fancy fare from chelsea’s kitchen

Two of our friends had a joint birthday celebration at Chelsea’s Kitchen located in Phoenix’s Arcadia neighborhood. The first thing we did when we found out dinner was going to be at Chelsea’s is we looked up the menu and realized that this was no ordinary place. Some other friends also told us that the food is amazing there, especially the Fried Chicken and Short-Rub Tacos even though they’re a little on the pricy side.

The only not-so-awesome thing about Chelsea’s is that we had made a reservation (for like 24 people), but then we all ended having to sit in separate tables so we were actually seated 4 tables away from the people celebrating their birthday. The place was also incredibly packed so our waitress wasn’t totally as attentive as she could have been. Overall though, I was so impressed by the food. Everything was fresh, local, and delicious! They even had hearty homemade corn tortillas that they served in heaping stacks. I loved the Short Rib Tacos and the guacamole and kale greens that it was served with. I also got a chance to try the Dixie Pan-Fried Chicken, which was also very delicious.

Welcome!

The ambiance

Mac ‘N Cheese

Dixie’s Pan-Fried Chicken

Homemade corn tortillas

Short Rib Tacos

Ready to eat!

another dbacks game

Despite my general non-emotion toward baseball and the Arizona Diamondbacks, I have now attended two Diamondbacks games within a month’s time. The last was while I was in Denver and the most recent was this past Saturday. Ironically, or perhaps not-so-ironically, they lost both games. This means I’m either a bad luck charm, I’m bad at picking games to attend, or they’re just not very good … I’m leaning toward the last possibility. Either way, it was a pretty fun time. We were there with friends who work at Donate Life Arizona so it was pretty special to sit so close to the field. I’ve never been on the field-level before!

delicious black chile

I feel like we’ve been on a Mexican food kick recently, which I am perfectly OK with since we do live in the Southwest and what’s better here than Mexican food … well maybe just the cactus variety. Another one of those places at the Biltmore that’s been on our list of places to dry is Black Chile Mexican Grill. It’s been open awhile now and we’ve only heard good things so we decided to give it a spin. Let’s just say I was pleasantly impressed by the entire experience.

Our waiter, I forget his name but he was awesome! Everything he brought to our table was just as amazing, too, including the Strawberry Jalapeño Margarita, huge portion of Guacamole, homemade tortilla chips, Vegetarian Tacos, the Black Chile dish and homemade mini corn tortillas. Even just their sticky rice was so good I think I could have eaten an entire bowl.

mini tacos at gallo blanco

My friend had been ranting and raving about this restaurant attached to a hotel for a couple of weeks now. One day after work, I finally decided to go with her and try the place out. Now I can why she’s been so excited about the food and drinks at Gallo Blanco. Just to be in the Arizona spirit, we started off with a Prickly Pear Cactus drink that was decent though probably a little too sweet. Then we just had to share a guacamole because that’s one of the things she’d been talking about and it really was very delicious. For dinner, we tried a variety of their mini tacos. I loved the fact that they came in perfect little mini taco holders. We got 2 grilled shrimp tacos, 1 carne aside, and 1 marinated pork. They were all delicious! I really liked the atmosphere at Gallo Blanco, too — it was hip and trendy, but relaxing and appealing to people of all walks of life.

Fresh decorations

Guacamole & Chips

Shrimp, Carne Asada, and Pork Tacos

meat feast at fogo

In celebration of a birthday for a man who loves to eat, we went to Fogo de Chao (in Scottsdale) with a bunch of friends. If you don’t know what Fogo de Chao is, you’re about to find out! It’s a part of this recent Brazilian BBQ craze where you go on and essentially enjoy (or perhaps stuff yourself) with every kind of meat you can imagine: filet mignon, beef ribs, lamb chops, chicken, sausage, prime rib, just to name a few.

Course one at Fogo is actually not much meat at all, it’s a variety of salads, cheeses, and grilled vegetables from the appetizer bar. From there, you enjoy a number of different Brazilian appetizers: fried bananas, cheese bread, and mashed potatoes. Finally, men dressed as gauchos come around with large amounts of meat in hand ready to slice you a piece if you have your coaster flipped to green. Just flip to red if you’re resting. Let’s just say I’ve never eaten so much meat in one setting before in my life, but, you know, I had to get my money’s worth if I was going to spend around $60 (after tax and tip) per person. What I realized though is that the filet mignon guy is in really high demand and that while the beef ribs were a little on the fatty side, they tasted so good! The garlic beef was also pretty decent. The only not so great thing is that it’s really hard to take pictures of nice-looking pieces of meat while eating in this manner and my place constantly looked like a mess … so let’s just say the pictures don’t really look as appetizing as the meat really was.

Welcome!

Meat in the window

Brazilian pictures on the wall

Yucky-looking plate of meat