After months of delays, including a publicized December opening that just didn't work out (ah, the restaurant biz), Avalon finally opened its doors for dinner last night.
Located in south Scottsdale, adjacent to the 3 Palms Oasis Resort, Avalon serves "contemporary American coastal cuisine." Executive chef Travis Watson, a Scottsdale Culinary Insitute grad, has worked at The Tack Room in Tucson, Citrus in Los Angeles, and most recently held the position of corporate pastry chef for Fox Restaurant Concepts.
His dinner menu features a variety of small plates, including roasted beet salad with port wine-braised figs and caramelized shallots, and big eye tuna with Granny Smith apple chips and spicy avocado aioli, along with entrees like white corn-crusted flatiron steak with mascarpone mac 'n cheese and buttered parsnips; Berkshire Farms pork chop with braised rainbow chard, sweet potato and tarragon puree, and Bartlett pear and tomato jam; and roasted chickpea panisse cake with mizuna, grilled radicchio, glazed chanterelles, and walnut-cauliflower puree.
Dinner service is 5 to 10 p.m. Starting tomorrow, Avalon will also serve lunch (salads and sandwiches) from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. A late-night menu, available from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., will be offered very soon -- possibly even this weekend. Call 480-656-0010 for more info.
