Filet and Crab Cake from Cheuvront

Last year we marked the hundred day countdown to Best of Phoenix by sharing our 100 Favorite Dishes with you. Now we're back - with the 2011 edition. Have a suggestion for a dish you'd like us to try? Leave it in the comments section or email laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. 83: Filet...

Last year we marked the hundred day countdown to Best of Phoenix by sharing our 100 Favorite Dishes with you. Now we’re back – with the 2011 edition. Have a suggestion for a dish you’d like us to try? Leave it in the comments section or email laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com.

83: Filet and Crab Cake from Cheuvront

The classic surf and turf is always a good bet, but we cringe at the prospect of braving the over-the-top, All-American hoopla of some steakhouses, or the insipid mega chain environments of others. Luckily, our base animal desires can be satisfied at a quaint Downtown wine bar that leaves us feeling urbane at the end of our meat-a-palooza. At Cheuvront, you can unleash your carnivorous side in an atmosphere that’s pure posh, with the Filet and Crab Cake duo.

While it may be a bit on the dainty side compared to a giant slab o’ beef, the 3 oz filet and crab cake are the perfect combination to ensure that you save enough room for a couple glasses of wine over cheese at the end of your main course. The filet was cooked to medium rare perfection with a crisp sear on the outside, and was smothered with a luscious demi glace that puts A1 to shame. The surf portion of the meal was a large crab cake with a crunchy, wheaty basket-weave that provided the only trace of filler we could detect in an otherwise creamy, meaty crustacean cake. Surf and turn just got the first class upgrade.

Miss a dish?

100: Beckett’s Original Grilled Cheese from Beckett’s Table

99: Golden Gazpacho from Rita’s Kitchen

98: The Med Plate from La Bocca