Wood-fired cooking is de rigueur at countless Valley restaurants these days, but sous vide preparations are still uncommon enough to catch my attention.
What's sous vide ("under vacuum")? It's a method where foods are vacuum-sealed in special plastic bags and cooked in a water bath at a steady temperature that's much lower than a conventional cooking temp.
Hence, I was intrigued by the chef-owner Devin Walsh's new menu at Calistro Bistro in North Scottsdale, where all of the organic vegetables are done sous vide, as well as the grass-fed lamb loin entree.
While grass-fed meats are leaner and therefore less tender than other meats, the sous vide treatment makes the lamb "as tender as butter," says Walsh.
He also plans to do a sous vide double-cut pork chop for New Year's Eve. Check out the menus: