Dining Guidefrom p 32 to a great painting. Fukuda relies, from season to season, on the intimately local. His Vietnamese-style noodle salad with short ribs changes slightly with the months, tracking the farm produce. To fully appreciate Fukuda’s prowess as a chef, take a seat at his bar and spring for omakase. 622 E. Adams St.; 602-254-0600; nobuofukuda.com. ($$$) Otro Café: Otro Café, an early staple of Seventh Street’s restaurant row in uptown Phoenix, serves New American dishes with heavy Mexican accents. The spot is owned and operated by treasured local chef and all-around nice guy Doug Robson — also of Gallo Blanco in the Garfield District. The place has plenty going for it — a formidable brunch menu, salads you’re actually excited to order, solid margs, a dog-friendly patio — but really, it’s all about the pork belly tacos. This taco (or tiny lettuce wrap, thank you) is a small brick of ultra-soft pork belly paired with cilantro and onions (though feel free to soak these suckers with the signature squeeze-bottle salsas available to diners). We recommend ordering three at a time. They’re tasty enough to turn casual patrons into permanent regulars — us included. 6035 N. Seventh St.; 602-266-0831; otrocafe.com. ($$$) Persepshen: After building a following at the Uptown Farmers Market, Jason and Katherine Dwight, a married chef-butcher and baker, opened a restaurant in late 2019 that is intimately driven by local farms and ranches. Reclaimed wood slabs gleam in the Central Avenue restaurant. Fitting the rustic dining room, much of the small plates and a few of the larger ones emerge from a wood-burning oven. Everything is scratch-made, right down to bitters, tortillas, and ketchup. Jason butchers whole steers and makes his own charcuterie. Katherine makes magic from flour, water, and heat, including a really nice gingerbread. The food is New American, with lots of touches from afar: China, India, France, Mexico, and so on. 4700 N. Central Ave.; 602-935-2932; persepshenarizona.com. ($$$) Phoenix City Grille: For a longtime Valley restaurant made in the American bar-and-grill mold, Sheldon Knapp’s Phoenix City Grille manages to go its own way. How can you tell? The menu has a full-on glossary to define ingredients so that, though the dining room is a bit dim, you aren’t wholly flying in the dark. With your short ribs and salmon skewers and eggplant sandwiches come ingredients like “chimichurri” and “salsify,” conveniently defined, but also, getting more to PCG’s soul and laudable sourcing, local favorites like chiltepin and tepary beans. Chef Micah Wyzlic, now in his second stint overseeing the kitchen, uses the ingredients of the Sonoran Desert when he can. For years, he has been a steady Ramona Farms customer. This is reflected in the Ramona Farms Super Food salad, which unites many of its celebrated crops in a bowl jolted with a vinaigrette blended from chiltepin and Dijon. Other dishes pay homage to our greater region, such as green chile, carne asada tacos, and queso fundido with corn chips fried in-house. Steaks get a boost from a fragrant black garlic sauce. Specials, like a pork chop brined in vanilla, lean experimental. Sneakily, Phoenix City Grille is a great place for drinking. This has to do with a deep roster of zero-ABV drinks, including a mojito, mule, margarita, and paloma. What stands out equally or more is a whiskey menu that meanders down five pages. Need a glass of Scotch old enough to go to college? Check. How about a high-velocity flight? There are several. And an Old Fashioned, a drink that, like the bar-and-grill concept, is made new? This one packs custom Buffalo Trace and maple syrup flavored with bourbon — a thoughtful riff on a classic. 5816 N. 16th St.; 602-266-3001; phoenixcitygrille.com. ($$, $$$) Pho Thanh Restaurant: Pho Thanh Restaurant started off as a one-room show. (True heads still brag about slurping pho and chowing banh mi in those modest early days of the place; bigger props if you dined at Pho Bang). Then it became two rooms. Then three. At some point, a connecting boba spot material- ized. In a way, the growth of this Vietnamese restaurant near Christown Spectrum Mall is consistent with the beautifully chaotic ethos of the place: there’s no drink program, barely any parking, you squeeze into a seat where you can find one, and service is ... let’s just say no one is going to ask how the first few bites taste. Still, the food, staff, and prices at Pho Thanh have remained mostly consistent over the years, earning this spot a loyal customer base of lunchtime diners and pho fanatics. The laminated, multipage menu lists more than 160 items, the most popular being pho tai. After about 50 visits, though, you may feel ready to try other dishes. In that case, we recommend the bun bo xao and the bo xao xa ot, or lemongrass beef. 1702 W. Camelback Rd.; 602-242-1979; facebook.com/ pages/Pho-Thanh/384411664999540.($) Reathrey Sekong: Reathrey Sekong isn’t Phoenix’s only Cam- bodian restaurant, but it is certainly the best. The cha kreunh, or lemongrass stir fry, is perfection — a heaping pile of beef, chicken, or tofu stir-fried with onions, green beans, bell peppers, and kreung spices, paired with a small bowl of jasmine rice. Also on the must-order list here are the Cambodian pork chops — grilled and marinated in garlic soy sauce — and, for the meat- averse, the kathiev cha koansuh (ask for these student noodles with tofu and the vinaigrette instead of the oyster soy sauce). The dark maroon walls and numerous buddhas offer a calming dining experience that works either for a co-worker lunch or a date. 1312 E. Indian School Rd.; 480-238-0238; facebook.com/ Reathrey-Sekong-Cambodian-Cuisine-133199290086725. ($$) Restaurant Progress: Dining at this compact eatery occupying the eastern-most suite of the historic Wagon Wheel building in the Melrose District feels like a visit to Biosphere II: Loads of plants and greenery mingle with natural wood and light, creating an earthy experience unlike any other in the Valley. The constantly changing, seasonally driven, five-course tasting menu at Restaurant Progress is overseen by chef and owner TJ Culp, who plates mostly upscale, New American fare. Among the dishes we’ve sampled here are soy-cured watermelon, scallop crudo, skin-on pork belly rillon, tagliatelle ragu, short rib bourguignon, and rabbit ballotine. The small but pas- sionate team has recently added a brunch on Sundays that includes — as with the a la carte and tasting menu — offerings from local purveyors like Proof Bread, Arcadia Meat Market, and more. (And just FYI: This is the same team behind Dino’s Napoletana, the backyard pizza operation at the neighboring Thunderbird Lounge.) Walk-ins are welcome, but we recom- mend a reservation. 702 W. Montecito Ave.; 602-441-0553; restaurantprogress.com. ($$$) Short Leash Hotdogs + Rollover Doughnuts: What’s in a hot dog? Most of us have no idea, but at Short Leash, dogs are all-natural beef, bratwurst, chicken, veggie, apple Gouda, or spicy link. Originally (and still) a food truck, later located along Roosevelt Row, and now situated in a sunny, Seventh Avenue suite in the Melrose District, Short Leash is, yes, all about those dogs. We’re partial to The Lady, an absolute killer loaded with chipotle cream cheese, sauteed onions, and fried pickles, and wrapped in the shop’s signature naan. The Bear — peanut but- ter, smoked Gouda, bacon, barbecue sauce, and Cracker Jacks — is also great fun. The 80-plus craft beers and scratch-made brioche doughnuts nicely round out the offerings here. 4221 N. Seventh Ave.; 602-795-2193; shortleashhotdogs.com/home. ($$) Tacos Chiwas: We’d like to get this on record now: The original location of Tacos Chiwas — the one on McDowell Road against State Route 51 — is a wonderful place to eat. The vibe is that of a repurposed Dairy Queen: dim, wood-paneled, tile worn from decades of visitors, a forever-smell of grilled meat that travels clear out to the sidewalk. We wouldn’t have it any other way. We note this because the location is soon to undergo a remodel, allowing for more seating and better parking. Well — good for the staff and owners (husband-and-wife team Armando Hernandez and Nadia Holguin), we suppose. We’ll probably dig the new digs. But for our money, the cramped dining space and patio (as well as that of the second and third locations, in Chandler and Mesa) is one of the best places in Phoenix to enjoy an afternoon taco — barbacoa, pastor, and lengua are our picks. Burnt out on tacos? Go with the deshebrada roja gordita or asada burrito. 1923 E. McDowell Rd.; 602-358-8830; tacoschiwas.com. ($) TEG Torta Shop: A good torta is not hard to find in Arizona, but a good torta spot, one batting 1,000? If there’s one, it’s TEG Torta Shop — formerly Tortas El Guero. The family-owned 16th Street torta hall has been around since 2002, and offers nearly 20 tortas in mini, regular, and super sizes. We recommend the torta ahogada — a sandwich of pierna (pork leg) and beans, smothered (or drowned, as the name suggests) in chili sauce, the fresh-baked bolillo bread sopping wet. Elsewhere on the menu you’ll find standard Mexican fare: streets tacos, burritos, quesadillas, aguas frescas, and licuados (milkshakes), all solid options if your companions seek something more familiar. But do nudge them toward that torta. It’s a knockout. 2518 N. 16th St.; 602-252-9228; tegtortashop.com. ($) Texaz Grill: Jutting out of the stucco plaza at 16th Street and Bethany Home Road since 1985, Texaz Grill is equal parts roadhouse cliche and serious steakhouse. Upon entering, allow your eyes to adjust as they wander over the dimly lit mounted trucker hats and road signs, framed photos of yesteryear din- ers, and the buzzing neon of beer logos. Regulars know their order — probably the fall-off-the-plate chicken fried steak, but maybe the barbecue ribs, fried catfish, or smoked prime rib. The bar is well-stocked, both with booze (they’ll make just about any type of drink) and pretzels and peanuts to chew while you sip. Holidays are fun here too: We’re big fans of the marinated black-eyed pea salad — or Texas Caviar — that’s served on New Year’s Day. 6003 N. 16th St.; 602-248-7827; texazgrill.com. ($$$) Valentine: There are some restaurants that nod to Arizona with a few ingredients or preparations, and then there’s Valentine, co-owned by Blaise Faber and Chad Price. This >> p 36 35 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES SEPT 2ND – SEPT 8TH, 2021
