We have been getting ready for baseball season by attending some Spring Training games in Arizona.
We even got a foul ball after only attending two games.
Bruce is also playing lots of golf while we're here and tonight we went out to our one "special" dinner of the trip to The Farm at South Mountain. We went here seven years ago and I blogged about it then in 2011. And we've never forgotten. Here's what I said about it then.
This restaurant is on 12 acres with three separate buildings for each meal. The breakfast restaurant is called the Morning Glory Cafe, the lunch restaurant is called the Farm House and we went for dinner so our restaurant was called Quiessence. The acreage grows all their own herbs and greens used in the restaurants and the owner, A. Wayne Smith, has preserved the wondrous sense of rural tranquility and vision of sustainability. Gourmet Magazine describes this dining experience as "a spiritual experience for those who journey to this 12-acre organic oasis". And we definitely felt it.
We remembered this place from our visit years ago and I couldn't wait to return to this farm-to-table concept. During this visit, we spent more time walking around the grounds and enjoying this oasis in South Phoenix, right down the street from where we are staying.
We had a lot of these for our dinner tonight.
The entrance is so inviting and tranquil.
Tables are set up outside with candles and a fire going.
But inside is very lovely, too, which is where we sat since it was still a little chilly outside.
There is lots of room for large gatherings.
We already knew we wanted the five course chef's seasonal tasting menu that we also ordered in 2011. I also remember that they had incredible drinks made with all their home grown citrus fruits and herbs. Bruce and I have been really enjoying margaritas on this trip so we each ordered their house citrus margarita made with Tequila Blanco, Grand Marnier, fresh lime and orange juice and a splash of agave nectar. It did not disappoint. There is nothing like a margarita made with fresh juices and we loved the orange juice mixed in with it. It seemed to take away some of the tartness of the lime for a real smooth margarita. We loved it.
After we ordered our drinks, they immediately started bringing our food. First, was a sampling of their artisan breads
including their homemade focaccia with some grilled onions. Also, some dipping oil and homemade herb butter. The bread was so fresh it really did not need anything at all on it but since they brought their herb butter and dipping oil, we indulged and knew right away it was only the beginning of an evening of gastronomical delights.
To get our taste buds ready for the meal, the chef prepared these little crostini appetizer just to get us started. It had some of their homemade cheese and some pistachios and I'm not sure what else but it was heavenly. Wow!
The first course was Roasted Pistachio Soup. They first brought our bowl with items in it to pour the soup over that included some goat cheese mousse, fried pork, poached figs, calabrian chili paste, and some edible flowers including calendula. (I use calendula lotion for my hands but I've never eaten it!)
The soup was nice and hot and very creamy, probably from the pistachio. It was a pinkish color because there was also some beets in it. It didn't really taste a lot like pistachio but it was really delicious, especially eaten with the items in the bowl. I loved the pork and the poached figs had a dab of the chili paste in them which was a nice bit of punch to the soup.
The soup disappeared amazing fast. The flavors were just so striking. More! More! The whole dinner was like this, just wanting more, more! Next was another appetizer of aged local beef carpaccio with garden greens, parmesan cheese, blue cheese aioli, tempura herbs, pickled shallots, and bread spoons. Our server told us to fold it over and eat it like a sandwich.
It was helpful to eat it like this and it turned out to be about two or three bites of the most delicious combinations of flavors and textures. I loved the crunchiness and the rich meat flavor. Just so good. We also received a pasta dish which I remembered from last time, their potato gnocchi.
This was even better than last time. They put more vegetables in it now including rainbow chard, oven dried tomatoes, butternut squash, tarragon, and some guinea hen confit. that had a rich poultry flavor. We thought it was mushrooms but one bite made no mistake that it was the most tender, juicy poultry flavored meat added to the pasta. I think they've just kept improving their dishes in the past seven years...Next came our entrees and we got one of each choice. The first one was a Crispy Skin Steelhead Trout with creamy lentils, shaved asparagus, dashi foam (which is a tuna from Japan), dill, smoked trout roe, sugar snap peas, fennel and turnips.
I loved this dish and could have eaten the whole thing except Bruce and I promised to switch courses half way through so we could taste each others. The fish was so flavorful and I loved the crispy skin. I suppose the dashi foam and smoke trout roe added to the fish flavor but it wasn't too fishy at all, just right and it all blended together. The creamy lentils were delicious, too. I loved all of it. Bruce loved his, too, and didn't want to trade but we both agreed to stick to our decision . He got the Seared Duck Breast, fried quinoa, spring onion puree, radish, apple butter, poached apples, sicilian cauliflower, and nasturtiums.
This dish was a lot like pork chops with applesauce. The duck and the apple went so well together, yet very subtle. I LOVED the spring onion puree. I wanted to lick the plate to be sure to get it all. It probably doesn't look as good as the other entree but it was. I'm glad we switched plates halfway through. I could taste garlic flavor immediately from the onion puree but maybe it was just onion flavor. Regardless, it was amazing! And don't you just love the farm-to-table affect?
Almost too cute to eat, but we did, anyway. Next, came dessert and again we got one of each; a cannelloni with apple flavored sorbet
and chocolate hazelnut pie with hazelnut ice cream and strawberry coulis.
Both of these were the perfect way to end our meal and they disappeared from our plates immediately. The Farm at South Mountain was even better than we remembered. After looking back at 2011, I think they are making the five course tasting menu less filling with more vegetables and the desserts were more refreshing, unlike the bread pudding and pan cotta. I love both of those but they were very rich. This meal made us feel good, not too stuffed or full, just like an organic oasis ought to make you feel. Hopefully, it won't be another seven years before we return. We love The Farm and we will be back.
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