RUBEE TUESDAY: January 9-16: Rott n' Grapes, Kawaii, CRUjiente Tacos, Mowry and Cotton, Tomaso's
A semi-weekly feature, Rubee Tuesday is a recap of my week's adventures in dining and drinking in the Phoenix area.
Mowry & Cotton at The Phoenician Resort
Tuesday, January 9: Rott n' Grapes Wine and Beer Bar. On Tuesday night, I attended a media introduction for Rott n’ Grapes, a wine and craft beer bar in Uptown Phoenix. It's a gem of a bar tucked away below Landmark Towers on N. Central Avenue offering bar snacks and 80 craft beers and 95 wines by the glass. Husband and wife owners Patty Gii and Keith Shanks chose the name to represent their love for both their pet Rottweilers and wine. Wine flights are $15 (more for those on the reserve list) and feature three 3-oz pours you can choose from 95 options. They also have a grazing menu with charcuterie and cheese, meatballs, hummus, mini pizzas, and other bites.
Settle in at the intimate bar, outdoor patio, or cozy lounge, and Patty and her team will help you choose wine and beer flights from the extensive list. Stop by for Happy Hour all day until 8 pm, and special events such as Bubbly Bliss Sundays, Wednesday Board & Bottle Night, live music, and wine classes. In fact, they are so popular, look for a second location - Rott n' Grapes Bistro - to open downtown on Roosevelt Street this summer.
Wednesday, January 10: Kawaii Sushi and Asian Cuisine. Kawaii is a busy spot in our NW Phoenix neighborhood for sushi and Chinese dishes, but we hadn't visited since it changed ownership a couple of years ago. Conveniently located just minutes from our house, we stopped in on Wednesday night, ordering crab puffs, chicken tempura, and rocky shrimp off the Happy Hour menu. For dinner, my husband enjoyed his shrimp and lobster sauce with pork fried rice, while my salt and pepper shrimp, a special, was my favorite of the night. Owner Kelly says they are introducing more authentic dishes to the menu, and suggested I try their Shui Zhu Beef (a Sichuan dish that is a personal favorite) when I return. Will do!
Thursday, January 11: CRUjiente Tacos. Back to Cru for a media night to sample new menu items and cocktails (I love this restaurant; see some prior visits here and here).
CRUjiente never disappoints, and this visit was no exception. Delicious dishes included:
- Crunchy pork chicharrón with house hot sauce, guajillo aioli, and cotija, and served with a roasted poblano pepper salpicon
- Mixed green salad with fig-balsamic vinaigrette, jicama, spiced pecans, and local Crow’s Dairy goat feta
- Mexican Caesar salad with roasted poblano Caesar dressing, romaine, cotija, spiced pepitas, escabeche, and croutons
- Charred ejotes (green beans) with Hatch chile salsa, a slow-poached egg, pickled jalapeño and red onion, cotija, and cilantro
- Green chile chicken taco on blue corn tortillas with mole verde, charred red onion, jalapeños and micro cilantro
- The Taco de la Semana (taco of the week) was grilled Colorado lamb with Crow's Dairy goat cheese feta, golden potato puree, pickled red onions, and chimichurri
Great cocktails are also crafted for your sipping pleasure at Cru, which has an extensive list of hard-to-find and boutique spirits. Currently, my go-to is the JapaKnees, a riff on the classic Bee's Knees, combining Suntory Toki Japanese whisky, lemon, and hopped honey syrup. Other must-orders are the new Cru Paloma with smoky mezcal and pink grapefruit, and the Cherry Sour (the crowd favorite) shaken up with Traverse City Whiskey Co. American Cherry Edition, a bourbon infused with Montmorency cherries.
Friday, January 12: Mowry & Cotton at The Phoenician Resort. I've been wanting to visit Mowry & Cotton, part of the multimillion dollar renovations at The Phoenician, and lunch with my friend Stephanie was the perfect excuse. Its name is a homage to two Phoenix pioneers, George Mowry and James Cotton. With the powerhouse team of Chef de Cuisine Tandy Peterson and Executive Sous Chef Rebecca Tillman (who I first met here), this restaurant is serving an impressive menu of fantastic dishes packed with flavor. I would order each and every one again, which will make it hard to explore more of the menu on my next visit! Look for a future in-depth feature when I return for dinner. Excellent cocktails are poured here too, thanks to Phoenician Beverage Director Jared Sowinski. If you're visiting with fellow libation lovers, be sure to share a carafe of rum punch - perfect for an al fresco lunch on a sunny day.
Mowry & Cotton serves breakfast, weekend brunch, lunch, and dinner, and after a discussion about their brunch menu and a recommendation from Chef Becky for their Bloody Mary, I had to try that too. Another winner! Made with smoked tomato juice and garinished with brisket and house pickles.
No time spent at The Phoenician is complete without visiting one of my favorite craft bartenders, Robert Porter (you can find my prior interview here). Since I wrote that, he has gone on to win the title of Arizona’s Star Bartender in 2016 and was tapped by Cocktail Artist to create his own Manhattan syrup for their line of all-natural premium bar ingredients.
The new Thirsty Camel bar and lounge with its stunning floor to ceiling views is the perfect setting for Robert's cocktails, including his Sandia Martini with Hangar One vodka, Cointreau, tomato and watermelon shrub and basil oil, or the Cortez with Partida Blanco tequila, Sombra mezcal, and hibiscus syrup.
Sunday, January 14: Tomaso's. Sunday night dinner with friends found us at Tomaso's, a Phoenix institution which opened its doors 40 years ago (read my feature on chef/owner Tomaso Maggiore here in last month's Phoenix Home and Garden magazine). This upscale restaurant is the place to enjoy traditional Italian dishes, and the five of us feasted on fritto misto, escargot, beef carpaccio, veal piccata, veal marsala, and pistachio cheesecake. TIP: Ask about the off-menu pasta combination sampler, which on this visit was stuffed sacchetti, filet mignon ravioli, and gnocchi showcasing Tomaso's handmade pastas.
To browse past Rubee Tuesday recaps, visit this link.