- I'm Chef Mark Tarbell, welcome to Check Please!

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

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

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

Arizona.

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(upbeat jazz music) - Hi, I am Chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to Check Please!

Arizona.

In this episode, we're enjoying elevated street tacos, a beer forward dining spot, and bistro classics.

Let's meet our diners.

Larry Berle spent his career as a music promoter, but his true passions are traveling and golf.

When he is not hitting the links, you'll find him at a downtown bistro with an eclectic menu.

Stacy Hettmansperger was born and raised in Arizona.

She went to ASU and spent time studying abroad in Spain.

She's all about a brew pub that's doing beer and food in different ways.

But first, Pedro Sanchez works for a software company.

Pedro and his wife love going to comedy shows, and their favorite pre-show spot is re-imagining the Street Taco.

This is CRUjiente Tacos.

- CRUjiente Tacos is a modern taqueria, so it's kind of my interpretation of and refinement of tacos involving cuisines from all around the world.

You'll find at CRUjiente all sorts of things, but a lot of fun, shareable appetizers, and also try a street taco or two.

So for people that don't know, CRUjiente means crunchy in Spanish, so we named the restaurant, in essence, crunchy taco.

The vibe at CRU is kind of, you know, it's very relaxed and as the night goes on, it gets a little dimmer.

The music gets a little bit louder.

It's comfortable for everybody because it's warm and it's very inviting.

Beverage program here is as thoughtful as the food, if not more.

My partner Jason is, a beverage genius, I would say.

So we've got a very deep list of agave spirits, of tequilas, of mescals, and of bourbons.

Happy Hour at CRUjiente is a big deal.

So we do it daily, from four to six every day, and then again from nine to close.

I want my guests to leave here, you know, happy and satisfied because when you come to a restaurant, really you're coming there for food and experience.

I want them to say, oh, that, remember that place in Phoenix in that shopping mall on Camelback.

Those are the best tacos I ever had.

- So Pedro, how did you CRUjiente Tacos?

- Yeah, we actually had a recommendation from a friend of ours and, you know, we're kinda hesitant at first.

It was a little, you know, modern tacos, you know, me being from, you know, Mexican heritage, I wasn't too, you know, sold on the idea at first.

But we love it, we go there every Friday now and yeah, we're just regulars.

- Oh, you're regulars, that's why I can't get in.

Because you're there on my Friday spot.

You took my Friday spot.

- [Pedro] We're always in the front of the line.

- So what's your favorite taco?

- I love their Korean fried chicken taco.

It's been in their menu, I think, since they opened.

And they've switched their tacos a lot, but that one remains because it's that good.

- It is, it's crazy.

And I was suspect too, but I know Chef Rich and Jason, his partner, and they're amazing.

And Chef Rich has both heritage from German heritage and Mexican heritage so, and worked all over the world.

So he really brings a true chefiness to this combo.

- You know, one of the reasons why we actually love this place is because they have a taco de la semana or taco of the week.

So they switch up their tacos, you know, they bring a featured taco every week.

Last time I had a carne asada taco, which is, you know, you can find a carne asada taco anywhere, right, in Arizona?

But this was very special, very unique, the type of meat they use.

I don't know if it was Wagyu or something else, but it was just excellent and delicious.

- Larry, what did you have?

- There were six of us that went and we had five different tacos, and I liked the Korean chicken the best also.

I thought that was the great, it's a little spier than what I normally eat, but I really liked it.

And then on the opposite side of that, I think I had the blandest one, which was the potato taco, which I thought was also really good.

And this place is very close to my house, and the decor is great.

The service was wonderful and it's an interesting place.

- Stacy.

- I actually had the pork belly taco and it was perfectly cooked, it was absolutely delicious.

And I loved, like there was some jalapeno on there as well.

And then my second taco was the mushroom taco and that was delicious as well.

It was sauteed mushrooms, it was really good.

There's a lot of unique tacos I really loved.

It's not your typical taco place for sure.

- Did you have anything else besides tacos?

- [Stacy] We started with the salsa trio because I really, anytime I go to a Mexican restaurant, I just have to see what the salsas tastes like.

And they did not disappoint.

I love that there was like the verde salsa, the server recommended it saying that it kind of had the same flavor profile as the guacamole without the avocado, obviously, it was delicious.

And the habanero was absolutely like super hot, a little bit too hot for me, but my friend liked it.

But it was no joke, it was a very spicy salsa.

- It was very hot for me too, so it is spicy.

- Okay, and Larry, you're not into spice.

Did you have the trio?

- [Larry] No, I didn't, but we had the guacamole and the chips and the guacamole's pretty spicy too, but I actually liked it.

But what I really thought was interesting about that is they served the chips in a little paper bag.

I thought that was so unique and so interesting, and I like that.

- Stacy, did you have any dessert?

- I did, I had the nectarine raspberry hand pie.

So it was like, I think it changes daily and it kind of tasted like, it looked like a turnover.

It was delicious, I'm not usually a big fan of fruit in pies and everything, but it was delicious.

- And I try to have their, you know, hand pie every time, it's always different like Stacy said.

But you know, they're almost like empanadas but there, yeah, there's always a different take on it.

They're fruity, there's, you know, strawberry, pineapple, habanero, you know, and like a cream on top, and it's always different, it's always delicious.

I have it even when I'm very full, I just take it and sometimes I just take it to go, you know, and eat it at home like a couple hours later because they're that good.

- Awesome.

Well we can't, we have to talk about the other dessert, which is drinks.

But this is a place, CRUjiente has a great, great back bar.

Like one of the best in Phoenix.

Larry, did you have anything to drink?

- No, I'm not a drinker, so you're talking to the wrong guy.

- Well good.

Well that part of that restaurant is not for you.

(laughing) Pedro.

- [Pedro] Yeah, I always try their draft beers.

They have a great draft beer selection.

And recently they had, CRUjiente had a collaboration with, I believe it's a local brewery and they call it a crusader.

It's an IPA that is really good, it's one of my favorites I've had from there.

My wife loves their margaritas.

Their margaritas are just amazing.

They have an Arcadia margarita, you know, it goes to the theme of the neighborhood.

I've had it as well.

I love it, but I'll stick with my beer.

I'm just like, okay.

- Awesome, Stacy?

- I was also very impressed with the variety of craft beers.

And I had a beer that I've never seen before.

I think it's out of Tucson, the 1912 brewery.

It was just an amber, but it was absolutely delicious.

And I do like to pair beers with food, and so it did pair very nicely with the tacos and the salsa trio - Beer goes wonderfully with anything that's bold flavored or spicy because it has two things going for it.

A little bit of effervescence and low alcohol relative to wine or spirits.

Because anytime you put alcohol with spice, it kind of explodes in your mouth.

So now we do this thing I like to call pro tips.

So we're going to start with you Pedro.

- Yeah, I would say parking is very limited.

If you want to, you know, meet with people, you can probably carpool or just take an Uber if you plan to drink.

- Stacy, pro tip.

- So we sat at the bar, it's not open seating at the bar, but we were pleasantly surprised that when you sat at the bar, it's happy hour all day every day.

Including the tacos and the great beer selection.

- What?

I had no idea.

- So sit at the bar.

- They just did that, yeah.

- I didn't even know that, I've been there a hundred times.

That's awesome, cool.

Larry, pro tips.

- Okay, so it reminds me of what Yogi Bear used to say.

Nobody goes there anymore, it's just too crowded.

(laughing) - [Pedro] It is busy, it is.

- But that's one of, you know, but if you can hear well in an environment like that, that's a great environment to be in.

- If you want to try CRUjiente Tacos, they're in Phoenix at 40th Street and Camelback.

An average meal costs about $33 and they do only take limited reservations.

(upbeat jazz music) Our next pick is Larry's, a European style bistro in a home built in 1899.

Its menu pays homage to older times with a modern twist.

This is Farish House.

- Farish house is a 1899 brick house with a kitchen outback that serves comfort food, right in the heart of downtown Phoenix.

Well, the house really screamed to me when it just said classics, comfort food.

We cook really in the, I'd say like a French grandma style, just very slow and low cooking braised meats, duck confits, we do a lot of dishes that take hours to prepare.

It's more about simple ingredients, elevated through time and care and seasoning.

We do have a full bar, we really gravitate towards classic, kind of pre-prohibition era cocktails and just really make very simple, you know, pure traditional cocktails.

This is really an Edwardian era house, 1899.

The gentleman who built the house was a salesman in town.

His daughter married William Farish, and he was the first city manager of Phoenix and they lived in this house.

We spent about six months building the kitchen and renovating the inside, the interiors.

My uncle built the bar, he also refurbished the gingerbread in the front of the house.

And we painted everything, we did the design ourselves, some of the antiques like this organ and some of these tables are from my great uncle and my grandma's house.

And we have family photos, and some of our employees have brought in their family photos, so about a third to half of the people on these walls, we know who they are, which is fun.

This restaurant is really about the whole package.

It's about the ambiance, it's about the place, it's about the people you're with.

It's like you're coming home to your grandma's or your aunties and you're having a nice dinner and if there's somebody waiting on you and just making you laugh, making you smile and facilitating your good night out with your people.

- So Larry, what do you love about this place?

- Well, first of all, I'll tell you how I found it in the beginning.

So I've got a friend, I'm kind of a quasi foodie, but I got a buddy in LA who's totally into it.

And as soon as he was coming to visit, he went right on the web and started doing his research and he found this place.

And so he's the one that took me, which is kind of crazy.

The first couple times we've eaten there, we ate outside, which we really liked.

They have a jazz combo that plays out there.

This time it was too hot, we were there during the week when it was like hitting 110 and we ate inside and I love the environment in there.

I love the fact that it's, you know, it's got three rooms, they got six tables and another couple rooms with four so it's quiet and I think the food there is fantastic and it's always a discovery.

- So it's your place, tell us about the food.

What do you go to for an appetizer?

- Let's see, well the first thing that happened is as soon as I told my wife we were going, she goes make sure they still have that brandy liver pate.

So I said, okay, we'll make sure that they do, and they did.

So that's where we started.

But we also got the dates and the figs and they were all fantastic and there were four of us and we shared everything.

- Stacy, what did you have to start?

- So I went with a friend and we shared the Le Mac, the mac and cheese, and it had breadcrumbs.

- [Mark] Everyone's nodding.

- [Stacy] It was delicious.

It had breadcrumbs, but the interesting twist was that there was like some lemon zest in it.

So I've not experienced that with mac and cheese, but it was delicious.

- Did everyone have that?

I mean it's insane.

- I had the Le Mac, yeah.

But I had it loaded with bacon and- (everyone exclaiming) - [Pedro] It was a cherry on top, it was just amazing.

- Everything's better with bacon, or butter.

- Yeah, that was amazing.

I just wanted to have two of those for my, you know, as an entree, as an appetizer and entree.

- Larry for entrees, what do you recommend?

- So I had, before that, so I had the Le Mac too I just didn't perceive it as an appetizer.

And the thing, I looked at it and I thought, why would a restaurant like this serve something as common as mac and cheese?

So I thought, okay, well I'm going to make them prove it to me, and it was really good.

We had the short ribs, which I liked, but as good as that was, it didn't even stay hold a candle to the sticky date and maple pork bellies that was, those were so good and so sweet and so juicy.

I just loved them.

- And you know what's really great about this place is they change the menu all the time.

There's certain staples that rotate through, but that's what makes it so exciting.

So, you know, what we're talking about tonight may be back, it may be there, it may not, but that's, everything is really, really passion driven by the chef.

- Pedro, anything for entrees?

- Yeah, I had myself the petit filet.

It was just amazing.

It, you know, melt in your mouth.

I had the herbed risotto and sauted kale.

I was telling my wife that, you know, it's a filet that honestly I would, it's a great place, you know, it's, the food is great and that filet seemed like a hundred dollars filet in my opinion, and it was that good, but it didn't cost that much.

So for me that was perfect.

- So steakhouse quality for bistro prices, I love it.

- [Pedro] Exactly.

- Stacy, what'd you have for entrees?

- [Stacy] I also had the braised short ribs and they were perfectly cooked, tender, sometimes short ribs can be- - [Mark] Chewy, or fatty.

- Yes, and it was absolutely not that.

The night I went there, it came with fingerling potatoes.

And also the mixed greens, and there was like some fresh green beans in there too so sometimes the short ribs can be heavier so it was really nice to have like a lighter salad and the fingerlings to compliment the short rib.

But it was perfectly cooked.

- Alright, Larry, what did you have for dessert?

- Well, I'm kind of a chocaholic I guess you'd say, so we had the Tarte au Chocolat for sure and that was really delicious.

But it's mom's sour cream peach pie.

And when I was talking to Lori at the end, she even mentioned to me that the cream was mom's, that it was mom's recipe.

And I thought the peach pie was really fantastic.

- [Mark] I had that chocolate tarte, and it was dense, creamy, smooth, silky amazing.

It had a little raspberry compote or something with it, that was fantastic.

So Pedro, what'd you have?

- I had the tiramisu.

And apparently it's an award-winning tiramisu here in the valley, and I can see why.

It was just amazing.

The taste, just the creaminess, you know, just the right balance of coffee, you know, cream, cake taste.

It was just, it was the best tiramisu I've had in my life.

- Cool, I love that.

Stacy?

- I also had the tiramisu, and I agree, a hundred percent.

But I also like the fact that it had the shaved chocolate.

I don't always see that on tiramisu.

And it was fantastic.

- [Mark] And it's like you can just drop your fork on it, right through.

- [Stacy] Oh yeah.

- [Mark] Super tender.

- [Stacy] I would take that.

- Yeah, you're making me hungry.

So now it's time for pro tips.

Larry, this is your place, any pro tips?

- The service was really great.

It feels like a family place to me.

Parking can be a hassle in that place.

I think they've got maybe a couple of parking spots on there, but it's on the street and it's basically here in downtown.

- I think parking is a downtown issue, so I always encourage people to ride share because hey, if you're going to have a glass of wine, ride share, be safe.

- [Larry] That's right.

- So pro tip Pedro?

- For me, we sat in the front patio and it was beautiful just sitting out there.

The ambience was great.

- Stacy.

- I would recommend making a reservation.

- Yeah, I'd echo that and call if you can, do it old fashioned way.

If you want to try Farish House, it's located in downtown Phoenix.

On third street between Garfield and McKinley.

An average meal without drinks is $48, and they do take reservations.

(upbeat jazz music) Our last restaurant choice belongs to Stacy.

Her pick may be a brewery, but it's also putting an emphasis on local fare.

This is Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company.

- Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company is a combination of the love of nature and the love of craft food, craft beer, and really good community.

You could call us a burger and fry joint.

And at the top is world-class burgers.

And then we do have amazing chicken sandwich offerings.

Get any of our sandwiches now with a vegan patty.

The classic burger that we have is the peanut butter jelly burger.

And we actually make peanut butter in the kitchen, it's a scratch kitchen.

And then we make a jelly out of jalapenos.

Pair that with bacon, put that with that grass raised beef and all of a sudden you have yourself this amazing sweet, savory compound.

And people like, come in and thinking they don't want to eat that, and then all of a sudden it's the best thing they've ever had.

We offer between 15 and 30 beers depending on the day.

What we generally focus on is have five core beers on that people can come back and try.

And the rest are more or less seasonal beers.

Our beer stays watered at Arizona Wilderness Spring company.

We switch farmers in the Verde Valley from alfalfa growing to barley growing and that saves about a hundred million gallons a year, just by crop switching.

That barley gets the winter rains and does not need the summer diversion of the river, so we're saving a hundred million gallons plus per year, which means every single pint you drink is about 50 gallons of water saved, I should say.

We're really trying to showcase this great state of Arizona.

So yeah, the guest experience is more or less come have a really good meal, a really good beer, or a non-alcoholic beverage and just really enjoy this community driven space that we've built for you.

- So Stacy, you know there's beer pubs and there's beer pubs, this is very different.

What makes it different?

- So it has fabulous beer, it's a brewery after all, but what really intrigues me about it and what keeps me coming back on like a monthly basis is just the uniqueness of the food, especially the hamburgers.

They have some of the best hamburgers I've ever had.

- And I'm going to stop you there because yes, a PB & J burger, and you had it.

And I'm like, I was looking at it when I was there.

I was like, oh, okay, you're laughing, Larry had it, how is it?

- So it's a little messy.

But it definitely tastes homemade.

So it has like the Arizona grassfed beef, like I think they use like Noble Bread for the bun, but the best part's what's in the middle.

And so it's a nice combination with like the sweetness of the homemade peanut butter, and you can tell it's homemade.

And then there's like the jalapeno jam so there's that spiciness, and then there's also the saltiness of bacon.

- [Mark] Oh my gosh.

- Yeah, and then it tastes good with a little lettuce and tomato to make it seem healthy.

- Okay, there you go.

Has lettuce and tomato folks, it's going to be healthy for you.

So what else is a go-to there for you?

- So I went with a group of friends and we started off with the duck fat fries.

I mean I have to, every time I go there I have to have the duck fat fries and so they're perfectly cooked.

But what I love about them is that they have like the fresh rosemary and fresh thyme seasoning on them.

And I think that's a little bit unique from any french fries I've had.

And they have a nice list of dipping sauces.

So this time we got the ranch dipping sauce and there's like a sweet and sour dipping sauce so that adds another dimension.

- Another dimension to duck fat fries, I love it.

Pedro, you're nodding vigorously.

- That was my first time having duck fat fries and yeah, I don't think I can go back to just regular fries.

It's just, they're so good.

And by the way that was the one of the best burgers I've ever had in my life as well.

- So what was your burger?

- Yeah, it was the Downtowner, and it had grassfed Arizona beef of course, and lettuce.

A very unique avocado with corn, which it was really good by the way.

And then it has pepper jack cheese.

The beef was cooked to perfection.

And again the bread, the Noble Bread just makes all the difference, it's soft.

- The best burger you ever had.

That's strong, I'm loving this.

- [Pedro] I'm telling you.

- I'm loving this.

- I'm sorry, you had I think the PB & J.

- Yeah, we had the PB & J burger too and we had a fried avocado taco, which was good, but nothing like the PB & J burger.

I really liked it.

I thought it was a really interesting combination and I would go back and get it.

We had that beet apple salad, something else I've never had before, but I thought I'm going to give it a try.

And generally Mark, I'm not that adventuresome of a eater, but I really liked it, it was very good.

- And Stacy, did you have any apps?

- Yes, we had the duck fat fries, but we also had something that was newer on the menu.

They had a dry rub confit chicken wings.

And they were perfectly cooked, like falling off the bone and then they had the nice crispy outside.

There was a little bit of a sweetness to them too, which was interesting.

But I would go back.

- [Mark] You would?

- [Stacy] For that, absolutely.

- Pedro, anything that you want to add?

- My wife and I shared a salad.

- [Mark] I remember that.

- And it was really good.

Again, I'm not a big salad guy, but you know, it seems like all, you know, all these places, just have great salads, so maybe I'll just become a salad person.

- So any desserts?

- So I was too full for the desserts, but I had a beer.

I mean like that could be counted as my dessert maybe.

- [Mark] Yes, what kind of beer?

- I had the Wilderpils.

It was a little bit hot the day that we went and so it was a nice refreshing light beer and it paired really nicely with the hamburger.

- You like your beer in pairings don't you?

- I do.

- No wonder it's your place.

Pedro, did you have anything to drink?

- Yeah, I had a drink myself.

I had a beer of course, and it was a Belgian blonde and yeah, it was a fresh on draft, and it was just a good beer.

- So Stacy, your place, your pro tip.

- Pro tip is definitely go when the weather's nice.

The patio is amazing just to go with friends and just to also like, they locally source everything and they actually grow some of the herbs in the back patio, which is really cool.

- Yeah, I think they work with like 60 local people.

Yeah, it's crazy for a brewery, it's awesome.

Pedro, your pro tip.

- Yeah, for me, I think this is a great spot to go, you know, with friends or coworkers.

My wife actually goes there a lot with her coworkers.

They go there for lunch or happy hour sometimes.

And I think it's just a great spot to catch up and you know, just have that good time, that beer with your friends.

- So even though I'm not much of a beer drinker, I really had a lot of fun reading their beer menu.

They got some of the most unique beer names.

I mean, I could have sat a half an hour and read those.

But one of the other things I found really interesting about it is they've got this thing on their website where they talk about how the growing of the malt saves water here in Arizona.

I thought it was a really interesting, and they supposedly save what, several hundred million gallons of water a year out of the Verde River.

- They are very conscious in everything they do there, it's pretty impressive.

If you want to try Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company, it's located in Gilbert, near Arizona Avenue and Guadalupe Road.

They also have a location in downtown Phoenix.

The average meal with beer is $45 and they do take reservations.

I'd like to thank you Stacy, Pedro, and Larry for joining me at the table.

And thank you for joining us on Check Please!

Arizona.

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

Who knows?

You could be joining me at the table.

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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.

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