decided to accept the two tickets and take the Light Rail to Tempe for dinner and a show. I had several ideas in mind for the pre-show meal, but we walked past those choices, pulled on by new adventure. We crossed the street to go to a sushi restaurant, only to discover that it had closed. As we stood looking up at the darkened restaurant windows, we spotted a new restaurant. Well, new to me. I had eaten in the "sandwich shop" when I had classes in the engineering classrooms as ASU. The outdoor seating looked very inviting, but the interior drew us inside.

La Bocca, billed as an "urban pizzeria and wine bar", is far from a pizza joint. We were seated right away and approached immediately by Matthew, our guide for the night. He explained the menu, and proudly pointed out that many of the items used locally produced items. Several of my favorites were prominantly placed on the menu: Schreiner's Sausage (shout out to Nancy and the family!) and Queen Creek Olives. The menu was simple, easy to read, but VERY hard to make a choice because everything sounded so yummy. We decided to start with a home made cocktail called Clean Slate Martini {Gin, Cucumber} $7 and Septima Malbec, Argentina 2007 $8 (but at "relaxed pricing of $4). The Clean Slate Martini was incredible and destined to be a summer favorite. The Malbec was smooth and yummy.

We then had to make a choice on the food. We decided to start with bruschetta planks {$12}. We had to choose four out of the six offerings and while we picked four, we decided that we would have to return to try the other two. (Roasted tomato, pesto & parm and roasted artichoke & peppers would have to wait for our return.)

The plank that we selected had wonderful tastes with every bite. There was definitely some moaning going on at the table! Pictured below in order from left to right:

queen creek olives & ricotta
caprese with fresh pulled mozzarella
norwegian smoked salmon & mascarpone

prosciutto, fig & mascarpone

We snacked on the brushetta and then decided on a pizza. Again, not an easy task, and we finally selected bocca trio ‘ crushed san marzano tomatoes, pepperoni, genoa salami, schreiner’s “sicily” sausage, mozzarella & fontina, queen creek olives {$13}. The taste was incredible. The toppings were distinct and the sauce was extremely tomatoey tasty.Of course, Matthew is paying a tremendouse amount of attention to us and sharing all of his knowledge and enthusiasm about the food. I asked if they were going to feature any dishes with Schepf Farms peaches this month, since this was THE TIME to pick them. Matthew brought Peter over to the table to chat about the peaches, and I clued him in on my experiences at Schnepf Farms for the Peach Festival. There is timing to consider (before the huge crowds arrive) and the weekend that the EarliGrande peach orchards are open. That is a MUST and is worth all of the effort to get these particular peaches.

This is Matthew and Peter. Two fun guys who made the dinner a great experience. I now feel like part of the family, and that type of ambiance is not easy to get on a first visit. After some great conversation about local restaurants and the sights of the area (I sent Peter and the family to Rock Springs for pies), desert was served and there is absolutely nothing better than a warm brownie topped with Mary Coyle ice cream. OMG (and that is a great name for this desert!) for two ‘ a decadent house made ghirardelli triple chocolate espresso infused brownie cooked in a hot skillet and served with mary coyle vanilla bean ice cream {$7}

By the way, did you notice the prices? This was so wonderful and so wonderfully priced that it deserves a trip on the Light Rail to come to the restaurant alone. From what I have seen so far, this is a place that is worth spreading the word about.

After that wonderful dinner, we walked down to the Evelyn Smith Music Theatre at ASU to watch "Sunday in the Park with George". A Sondheim musical, this was just another reminder that there is so much to do in the city and a lot of talent.

Dessert at Phoenix Art Museum

Took the Metro to the Phoenix Art Museum. Met friends for lunch, finished with a warmed chocolate & pecan desert. States to view the French film "Les visiteurs du soir".

The whole idea of taking the Metro Light Rail to downtown Phoenix is new (since December). I talked all three friends into riding. Karl started out on the western end of the line, at 19th Avenue and Bethany home. I met Joan and Doug at the 38th Street and Washington Park and Ride. We purchased our tickets (credit, debt, and to my surprise CASH!) and boarded the train. We had a nice ride through downtown Phoenix and were very excited to talk about all of the places "on the line" that were good candidates for dinner.

The stop closest to the Art Museum was at McDowell and Central so we quickly crossed the two streets and made our way to the entrance on the north side of the building. It was an easy walk. We met at the Arcadia Cafe, a few minutes before they started serving lunch at 11AM. Joan and Doug had the crabcakes, I had the tart, and Karl had the Albacore sandwich. The yummy chocolate and pecan treat was brought to the table nicely arranged in four pieces, and we enjoyed with the locally roasted coffee.

After the movie, we headed to the train stop for an enjoyable and easy ride home.

Samovar Tea Lounge

Samovar Tea Lounge is on the second floor of the building, and faces a nice open plaza. The outside seating looked interesting, but full.

Russian Chay Platter & Bottomless Samovar House-Blend Black Tea.

Tarragon-Marinated beets, Smoked Whitefish & Horseradish, paprika Devilled Egg with Caviar (wild for lunch?), wheat Crackers, and fresh fruit. The menu states that "They say that Tolstoy fueled his creativity by drinking Russian tea from the samovar. See what it does for you."

So, I received instructions from the waiter on the use of the savarka from the samovar, diluted with some hot water, and some additional sugar and milk.

The tea was "bottomless" but I had a table that was behind two other tables. I needed to wind my way through the other tables to get to the samovar. But it was quite fun, and I liked the tea. The taste of the caviar was overshadowed by the devilled eggs, which tasted more like curried eggs than paprika. Maybe the curry on the table next to me was overwhelming? I bought two types of loose teas for home: Samovar Russian Blend and Blood Orange Puerh. The woman warned me about the Puerh...I know about this tea and that is why I bought it!

There was a lot of "tea action" going on in the restaurant. Lisa sat next to me and she ordered "Blood Orange Puehr". It had a delightful orange smell to it. The water pot did not contain the tea. She had a little tea pot to use to infuse a cup of tea at a time. The tea did not become too strong, and she always had a refill.

Other tea services used different combinations of cups, teapots, and infusers.

Mission Accomplished - the real thing

The quest? A perfect latte. I had asked the doorman at the hotel about independent coffee shops, but he only knew of the local Starbucks and Peet's. He did direct me to a local chain, Boudin Bakery, nestled into the Macy's building. It had a local feel, and a good coffee and sandwich, but that was largely due to the wonderful bread (which he told me that they baked in the basement...jury still out on that truth.) The latte, while tasty, lacked flair.

I knew that there just had to be local shops still in business. Corporations couldn't have pushed all of them off the streets. I was listening to the local Twitter, and tweet displayed for a blog describing local shops in this neighborhood. I opened the blog and read about two places that interested me: The Blue Bottle Cafe and Samovar Tea Lounge. He did a great job describing the location of The Blue Bottle, because it was off of the main streets and tucked away behind a major building. Energized, I took to the streets to discover this treasure. Jessie Street is broken by major buildings, so I had to stay on Mission to get to 5th Street. I found Jessie St and walked through the plaza, searching for the Blue Bottle. As I came to the end of the plaza and looked around, I saw it. A subtle Blue Bottle sign on the corner of a building.

This was the place and I anxiously walked towards the entrance.

Once inside, I could see that it was "authentic" and looked for signs of "chain". There were none. No cloned products. Just coffee stuff. And a barista. I put in my order and looked around.

This was an industry strength machine, and I had no idea what was going on. A lot of glass tubs and drips and burners.
I saw a "home version" of the device sitting on one of the shelves, so I am going to use this to figure out this coffee making technique. The typed sign on the box says that this is a "siphon kit" with siphon top and bottom, bamboo paddle, filters, charming siphon primer, half a pound of single origin coffee, and a bunsen burner, all for just $140. Such a deal.

The mission was an extreme success. The double latte was beautiful and tasted incredible. Success! See Shannon Clark's blog about the area at http://tinyurl.com/dfc39a.

Additional Note: The Blue Bottle Coffee Company has an interesting story and a smallness that makes it big in my book.

Organic Coffee Company

I think that this is a chain or at least a franchise. At first I thought that it was a local shop, but when I got to the counter I saw packaged products. Coffee is served extremely hot and strong. I need to sit for a while and chill.

After a while, the coffee also chilled a little so that I was able to drink i t. Thumbs down. I don't really like it.

Last RoadRunner Hockey game

Nice crowd at the game tonight. This is the last game for the RoadRunners and they are either shutting down or moving out of town. We had a group of Player/Coach of the Month players to honor. That all went well. There was a nice crowd for the game for the send off.

Metro to downtown

On an adventure to Hard Rock Cafe and last RoadRunner game.

This is the new Phoenix Metro light rail. I had to take a photo early because I was too anxious to get on board to get a blurry photo of the train. Parking was easy and the nearest free spot was only about two miles from my house. Easy walk to the train stop. Ticket purchase from a machine (you need debit or credit...I brought quarters!) was $1.25 one trip, or $2.50 all day. A bargain when compared to $10 parking charge in downtown. Got on a train with standing room only (good to see!!). No one checks the system. One experienced rider told me that they will come through randomly to check for tickets. Got off the train a block from the Hark Rock Cafe. I felt so METRO!!

The return trip was just as easy. There is a very close stop between the baseball stadium and the US Airways Arena. Easy on...easy off. I'm sold on this!

Oh, and I had the Hard Rock salad mentioned in an earlier post. Yummy!

Elton John & Billy Joel live!

This was an incredible concert and we had awesome seats. As usual, the person in my line of site decided to stand up on occasion, as the lone stander in the crowd, but after four years of concert devotion, I have come to expect this.

Each artist is worth a full concert, but the two of them together more than doubles the experience. They started and ended the show together, and then each one played a full set in between. Absolutely delightful!

Started the night with dinner at Staudeneirers. (I'll check on the spelling later, if ever.)

District & High School tournament HUGE success

Great weekend and an incredibly successful event.