- [Narrator] And now an Arizona PBS 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 three guests who are passionate about their picks.

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

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(peaceful ambient music) - I'm chef Mark Tarbell Welcome to Check, Please.

In this episode, we're visiting places in central Phoenix to Tempe.

Before we go dining let's meet our guests.

Delores Garcia works in wildfire management when she's not hiking around Arizona and the white mountains are on the top of her list.

You can find her checking out her favorite dining hotspot.

Our next guest is Tara Anderson.

She's a certified wine rep. She also has competed as a boxer and she loves punching her way through a good menu.

But up first, Cheryl Mandala as a retired financial journalist, she's never at a loss for words, when it comes to what loves to eat.

Her pick is an Asian inspired kitchen and craft cocktail bar in central Phoenix.

This is CLever Koi.

(upbeat music) - CLEVER KOI is a modern Asian kitchen and craft cocktail bar.

We're primarily known for our ramens, but we serve all kinds of stuff from all different parts of Asia.

My business partner, Nick Amasano and I, we opened the Clever Koi nine years ago.

For us I think what sets us apart is our attention to detail.

Originally we came up with the name, it was a brainstorm session and it kind of started with the traditional story of the, the KOI and the, of the story of how McCoy becomes dragon, happy to swim upstream through perseverance to get to the, get to the top and to fulfill that.

And it also became a play on words as well, being clever and Koi.

You know from the outside, looking in when you, when you're driving by this building and you see it from central, you don't really know what you're getting into until you come in this building.

But as soon as you open the door, you hear the music, you see the, the vibrance of the building.

Everybody's always in a good mood here.

It just has a really great energy.

It's small, it's everything's up front.

You can hear the kitchen, you can hear the roar of the, of the walk.

You can see the flames coming up.

Bartenders are making drinks, but it's all in this very confined space.

And it has that very like Soho, New York kind of feel all our bartenders are very knowledgeable on spirits and history of cocktails.

So not only can you come get a great drink and cover quite the bar, but they can also probably tell you a story about where the particular alcohol came from, or maybe give you a history lesson on its origins.

I grew up very close to this neighborhood.

I've a product of the Madison elementary school system.

I went to the high school in downtown Phoenix at north eye.

So to be able to be part of this community and give back to this community that helped me grow up and, and be the person I am today is really gratifying.

- So Cheryl, why Clever Koi and what is your go-to dish there?

- Go-to dish has to be the bananas fritter.

- Bananas Fritter so you go right to the end?

- Start with the bananas fritter.

That would be the place to start.

They take a little piece of banana bread and put it with cinnamon and sugar.

- Oh.

- And then they bring you there's caramel sauce on it, but they also bring you a little dish of miso caramel.

And one of my guests said, can we order a bucket of this?

- Yeah a bucket to go - To go.

- This is the Uya sauce of, of all time.

- No kidding no kidding.

- So I love that you know, I think life is short.

Start with dessert.

- Exactly.

- Barrels in there.

I love that.

- We had two appetizers.

We had the Korean fried mushrooms and the soft shell crab dumplings.

- Mhm what did you have for an entree?

- There were three of us, so we ordered three entrees.

We ordered the house fried rice, which is usually a safe bet, and we ordered the shaken beef, which is lovely.

And the such one catfish, the shaken beef uses really fine steak and had a lovely flavor.

That was our favorite of the three.

- So tender - Absolutely you could cut it with a spoon.

- Ooh.

- It was just lovely.

And the catfish was good but had kind of an unusual texture.

- Okay how was it prepared?

- It was sauteed.

- Sauteed okay.

So seared... - With yeah seared with some, you know Asian spices, they had some nice vegetables on there.

- Cool crunchy?

Oh good.

- Which was a nice foil to the, to the, to the fish.

- I've heard fish can be a little bit soft in nature.

I mean that, - Yes.

- That's the appeal if you like it.

- Yes I hadn't had catfish in a long time.

So I guess I was a little surprised at the texture.

- That's pretty normal.

- But the taste was delicious.

- Dolores what did you have for an entree?

- I always enjoy the ramen and their spicy kimchi ramen has to be one of my favorites there.

They do their kimchi in house and it's super flavorful.

And that fresh flavor really comes through.

And then they have this really beautiful ramen broth that kind of just adds to everything through there.

One of my favorite dishes there overall next to the pig face dumpings.

Those pig face dumpings are almost an essential for me.

Anytime I do go to the Clever Koi, they're absolutely rich and, and anxious.

- Well by pig face, I'm assuming they're the cheeks that's pulling out, which are super tender and, and just like, it's like the Y go of, of of a pork cut.

It's just so tender flavorful.

- Yeah they're so rich and you know, they give you a few pieces on there and it goes a long way just because of the richness that it has there.

They too are served with their housemate kimchi and they do their red and green sauce in house too.

Like a hot sauce.

Amazing.

- Oh cool.

So what did you have Tara?

- Well my husband ordered one of the ramen bowls.

I kind of created my own entree out of an appetizer.

I had the Kun pao vegetables and then I wanted to add a protein to it and they had six or seven I think to choose from.

And I just told the server to surprise me cause any of them sounded good on the vegetables.

So I ended up with the lemon grass chicken, the grill lemon grass chicken and it was delicious.

There's lots of that umami kind flavor.

And I, I wanted add a little more spice.

So I used one of the green the, I think it's homemade green sriracha that they have and just added up my spice there.

- Oh boy so you can do that?

You can order spice.

You can order some sauces in and... - Yeah.

- Bump it up, that's really good.

I love that.

And Tara what's it like when you walk in, what do people expect?

What are they gonna feel like?

- I found it just very intimate and just quaint.

The lighting was beautiful.

It was dimly lit, but there's a lot of activity behind both the bar and the kitchen which kind of gave it like that combination of lively and chill at the same time, very much a near neighborhood place.

It felt like.

- Absolutely now speaking of the cocktail, they have a great cocktail program there they're really serious about it.

Did you have a cocktail to start?

- I did indeed yes.

I had the French 95.

I am a huge fan of bourbon so I kind of zeroed in right on that.

It was a wonderful combination of bourbon, sparkling wine lemon and some simple syrup.

- Mhm.

- It was really refreshing, really good for a pallet cleans or so.

- Can I trade this in for one of those?

That would be fabulous.

- I would recommend that.

- [Dolores] I find that their cocktails are so good that I tend to make that my dessert you know, it's not uncommon to have more than one cocktail there and they just have such a fabulous cocktail menu that.

- And what did you have?

- They have a cocktail there that has a little bit of Thai tea in it.

So that earthiness a Thai tea comes through.

It's a really, just one of my favorites there.

It's kind of their version I guess, of the long island.

- Yeah.

- And it definitely kind of compliments the flavors of the dishes which a good cocktail menu really should do.

- Yeah so Cheryl, this is your place, so what else can you tell us about it?

- I would encourage people to try to sit outside because it's, it's not as noisy as it can be inside.

It's a real happening place.

- [Mark] Yeah small, vibrant, lot of hard surfaces, but really cool hip friendy.

- Oh Absolutely.

- Very very stylish.

- Absolutely.

- But if you're like me, I like to sit up at the are sometimes to have that little action because you get to see them work right in the kitchen and prepare your dishes.

So you get the little walk, you know walk action going on.

They have a small grill back there where they grill.

So it's really entertaining to sit at the bar and get that action.

- And they literally are right in front of you.

Like there's it's and same with a mixologist.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Which is another name for bartender by the way.

- Our table was right in front of the kitchen.

So our choice was to sit with our backs, like within a foot of all the activity or face it and watch it.

So we chose to face it and watch it.

- It's fascinating, It's so choreographed.

- That's really cool.

If you want to try Clever Koi, it's located in Midtown, Phoenix on central just north of Indian school.

They all also have a location in Gilbert.

An average meal will cost $31 and they take reservations.

Up next is Terra pick a taste of the Southwest with a modern twist.

Hardy steaks and flavorful tacos are on the menu in this Tempe hotspot.

This is Ghost Ranch.

- Ghost Ranch is a modern SouthWest cuisine.

We use ingredients from the land from Arizona, New Mexico pack of flavor, lot of chilis, lot of Mesquite.

So really rich flavor for food.

The name Ghost Ranch comes from Georgia branch in New Mexico.

The ambience here is a really, really always on positive bias.

So people are really happy.

It's a casual fun dining place.

We have created a really fun menu of tequilas and MECA.

We used a lot of our local ingredients.

Wings are native to the land, lots of our corn, beans, chilis.

And we, what we try to do is try to bring them in a more sophisticated cuisine.

Most of our green sauces are a little bit more fresh and a little bit mellow.

And then once you get to the rice a little bit spice, a little more earthier.

So it's a little bit for everybody.

It's not extremely spicy.

Everybody can come in and enjoy it.

If you want one dish that takes the, the experience of the place, it's the sample platter and that has like orange Chilada salsa sauce and, and Chiladas and/or steaks.

So it gives a little bit of everything of what we do here.

I just finished my first year here.

And it's been really amazing.

It's like a big family.

I work with my wife.

She is the place's head chef and it's been fun we love it.

I feel like when the community has really enjoyed what we do here, our product is sourced locally.

And I feel like the community has taken value in that and they come here and enjoy it.

- So Tara, why Ghost Ranch and what is your go-to dish there?

- Okay well Ghost Ranch is of the three restaurants.

It's in my backyard, which I love about that.

I spent decades dining in mostly downtown Phoenix and central Phoenix, but I've lived in that part of the, of town for a long time.

And I felt like we always had these like need for a awesome Mexican local restaurant.

So when it opened up, I have been a fan ever since it opened, I've kind of watched the dishes evolve as time has gone on the dish that I select it for my entree was the Puyo sado, which again, I've watched it change as the years have gone on.

And that's always kind of fun.

- What is awesome is they use Dave's to watch ranch, which is up in new river.

They have fresh chickens, they deliver fresh to the restaurant and they're absolutely stunning.

- Yes and in my opinion, they cook them into perfection.

- Yes.

- You know the skin is just Crispy enough.

The chicken is always tender.

They change it from a bed of creamy polenta to the Hayden mills crispy polenta.

So when that arrived, it was one of those ah, like I was kind of disappointed cause I love that creamy texture.

- Yeah.

- But then when I got into it, the crispiness was perfect.

- It's like a better French fry.

- Yeah.

- Now let's be honest.

So what did you start with?

- We started with a just chips salsa and guacamole.

I went with girlfriends and I gave them a choice of appetizers and they're like wow, we gotta go with the salsa and guac to see how it tastes.

And I've always loved it.

So we tried not to fill up too much on it cause that can happen.

- So Cheryl what did you start with?

- Well we had a little bit of a different experience.

The people I wanted to take had a last minute problem.

So we decided to do takeout.

- Oh.

- We had the, the street corn and the aguachile.

It's kind of a deconstructed Mexican shrimp cocktail, which was lovely many flavors that just explode.

For entrees we had the Aztec cake, because it sounded to me a little bit like the like king ranch casserole.

- Okay got it.

- Something like that.

It sounded kinda like that and it, it was very good.

- What did you have for appetizers?

- [Dolores] I started off with the street corn too, the Esquites.

I was kind of expecting it to be a little bit of a creamy, truly more authentic, like authentic Mexican style that you would get on the street with the mayonnaise than the lime and, and I didn't find it you know, I did have the cheese on top.

It didn't have that creaminess to it, but it was, it was tasty.

They had it served in a cast iron dish.

Went on to do the trout, which had like a diced topping of like crispy parsley, diced fingerling potatoes said it had wheat la coche in it, which is a Mexican kind of a corn fungus.

- Yes It's the hair is on the top of the corn that grow out that actually they allow to become like a fungus.

Yes amongus - Yeah.

- A mushroom of sorts you know.

- Yeah it's like a mushroom it's a delicacy really.

- Yeah quite savory.

And you know I, you don't often do too much fish, but I did see that it comes from Chula.

So a local purveyor here brings their fish in fresh.

So I ordered it up and it was quite good.

- That's awesome.

- It was, it was a good experience.

And I went by myself, I sat up at the bar again, looking towards looking.

- There's a theme.

- There's a theme here - But you love that bar area so like.

- Yeah well, it gives you an opportunity to you know, at times maybe meet the people next to you or you know, you can chat with the bartenders, see what they like, look into the kitchen.

I always like doing that.

- Okay we're going D and D desserts and drinks.

So did you have a drink at that bar?

- Yes I did and I kept to one I, I do like their frozen prickly pair margarita that they offer there just absolutely fabulous, it's refreshing.

- What about desserts?

- Dessert was the cocoa flan.

And that was probably my favorite thing there and has some small raspberries on it, little whipped cream and boy you dig into that and it's rich.

- Yeah.

- Delicious, beautiful coconut flavor.

Impressive.

- [Mark] Did you have drinks?

- [Tara] Indeed yes.

So it was a girl's night I mean.

- Okay good.

- My friend and I, we both had the Fuego margarita, which I love the presentation on.

It's like the chili lined rim and they put a dried chili pepper in it.

It's just the right amount of heat that I like no dessert I tried.

- We got two desserts and I have to tell you, one of them was the, the flan and this the way they did that for takeout impressed me so much I mean, it spoke volumes about how much this kitchen cares and in the middle as you say, there's the little, little piece of Flan.

And then in each corner of this square, they put a little dab of, of with cream and strawberry.

And I thought they had taken the care and time to do that.

- Yeah well they care about the result and that's really, I'm so glad you did take home, cause that is a true test to the restaurant.

- Yes.

- And what you're describing shows to me that that place cares in their approach.

- That's what it shows.

- And they want you to have a great experience at home as if you're in the restaurant very difficult to do in that environment.

- [Cheryl] The second dessert is kind of hard to explain.

It was layered.

The bottom layer was a little pistachio cake like consistency.

And then the next layer was kind of a cheese cakey thing that was the color of egg yolks.

And then there was the top layer of white that was cheeky.

And then with pistachios in the top it was delicious.

- That is awesome.

- Yes.

- And Tara what did you think of the decor?

- I'm so caught up on the pistachio cause that's, that's my favorite of all desserts so.

- And it's very Arizona.

- Oh yes.

So the ambiance, that's another thing that I just love about it.

I mean right when you walk in, it's just, it's so warm and inviting.

There's such a mix of textiles with wood and in earth tone.

So it's not like a typical you know, bright colors everywhere.

- [Dolores] That's what I found too is they have these large windows that allows the sun to come in just makes it really bright.

And then they have these murals inside that have the, like a Southwest desert scenes.

So you get the sun coming in right around sunset and it creates this beautiful color in there.

And I think it really adds a lot to the, to the scene and the mood.

- It does.

If you want to try Ghost Ranch is located on Rural and Warner in Tempe.

An average meal with tax and tip will cost about $40 and they don't take reservations.

Our last restaurant is Delores's selection, a fun little spot that's serving up brunch, burgers and beer in a dog friendly Atmosphere.

This is little O's.

- Little O's is a home away from home.

It is a place where we welcome the neighborhood and we want them to be a part of our family.

We have pizzas, burgers, salads, appetizers, a little bit more upscale bar food I would call it.

Also on the weekends we brunch, which is very popular.

All the brunch entrees come with a penny mimosa or local draft beer.

We definitely have a few different vibes in the restaurant.

We have the lunch crowd that comes in on their, their lunches from work.

A lot of people will come in and do their work here.

They're working from home.

And then we have the happy hour into dinner crowd.

That's here to watch the game wind down from their day.

And then we have the brunch crew which is, you know maybe they're recovering from the night before with their brunch and mimosa.

Those people will stay for hours.

It's pretty fun to, to be a part of all three different waves that come in.

Some of our favorite guests are our dogs, our dog regulars we know them all by names.

Sometimes we know their names before we know the guest names.

We have treats, bottomless water bowls.

We want to make sure that they feel home as well.

I have my degree.

I went to grad school for criminal justice, started serving a long time ago and eventually I was like, I really would love to, you know have one of these places to myself.

It's nice coming into a place that I feel, feel welcome and feel that's mine.

When people think of little O's I want the first thing to come to their mind is just family.

When we opened our doors, we were inviting the neighborhood to become part of our family and in turn, the awesome thing that's happened has been that our regulars have welcomed us into their family as well.

It's been an awesome thing to see and be a part of.

- So Dolores why little O's and what do you like about it?

- Really what I like about little O's is it's a fun neighborhood place to be.

They have a super fabulous patio, which happens to be dog friendly as well.

Which really is really nice.

One of my favorite times to go there is either after work to grab a nice drink and a, maybe a bite to eat or after a nice long hike, a nice bike ride.

It's just really a fun casual place to, to stop and, and replenish.

- The atmosphere like you said, it's just like an indoor outdoor thing.

- It's a great indoor outdoor situation prides itself on being a part of the neighborhood caters to everybody really.

- Yeah so what did you have for food?

- We did brunch mom and I stopped in one morning and I did the in semen flat bread, which is kind of their take on lox 'n bagels, but they do it on a flat bread.

They use some really fresh greens, cucumber, tomatoes, smoke salmon over the top thinly sliced.

So it ends up being almost like a really light little salad on this crisp flatbread with the salmon on top.

- That is so cool.

- It was unique to me and kind of impressive.

Mom decided to go for the traditional avocado toast and because it was brunch, they offer penny giant mimosas.

So she got the giant mimosa with her, with her brunch and they do offer a beer special with the brunch as well.

So I did get a beer with my, my lox and it's great.

Really made it for a nice light brunch.

- Yeah so Tara, this is a little outta your hood.

What did you think?

- One thing I noted about the place was like man, if this was my backyard, I'd probably be here all the time, but it's so true about being a very family friendly environment.

I took my husband and my son.

We rolled in and our gym clothes and we were sweaty.

We had a five year old with us and, and no one bated an eye.

But we, we came and noticed and instantly the dogs on the patio, which was very nice.

I'm a fan of dogs.

We shared the Italian salad.

Everything we got was just chalked full of ingredients and really interesting ingredients too.

The salad had dates and pistachios, lots of texture.

I got the cauliflower crust neighborhood pie, again it came and it was just loaded with ingredients to the point that I couldn't pick it up, which I like to pick up my pizza, but other than that it was delicious.

- The cauliflower crust, did you choose that for?

- I am recently gluten free.

- Okay.

- Such a bummer, but it was very nice to see.

I was really in the mood for pizza and.

- So they had that option which?

- They did a great cauliflower crust yeah.

- Oh cool.

- And my husband was really pleased with the beer selection.

He actually got an non-alcoholic beer, but I also had a cocktail.

So everyone was happy.

- Cheryl tell us what your experience was like.

- We went for brunch.

- Okay.

- I made a interesting choice.

They have a, nacho a breakfast nacho thing.

I didn't know that it would've served everybody here.

(laughing) It was about this long that and, and to add insult, I had them put bacon on top of it.

- We had that bacon.

- It was delicious.

- Well Cheryl, I would've been real disappointed if you didn't.

- It was delicious but there was a lot of food, but it was beautifully, beautifully done the avocado was fresh and with the addition of eggs.

- How and how are they cooked?

- Oh scrambled.

- Oh they scrambled eggs okay.

- And lots of them, there must have been half a dozen eggs.

If there was one, the sauce was good, The cheese was right where it needed to be.

It was delicious.

My daughter said to me, when I ordered the mimosa she said, "that's the best penny you're going to spend all day" because I was curious to see if they used a nice sparkling wine.

- Yeah.

- It was perfectly good.

And it was nicely cold, it was delicious.

I went back the next day too, cause I wanted to try a burger and had their veggie burger, which was very tasty.

- I did too, it was great.

- Yeah.

- If you want to try Little O's, it's located on fifth avenue in McDowell road in Phoenix.

An average meal will cost about $15 with tax and tip and they don't take reservations.

I want to thank Cheryl, Tara and Dolores for joining me at the table.

And thank you for joining Check, Please Arizona.

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

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