strips of pineapple ornament each taco. So do lashings of three different salsas. Limes and grilled onion pile on the tray beside the tortillas. Putting your hands to a newly griddled taco, nirvana feels close. Chongqing Fish Old Town Taste 1845 East Broadway Road, Tempe 480-702-7101 This strip mall Chinese restaurant has a Si- chuan bent, and many of its best dishes dazzle with the high-flying interplay of Si- chuan peppercorn and chile burn. The best dish at Old Town Taste that leans in this di- rection is the Chongqing-style platter listed on the menu as a house special. It comes in chicken or fish form. I prefer the fish, a small mountain of breaded whitefish alive with blistered string beans and char- splotched chiles. The sheath around each bite of chicken is thin and lacy. The fish is piping hot. There’s a blast of salt and surge of pleasant numbness and fire, washing you away to happy places. Key Lime Pie Kai Restaurant 5594 Wild Horse Pass Boulevard 602-225-0100 wildhorsepass.com/tour-item/kai-restaurant After Kai broke for summer, Chef Ryan Swanson came back swinging. Within a few weeks, he developed and dropped a dessert for the ages — a key lime pie riff that spot- lights what is arguably the signature plant of the desert: cactus. For the light green bulk and citrusy heartbeat of the “key lime” pie, Swanson calls on nopales. The fragrant, deeply earthy crust is built from Ramona Farms pinole. The pie also sees barrel cactus seeds, cholla buds, prickly pear in two un- The 10 Best things We heard in 2019 The shows and songs that made our year Jim Hesterman BY PHOENIX NEW TIMES MUSIC WRITERS T he ears of local music fans were filled with amazing music in 2019, whether it was catching an appear- ance by a transcendent indie band, discovering local a musician on the rise, or catching some legends play an inti- mate show. Our writers picked some of their favorite sounds from this year, so end your decade right and check out these songs, albums, and memories from the last 12 months. Fairy Bones “bullshit, ur a nice guy” One dick pic is one too many, so Fairy Bones decided that enough was enough. In June, the band released the catchy Fairy Bones don’t want your dick pics. NSFW single “bullshit, ur a nice guy,” which confronts the serious topic with a catchy melody and humor. The empower- ing track gets taken to the next level with the music video. The band’s lead singer, Chelsey Louise, and other local female art- ists take turns letting out their aggressions on various objects with a sledgehammer as the song’s lyrics are typed out on a messag- ing app. It’s doubtful that the song will end the dick pic epidemic any time soon (though it would be cool if it did), but the anthem has the power to change minds on how people can feel when a phallus from a so-called “nice guy” suddenly shows up on their phone. No song from a local band this year has managed to be this empowering. JASON KEIL Charles Barth Al pastor taco at La Bamba Mexican Grill Restaurant. likely forms, wild sumac, and desert willow. And here is a pie that you can’t taste any- where else in the world: one that, in vegetal notes, restrained sweetness, and bright cut- ting beauty, calls to mind the Sonoran. Mixed Seafood Plate ShinBay 3720 North Scottsdale Road, #201, Scottsdale 480-361-1021 shin-bay.com ShinBay’s mixed seafood plate is a seven- headed sea monster. It’s really many plates in one, a smattering of separate, colorful marine preparations gathered onto one dish that evokes, as you go, a more deeply piercing wonder. A cream-cheese-thick lobster reduction changes your angle on shrimp. A meaty Kumamoto oyster gets zapped with ponzu jelly. Yuzu kosho brings a recently fished alabaster Hok- kaido scallop to high life. Even strips of jel- lyfish faint with soy conjure a salt-wind feeling of blue sea. Chef Shinji Kurita is a master. At his new 13-seat omakase, this is his most masterful dish. >> p 16 15 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES DEC. 26TH, 2019–JAN. 1ST, 2020
