Alter Ego – Tempe, Arizona
Ever since my wonderful 94-year young mom was no longer able to prepare and host lavish Christmas Day dinners at her home, my Kim and I have been “snowbirding” it with annual trips to the Valley of The Sun. Every year I try to surprise my Kim with a better than the previous year’s Christmas dinner at some fancy schmantzy restaurant. Last year it was at the magnificent Zinc Bistro in Scottsdale. The previous year, we dined at Roy’s Restaurant, also in Scottsdale. Our inaugural Christmas dinner in the Phoenix area was at the Fat Ox, a James Beard nominated restaurant in Scottsdale. All served us fabulous (albeit very expensive) meals. My criteria for selecting a restaurant includes, of course, a restaurant that accommodates The Dude, our debonair dachshund. It wouldn’t be a family Christmas without our four-legged fur baby. This year (2023) rather than another Christmas in Scottsdale, I scoured various sources for something closer to our Tempe rental. At the very top of that list was Alter Ego, the signature restaurant of the Canopy Hotel in Downtown Tempe directly across University Blvd. from Arizona State University (ASU). That location set off alarms, but only because my experiences with…