Best Use of a Chickpea 2008 | Bombay Spice | Food & Drink | Phoenix
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Best Use of a Chickpea

Bombay Spice

Although the juicy, perfectly grilled lamb chops come in a close second, our first pick for favorite dish at Bombay Spice is the unforgettable chickpea ceviche, a dish that turns a humble ingredient into a dazzling one. This heap of tender chickpeas is tossed with diced tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers, with a tangy-sweet sauce of yogurt, tamarind, and mint. Served chilled, it's summery and refreshing, a satisfying way to fill up without feeling bogged down (you could say the same about a lot of the healthful dishes at Bombay Spice, where Indian food gets a lighter spin). You can share a plate of chickpea ceviche with friends, or scarf it down as an entree, but no matter what you do, you'll find yourself craving it long after you've left the restaurant, and you'll never think of chickpeas the same way again.

Best Use of Grape-Nuts

The Breadfruit

You know, we're not sure we've ever seen Grape-Nuts on a menu anywhere, and we're definitely certain we've never eaten them past breakfast time. Who'd have guessed they'd make such a splendid dessert? At The Breadfruit, a bright, cheery Jamaican restaurant that opened downtown earlier this year, a dessert called "Gret's Grapenut Ice Cream and Jell-O" sparked our curiosity, if only for its unusual ingredients. It's quite an ice cream novelty, with Grape-Nuts and raisins stirred into soft Häagen-Dazs vanilla, then scooped into a parfait glass with blobs of cherry Jell-O. Simultaneously creamy, crunchy, and chewy all at once, this sweet and refreshing treat also happens to be the perfect way to cool your taste buds after eating spicy jerk chicken or fiery escovitch fish.

Best Sticky Buns

El Chorro Lodge

El Chorro Lodge is a bastion of old-school cool, the kind of place where you can rely on stiff cocktails, a leisurely Arizona-glam atmosphere, and classic dishes like shrimp Louie, sautéed chicken livers with bacon, tableside chateaubriand, or a glorious mesquite-broiled prime steak. But there's something else worth going for, and it's not on the menu. It's El Chorro's homemade sticky buns, so decadently memorable that they have a cult following. Once you taste these babies — they give you a basket of them at the beginning of each meal, no matter if it's brunch or dinner — you'll understand. They're hot out of the oven, each soft swirl of dough soaked in a sweet, sticky glaze of butter and melted brown sugar. Every bite is ethereal, and it's really hard to not to spoil our appetite when they land on our table. Ultimately, when forced to choose between finishing our steak or polishing off another sticky bun, we inevitably give in to gooey bliss.

Best Croissants

Au Petit Four

We love everything about Au Petit Four, from the strong coffee and the case full of colorful pastries to the outstanding omelets. Indeed, there are plenty of reasons to come to this tiny cafe, but even if there were just one — that is, their amazing croissants — we'd still make a special trip across town just to eat here. Au Petit Four's croissants are so rich and buttery, you'd think they put a whole stick of butter in each one. They're delicately crisp, baked to a perfect, deep shade of golden brown, but inside, they're still flaky and light. And, honestly, we find it incredibly difficult to eat only one, lest we look like total gluttons. How do the French themselves make self-restraint seem so easy? Well, we think we've figured them out: They get extra croissants to go.

Best Pastries

Scratch Pastries

Courtesy of Scratch

Ooh-la-la, we can't tell you how delighted we were when we discovered this honest-to-goodness French patisserie. Open since January, Scratch Pastries is a labor of love run by two Parisian transplants, Duc and Noelle Liao, who left behind glamorous careers (fashion photographer and model, respectively) in the City of Light to raise their family here. And we're so glad they did. Now we can hang out in their stylish, low-key cafe, sip Mariages Frères tea, and nibble on buttery, freshly made croissants, chewy macarons, and exquisite creations like the cream-filled strawberry-rose gateau or the matcha­-flecked green tea fleur. They're all almost too pretty to eat. That's right, we said almost.

Best Cupcakes

Wicked Bakery

Leave it to Oprah Winfrey's pal Gayle to spill the beans on what we thought was a well-kept secret: the dreamy cupcakes at Wicked Bakery. The delicate crumb is moist but not too heavy, and the frosting is ultra-creamy, so fluffy we could eat it with a spoon. Wicked's flavors are wickedly delicious, too. The offerings vary from day to day (unless, of course, you place an order ahead of time), so it's always exciting to see what's in store. Will they be sold out of the "hot" chocolate, habanero-infused chocolate cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream and a dash of spice? Will we get there in time to grab a few of the vanilla crème brûlée cupcakes, or some of those heavenly red velvet numbers, capped with a cloud of silky cream cheese frosting? It's kind of like playing the lottery — except that we come out a winner every time.

Best Bakery

Barb's Bakery

Diana Martinez

It would be easy enough to celebrate about Barb's Bakery just for the beautiful wedding cakes, done up in the same kind of elegant designs that Martha Stewart would approve of, in flavors from devil's food to pink champagne. After all, hearing your guests rave about how good the thing looks and tastes is a definite victory for even the most raging Bridezilla. But Barb's does more than just the Big Day. Barb's does holidays, with cute themed cupcakes for Christmas, Easter, and more. Birthdays, naturally, are a breeze for Barb's Bakery, whether your birthday boy or girl craves carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, or classic yellow cake slathered with chocolate buttercream. And thanks to signature frosted cookies in whimsical shapes and colors, even ordinary days become a special occasion.

Best Jewish Bakery

Karsh's Bakery

These days, you can find bagels and challah and maybe even a decent rye bread at plenty of neighborhood grocery stores, but Karsh's Bakery still makes the best, using all kosher ingredients, the way they've been doing since the '60s. This bakery's almost like a time capsule, an old school, no-bells-and-whistles storefront where the display cases are packed with mouthwatering breads, rolls, and pastries, including rugalach and black-and-white cookies that bring customers from miles around. Looking for a special occasion cake? Karsh's does those too, from traditional wedding and birthday cakes to specialty designs shaped like animals, toys, and even Louis Vuitton handbags.

Best Bread

Simply Bread

It would be easy enough to say that Simply Bread is the best in town because it's featured at some of Phoenix's finest eateries. After all, top local chefs are proud to feature it on their menus, and if it's good enough for them, well, it's good enough for us. The endorsements are nice, to be sure, but have you tasted this bread? It's so mouthwatering, it sells itself. From his soft, scrumptious focaccias to his crisp, golden baguettes, award-winning head baker Jeffrey Yankellow makes top-notch artisan bread using the same techniques that have made French bakeries the envy of the world. The crumb is fragrant and moist, and the crust is always the perfect texture. And lucky us, we don't have to cross the pond to eat as much of it as we want.

Best Pretzels

Tammie Coe Cakes

Tammie Coe's the frontwoman with the famous zebra-striped wonderland cakes, but her hubby Michael, of MJ Bread, is the guy in the back, making bread. And his bread is fantastic — we've long loved his crispy loaves. Recently, we discovered MJ's pretzel — a pretzel made the way God (or, at least, the Germans) intended it to be: over-sized and doughy, with a crisp exterior and a salty finish. We fully intend to return for pretzels and cake and, to appease our guilt, Coe's newly expanded salad/sandwich options at lunch at the Roosevelt location.

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