Best Bite at the Mall 2010 | The Greene House | Food & Drink | Phoenix
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Best Bite at the Mall

The Greene House

Courtesy of The Greene House
After an intense day of power shopping, we need a nice glass of wine. We need to be well fed. And most of the time, that's an experience we can find only if we plunk our shopping bags in the trunk of the car and go far, far away from the mall. But not at Kierland Commons, where The Greene House's vibrant, California-inspired atmosphere and delicious eats are all we need for that mental getaway. You'd never think you're sitting in the middle of so much retail at this airy bungalow, which seems like it ought to be right next to the Pacific. Likewise, dishes like sea scallops with caramelized cauliflower, King salmon on a bed of butter lettuce with marble potato and caper-mustard vinaigrette, and sweet corn cannelloni with baby tomatoes are all edible antidotes to sale-rack fatigue.

Best Restaurant for Kids

Mining Camp Restaurant

Jackie Mercandetti
Tucked at the base of the Superstition Mountains, the Mining Camp Restaurant has been around since 1961. It really looks like a shack where miners would go for lunch; even the interior is modeled after an old mining camp cook's shanty. The place serves food that will please the youngest of the group right along with the old-timers, including slabs of grilled meat, potatoes, beans and fresh-baked goods, including a very large brownie called the Kahlua. And here's the real cherry on top: Kids under 4 eat free — after the restaurant reopens for the season on November 1.

Best Afternoon Tea

The Ritz-Carlton

Courtesy of Bistro 24
We used to think that afternoon tea was strictly for blue-haired old ladies and British expats pining for their homeland — that is, until we partook of tea service at the Ritz. It has all the relaxation benefits of a spa treatment, without the creepy touchy-feely stuff. For $35 (plus tax and gratuity), you get tea sandwiches, an assortment of bite-size desserts, and sweet cranberry white chocolate and buttermilk scones with fresh Devonshire cream that's so good you'd lick the last drop off your fingers if it weren't for the stink-eye you'd get from other guests. But what sets the Ritz's high tea apart from tea services at other swanky hotels is tea maître d' Jeffrey Hattrick, a host who knows when to entertain you with a quick story, inquire if you're ready for the next course, or just leave you the heck alone while you sip another cup of his delicious Winter custom blend.

Best Place to Meet a Celebrity Chef

elements

Executive Chef Beau MacMillan is a longtime luminary in the Valley culinary scene, but nowadays he's also a bona fide celebrity chef, thanks to his role as co-host of The Food Network's Worst Cooks in America. Stop in for a lavish dinner and an eyeful of Paradise Valley from elements' swanky dining room, and don't be surprised if MacMillan shows up to meet and greet guests. The amiable chef is also on hand for the restaurant's summer "Lunch and Learn" series and serves exquisite multi-course tasting menus in elements' new private dining room, XII, where sliding glass doors open up into the show kitchen. We wondered whether Beau Mac's charisma was just TV magic, but he's a gracious guy in real life, too.

Best New Eatery Along the Light Rail

Mid City Kitchen

Evie Carpenter
Chef-owner Michael DeMaria's latest culinary concept isn't the kind of upscale fare you'll find at his North Scottsdale spot Heirloom, but it's nevertheless a welcome addition to the dining mix along the light rail. Situated on Central Avenue at Thomas Road — at the heart of the midtown business district — this is a convenient place to grab a morning pastry and a latte, a sandwich or some pizza for lunch, or maybe a succulent rotisserie chicken to take home for dinner. There's a salad bar, too, and surprisingly good pasta (something we rarely find in a cafeteria). For hungry folks on the go, Mid City Kitchen makes a great pit stop.

Best Romantic Dinner

T. Cook's

Royal Palms Resort and Spa
In the game of love, you never want to look like you're trying too hard. So T. Cook's is always the ace up our sleeve, because dinner here makes romance seem effortless. The dining room alone feels elegant and special, and when there's a guitar player on hand, the live musical serenades put plenty of hearts and stars in our eyes. Thanks to a very gracious staff, the pace of a meal is just right, and executive chef Lee Hillson's Mediterranean-influenced cuisine will make you fall even further in love — seafood-stuffed paella, "poulet rouge" chicken stuffed with Boursin cheese and spinach, and roasted pork tenderloin with orange gremolata are among the temptations. Even if Valentine's Day is still months away, a visit to T. Cook's will help you bring sexy back.

Best Late-Night Nosh

Petite Maison

There are certainly places that serve food much later than Petite Maison, but how many of them do more than tacos or burgers? This comfy Old Town nook does rustic French cuisine, which sounds pretty darn good to us — why go for pub grub when you can dig into steak frites, mussels in white wine broth, or an ever-changing "Staff Meal" offering such food as Buffalo frogs legs, ceviche, barbecue sliders, or something cooked up by one of the guest chefs who pop in for a night? If you're out and you're hungry between 10 and midnight on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, Petite Maison should be at the top of your list.

Best Destination Dining

Kai

Jackie Mercandetti Photo
What makes Kai such a standout? Let us count the ways. First, there's the beautiful resort setting, with dining-room views overlooking both the pool and a vast stretch of desert. Servers address you by name, bring you chilled or warmed flatware depending on the course, deliver dishes in unison, and are well-schooled on the finer points of sophisticated cuisine. It's a good thing they're so knowledgeable and attentive, because even the most obsessive gourmet will find something unusual here to talk about, whether it's the provenance of the extra virgin olive oil (Kai's signature blend from Queen Creek), or the use of exquisite desert delicacies such as cholla buds, scarlet runner beans, and saguaro seeds. Executive chef Michael O'Dowd creates unique, regionally inspired dishes that are unlike anything else in the state; poached arctic char with fennel pesto, and grilled tenderloin of buffalo with smoked corn puree are two specialties that should put Kai on everyone's epicurean map.

Best Makeover

El Chorro Lodge

We used to love El Chorro Lodge for the kitsch factor — old-fashioned furniture, complimentary crudites, and a genteel, gray-haired crowd that showed up for classic continental fare. But the place has gotten a serious, big-bucks makeover from its new owners, and now is an outright destination, the kind of spot that makes us want to sip a bloody Mary on the patio under beautiful skies. Contemporary furnishings, new art, cozy fireplaces, a more airy dining room, and a big bar that opens to the outdoors make El Chorro feel new, but it hasn't ditched the details that made us like El Chorro to begin with — including the legendary free basket of warm sticky buns. This historic building has been around since the '30s, and thanks to its lovely facelift, we can see it lasting for many more decades.

Best Spin-Off

Cafe Bink

Timur Guseynov
While renowned chef Kevin Binkley's fine-dining spot, Binkley's, would be considered an über-special-occasion spot for most of us, its sassy younger sibling, Cafe Bink, is so accessible that we'd be eating there every week — if only we lived in Carefree. The common thread between both restaurants is Binkley's classic French cooking techniques; here, the emphasis is contemporary American cuisine that draws upon the homey aspects of Gallic tradition (think country pâté, luscious French onion soup, and steak frites) and Mediterranean influences as well (pulled-to-order mozzarella with red onion marmalade, pesto, and confit campari tomatoes). Cafe Bink doesn't try to be the culinary destination that Binkley's is, but we still consider it well worth the drive north.

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