15 July 27th–Aug 2nd, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | Shrimp scampifall a little flat, though, drowned with a creamy-textured butter sauce that’s wanting for garlic and salt. The scampi aren’t bad, exactly,but while the staff members deserve every penny they get, $10 a shrimp is on par with the ritziest, most decadent steakhouses in town. At that price, they need to be a lot better. Sauteed chicken livers are something a throwback steakhouse should ace. The plateful of dredged and browned nuggets certainly look the part, but even my liver- loving friends turn their noses up on the first pass. It’s no wonder. They’re over- cooked and grainy without a hint of sizzle or seasoning. I grab a lemon off a plate of oysters, wring out every last drop over the livers, add a hefty amount of table salt, and send the plate around again. A million times better, we all agree, but still not enough to revive a dish that’s dead on arrival. The lemon doesn’t help the oysters Rockefeller much, either. I’m unsure how the original recipe’s blend of bright, aromatic herbs was supplanted by piles of gloppy creamed spinach and chewy chunks of bacon, but no amount of acid is going to pull them back from the precipice. I’ve sampled some leaden renditions over the years, but few have landed harder in the pit of my stomach than these. Still, Durant’s is a steakhouse, and hope springs eternal. One can forgive a lot if the steaks are excellent. Steak of the sacred cow The filet is unremarkable, but in fairness to the kitchen, being unremarkable is kind of filet’s thing. A ribeye, on the other hand, needs to be juicy and full of life. On one night it’s fine, if a little dull and underseasoned. On another night, it’s oddly tough and dry. Durant’s serves prime steaks, though the uncooked specimens I spy while walking through the kitchen appear to have barely made the cut. For an establish- ment where the proprietor once purport- edly left half a ton of beef to rot in the parking lot because it didn’t meet his stan- dards, this comes as a disappointment. What’s more, the hardwood broiler that Durant’s legend Ernie Cañez tended for five decades is long gone. A gas-fueled grill is now in its place. I hear tell of a time when Durant’s dry-aged steaks on the premises, though it’s unclear whether that’s truth or rumor. They certainly don’t serve them now. I wasn’t around in the 1950s, but they seasoned their food back then, didn’t they? “TEETOTALING IS A SIN AT DURANT’S, AND THE MORE CLASSIC THE TIPPLE, THE BETTER.” didn’t they? >> p 17 The Durant’s Dilemma from p 13 The heart of Durant’s is a throwback bar. Chicken piccata. Durant’s 40-ounce porterhouse. Oysters Rockefeller are mostly a gloppy mess. Crab cakes made with backfin and bell peppers. Photos taken by Dominic Armato
