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- Hello I'm chef Mark Tarbell, and welcome to Check Please Arizona, The show where people dine and then dish.

This is how it works.

We ask three guests to each recommend their favorite restaurants.

They go to each one, eat, drink separately of course, and then join us here to share their dining experiences.

Meet Delores Garcia.

She works in wildfire management and she loves to discover the latest hotspots in Phoenix.

Her find a downtown restaurant that's known for its creative cocktails.

Attorney Catherine Vervilos likes to tender garden and hang with her family.

Her choice, a Mesa restaurant where the owners serve up simple flavorful dishes.

And finally software developer Rob Thommasone.

In the last three years, he's become a husband, a father and a homeowner.

Wow.

So where does he go to relax?

It's 32 Shea on north 32nd street, just north of east Shea Boulevard in Phoenix.

- Well 32 Shea in its original days was a drive-through photo lab.

In the early nineties, somebody turned it into its first coffee shop cafe.

One day I was driving by and there was a lease sign on the building and I snatched it up.

We start out our mornings as a coffee shop with a drive through and, and a cafe.

We have really small bites to eat and salads and gourmet sandwiches and a huge coffee program.

We serve all kinds of coffee, anything you can get at the chain places.

And then we have our own special little touches.

There's no other drive through in town that you can get a Prosciutto Mascarpone sandwich through our any of our other gourmet things that we serve through our drive through.

And then at four o'clock, everything just magically changes.

We switch over to a bistro.

Our baristas turned into servers and bartenders and our cooks become chefs.

And we start our table service.

Some of our menu items that we have, like our braised short ribs with the polenta cakes, that is outstanding.

We slow cook the short ribs of course in wine.

And the meat falls off the bone.

It's such a great combination with our honey corn polenta cakes.

It's absolutely delicious.

The minute you step on the first step of 32 Shea, you feel the love that's here.

And it really was built with my love with the local people from the shaver hood and the people working here as well.

- So tell me what people can expect when they drive up.

- It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once you walk right through that little gate there, and the patio is on your right, it's a great little almost a full tree canopy lights at night, nice fountain and you don't even realize that it's right on 32nd street, because the noise is just drowned out by the fountain and the music and yeah.

- Felt Oasis like, and Catherine, what did you feel like when you first drove up?

Because it was new to you.

- Yes it was.

And I had the same feeling.

I was like, what am I getting into?

And it was the same feeling.

Once we walked up, we saw the patio and that's where we wanted to sit.

It was very, once we sat back there it was very quiet.

Didn't even know the streets were out there, the people were out there.

It was just our own little, our own little place.

- [Mark] And almost has that New York feel, cause it's so small inside, like you're sitting really close to each other, but in a good way, I mean it's really.

- Yeah they make it work well.

- Yeah friendly.

- Yes friendly - So Delores what did you have to start with?

- We ended up starting with the bruschetta board and turns out that night we were there.

They had a bottle and bruschetta special.

So we ended up kind of starting with that.

- [Mark] What was on them?

- [Delores] One of them had a cranberry, a kind of a cranberry relish with some goat cheese.

Another one we chose was a tomato mozzarella and basil, - [Catherine] I had that too.

[Both] Yeah.

- [Catherine] Both those things were delicious.

- [Delores] And We ended up with the third choice was the prosciutto fig with the, with the marscapone oh my goodness.

- You had that one Rob?

- Yeah the prosciutto with the, with the honey and the fig is just so good - Say it again Rob 'prosciutto' - [Delores] Yeah.

- It was for grandma.

- Yeah one of them, I think it was the prosciutto one had the, a little bit of like a garlic butter flavor on it, on the toast.

That was the only one that I picked up a hint on it.

And it was really nice, especially with that honey and the fig and the marshal pawn cheese.

- It's like you have to get them all - You got to go back.

- And we've also got the salami pesto for Shanda too.

And that one real simple, but really good salami, really good pesto.

I love that Tuesday deal with the cheap wine.

It's a great deal.

But anyway.

- Well they're happy August starts at 6:00 AM, which I'm not sure it's a nice marketing thing.

I'm sure they're not really booming.

I hope not it's exam anyway.

- You never know with that drive through.

- [Mark] Yeah that's true That's right they do have a drive-through - We had, besides the bruschetta, we had the hummus and we started off with the vegetables and we didn't finish the hummus.

So then we asked for the lavosh and the lavosh and just came out in little pieces and it was nice and soft.

It was just paired perfectly with the hummus.

- Yeah Ooh, I'm hungry I like hummus - I like that they had the option of like a special daily Lavosh, their little pizza that they make there.

They change it regularly, I guess based on, you know, just what's available and what seasonal.

- She's always got something great coming out of the kitchen so, but for my entree, I went with the, I think it's on the newer side.

It hadn't been there the last time I went to the restaurant, but the braised short ribs silver polenta.

- [Catherine] Wow we had that too.

- Nothing better than slow cooked meat, so slow cooked meat.

The idea is that the longer you cook it and two with at the right temperature, low temperature long cooking, is it breaks down the fibers in the meat and that's what makes it so absolutely succulent and delicious.

And moist - [Rob] This is the type of meat that you look at and it falls apart I mean - [Mark] Exactly.

- Or brace the fork across it.

- [Mark] Nothing wrong with that.

- Yeah.

And the polenta cake underneath has a little bit of honey drizzled on top, which sounds kind of weird to go along with beef.

That's been braised and I think red wine, but absolutely phenomenal, - Catherine what did you have for the entree?

- Uhm for the entree I had the top salad.

And so it came in a nice plate on the bottom was the lettuce.

And then on top they had rows of chopped tomatoes, chopped chicken.

And it was a very pretty presentation.

They put the salad dressing on the side, so you can judge how much you wanted.

- [Mark] Oh that's nice.

- It was good.

- My mom and I decided to split the salmon and it's a sweet chili glaze salmon over a red keenwah that had some walnuts and cranberries mixed in.

And that was kind of all placed over an avocado crema.

And it was this great juxtaposition of texture and heat and cool.

And some of those flavors because you had the sweet and some of the saltiness and then the hot salmon over the, like the cool keenwah, it was really kind of a nice experience.

- Well the influence is there sounds south American really, cause you would have dried fruit sometimes.

And keenwah of course I think was discovered in the Andes originally very high in protein, wonderful grain, very, very delicious.

And especially that red keenwah, it has even more fiber.

- It was one of my favorite things, I think I've had in quite a while.

I'm not necessarily a salmon fan, but this, I would go back for that salmon.

- Well Rob your choice is killing it here.

- So what did you have for dessert?

- Oh first I got to put in a plug from my wife's favorite, the lobster Mac and cheese.

It sounds a little weird, but when you, I believe it's silly very tightly when in pasta.

So it kind of just soaks up all the sauce, but it's got a ton of goat cheese.

And if you like that goat cheese flavor, pretty good size Hung's a lobster.

And it comes with a believable little piece of a nice hard toast that kind of just dips into the sauce and so it was an upper line so.

- Okay desserts we're doing well so far here.

- We did the Nutella cheesecake, - [Mark] Ooh.

- Nice fresh, I guess homemade cheesecake with basically just a glaze of Nutella on top.

And then we paired that with, well not paired, but also had the Affogato.

- [Catherine] I had that too, I had affogato too - [Mark] You liked it?

- [Catherine] Yes I did.

I was a little worried about having it just because of the caffeine the coffee with the ice cream, but it was worth the risk for me.

And I enjoyed it very much.

- Affogato, it's basically sweet cream ice cream with cappuccino folded in.

- Yeah I think they go with a vanilla bean cappuccino and they also have a little bit of Irish cream kinda ah, ye ye make it this incredible thing - Just to kind of go over the decadent meters.

- And It's one of those to start with the spoon and finish with a straw type of desserts.

(laughing) - Yeah I like that one.

I'll take that - Really good stuff.

- If you would like to try 32 Shea, reservations are accepted for parties of six or more.

And the average tab for dinner is $25 without drinks.

Up next.

Catherine's pick it's Cafe 8 on east Southern avenue, east of south Higley road in Mesa.

- Cafe 8 is really interesting, and the fact that we are primarily a gluten-free restaurant.

And we really pride ourselves on that, because I want people that have CME disease to feel comfortable here, that they can feel somewhere safe that they can eat.

We actually use all organic fruits and vegetables.

We don't use any deli meat here.

We only use fresh roast turkeys, we roast whole turkeys, we do prime rib.

We roast whole prime ribs and it's all grass fed and organic.

At Cafe 8 you can come in here, you get a full menu.

If you're gluten-free a full menu that is identical to the regular menu.

We also use our gluten-free flour.

As it's used in everything in the bakery, we make our own muffins and blueberry is the number one seller.

But next to that comes the chocolate chip and our white chocolate cranberry.

And I think the neatest thing about them is the customers can't get over that they actually taste like there's gluten in them.

There's nothing that can warm your heart more than a five-year-old little girl that comes up and gives you a hug and says that was the best gluten free cupcake I ever had.

- Tell me what makes you a regular at Cafe 8?

- I love the food.

I love the ambience.

It's a small little bistro place and the owners they are the owners are husband and wife.

They are also the chefs and as a plugged in my heritage I'm Greek and the husband chef he's half Greek.

And so his food that they cook reminds me of my mom's food.

- Oh wow that is cool.

- So yeah and that you're happy with it.

- It's always great with these little places when the owners you know, comes up and takes your order and things like that.

- They were very, very proud of their establishment and very proud of what they had to offer.

And that's what I really like.

I love those little mom and pop shops.

- You picked up on that.

- Yeah - We made it out there pretty late in the day on a Saturday, we actually got there close to closing.

So they knew they were running low on a few things, but they were very upfront about it.

They were very very, very friendly about you know, we'll do anything we can basically help us though.

So they were down to one iced tea, but that ice tea was fantastic for example so, - So what did you have?

- We started with the hummus.

Very very, very good hummus.

The bread I love when Pete is really light and almost kind of has a flakiness to it when it comes to hummus.

So the Pete was fantastic to go with it.

The hummus itself was very peppery, a little bit of lemon in it that also stood out really big, but very smooth, very good hummus.

- So what did you have Catherine?

- Well every time I go there, I try to get the hummus too, because that garlic peppery flavor is just, it's a hint, but it's just enough with that.

And then the entree, we did pizza and then I tried something new, just because I wanted to get away from my typical fare that I get there.

And so I had the veal parmigiana and came with a side, their tomato basil soup, the veal Parmesan was a nice piece of veal.

It was breaded fried and it had a nice, generous portion of mozzarella melted mozzarella cheese on top.

- Hmm my favorite part I just go right for that first.

- It was very, it was very tender, very moist, just delicious the soup just as good.

I'm partial to their tomato basil soup because it doesn't taste really tomatoey.

It's like a hint of the tomato.

And then that basal you taste that basal.

- So it's more creamy based yeah?

- Yes.

- Yes Awesome.

Delores what did you start with?

- I got the prime rib sandwich with the witch.

I would go back just for this.

It was the, a pair of Gorgonzola with a toasted pecan and they make their dressings there.

And I ended up actually putting a little bit of that dressing onto my sandwich to just enhance the flavor, but it was very good.

- Yeah the Greek, I had the Greek salad and it was really perfect dressing.

So it's a, it's really like a gluten-free place you know, it's, that's what I caught from it.

They have a whole gluten-free menu.

Did any of you have go gluten free?

- No.

- You're all gluten all the time.

- Well, I always order off their regular menu, but their, their muffins and their desserts are all gluten free.

So that sort of diving into desserts.

That's what I had was - Hey life is short go for the dessert.

- Starting to always go desserts first and then the entree, but I had the, they had a cranberry chocolate muffin and it's just, it's just this massive muffin.

They had the cranberries, the chocolate just evenly throughout the muffin.

It's like every bite you got a little bit of both.

- I looked at both menus.

They both look very similar but again, they do highlight in one menu, the options for gluten-free, which is nice you know, you don't want most gluten-free options are just very minimal and they can make almost everything they've got there on their menu gluten-free.

- [Mark] Yeah that's what they say.

- Oh sorry.

I just couldn't say my wife also had the prime rib sandwich, but she went with the more Greek version of it that came on PETA and it had a Suzuki drizzled on top.

And that was very, very good Suzuki.

- I had a horseradish sauce on mine.

They gave me the option and accompany that a - Classic Greek.

- Yeah yeah.

- And they make their own prime rib there.

I think they, - They Roast their meats in house.

- Yes.

- In fact they were very proud to show us that, they have a whole roasted Turkey and were telling us that they roast their prime rib in house, which was quite impressive.

- Very cool - You know it was, it was nice to see that.

- What else did you have Rob?

- I had the, I believe Gnomon ranches, the ground beef burger, the bond and the vegetables and everything on it very good.

Came with a cheddar and lettuce and tomato etcetera, The meat I actually thought it for a second.

I was going to ask the waitress if I accidentally ordered the veggie burger, because it was very dry.

And again, we were there late in the day, which was probably our mistake so.

- And you had dessert?

- No we did not actually, we were there pretty late in the day and the case was pretty much empty.

So I think we missed out.

- When we went, we went right about noon and decided to get something sweet to go.

And the case was pretty low, but I think I saw some of those cranberry muffins you were talking about.

And then kind of in the back was some, was a last piece of their gluten-free Key lime pie.

So I took that to go I like that because - Did it make it home?

- Yeah it did.

- It did?

I was just saying.

- I was about ready to open it up and kind of stick a finger in it on the drive home.

But that didn't happen.

It was quite sweet.

It was had a green tint to it kind of reminiscent of like a pistachio cream pie or something like that.

Very sweet.

But I liked the little light gluten-free cross it had in there impressive for a gluten-free option.

- Yeah that is I mean, it's hard because gluten is what gives texture to pizza dough and bread dough.

And without it very challenging.

- Yeah this was kind of a nice little, almost like reminiscent of a Graham cracker crust.

- So desserts for you.

- And also had the lemon bar.

They thought at that time, and also there are two choices.

So lemon bar, like most things there, it just had that hint of lemon.

So it wasn't overpowering, very firm just tender, just the nice flaky crust scrumptious.

- Well the Greeks love their lemons.

- Yes they do.

- If you would like to try Cafe 8 reservations are accepted in the average tab for breakfast or lunch is $12 without drinks.

And now Delores has recommendation it's bitter and twisted cocktail parlor on the corner of west Jefferson street and south central avenue in downtown Phoenix.

- I wanted to come somewhere where the cocktail culture was in its kind of infancy.

This was 10, 15 years ago when we didn't have one that really wanted to be inspired by my experience in London over shall we say, the New York or a American style bartending.

So you can see those subtle nuances with the way you pour, the way you shake.

And hopefully in the way the drink tastes, I really love the Jefferson milk punch and it's a cocktail that's been around for 300 plus years.

It's clarified it uses these full fat milk, and we actually intentionally curdle it.

But through the Kurds, you're actually filtering it to make it crystal clear.

So it's, it's a marvelous silky delicious complex cocktail.

I just completely love that drink.

The food at bitter and twisted I would describe it as very worldly inspired bar bates, kind of that we get influenced by, but elevate.

So if we do for instance, chicken wings, we're not just going to be doing chicken wings.

We're going to be using a whole world of flavors and techniques to make it stand out and be different.

We really wanted to make our really world-class cocktail venue in the heart of downtown Phoenix.

I like a challenge and Phoenix definitely been a challenge in a good way.

- So should we start with drinks here?

- Oh Should we?

- I was like where do we start - Why wouldn't you maybe start from finish.

- Yeah, they're known for their drinks and you know, and they have an extensive menu.

I like to go belly up to the bar you know, sometimes after work in the happy hour, kind of setting - Nothing wrong with that.

- And have a great drink.

So it's, it's that's one of my favorite places to go for that.

- Yeah crafted cocktails.

Did you have a cocktail as well?

- Yes I went a little traditional.

I had a frozen margarita because they in the menu, they said that they add fresh fruits.

So I went to strawberry and it was very, very good.

And they're also I, I will say they're generous with their alcohol inside because you could taste it, but it didn't take away from the drink I enjoyed it quite a lot.

- Rob what did you have for a drink?

- We started, I had a Sazerac and my wife had a Manhattan.

We're like old school hip.

- Yeah.

- That's one of the best Sazerac I've ever had, rye whiskey and bitters.

And some places think that you're supposed to put a decent amount of absent than there, but other places know to just give it a little tiny little bit.

So they nailed it.

My wife's Manhattan also came in and great little tool at blast.

She had hers up as well perfectly made.

- So if you look up on the sideboard on the big tall wall, they have changing cocktail options.

So I usually work my way through that and I just happened to have the cocktail of the moment.

- I appreciate your persistence.

I think that's a good thing, It's a great quality.

- It shows how much I really enjoy this place - Okay I understand why.

- But yeah, it's a you know, so it always changes.

And of course, one of my favorite things there Mohito and I have it with passion fruit.

So I usually get a passion fruit Mohito and that's pretty much my standard one, but when I'm not going through the regular daily offerings.

- Good I'm going to say one word and we can discuss hurricane go, - Ooh popcorn, - Popcorn, hurricane popcorn.

- That is my favorite.

I've been known to make a dinner out of a bowl of their popcorn.

- Explain it - The hurricane popcorn very buttery has some wasabi rice crackers in there as well.

Some spicy rice crackers, a nice sprinkling of like a Sesame seed and us sometimes a little seaweed for those nice umami type flavors.

Like I said, I can make dinner out of a bowl of their popcorn.

- Gosh I'm sorry I didn't order that.

- Delores you mentioned umami, that's sort of like a Japanese, a new, new flavor sensation.

That was like a fifth sensation.

Cause we all know sweet, sour, bitter and all of that stuff.

And this is umami is what you get when you have soy sauce or fried French fries or it's that savory mouthwatering.

And my mouth is watering right now, just talking about it, but that's umami it's in.

It's in those things.

And what did you have Catherine?

- I started with the schezwanese chicken wings and the only offer hot and numb so - At least they're honest.

- Yes I was a little worried, so I went hot.

You don't see the wings because they're covered with all the hot peppers.

I was like oh no, I'm in trouble.

But they were perfectly flavored a hint of the heat, nice spicy flavor to them, ate them all quickly.

- Oh great.

- We started with the grilled cheese bites, which was a nice couple of thick slices of noble bread covered in cheese and spices and came with they'd tomato based dipping sauce.

That was extremely spicy in a good way.

Like it, it was just the perfect offset to the cheese.

- And noble bread, it is a bakery, it's called Nobel bakery and that's where that comes from.

So a local baker great, great little baker.

So where did you go after that?

- Macaroni and cheese with green Chili, one of my many favorite dishes there and it's just kind of toasted on top.

The cheese is kind of toasted on top of the macaroni's and the cheese is just nice and creamy with some really good hatch green chili in there that offers just enough spice, but not overpowering.

- We had the Tisch and FIPSE , - The Tisch and Fipse?

- When I first saw that I said like, am I reading this right?

- So what kind of fish did they use?

- It was cod - It's a classic.

- Classic Yes.

And it came with thick cut potatoes.

And then they had three generous pieces of Cod on top, very tender, very moist, just very flavorful.

- What did you have Rob?

- We went with the dumpling burger.

- Oh oh, - The Patty itself was beef and pork, probably a few spices, but put the tiny little slice of a melted white American and then a English muffin bun.

And it really does taste like one of the best dumplings you've ever had at a, at a good Johnny's restaurant even came with the dumpling style you know, the sweet glaze sauce and a little bit of chili paste and wow.

- They're ramen burgers.

Just about kind of the same in terms of you know, the flavors the, you get this people are always kind of afraid of it.

You know, it's the bun is actually ramen noodles and that they're crispy and they hold together well, considering that this is a burger and again, it's just so flavorful and just so fun to eat too you know, because of what it is.

- It's definitely what I'm getting next time we go.

- Yeah.

- All right desserts, let's go into that.

- The banoffee that has to be one of my favorites there.

That toffee sauce that they have in there - Yeah that's a predominant player the toffee yes.

- And I'm a big fan of like caramels and toffee.

And that was my favorite.

- Who isn't?

- I love the little bit of Graham cracker, I think in the bottom that you just kind of get that with that last scoop that gives it a little texture, but I love toffee.

I could probably live off of it.

It was a fantastic dessert.

- I went with the campfire marshmallows they serve each one and its own little Mason jar.

And so it was a Graham cracker stick.

And then the best part I thought was that they bring you a little bowl of melted chocolate so you can dip, take the marshal out of the jar and then dip it into the chocolates.

- Dip it or drink it?

- Or drink it sure.

It's very sweet, but very delicious.

Just a new take on that.

And it was good.

- That's the best deconstructed I would say that, that sounds amazing.

- Yes it was very good.

- If you would like to try bitter and twisted cocktail parlor reservations are not accepted.

And the average tab for dinner is $21 without drinks.

Thanks to Dolores, Catherine and Rob for sharing their picks.

And don't forget, you can share yours to go to AZpbs.org/checkplease, and nominate your favorite spot.

We just may invite you to be on the show and you can also be a part of the foodie conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, #checkpleaseAZ.

Join us next time.

When three new guests will bring three new restaurants right here on CheckPlease Arizona.

I'm chef Mark Tarbell, and have a delicious life.

- Check Please Arizona was made possible by lawns byles a family owned business, serving HOAs and commercial clients while working to improve the local community.

Proud to support eight Arizona PBS enhancing arrows on a landscape since 1982.

- Finding a local dentist can be difficult from basic cleanings and fillings to cosmetic procedures, even implants best dental care AZ.com can make finding a dentist in your neighborhood simple, more information at BestDentalCareAZ.com - Ironwood cancer and research centers providing personalized treatment options through research trials, genetic testing and counseling focused on emotional, physical and social support.

Outsmarting cancer, one patient at a time.

Whitfill nurse for a proud to support Arizona PBS of valley tradition since 1946, over 200 acres of Arizona grown tree citrus and farms, complete custom design and installation and Whitfill nursery still does the digging Whitfield nursery.com