Category: United States

ArizonaSouthernUnited States

Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe – Phoenix, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

How do you become a centenarian?  For Elizabeth White, achieving 100 years of age may be attributed to living the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”).  She instilled that spirit into the restaurant she purchased from her brother in 1964.  Phoenix was a much more segregated city when Elizabeth White christened her eatery “The Golden Rule Cafe.” Despite the prevailing attitudes of the time, she believed in treating everyone with kindness and respect, a core tenet of the Golden Rule.  Her prominent prescence and welcoming spirit led to guests adding “Mrs. White’s” to the “Golden Rule Cafe.”  Like the wonderful woman who founded the restaurant, Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe is an institution. Mrs.…

ArizonaFine DiningUnited States

Lon’s at the Hermosa Inn – Paradise Valley, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

When making reservations for our Christmas Day meal, it dawned on me that the restaurant we chose (Lons at The Hermosa) was located in Paradise Valley, a wealthy enclave nestled  between Phoenix and Scottsdale. Paradise Valley is backdropped by the Camelback and McDowell Mountains. It’s known as a luxurious desert oasis with high-end resorts, golf courses, fine dining, and affluent residences. For some reason it made me ponder just what children would consider paradise. I wondered if Art Linkletter ever asked kids on his program Kids Say The Darnest Things what they consider paradise to be.  Alas, that question was apparently not asked during the lengthy television run of that beloved program. During a 2005 interview on CNN’s Larry King…

ArizonaBreakfastJewishUnited States

Scott’s Generations – Phoenix, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Until 2025, the only generations of Scotts I’ve known are Dan (God rest his beautiful soul) and Latayne, their son Ryan and daughter-in-law Kimber and their children Canaan and Judah.  Everyone calls them “the great Scotts,” largely because they live their Christian faith.  Latayne is, in fact, a very prolific author of several Christian books.  My friend Ryan and I have broken bread on many occasions.  He’s a fellow trencherman who delights in finding great restaurants with generous portions.  Ryan would have loved Scott’s Generations in Phoenix…and I would have loved seeing his baby blues feast on a robust sandwich overstuffed with enough meat to feed….well, generations of Scotts (or one Ryan). While the name on the marquee suggests that…

ArizonaItalianPizzaUnited States

Pullano’s Pizza & Wings – Glendale, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Several years ago during a fund-raising effort, Albuquerque’s PBS television station KNME aired a program called “Sandwiches That You Will Like.”   The documentary was produced by the exceptionally talented Rick Sebak of Pittsburgh station WQED.  The entertaining travelogue featured delicious sandwiches (and the folks who make and enjoy them) served by shops, stands and diners from across the USA. This program originally aired in 2002, also the year a companion book titled Sandwiches That You Will Like was published.  The book was written by fabulous food author Becky Mercuri. I was well aware of most of the sandwiches showcased in the documentary and the book.  There were several, however, I had not tried.  The most intriguing sandwich to me was…

ArizonaGelatoItalianPizzaUnited States

GELATO DOLCE VITA & ITALIAN GROCER – Mesa, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“La Grassa” (The Fat One) is the nickname of Bologna, Italy.  While that sobriquet may seem unflattering, Bologna bears it with honor.  This city in the north-central region of the country is considered the “gastronomic heart of Italy,” a place where food is an art form and a passion.   This may be best exemplified by one of the foods born in Bologna.  I’m talking, of course, about gelato.  Throughout “Lo Stivale” (the boot, a nickname bestowed upon Italy because the shape of the peninsula resembles a high-heeled boot) gelato is revered.  Not surprisingly, Bologna is not only the home of Italy’s oldest university (and the oldest in the western world), but home to Carpigiani, “Gelato University.” Mesa, Arizona is the…

ArizonaDiners Drive-Ins and DivesMexican

Salsa Brava – Flagstaff, Arizona

Gil Garduno2:55 PM

As the feminine form of “bravo,” brava translates from Spanish and Italian to “well done,” “excellent,” or “good.” Brava is often used to praise a female performer, often in conjunction with or preceding requesting an encore for a performance well executed.  Stemming from Italian and Spanish, brava can also be used to mean brave, angry or fierce.  I’m one of those Hispanic gents who expects…make that demands, salsa to be fierce and angry.  I want my salsa to bite me back, to reenforce through its potency and piquancy that pain is a flavor.  That’s especially true when a Mexican restaurant sports the audacious name “Salsa Brava.” Salsa Brava is a perpetual “best of the city” award-winner in Flagstaff.  It’s been…

ArizonaDiners Drive-Ins and DivesItalianPizzaUnited States

FAT OLIVES – Flagstaff, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Several years and a couple of tons ago, my friend “Macho” Mike Moretti and I were the type of trenchermen that all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurants feared so much they established strict time limits.  When a German restaurant on San Mateo offered a free dessert to any diner who could finish a gargantuan combination plate, we easily surmounted the challenge and asked for seconds.  Perhaps our most impressive culinary conquest transpired when Pizza Inn offered a “order one pizza, get the next size free” deal.  We ordered an extra large pizza and a large pizza then polished them off.  That was the last time I ever finished at least an entire pizza (about ten acres of pie) by myself.  That is, the…

NevadaRated 24SteakUnited States

Lawry’s The Prime Rib – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno1:10 AM

“What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents.” ~Michael Chiarello Many of my most cherished memories involve the act of eating and quite often those memories don’t involve the food itself.  The memories which sweeten most over time invariably involve the people with whom those meals were shared.  The act of degustation is infinitely more satisfying and the meals so much more pleasing when shared with loved ones.  In part because of the memories it evokes, one restaurant which will always hold a special place in my heart is Lawry’s The Prime Rib.  Every visit rekindles memories of my first visit and creates new memories to be revisited and cherished…

AmericanNevadaSouthernUnited States

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Momofuki in New York City, Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn,  Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami, Bourbon Steak in San Francisco, Border Grill in Los Angeles, Bouchon in Yountville, Emeril’s in New Orleans, Jaleo in Washington, D.C..  These are among the many restaurants on every true gastronome’s bucket list.  In addition to being helmed by some of the culinary world’s most celebrated luminaries, these pantheons of deliciousness share another commonality.  They all have a presence in Las Vegas casinos where well-heeled guests with plenty of disposable income come to gamble and to eat well. Whether celebrity chef restaurants in Las Vegas are as good as their originals is a matter of debate.  Award-winning restaurants throughout the fruited plain are similarly…

NevadaSteakUnited States

Peter Luger’s Steakhouse – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

As a 1995 episode of Seinfeld illustrated, steak is not just a guy thing anymore. When Jerry took a blind date to the Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City, he admitted “I’m not really that much of a meat eater” to which his date replied “You don’t eat meat? Are you one of those…” Questions about his masculinity persisted when she ordered a porterhouse medium rare and Jerry had a salad.  Although I’ve never gone so far as to order a salad at a steakhouse, I’m “one of those“–men who don’t particularly like steak.  Give me a fully dressed baked potato any day. It’s not as though I’ve never had an outstanding steak (The Hamilton Chop House in Durango and…

2010 James Beard Foundation - "Best Chef" - SouthwestNevadaRated 27ThaiUnited States

LOTUS OF SIAM – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno1:36 AM

In the August, 2000 issue of Gourmet Magazine, Jonathan Gold,  the only food critic to ever earn a Pulitzer Prize, called the Lotus of Siam restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada “the single best Thai restaurant in North America.”  Not a disparaging word was heard or a dissenting opinion offered among the cognoscenti save for those who argued that the word “Thai” should be removed from from Gold’s audacious proclamation.  Lotus of Siam is THAT good! In the decade plus since Gold’s assertion, every reputable critic from every credible publication has jumped on the bandwagon, essentially echoing or adding to to the validation of the greatness that is the Lotus of Siam.  The superlatives are similar on every review you’ll read…