Last Night at AZ Wine & Dine: Balsamic-Braised Short Ribs, Salted Caramel Chocolate Lollipops, and Much More

By Dominique Chatterjee Fri., Apr. 13 2012 at 10:30 AM

Categories: Events

Continued from page 2

PB Bomb from elements

Much to my surprise and delight, almost every restaurant served dessert, and elements only served two desserts and no savory options. The PB Bomb was extremely rich, designed for serious peanut butter fanatics. It was good, but the thick layer of ganache on top made it tough to cut with a plastic fork, and the PB mousse squished out the sides. This also made it hard to reach the Nutella-flavored crust on the bottom. Arizona Grand Resort served a breathtaking banana mousse tower, but it didn't follow through with flavor. Another attendee told me she thought it was very bland, and that's the truth. The formed cake ring on the bottom was also made to be looked at, not eaten, as it had a weird texture and no taste. Salted caramel chocolate lollipops from Lon's stole the attention from the sausage-stuffed shrimp skewers, which were only so-so. The caramel, on the other hand, was thick and soft with rich, traditional flavor; it would perform really well at Caramelpalooza.

Wine & diners

A few bites were a real let-down. Nothing was completely inedible, but it's always a shame to get excited about a favorite -- like crab cakes -- only to be disappointed. That's what happened with Relish Burger Bistro's sliders, and it also happened with Arizona Grand Resort. I rushed to their booth to get a (bland) banana mousse tower and was doubly excited when I heard that they also had crab cakes. Too bad they were a little cold and lacked flavor, and the texture was off. I expected to wolf down that crab cake, but I couldn't consider a second bite. And while Little America Hotel's Seven Seas Ceviche was good, it was really forgettable. The cream cheese blackberry brownies were a little better, but they were blown out of the water once I tasted cheesecake at Tanzy.

Of course, there were a few things I was unable to try. Two in particular that I wish I'd tasted were Prado's cioppino, which I noticed many people enjoying, and Talavera's Alaskan halibut. I overheard two women say, "Oh, that's the halibut someone told us we must try!" so it must have been worth waiting in line for (but by that time I was stuffed). Despite having too many options and not enough room in my stomach, and despite the few disappointing tastes, overall it was a successful event. There was plenty of standing room, and elbowing was kept to a minimum. The weather was perfect, there was enough food and drink to go around, and everyone looked to be enjoying themselves.

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