- [Narrator] And now an Arizona PBS Original Production.

- I'm chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Arizona" the show where people like you recommend their favorite restaurants.

Coming up we have three guests that are passionate about their picks, and they're ready to share their reviews with each other and with you.

Right here on "Check, Please!

Arizona."

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(classical music) - This week on "Check Please!

Arizona" our guests have covered a lot of culinary territory.

They've dine in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Gilbert, and they join us at the table today.

Technical writer, Colin Barley is so excited to talk about quiche.

If you eat this at of his favorite spot in Gilbert, you'll get a true sense of Paris.

High school art teacher, Lorena DeCristofaro grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico .

And says she found authentic Mexican food in Scottsdale.

Up first marketing manager, Monique McCarrol.

Her recommendation is all about bread.

She says you will find elevated sandwiches and salads at Noble Eatery in Phoenix.

(bright upbeat music) - When somebody comes in Noble Eatery they're gonna get something that's nutritious for them, something that's delicious.

Our whole goal is to deliver a midday meal.

We try to be very, very quick here, but offer something that's exceptional.

(bright upbeat music) Our menu does change daily.

Some items that I would definitely recommend when you come in for the first time would be our toast.

In the toast we do offer what's called a trifecta.

One of my favorite trifectas would be the avocado toast, with the tuna and the burrata.

Well, the burrata is a creamy mozzarella cheese that's put on top of our country bread.

It features arugala, tomatoes.

The tuna is done as like a light salad.

We mix potatoes in there, beans, olive oil, vinegar, and then that's also served on our country toast.

And then one of my favorites is the avocado.

The avocado is a smashed ripe avocado with tomato and different seasonings on top.

It's one of the standard breads that we use is what we call our PD.

We hand stretch each piece of dough before every sandwich is made.

And then we put it into a wood-burning oven.

And the wood-burning oven runs at about 800 degrees and it actually creates steam within the bread and causes the pouf open.

And that's the cavernous area where we put all our fillings.

What sets our bread apart is I think the care that we put in to making every loaf, that's all done by hand.

Everything that we use for the bread is organic.

Whether it's a seed, or a nut, or a grain.

And it takes us about 36 hours to make a single loaf of bread.

Our goal is if you leave here hungry, it's your fault.

- So Monique, how did you find this place?

- I was at one of the local farmer's markets, and I saw Noble Bread.

I went for a loaf of bread, stayed for lunch.

Because the place is amazing.

Everything is super fresh.

The sandwiches, salads, toast, everything is absolutely-- - What's the atmosphere like?

I mean, you walk in there, like I hadn't been there either.

So what's it like when you walk in?

Or how could you describe it?

- It's kind of an industrial, rustic Italian villa type of place.

- Yeah, that's right.

Did you think so as well Colin?

- I thought so.

Yeah, very much the rustic thing came through.

- [Monique] Yeah.

- And yeah, you didn't feel like you were in the middle of the city.

You were in some little village somewhere.

I mean, the wooden tables, and kind of a simple low counter, and a little pizza over in the middle of there.

- [Monique] Picture of the Pope.

- It's right there.

(Monique laughs) - [Lorena] That was very funny.

- Let's talk sandwiches.

Colin, what did you have?

- Well, I had the Turkey, cheddar and aioli, which had a little taste of chili in there as well.

Which was good.

- So being from Birmingham and being a guitar player.

I'm just throwing that in there.

So Cheddar's a normal for you.

But the aioli, the spicy aioli, how did that work out for you?

- Oh, very well.

- [Mark] Yes?

- Yeah.

I mean, I'm an aioli fan.

And it was kind of like a wheat wrap.

The salad on the side was nice as well.

Very well dressed, just simple, little oil, maybe vinegar in there.

- So in proper English, nice is, it was amazing.

(Lorena laughs) I'm just saying, right?

Monique, what did you have?

- I had the ham and ciabatta.

It had the provolone cheese, mustard, house-made pickles which are divine and cabbage.

So it was a really great combination of crunch and flavor.

And the bread, the outside part is really crusty and crunchy, inside light, airy.

- But it's got a chew.

- It has a chew.

- [Mark] That Noble bread is famous for the chew.

- Has a chew.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- And with this sandwich, it's like open wide, literally.

Open wide because the sandwich is huge, and the flavors are just packed.

- Lorena, I think you had a salad, right?

What was that like?

- It had the roasted beets and the cauliflower, a couple of seeds and nuts and some grains, and tuna for protein.

- [Mark] Yeah, do you like beets?

- I do, I do.

Not a lot of people like beets, and I actually wish it had a little more of them in there.

But I liked it.

It was really, really different.

Not very pretty, but very tasty, very fresh, very like homemade.

So I liked that part.

And I was a fan of the spicy aioli as well.

That was my favorite part of my friend's sandwich.

- Well, I'm not going to say...

I don't have a thing in my throat, but how was the hummus?

- The hummus, it was very light, very citrusy.

I am not a fan when they put the veggies on top of the hummus.

'cause the liquid kinda makes it even more runny.

And the Pita bread was really nice as well.

So I liked it a lot.

- What did you have for dessert?

I know you tasted something, right?

- Yes.

My friend ordered the Nutella loaf.

And it was like pancake with Nutella.

- [Mark] Okay, very good.

Anything else?

- Well, I like to have a salty stuff at the end, rather than dessert.

So I had the roasted vegetables.

Not really as dessert, but I kinda ate them throughout the whole meal.

- People need to hear that, that's a thing, you know.

That's a thing - I had the chocolate chip cookie.

Kind of a bit doughy, so not necessarily my favorite choice of cookie.

But let's be honest.

You go to Noble for the bread.

- [Mark] Yes.

- I mean, it takes like 36 hours to make a loaf.

- Yes.

- [Monique] You're not gonna waste-- - But since you've brought that up.

I think that is really... That's what brought them to the table.

That's what made this restaurant.

Really, they were the baker to all the star restaurants in town.

So I just would love to hear your comments about the bread specifically.

I mean, you talked about the crusty outside, the nice chew inside.

Colin?

- That's something I'd like to explore because I just went there for the sandwich.

But thinking about it, and they do have the bakery associated with the sandwich place.

And so I'd be interested in maybe going back and buying a loaf of bread, seeing what they have there.

- [Mark] Well, do it.

- And yeah I will, and-- - [Mark] Do a little Facebook post-- - Make some little post cases at home or something.

- Absolutely.

All right, a little summary.

What would you tell people in a word, or two, or five.

- If you're going to go carbs, this is the place to do it.

- I love it.

Colin?

- Come for a sandwich, leave with a loaf of bread.

- (laughs) It's good.

Lorena?

- What we got was clean, crisp and healthy.

- If you'd like to try Noble Eatery, it's located at 4525 North 24th Street.

Just south of Camelback Road in Phoenix.

Reservations are not accepted.

And the average tab for lunch is $18 without drinks.

(gentle music) Well, if you like tequila, tacos and tortillas, Lorena says you have to try Barrio Queen in Scottsdale.

(bright upbeat music) - Barrio Queen, it's an original authentic Mexican place.

We stick to our roots, we stick to our tradition, we stick to our culture.

Authentic means to me food that I had in my childhood, growing up in Sonora, Mexico.

A lot of the dishes are our recipes, my family recipes.

And so we bring that onto Barrio Queen.

The things that reminds me most of my childhood is the brisket.

It's a family recipe, it's my mom's recipe actually.

I think I do it a little better than her, but don't tell her that (laughs).

We use different kinds of peppers.

We use garlic, we use a lot of spices.

It's a blend of everything.

It slow roasts for about 12 to 14 hours.

So you really get that tenderness and that flavor of the brisket, so very juicy.

We have over 240, 250 kinds of tequila.

We really want our guests to experience going into a restaurant in Mexico and experiencing different flavors, and different tones of tequilas and mezcal.

(bright upbeat music) When people come here and dine with us, I mean, we want them to feel as...

If they are walking into my house with my family, with my grandmother perhaps, I want them to feel that warmth that I feel every time I go to my mom's house.

Serving nothing but traditional and authentic food, and making you feel welcomed more than anything.

- So Lorena, you're from Mexico.

So how does this really stack up?

How does Barrio Queen stack up?

- So not only being from Mexico, but being a person that enjoys and kinda knows her food a little bit.

I always have very high standards for Mexican food.

And having moved to Arizona, my expectations were really high.

I was excited to find a place that had...

Even the titles and the names of the food, you can tell that it's really from Mexico.

- It's such a great place to go to.

And I thought that because of the location, Old Town Scottsdale, it was gonna deliver just based on the location and fall short on food.

- Right.

- And it really delivers.

- It does-- - And it's really great.

The theater los muertos theme, the skull theme is just so fun.

- Which is charmingly morbid, I have to say.

- Yes, I know.

- But you know it's okay, I'm getting used to it.

I have been in Arizona - Weird, right?

- For a long time now.

- It's fun.

- Yeah.

- What did you have for appetizers?

- So we had the Papas, Barrio Papas, which are like steak fries.

There was cream on top and carnitas.

It was a meal in and of itself.

And I think it even came with tortillas.

And honestly, I would have eaten that by itself.

- [Mark] And that's it.

- Because it was a meal, right.

- A little steak and potato sandwich.

(Monique laughs) - Right.

- Barrio style.

- Yes - Right.

That's not locale.

(Monique laughs) - Or low carb (laughs).

- But yeah, I mean, for me, from the very beginning, the Barrio guacamole, which they made at the table.

- Tell me Lorena, I have to ask if I can, they put a little bit of the seeds.

What is it again?

- Pomegranate.

- Pomegranate, right.

- Pomegranate seeds.

- Thank you very much.

And thanks for whispering 'cause I'm supposed to be the expert I'm supposed to know that.

But anyway, so pomegranates, where does that come from in Mexico?

- Oh, you find them everywhere.

- Always in guacamole?

- No, never.

- Never, okay so this sort of a Barrio thing then?

- So for me, as a Mexican girl, I saw it on the menu and I was like, pomegranate seeds, I'm like they are crazy, what are they talking about?

And that was my favorite part.

I was like, this is awesome.

I'm gonna start doing this at home.

- You're nodding, yes?

- Oh yeah, I mean it has that little bit of sweetness, a little bit of-- - [Lorena] Crunch.

- [Mark] Crunch, little acid.

- [Lorena] I've also had the corn, which is also one of the first things I had when I went there.

The first time (speaks foreign language).

It's so yummy.

And my husband thinks it's the most disgusting thing ever.

(Monique laughs) And he always like-- - I love it.

- Makes these faces.

But I like it that they serve it in the little cups, So you don't end up with cheese, and Mayo all over your face.

So it's a little more crapper.

- [Mark] It's a little less like creamed out, right?

- [Lorena] Yes.

- It's a little bit more pure.

- [Lorena] Yes.

- So Colin, what did you have for an entree at Barrio Queen?

- I had the chili Verde.

Which is a dish I discovered actually in Tucson some years ago.

And I was delighted to find it here.

Pieces of tender pork, just the right amount of fattiness and a tomatillo sauce-- - [Mark] That's what made it that fall-apart tenderness.

- [Colin] Exactly.

- [Mark] A little tomatillo?

- [Colin] Our beautiful tomatillo sauce, and the black beans and rice, and tortillas with that.

- Very nice.

- My mouth is watering.

- Lorena, what did you have?

- I had the chiles en nogada which... A lot of people know chile rellenos but chiles en nogada is from the state of Puebla.

So they're a little more difficult to come about.

And they go drenched in a cream, maybe a little bit of nutmeg sauce, and then they're sprinkled with pomegranate.

So, pomegranates are hard to find.

And the whole sauce procedure is really hard to make.

And so it's something that I like to pay because it's very time consuming to make at home.

- Yeah, and you make it at home too, right?

- I do.

- Yeah.

- I do.

- How did it stack up?

- Pretty close.

Pretty close.

- Nice.

I don't think there's any higher praise.

I don't know, that's what I think.

Monique, what did you have?

- So I had the pollo en crema verde, which was a pan-seared chicken breast with a really light cream sauce.

And I'm not usually a fan of cream sauce.

But this was exceptional.

And on top of the sauce, they had diced zucchini and red bell pepper.

And especially with the red bell pepper, it was that sweet peppery-- - A little bit of a crunch in a bell pep, yeah.

- And a crunch.

- Yeah, exactly - The watery punch.

- So every bite was just a really delicate balance.

- [Mark] Very nice.

- [Monique] It was exceptional, yes.

- And what did you have for dessert after that delicious creaminess?

- Yes.

So I'm not a big dessert fan necessarily.

But we had the galletas de nuez, and they were the pecan cookies, and then they had homemade chocolate ice cream.

And I think you get about five of them dusted with powdered sugar.

And the homemade ice cream was amazing.

Not chalky, not gritty, just perfect.

And the pec-- - You might turn me into a dessert eater.

- I know.

- Colin, what'd you do?

- Well, we had the churros.

We just had one order of churros.

There were two big churros, one each.

And they came with a little ice cream, which was again was wonderful.

- Yes, vanilla ice cream very good.

- Yeah.

- We had the churros as well.

'Cause I can compare them to the churros from home.

So they were crunchy, cinnamony, sugary.

They were fine.

- [Colin] The interior pretty gooey.

- Yep.

- Did you have any margaritas drinks?

- Oh yes, I did.

- [Mark] What did you have?

- I had the tableside Carlitos.

- [Mark] Oh yes, yes, yes.

- With the grapefruit, the oranges and lemon.

I was telling earlier people that that's something we grew up having in little small towns and you would walk around drinking this clay pot juice and Squirt and tequila drink on the streets.

Not in a sitting down restaurant.

So it remind me a little bit of home.

- Summon up for us in a few words.

Barrio.

- A little piece of home.

- Little piece of home, love it.

- A little piece of home.

- Colin?

- Best guacamole and chili Verde.

- [Mark] Nice.

- The efforts, fun, funky, fresh flavorful.

(Mark imitates car honking) (Lorena laughs) - Okay, if you would like to try Barrio Queen, it's located at 7114 East Stetson Drive.

Just north of East 5th Avenue in Old Town Scottsdale.

Reservations are not accepted and the average tab for dinner is $30 without drinks.

(cheerful instrumentals playing) Up next, Colin's favorite French restaurant Cuisine & Wine Bistro in Gilbert.

(classical music) - I miss Fabrice after living a year in Paris, he was just out of culinary school.

The day I miss, Fabrice, I think he even told me that particular day that his dream was to move to the United States.

After 25 years living in France, we packed up everything and we moved with our family.

So you have this Irish-French family that just moved to Gilbert's.

Food has always been special in our family.

My husband is third generation restaurant owner.

So, our children were born and were kept in the kitchen.

So we didn't have a nanny.

And Fabrice, it was the same situation for him when he was a baby.

So, it's just part of what we do, what we believe in.

Making good food and sharing it with others.

Well, I recommend the escargot.

The escargot is probably one of the best known French dishes.

People want to taste France.

It is so much easier to walk in here to Cuisine & Wine Bistro, than taking an airplane ticket to go to France.

So, they come in and we will serve them escargot.

You've got a couteau, you've got the butter with garlic, you've got a little tomato.

And it melts in your mouth, wonderful.

We always have a quiche on the menu.

It could be the quiche lorraine.

Our quiche of the day today, is the bacon and caramelized onion quiche.

The caramelized onion quiche has a beautiful crust.

He's very well known for his crust.

A secret in the family, I can't give it to you.

And then you have the egg base, and you can smell the onions cooking for hours beforehand.

And when he mix it in, it really fills the whole restaurant with a beautiful smell.

I cannot give you his recipe, that's for sure.

He gave it to me a long, long time ago.

And I've been using his crust.

But I didn't even write it down.

It's all up here (laughs).

- So Colin, what do you love most about this place?

- Well to me, it's a nostalgic trip back to France.

When I lived in England, visited a few times, both the south and Paris area.

You feel like you're back in France, as people walk past speaking in French.

- Well, I loved it.

It's the kind of place that you can go to for happy hour with friends, or really nice romantic dinner, or even by yourself.

And a lot of restaurants, if you're having a meal by yourself, sometimes it's kinda weird or awkward.

- Yeah.

- It fits the bill whatever the occasion.. - I was excited when I first looked up the menu.

Because I like French food.

I've been to Paris and to the south of France as well a couple of times.

And there's a couple of dishes that are very time-consuming, or the ingredients are very hard to find.

So I was very excited to go see-- - Like what did you start with?

- I had the escargot.

- [Mark] Okay.

- I did, I had to.

They're one of my favorite.

And they're buttery and garlicy and just everything I would hope for.

- It's so funny they come up piping hot, bubbling, and you can smell it - My mouth is watering.

- like 10 feet away.

(Monique laughing) - I think I sweat and smell like garlic for a couple of days after that.

- Someone told me it's just an excuse for garlic and butter and toast.

- Yes, totally agree.

- Oh, the escargot gets through it too.

- [Lorena] Yes.

- What did you start with?

- Well, I actually had the hand cut fries, which were very satisfying and perfectly cooked French fries, if you will.

- Home frite.

- Exactly.

And a little bit of Parmesan over, but they come with this walnut aioli, I believe it is.

And you wouldn't think of walnuts and fries together, but it works wonderful.

- Well, aioli being another name for mayonnaise, I'll put mayonnaise on any French fry any day, put walnuts, anything in it.

So Monique, what did you have to start?

- So we shared bruschetta, was zucchini and artichoke was one.

The other one was a pistol Parmesan.

And then the third was eggplant and feta, my favorite.

Because the fed on top was just toasted.

And I loved that.

That crunchy but creamy flavor of the cheese.

wish there was a little bit more eggplant, but it was absolutely delicious.

- All right, next CQ, Coline and quiche.

Tell me about it.

- Oh, yes.

Well, yeah quiche is a big thing for me.

And forget your supermarket bought quiche lorraine, their quiche is wonderful.

The crust, I don't know if they bake it blind, but it's crispy, there's never any sogginess.

And the filling is always fluffy.

- [Mark] Very difficult to deal with quiche.

Very difficult, yeah.

- Yeah.

'Cause anytime you have a moist batter of any sort and a crust, it has to be blind baked first, and then you put the ghee's butter, and then you bake it at a pretty high temperature to get that bottom set before it soaks into the-- - So it get in thus it gets soggy.

- Yes.

So Lorena knows.

Obviously you're a chef.

- I just like to eat.

Yes, I do cook a lot, but I wouldn't call myself a chef, but I do cook.

- What did you have for an entree?

- I had the Duck Confit.

Yeah, I had to.

I was looking forward to it for the whole week.

I've made it myself.

I've had it in France many, many times.

And it's something that I always crave.

I did have to ask them to send it back to crisp the skin.

I don't like the soggy skin.

I like it when it's crispy at the end.

- [Mark] Looks good to go.

I eat same thing, yeah.

- So I always like, ooh, can you crisp it for me?

And they did, they were super nice about it.

- It should be.

- So, and then it was perfect.

I know, but I've had it even in France.

I've had it several times when the skin is soggy, and I don't like it when it's soggy.

I always make it crispy.

- You took fried potatoes.

Monique what did you have?

- I had the fleuve beef.

And I'm kind of particular about my steak, so I wanted it medium well, not too well, not too medium.

- [Mark] That's okay.

- And they brought it back perfect.

And it had a demi-glace sauce with mushroom.

The side had a potato dish, and I don't know how to pronounce it, but it was a duchess.

- [Colin] Duchess.

- [Mark] Oh duchess, duchess.

- It was fantastic.

And I loved my potatoes.

So it's, had the creamy pillows on top.

They were kinda roasted, And what I love the most was that boat, which was really the shell of the potato, was crispy and crunchy and salty.

- [Mark] That part, it's great-- - Oh my gosh, it was so good.

So good (laughs).

- So Colin, did you have any dessert?

- I certainly did.

I had my favorite chocolate souffle with the raspberry center.

- [Mark] Oh, nice.

- And it was just wonderful.

Souffle is are very tricky to cook I know.

But they're always perfect.

- Very nice.

Souffle au chocolat.

- [Colin] Souffle au chocolat.

(speaks in foreign language) - That's right.

(Monique and Lorena laugh) Together, we're gonna do this.

I think we're a team.

We're like certainly a team.

Anyway, Monique what did you have?

- So we had the chocolate mousse.

That had a toasted coconut topping on it.

And my guest loved it.

She loved the dessert, but I wish it had your dish.

Because that sounds divine.

- You're not a dessert person, but that one gets you to want it.

- Exactly.

- Gets you playing something - We also had the chocolate mousse.

But ours didn't have any coconut sprinkled on it.

It was just plain straight.

And it was very, very tasty, quite dense and very, very chocolatey.

My friend loved it.

So it was good.

And it wasn't too much.

It was just enough for the two of us to share.

- So Colin, in a word, or two, or five.

- An authentic family French restaurant.

- The type of restaurant that every neighborhood should have.

- It was my French food fix.

- French food fix.

F-F-F, back to the F-word.

All right, if you would like to try Cuisine & Wine Bistro, it's located at 1422 West Warner Road, just East of North McQueen Road in Gilbert.

Reservations are accepted and the average tab for dinner is $36 without drinks.

Thanks to Monique, Lorena and Colin for sharing their picks.

And don't forget you can share yours too.

Go to azpbs.org/checkplease, and nominate your favorite spot.

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 "Check, Please!

Arizona."

I'm chef Mark Tarbell, eat well and often.

- [Narrator] "Check, Please!

Arizona" is made possible by, the Friends of Arizona PBS, members of Arizona PBS who give additional gifts to support original programs.

Thank you.

(gentle music)