- [Narrator] And now an Arizona P B S original production.

- I'm Chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to Check Please!

Arizona, the show where Arizona residents recommend their favorite restaurants.

Coming up, we have guests who are passionate about their picks.

They've dined at all three, and they're ready to share their reviews with each other and with you, right here on Check Please!

Arizona.

(light jazzy music) - [Narrator] Support comes from Copenhagen featuring contemporary furniture from around the world.

Copenhagen is dedicated to providing comfort, craftsmanship, and customer service.

Located at copenhagenliving.com.

- [Narrator] Whitfield nursery proud to support Arizona PBS, A valley tradition since 1946.

Over 200 acres of Arizona Grown trees, citrus and palms, complete custom design and installation.

And Whitfill Nursery still does the digging.

whitfillnursery.com.

- [Narrator] Hospice of the Valley, medical, social, and spiritual care for patients nearing end of life and support for their families.

A not-for-profit community hospice, hov.org.

(light jazzy music) - I'm Chef Mark Tarbell, welcome to Check Please!

In this episode, we're highlighting a gluten-free jewel, a legendary Mexican restaurant, and a modern take on Italian.

Let's meet our diners.

Jennifer Mazzuri owns a consulting business, she's a mom of two who volunteers at a crisis center for children.

Juwan Thornton works at a healthcare nonprofit.

He and his wife love to go out dancing and he enjoys playing golf.

But up first is Lauren Etchert.

Lauren's a crop planning supervisor at a local farm.

She's originally from New Mexico, so it's no surprise she picked a spot that celebrates these unique flavors.

This Los Dos Molinos.

- Los Dose Molinos is a family owned restaurant, third generation now of New Mexico cuisine, and we specialize in hatch red and green chilies from New Mexico.

So they got that little bit of kick with what we like to think is lots of flavor and lots of love.

They're only in season once a year, so it's really special when you're able to just get exactly what you're looking for.

We have a lot of items that a lot of people are used to in typical Mexican restaurants, tacos, burritos, enchiladas.

We just kind of have our own little spin on it.

I feel like the most popular dishes that kind of put us on the map is definitely our adovada.

That's our pork that we slow cook, and the spicy red chili, I mean it's fork tender.

Our restaurant first got its name when my grandmother and my grandfather Vicky and Eddie Chavez were married, each of their families gave them what's in Spanish is a molino, it's a chili grinder, their old iron turn, the handle kind of chili grinders, And when they were thinking of a name, they happened to look at where they had them both set on the mantle and the rest is history.

My grandma was really adamant about us learning everything.

All of us kiddos started when we were teeny tiny washing dishes, cutting onions, I mean they started us from the ground up.

I'm so grateful for what she's taught us 'cause we're able to sit here now as third generation and keep that legacy and that pride going, and we're hoping to keep it going for many, many more generations to come.

When you come here every day, whichever location you're at, you can ask and there's a family member here.

We want you to be a part of our lives just as much as hopefully we become a part of yours.

- The locals call it "Los Dos" and this is your favorite restaurant Lauren, why did you pick Los Dos?

- Los Dos is really near and dear to mine and my family's heart.

We go there for pretty much every sort of event, whether it be like family gatherings for birthdays.

My husband and I actually had our rehearsal dinner there in November.

- [Mark] Nice.

- So it's a a really fun like energetic, family friendly environment.

But you can also go there on a, on a date night.

The food is probably the best part of this restaurant.

It's super spicy, it is new Mexican food, so fair warning.

- I would say bold.

It is spicy, yes, but I think there's a reason behind it.

I think they're really trying to pump up flavor there and that's what they do so well.

So what was the dish you had first.

- We decided on the chorizo dip and I'm norm- I'm normally not a chorizo fan, but the gentleman that was serving us recommended it and so we got that and it was served with like these little like tortilla strips that were like pretty thick, so it wasn't a normal chip, and the chorizo I think is made like in-house.

This was absolutely delicious.

The number one thing I get there every single, I mean we go there almost like every other week, at least once a month.

We are quite the regulars and I always get the garlic pork roast burrito dinner.

The dinner comes with beans and rice and a potato on the side, which is kind of unusual.

It's a little papa, just about that big.

- [Mark] Nice.

- It is super moist, úI always get it Christmas style, that's kind of the little hidden tip there, so you get red and green sauce, so you get to taste a little bit of both.

It's massive so you can like, you know, take it to go and have it the next day with some eggs in the morning for breakfast.

- [Mark] That's exactly what I did.

I, I ordered, I took half to go.

I mean I was already full.

So Juwan, what did you have for your entree?

- We walk in, it was a beautiful vibe.

It's a really family-centric spot.

I had the shredded chicken chimichanga.

- [Mark] Ooh baby.

- [Juwan] Oh yeah.

It was so delicious, great texture on the chicken, amazingly spiced and seasoned and well-balanced.

- [Mark] Did you go red or green?

- [Juwan] Red.

- [Mark] Okay, cool.

- [Juwan] Red all the way.

- [Mark] How was that?

- [Juwan] Oh, just amazing.

Amazing.

Great texture, great flavor.

And it really helped balance out the dish.

- Yeah.

So did you eat the whole plate?

Did you get through it, did you get through it?

- You know, I did.

- I've seen that plate - Yes I did, yes - [Mark] I think that's a sign of a good experience.

- [Juwan] Absolutely.

- So Jennifer, what'd you start with?

- We started with the cheese crisp.

It was really good.

- [Mark] Good, that comes with salsa and all that stuff?

- It does, it does it.

It is sort of like, almost like a pizza.

It's like a, like a big round - [Mark] That's right they do that.

- [Jennifer] It's like a tortilla that is, is cut into slices.

Lots of cheese but not greasy.

It was very good.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- [Lauren] Is it open face.

- [Mark] It is, I believe.

Yeah, it is one of them.

And it's on a like a pizza pie too.

I remember that.

That's really cool.

- [Lauren] I haven't had that there.

- What did you have for your entree?

- I had the chili relleno with Machaca and it was very good.

The Machaca I think was the best thing.

It, it is a large plate, very generous portion comes with beans and rice.

The Machaca, you can tell, was definitely slow cooked.

It had that kind of nice tender, falling apart texture.

Very, very good.

The Chile Relleno, it was very spicy.

I'm not sure that I would get that again, probably, I enjoyed the Machaca portion of the meal.

The Chile Relleno was probably a little, little spicy for me.

- But it did have those chile warnings on the menu.

- It did.

I like spicy but I cannot live up to the standard at Los Dos Molinos.

- So Lauren did you have dessert?

- Yeah, so for dessert, I mean it's, it's hard to find a Sopapilla in Arizona I feel like.

So I'm from New Mexico and pretty much every restaurant, every Mexican or new Mexican restaurant you go to has Sopapillas for dessert.

And so Los Dos Molinos has them and I will give you guys a little pro tip.

So, if you bite one of the edges of the Sopapilla and fill that with honey, then you can like roll it around and get honey all on the inside of it.

So you're not getting your fingers sticky.

- [Mark] Juwan did you, you had it too right?

- [Juwan] I had a, I had a - [Mark] Did you do it, the honey thing?

- [Juwan] I did not adhere to that pro tip - [Lauren] Okay, okay, you didn't know yet.

- Um, next time, I didn't know right, now I'm blessed with the information it's definitely going to happen, but yeah I devoured them.

We had four and so we literally left with none and most of them were eaten by me.

I loved how warm, how soft the flavor were just amazing.

But more importantly, when they come out, it's almost like on this display where you kind of go like, whoa, your eyes are definitely can, you know, be bigger than your tummy.

So luckily I had an opportunity to not only finish my meal, but I knocked these Sopapillas out as well, But they were delicious.

- So we liked the margarita so much that we opted not to do dessert and we went and sat in the bar after dinner - Oh how is that atmosphere?

- It's awesome.

It is kind of that dark, Lounge-y kind of bar atmosphere.

I think, especially in summer when you're looking for someplace cool and dark to go maybe for happy hour, but we really enjoyed it.

The service was very attentive.

You know, I'm not a big margarita fan because usually they're very sweet, but their fresh margaritas were perfect.

- [Mark] That's important to say, cause I'm the same way.

I like lime juice.

If you have a hint of sweetness, that's fine for me, but I really think it brings up the flavors of the agave spirit, you know, whether it's tequila or mezcal, but the bar is, it has that neighborhood sort of go-to vibe.

All right, this is your place.

Do you have any pro tips?

- We always sit on the patio just cause it's such a, an engaging and energetic environment and the, the lights are amazing.

- Jennifer pro tips.

- I think definitely hang out in the bar.

We overlooked that the last couple times that we went and really enjoyed the experience of just, just sitting in that area.

- All right, Juwan - Yeah, you know, pro tip for me, definitely go with what you are familiar with on the menu.

I think if you aren't a spicy person, don't go to a dish that has the three or four chili peppers on it.

You know, kind of stick within your spice realm.

- I think that's an excellent tip.

If you want to try Los Dos Molinos, it's located at 10th Street and Camelback an average meal will cost $30 dollars and they take reservations for parties of five or more.

They also have another location in Phoenix.

(light piano music) Up next is Juwan's selection at Bakery Cafe that serves breakfast and lunch staples and it's all gluten free.

This is Jewel's Bakery and Cafe.

- Jewel's Bakery and Cafe is a home-style cafe where we just happen to serve gluten-free food.

Our menu consists of breakfast and lunch-y items.

We do brunch all day.

We do a lot of home-style cooking, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, waffles, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, just lots of desserts.

The vibe in the cafe, it's, it's real chill.

The staff I have are super amazing.

Our number one selling item is chicken and waffles.

We use chicken tenders and then we coat 'em in chicken batter fry them and we serve 'em with a Belgian waffle.

It's really fat and juicy.

And our homemade buttermilk syrup is, is probably one of the stars of the show.

Jewel started back 12 years ago when my daughter Sophia became intolerant to gluten and I came up with my flour bin and it just, it took off.

I started in farmer's markets and I got so big for the farmer's markets.

So we decided to do a brick and mortar.

I have so many customers come in and they just are so appreciative of how, how good the food is, and I have customers that travel very far.

They come out of their way.

A lady the other day, she drove six hours out of her way on her road trip to come here on her road trip.

Like that to me is amazing.

It just really melts my heart.

- So how did you find Jewel?

- Oh, great question.

So during Covid, my partner brought home this mysterious box filled with these great items within it, hash browns, chicken strips, waffles.

I opened it up, I start digging in and before I could actually realize that this was gluten free, it was all gone.

- So you're a regular, what's your go-to?

- My go-to is the Arizona chicken and waffles.

Hot chicken and waffles.

- [Mark] Okay.

- Churro style.

- Ooh, okay.

- That is interesting - Very - Yeah, tell us about that, what makes it Churro Style?

- Oh, little dusting of cinnamon with sugar on your waffle, right, and you can get it separate.

- Everyone says things about gluten free and the texture of the chicken.

Kind of describe that a little bit.

Is there any, is there any diminished experience?

- [Juwan] No, nothing is diminished when thinking of the chicken, the cook, Crispy on the outside.

Great seasoning.

The flavors are very complex.

I had to ask one of the staff members whether they actually put some sort of smoked bone inside of the, either the chicken for a marinade or something of that nature because it had this really deep flavor to it.

- Wow.

- But no sacrifice when you think about quality, flavor, et cetera.

- [Mark] Texture, everything.

- [Juwan] Texture, the chew was beautiful.

- [Mark] Wow.

- [Juwan] And even down to the tenderness and juiciness of the chicken.

- All right.

Jennifer, what did you have when you went there?

- So there was nothing that we did not love about the experience at Jewel's.

So I went with my husband and my two boys.

Great place for family.

- [Mark] What's it like?

The atmosphere?

- [Jennifer] Very casual, kind of diner.

I am always kind of looking at, you know, it's very organized, it's very clean, you know, I, I just feel like that tells you a little bit about the quality that is in store.

The service was amazing.

She made some recommendations, which I always appreciate because they're gonna tell you the best thing on the menu.

So we got the hash brown dippers, which came with spicy ketchup.

Definitely a fan, and gravy.

- [Mark] So what's that like?

So it's a hash brown dipper.

I love hash browns in any way, shape or form, but what, how are they- - [Jennifer] They're little triangles.

- [Mark] Okay.

- [Jennifer] Little, little pieces of, of hash browns.

So they're perfect.

The gravy was, it was kind of unexpected.

I really enjoyed that.

We also got the fried pickles.

That was my husband's suggestion.

I was super not into it.

And by the end we were fighting over them, so, so good.

And we got, I got the Arizona hot chicken sandwich and it's really nice because the presentation is sort of like a, like a Nashville chicken sandwich, but without all the grease and the oil.

The dredge on the chicken is incredible.

It is so excellent.

And they have a jalapeno coleslaw and pickles.

Very good.

And I had a chai tea that was very good too.

I wanna mention that, just very well spiced, nice flavor, Nice foamy milk on the top.

It was perfect.

- What did you have for your entree Lauren?

- So I will say that my partner ended up getting just the normal chicken and waffles.

I didn't even see the hot chicken and waffles on the menu until like, afterwards, and so, but it was delicious.

Yeah, couldn't tell it was gluten free, It was probably one of the best chicken and waffles we've had.

And it comes with a, like a homemade buttermilk syrup.

Which I ended up like putting in my coffee afterwards, in my latte.

- Yeah, - I think that is total pro tip - Yeah - Thank you.

- Never would've done that, but now I think I want to - Is this gross?

I don't know, it's delicious.

- No, that's another happy accident, right?

It worked.

- But what I got was a biscuits and gravy.

I'm just a huge biscuits and gravy fan.

It was a, a cream-based gravy and was absolutely delicious.

The, the biscuit was really unique, really flaky and just had really good seasoning and, and flavor on it.

- [Mark] Any dessert?

- We got some appetizers that were kind of like a dessert.

We got the two like donut holes So it's perfect, I think it's like $3 for like two little donut holes, and you can get them either powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar, and we got the cinnamon sugar and again, it comes with that homemade syrup.

- [Mark] So Juwan, you had the cinnamon roll when you went there, what was it like?

- [Juwan] I did, the cinnamon roll all gluten free.

So I'm a big cinnamon roll guy, I love the texture and the chew of a traditional cinnamon roll.

With this being a gluten-free cinnamon roll, no change in texture, the taste, the mouth feel was there.

So for folks who may be on the fence about, you know, gluten-free confectioneries, you won't have any sort of lapse in quality.

- So you're not gluten free - I am not gluten free, no.

- Is anyone gluten free?

- No.

- No.

- Did we all notice a difference?

- No - Zero.

- Zero difference.

- Do you have any pro tips?

- Absolutely.

You know, major pro tip, churro style.

So if you ever get the Arizona hot chicken and waffles, try it churro style, you might be surprised.

- Pro tips?

- I guess I gotta say my pro tip is get a regular coffee, a regular latte, and then go ahead and put their homemade buttermilk syrup into your coffee and just stir it up a little bit, And don't tell anyone.

- Love that.

Yeah.

No one's gonna be watching this at all It's never gonna happen.

- Ask for, ask for an extra one - Jennifer, what's your tip?

Bring the family, there's something I think, you know, for the kids, there's, there's definitely you're gonna find something that you love as an adult, but our kids had the pancakes.

They were nice, light, fluffy pancakes.

Again, if you're, you know, if you eat gluten, you would never know the difference, so it's a great place, I think for, to bring, you know, a a group of people who eat gluten or don't, but definitely bring the family.

There's something for everybody.

- If you want to try Jewel's Bakery and Cafe it's located at 40th Street and Thomas, in Phoenix.

An average meal will cost you about $20.

And they take reservations for parties of six or more.

(light piano music) Our last restaurant is Jennifer's selection.

We head to North Scottsdale for Italian with a Mediterranean twist.

This is Spiga Cucina Italina - Spiga Cucina Italiana is a local family-owned favorite, where you can get any of your classics, from your New York steak to your Chicken Parmigiana and you're guaranteed to have a good time.

We have a pretty balanced palate as far as Mediterranean or Italian influences.

We do take a lot of pride in our seafood.

Being that we are in the middle of Arizona, we take an extra step to make sure that every day we're getting in the very freshest of offerings.

Myself and the owners we're in the back every day checking in with the guys, making sure every dish gets the attention to detail and the love that is required to stand apart.

We have an amazing crew.

I am very fortunate to have so many hardworking, dedicated people that are able to make Spiga special.

The look and feel for Spiga for us is something much more intimate than just your standard, off the shelf dining experience.

We like it to be more authentically driven.

We have a lot of naturally occurring elements, trying to tie it in, to more of a at home feel.

We also offer a year-round enclosed patio.

So during the winter months we have heaters, and during the summertime we also have screens that we're able to lower, misting fans.

So for our wine offerings, we have a great pairing program.

We have pretty much every region imaginable on our list.

When my guests walk in, I want them to feel like they're coming home.

Somewhere you would bring your friends and family, sit down, have a nice time, and forget about your cares of the day.

- So Jennifer, what did you have when you were there?

What, why this restaurant?

- So I, I love this restaurant.

I have gone many times with my husband and so it's a really nice kind of, you know, date night atmosphere.

Beautiful restaurant, but still very relaxed.

We ordered the burratta and prosciutto to start.

- [Mark] Ooh I had that - [Jennifer] Very good, nice and creamy - [Mark] Creamy and spilled all over the plate - [Jennifer] Yes, perfect Perfect with the Prosciutto, good with the crostini, yeah, it was, it was very good.

For dinner, we shared the grilled seafood and it comes out on a board, big pile of vegetables and, and different types of grilled seafood and really tasty, but also kind of a nice date night item to share.

- [Mark] What kind of seafood was it?

- [Jennifer] There was grilled lobster tail, jumbo shrimp, sea scallops, and salmon.

- [Mark] Wow - [Jennifer] very good.

Yeah, very generous portion, nice presentation.

- So your last name's Mazzuri?

- Yes - So you've been to an Italian restaurant before?

- Just a couple times.

Only a few.

- So you like this one?

- My Kitchen is an Italian Restaurant.

Yes, we do like it, it's very good.

- I, that's the takeaway for today.

My kitchen is an Italian restaurant.

I love that.

So the atmosphere, what, how would you describe it?

- It's nice, it's, it's busy.

Sometimes you want to kind of go out for, for sort of that high energy kind of restaurant experience, but again, it's still very relaxed.

The service is very attentive, very friendly.

Made some nice suggestions.

- Had you been there before, Lauren?

- We had not.

It was, yeah, I mean, it's kind of not in our neighborhood, so really we would've never found it had you not recommended it.

It's kind of amongst some like office buildings and then you get to this like, yeah.

Big spectacular place.

- [Mark] What did you start with?

- So we started with the mussels with like a garlic butter and white wine like, kind of red sauce.

- [Mark] That's a real classic - [Lauren] Yeah, yeah, with some, you know, toasted bread on the side.

- What did you have for your entree?

- So I had the bucatini.

- [Mark] Okay.

- [Lauren] Which is like a thicker spaghetti that's hollow, which I, I'd never had it before.

It was excellent.

Comes with a red sauce, which I always love.

I just love a good red sauce.

And then it has like a cured meat in it as well.

And it was, it was excellent.

It was a little, it was a bit salty, but I mean, has cured meat.

It was really bright.

It seemed like almost maybe they were roasting just like some cherry tomatoes in a pan.

Nothing super heavy.

It was really, really light.

It was, It was delicious.

- Awesome, Juwan.

- We thought that the vibe was amazing and we started off with the antipasti board.

- [Mark] Okay.

- [Juwan] So it comes with all of these nice cured meats that are so well spiced, balanced, immense amount of flavor.

We devoured it.

Normally we have a little bit left over.

This did not stand a chance.

I had the bolognese, which for me, I'm a bolognese connoisseur, meaning that if it's good, high praise, if not, eh, you know, this was one of the top that I've nice ever had.

Sauce, Amazing.

Had the right texture, believed there may have been some carrots inside, maybe onions.

- [Mark] Oh, cool.

- [Juwan] And even the pasta, seemed to be homemade or made on site, came out hot, flavorful, and ugh, it, I, I wish I would've eaten it all there, but I had to kind of save a little bit.

- Did you have any dessert?

- Yes, the tiramisu, which again, best tiramisu ever.

When you think about the texture, normally Tiramisu can be very, not necessarily spongy, but kind of overly soft.

In this case, this was not only the best texture, it had the nice level of espresso inside.

Every bite burst with it.

The cream on the lady fingers, it was just amazing.

- Yeah - So needless to say - So you didn't like it at all.

- No, not, not at all.

Yeah.

You know, it was definitely a hard pass, but it was amazing, best tiramisu ever.

- And you had dessert too?

- Yes, we had the bouchone It's like a warm, almost like a chocolate lava cake.

- [Mark] Yes.

- [Lauren] 'cause the inside was like a little, I don't wanna say it's not undercooked, but it's just - [Mark] It's liquid.

- [Lauren] Liquid, yeah, it's like a lava cake.

And it comes with the site of vanilla gelato.

- [Jennifer] Oh, that sounds awesome - [Lauren] Who doesn't love like chocolate and vanilla - Jennifer, you had dessert too?

- We did, we had the chocolate cake that had sort of a, a like a hazelnut mousse, and it was nice because there was like, maybe like a sanded sugar or something.

So there's a little bit of a crunch.

Really good.

- Did you have anything to drink when you were there, Juwan?

- Yes, we did.

I had the Spiga Old Fashioned thought that was probably one of the best drinks that I've had at an Italian restaurant.

- [Mark] Oh, that's cool.

- [Juwan] Well-balanced flavored really nicely.

Right level of oomph.

Right?

Doesn't feel like you're kind of drinking, you know, the, the syrup you feel that, you know, kind of.

- Little backbone there.

A little spice.

- A little backbone.

Well said, yeah.

- You're, you're nodding, you had a little something special.

- Oh, the backbone is a theme in the cocktails there I had the Bourbon and Amaro and it is, you feel it going down.

It's like when you want like a good, a good drink.

It was a very good drink.

- It's like that leather couch at the end of a long week.

- Yeah.

- That's how I like to describe that one.

- Yeah, ease into the week.

- [Lauren] So I had Chianti.

The Chianti was excellent and they had so much, so many different wines to select from, so.

- [Juwan] That's great - So any takeaways?

- Definitely get reservations.

I think any night of the week, if you're going, definitely get reservations.

And if you have the opportunity, sit on the patio, especially this time of year, it's beautiful.

- Go there often because it's absolutely amazing.

And then just get a new dish every single time you go.

- Yeah.

- Because they have so many different handmade pasta options.

- [Mark] Yeah, Juwan.

- Try the dessert.

Don't leave without trying the tiramisu.

- Did you mention the tiramisu?

- You know what, I think did I, did I?

Did I?

Um, yeah.

- [Mark] If you wanna try Spiga, it's located at Scottsdale Road and Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale.

And the average meal will cost about $40 dollars, and they do take reservations.

I wanna thank Jennifer, Juwan, and Lauren for joining me at the table.

And thank you for joining us for Check Please!

Arizona.

If you'd like to share your favorite restaurant, head to our website, azpbs.org/checkplease and nominate your must eat at spot.

Who knows?

You could be joining me at the table.

Be a part of the foodie conversation in Arizona on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Using the hashtag #checkpleaseaz.

Join us next time when three new guests make their recommendations, right here on Check Please!

Arizona.

I'm Chef Mark Tarbell, have a delicious life.

- [Narrator] Tomorrow's technology today and much more is used to treat cancer at Ironwood Cancer and Research Centers always looking to find more, more time, more life.

Ironwood, Cancer and Research Centers, Outsmarting cancer, one patient at a time.

Albertson's, Safeway Pharmacies and Valley Nonprofit Mission of Mercy are proud to support cancer awareness.

They encourage you to talk to your doctor, get recommended screenings and don't forget your flu vaccine.

More information at albertsons, or safeway.com.

(light jazz music)