Tag: Burrata

ArizonaFine DiningItalianRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Sexy Roman – Scottsdale, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

The Sexy Roman restaurant inside the W Scottsdale (a vibrant, luxury lifestyle hotel) was christened to reflect its identity as a “mischievous,” sultry, and high-energy take on Roman and Mediterranean dining. Created by the Alliance Hospitality Group, the name signals a playful, glamorous nightlife vibe rather than a traditional, quiet trattoria.  Uh oh, as a culinary historian, those terms conjure images of “dining” taken to extreme.  At its immoderate peak, the Roman dining lifestyle hearkens back to the days of baccanalian excess, wild and rowdy celebrations dedicated to Bacchus, the god of wine. A bacchanalian feast involved  massive wine-drinking, chaotic dancing, and a total breakdown of normal social rules. Chronicled some 200 years after the peak of the practice, writings offers a scandalized and extremely colourful account of the bacchanalia. Frenzied rites, sexually violent initiations of both sexes, all ages and all social classes were all part of the celebrations. Large amounts of wine and food apparently prompted participants to lose all inhibitions. Wild, chaotic parties featuring heavy drinking, loss of normal behavior, and unrestrained physical or sexual celebration were more than commonplace; they were expected.  Hmm, much as I love to eat, I probably would have limited my participation…

ArizonaDog FriendlyMediterraneanRating: N/R (Not Rated)SandwichUnited States

Pa’La – Phoenix, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Is there anything more relaxing than a wood fire: its mesmerizing orange and blue flames as they lick the air, the warmth and comfort of heat as it overcomes weather’s chilling bite, the meditative timbre of wood crackling  over the flames, the spitting and hissing of red-orange embers and especially aromas which trigger heart-rending reminiscences of childhood days sitting around a fire with family and friends.  Just the thought of a wood fire is therapeutic, imparting benefits that are both salubrious and soothing. My attempts  at transporting you to a time and place in which wood fire helped transcend life’s vicissitudes are likely feeble, but let me add another element that might do the trick.  Now imagine the yeasty bouquet of baked bread wafting toward you from a wood-burning oven. It’s been well established that there is no more effective medium for rekindling pleasant memories than the aroma of bread baking, but studies have proven that the aroma of baking bread actually triggers more positive, helpful, kinder, and more altruistic behavior in people. Those studies–published in the Journal of Social Psychology–concluded that there is something about the effect of the smell of bread baking that is not just pleasant on…