I t’s Wednesday, and you don’t feel like cooking; you’re hungry, but don’t know what you want to eat. It’s too bad you don’t live in a city where you can drive up and down a single street that’s chockablock with din- ing choices, considering your options before tucking in for a really swell repast. Oh, wait. You live in Phoenix, home to North Seventh Street, which several savvy developers converted a few years ago from another blah thoroughfare into a culinary stronghold. Now then. Where’d you put your car keys? As you head north, you think about how it’s too bad you’re not in the mood for a good sandwich or a gourmet salad, because there’s Main Ingredi- ent Ale House and Café, an old house converted into a place where every- thing tasty is made from local ingredients. Also about how it’s too bad you don’t have a dog, because Main Ingredient actually welcomes four-legged guests. Must be a Seventh Street thing. Oh, look. There’s Bevvy Uptown, where you had that ugly argument with your sister and that really great braised short rib. You love how their sign out front wears a glittery crown, and you wonder if they still serve deep-fried Oreos and consider stopping in to find out, but then you spy Culinary Drop- out and start thinking about barbecue pork belly nachos and that soft pretzel provolone fondue you ate there once — the same night you drank too many vodka stingers and wound up playing Ping-Pong with a couple of total strangers. Speaking of imbibing, there’s The Womack, whose tomato ricotta bruschetta you sometimes wake up thinking about, although you’d never tell anyone that because it sounds weird. Come to think of it, maybe you’re in the mood for Italian. There’s Pubblico, which you haven’t tried yet, although everyone at work keeps talking about Pubblico’s lobster ravioli and their bread pudding. You glance down at your culottes and decide maybe you’re not dressed for anything that isn’t super- casual, and just up ahead there’s Otro Café, where you once ate a breakfast burrito at 8 in the evening, just because. Oh, and there’s Cock ’n’ Tails, where you’ve passed many an evening glugging rum punch and glomming ribeyes. While you’re weighing the odds that the waiter you shamelessly flirted with last time you were there might be working tonight, you spot the sign up ahead for Christo’s, and then all you can think about is linguine escargot and grilled sausage and peppers, and about how Christo doesn’t care what you wear so long as you show up with an appetite. And boy, are you hungry. For barbecue! Which is how you end up in Sunnyslope at Little Miss BBQ, with a plateful of chopped brisket in front of you, mustard sauce dripping onto your cu- lottes, and a great big smile on your face. The Larder + The Delta 200 West Portland Street, #101 480-409-8520 thelarderandthedelta.com 164 The imaginative New Southern food dreamed up and impeccably executed by Chef Stephen Jones is like no other cook- ing in town, and no other chef feels even vaguely similar. His hot chicken can hang with any fried chicken in Arizona. He also plates creations like tuna crudo with rhu- barb vinegar and leaf-thin radish, unrea- sonably delicious hoe cakes, and a legendary Buffalo cauliflower. There are always next-level ingredients woven through his food in some beautiful, until- then-unknown way: special vinegars, pick- les, smoked ingredients, heirloom beans and rice. His cooking has so much richness yet so much lightness and finesse. What’s more, Jones roots his cooking firmly in near and far American history. Posting up at his bar always feels like a celebration. Valentine 4130 North Seventh Avenue (inside Modern Manor) 602-612-2961 valentinephx.com Few restaurants capture the weirdness of our desert city like Valentine, which has nailed a grand vision of modern South- western cuisine. Where to begin with this restaurant? Everything from the pastries to the coffee to the food to the breakfast to the design to the front bar to the back bar is not only on point, but about three levels more thoughtful than expected, creative, deli- cious, and completely rooted in our region. Donald Hawk (together with a capable team) hits some stunning highs in the kitchen, including an elote pasta, smoked chicken, and a 2.0 version of his splendid Chris Bianco In the dark first summer of the pandemic, Chris Bianco took to social media to post inspirational messages and videos. He adapted, rolling out a New York-style pie, relocating Tratto and Bar Bianco, releasing a late-night menu, adjusting again and again and again. Sous chefs and other im- portant cooks in the Bianco micro empire left for new pursuits. Somehow, despite the turnover of key players, quality hasn’t yielded an inch. Pizzeria Bianco still We’re lucky to have the opportunity to eat here in Phoenix. ✥✥✥✥✥ brown butter crudo. Antonia Kane bulls- eyes the baked goods, from heirloom grain cookies to mulberry viennoiserie. Blaise Faber and Chad Price have had this place absolutely humming from its earliest days. We are absolutely jazzed to see where the years take Valentine — and, by logical ex- tension, the cutting edge of Southwestern eating. ✥✥✥✥✥ Rene Andrade By some measures, Rene Andrade isn’t a new chef. He has cooked at big-name res- taurants up and down the Valley. Recently, he oversaw the kitchens at Ghost Ranch and the now-closed Tempe Public Market Café. Now, after a mid-pandemic move, Andrade has become an executive chef with a restaurant hisway channeling his past and his experiences. This and the wonder of eating at Bacanora feel totally new. Sure, he has had help from friends and family at Bacanora, which has already become one of the most exciting and soul- churns out its legendary pizza and even stunning chicken cacciatore and other spe- cials. Pane Bianco remains a sandwich and Sicilian pizza utopia. Tratto still plates pasta at least one tier above any other Ital- ian joint in town. Most importantly, Bianco has remained a kind leader through it all. ✥✥✥✥✥ BEST OF PHOENIX 2021 | WWW.BESTOFPHOENIX2021.C0M | SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 Seventh Street f o o d & dr i nk B B B ES T RES T A U R AN T E S T NEW R E S T A UR A NT E S T CHEF B E S T NEW CHEF
