- [Announcer] 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 guests who are passionate about their picks.

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

Arizona.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Support comes from Copenhagen.

Featuring contemporary furniture from around the world.

Copenhagen is dedicated to providing comfort, craftsmanship, and customer service.

Located at CopenhagenLiving.com.

- [Announcer] Whitfill Nursery proud to support Arizona PBS.

A valley tradition since 1946.

Over 200 acres of Arizona grown trees, citrus, and palms.

Complete custom design and installation.

And Whitfill Nursery still does the digging.

WhitfillNursery.com.

- [Announcer] Hospice of the Valley.

Medical, social, and spiritual care for patients nearing end of life, and support for their families.

A not-for-profit community hospice.

hov.org.

(upbeat music) - I'm Chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to the 10th season of Check, Please!

Arizona.

In this episode, we're enjoying Italian, vegan, and a twist on modern cuisine.

Let's meet our diners.

Michelle Smith is a nurse practitioner at a local hospital.

She loves to read and has a serious eye for home redecorating.

Once a month, Michelle and her nurse friends meet up for dinner.

That's how she found her favorite spot in central Phoenix.

Marlaina Larsen-Thorslev works at a non-profit, helping immigrants learn English and find jobs.

One of her passions is plants.

She often visits the desert botanical garden.

Her diet is also plant-based, and so is the hidden gem she's picked.

But first, Andre Licardi is a retired public school art teacher and artist.

One of his paintings is even hanging in a presidential museum.

His family is originally from Italy, so it's no surprise he picked a West Valley spot honoring his roots, this is Fabio On Fire.

(Italian music) - Fabio On Fire is an authentic Italian restaurant.

Born in 2017.

Our menu is very, very simple.

It start from a little bit appetizer, charcuterie.

And then we have a few little pasta that we make in the house.

And then we do a lot of special.

And we also, of course, we do authentic pizzas and pasta.

And then we have a few desserts that we make.

Everything in the house.

My oven is the soul of my restaurant.

When you come in into my restaurant and you see me cooking the pizzas, you have a feeling that something, something is about to happen.

Something nice is about to happen, and you know that it's me taking care of you.

So my pizza is, is famous because, first of all, it's really light and not too hard on your stomach.

We do use a 72 hour fermentation.

All the ingredients are imported from Italy.

The salami, the San Marzano.

If there's one thing that we are well known for is our bread.

So, my grandfather gave me the recipe, and he also is the one that gave me the starter that I brought.

It was a little bit of starter that I brought from Italy many years ago.

Our Tiramisu is our, probably, our most, now what we sell the most.

Why the Tiramisu is so popular?

In my rational, is because it's made with real espresso coffee from Italy.

People really were crazy for it.

I put a lot of passion in what I do, and our dream came true.

I'm ready to eat.

- So Andre, you've been to Italy nine, 10 times.

How did you find Fabio on Fire?

- When we heard they were opening up, we thought, all right, we'd give it a try.

I cook a lot of Italian food, so I don't typically go out for Italian food.

But I thought we'd give this a try, and sure enough, first time, home run.

It was like we were eating back in Italy.

- What did you have for an appetizer and entree?

- Well, for the appetizer, we started with the charcuterie board.

They had the pasto misto.

And it's got a variety of meats.

Selection of cheeses.

And they start off with a basket of bread, and they bake their bread right there in the oven that they make the pizzas in.

And I like to rip apart the bread, and I take the cheese, and the meat, and the fig jam, and I stack it all up and eat.

It's just, I mean, I could stay there all day eating.

- You just got me on that one.

- Then, for the main course, I ordered the orecchiette with Italian sausage and broccoli.

It was terrific.

You can tell that the pasta's handmade because when it comes out of a box, every one of them's identical.

Whereas this, each one had its own distinct characteristic.

And the sausage was spicy, but not overly spicy.

Had really good flavor.

The broccoli was fresh.

And the broth, a lot of people think that eating Italian food is strictly red sauce, but this is more of a broth, olive oil base.

My wife got the butternut squash sacchettini, which to most people is ravioli, but it's a different shape.

It's like a, a little pillow with the regato cheese and the butternut squash in it.

And, I mean, it was delicious.

- And Marlaina, you had the sacchettini as well, right?

- I did, I was very excited because I had looked at the menu prior to going, and because I eat a, a vegetarian diet, I knew that I would be getting that butternut squash sacchettini.

And it's really cool because, I mean, I thought with sacchettini, like a little parcel, and that's what it was.

The pasta was extremely light, but it had a little chewiness to it because it's homemade.

And I'm a bit of a snob with herbs because I grew up with an herb garden.

So having that sage in there and having something that, you know, I think of pasta, I think it's gonna be kind of heavy.

It wasn't, it was packed with flavor, but very light.

I didn't leave feeling kind of bogged down with it.

So I thought the flavors were incredible.

We did start out, instead of with the charcuterie board, we had the cheese board.

It had fruits and cheeses.

We had different textures in the cheeses.

There was a soft cheese with walnuts.

I was really pleased with having a little bit of honey on the board and the fresh fruit to kind of cut through.

So I think that balance was really smart.

- All right, Michelle, what did you have to eat?

- Well, for my appetizer, I had the meatballs.

And, yeah, they were very, very delicious.

I didn't know if they were gonna be spicy or not, because I'm not really a fan of spicy food, but they weren't, they were delectable.

I taste a bit of cheese in them.

Not chewy.

I really enjoyed them.

- And what'd you have for your entrees.

- Now, for the entree, my son went with me, and we had the margarita pizza.

It is authentic Italian.

The pizza was so good.

I haven't, I would say, this was the best wood fire pizza that I've ever experienced.

- I would agree with that.

- Boom, we heard it here.

- I would agree.

- We're all nodding.

- Well, they had a wood fire stove right in the middle of it.

So you saw your pizza going in and coming out.

Great place.

I really enjoyed the dining experience.

- So Michelle, what did you quaff, and did you have sweets?

- Well, I had the tiramisu cake.

Oh my, my goodness, I never had a better tasting cake.

That's the best tiramasu I've ever had.

It was light and fluffy.

- It's incredible.

- I actually thought that people just couldn't make it, until I went to Fabio on Fire.

And then I said, "Okay, well there it is."

- Yeah, Andre, what you have for dessert?

- We went with the gelato.

We went with the coffee, vanilla gelato.

And it was a big dish, so my wife and I shared it.

But it was the perfect way to end the meal.

It was really creamy, it was very flavorful.

- I had the gelato as well.

I ended up splitting it and I was glad I did, because even the one scoop, it's so generous.

And it is very rich in the best way.

But splitting this is, I recommend it, splitting it.

The flavor's incredible.

- So pro tips, your place.

- For me, key ingredient is family run restaurant.

I don't like to wait and I don't like to leave the restaurant hungry.

And this filled all the bill.

- Marlaina?

- I would say, for my tip, if you are, as I am, of a bigger build, decide to sit indoors or bring one of the indoor seats outside because I did find that the seats at the table on the patio, while it was beautiful, they were rather painful, a little too small.

The sides of them were really what got me.

So I think in the future, if I did wanna sit outside, I'd probably just ask to bring some of the indoor chairs out.

That's my biggest tip, because the food, anything you order there, is going to be phenomenal.

- And I agree with her, the food is phenomenal.

But what impressed me so much was the decor of the restaurant.

It was so intimate.

A very nice, intimate, old world setting is what I felt.

- If you want to try Fabio on Fire, they're located near 83rd Avenue in Lake Pleasant Parkway in Peoria.

The average meal costs $37.

And they do take reservations.

(upbeat music) Our next restaurant is Marlaina's.

Vegan Cuisine is on the rise, and Marlaina's Pick is turning up the dial on flavors.

She says, it's not just good for vegan food, it's good, period.

This is the Coronado.

(upbeat music) - I feel like the Coronado is, it's different from any place you would find in Phoenix.

It is a vegan restaurant, and it has just, I would say, like a chill vibe.

Kind of use the surroundings of the Southwest, you know?

Those flavors are definitely in the food.

- My name is Elle Murtagh.

I'm the chef and co-owner at the Coronado.

I try and do what I call like "vegetable forward."

We don't use any mock meats or mock cheeses.

Our most popular stuff on the menu is probably the cauliflower tacos.

The breakfast burrito.

I think the sleeper on the menu is maybe the tepary bean burger because it seems like such a classic burger.

And then that we get to use tepary beans, which are indigenous to Arizona.

They're an amazing bean.

I think the thing that people usually have a challenge with, with vegan and vegetarian cooking is that they've gotten used to the meats and cheeses.

But once you realize that you can apply the same sorts of flavors, and spices, and things like that to vegetables, and to how you cook those things, it actually becomes really easy to switch things out, and keep those things very vegetable forward.

When people give us kind of the, it's not just good vegan food, it's good like, food, food.

That's the ultimate goal.

- We have a lot of meat eaters that come here because they're surprised of how good it tastes.

I wanna change some minds for sure.

- This is your restaurant Marlaina.

What do you to love about it?

- They are in the middle of that kind of downtown area, but they're tucked just far enough away to feel like you're not in downtown Phoenix.

- Well, tell us a little bit about what you had to eat, or what you recommend.

- When I go, I always get a drink.

This time when I went, I got an iced chai.

And they make my favorite iced chai in town.

And then we started with the fried guacamole.

- Ooh.

- Which, it is incredibly flavorful.

So they bring out their house made chips, and they bring out the fried guacamole.

We had chips and salsa too, we wanted to share.

Every single time that I get the fried guacamole, I feel like I could sit there and have three of them.

They're so delicious.

I feel like there's an unspoken kind of special spot for the person who gets to dip the first chip because it's this mass with a little bit of breading on the outside that's quite thin.

It's quite delicate, but it gives a little more texture to it.

So the person who gets that first chip dip.

- Yeah, what about entrees?

- So for the entree, I always get their cauliflower taco.

So the cauliflower is breaded and fried.

It's very crispy, so it has a lot of texture, lots of fresh ingredients on top.

You can get pico de gallo on there as well.

The thing I love most though, is their cilantro cream sauce.

That makes the dish.

And I had been so dedicated to getting these cauliflower tacos every time I go, it took my partner, Jules, getting the potato taco to realize that might even be better.

But yes, they're so flavorful.

The dishes always have extremely fresh ingredients.

And that's the thing I appreciate most.

- For me, it's like, where's the meat, who cares?

When you go to the Coronado, right, Andre?

- I have to say I, what I appreciate about being in this program, was that choice, because I don't think I would've normally chosen a vegan restaurant.

And I say, probably, also, when you go, you don't want to go with an attitude of what you think that means.

I mean, I found it to be wonderful.

My wife and I went for lunch.

I started with, I ordered lemonade, and it was real lemonade.

It wasn't, you can tell it wasn't a powdered mix.

But I got, to start off with, the red bean quesadillas.

And my wife and I shared it and it was delicious.

It was crispy.

They had a roasted, red pepper hummus drizzled over it.

And I thought I was, there was meat in the dish.

I mean, it really tastes, it was terrific.

- They know their flavors.

- It was spicy, but not over the top.

And from that, I went on to the cauliflower tacos.

Oh, my gosh, that was terrific.

The tacos were crisp, but not overly crisp, they were firm.

But the cauliflower was battered in the masa, and deep fried, and they were crunchy, but soft on the inside.

And fresh spinach and pumpkin seeds.

And it was just terrific.

I would totally go back.

I would totally get it again.

And the portions were great.

I ate two, and I, I was afraid to eat more 'cause I wanted to go for dessert.

So I took one home and had it for lunch the next day.

- Absolutely.

- I brought my two granddaughters with me.

And I didn't tell them until we were almost there.

"Hey guys, this is a vegan restaurant."

And, of course, their noses up in the air.

Oh, but what a nice surprise when we got there.

I started off with the beat and quinoa burger, and that was just delicious.

I mean, it tastes better than meat.

It was, the consistency was really great.

My granddaughters had the potato tacos, and they really enjoyed it.

They knew that it wasn't a meat taco.

But the purple cabbage and the avocado dressing that they put on there.

Yeah, it was delectable.

We shared our food, so it was portions enough to share.

And they enjoyed my quinoa burger, and I enjoyed their tacos.

- And for me, as a chef, vegetables are far more nuanced, far more interesting.

You can do way more, you can get way more creative flavors out of it, and textures than meat, and they've done it.

That's the key, they do it.

Michelle, what did you have for dessert?

- I had the chocolate chip rosemary cookie.

And you could taste the rosemary.

And I love the flavor of rosemary.

And, combined with the chocolate chip, you would think that they wouldn't go, but they went well together.

It was great.

- I got the lemon strawberry cake.

So it was lemon cake, the cake was very moist.

The icing was very sweet, but not overly sweet.

And the strawberries, fresh strawberries that were dipped in balsamic.

And so it was just very, very flavorful, and it was really good.

- What is your takeaway, Michelle?

- It's such a upbeat, lively restaurant.

The atmosphere was great.

The only thing that I kept thinking was that I wished I lived in this neighborhood because this would be a daily visit for me.

- Wow, that's huge, boom.

- Seriously.

- Marlaina?

- My tip is go for it and order a drink.

Whether it's alcoholic, or whether it's not, their drinks are phenomenal.

So don't just do water at this one.

- I would say I'd be adventurous and recommended it to people who have teenagers in their family.

I think they'd feel comfortable and fit in.

But this would be the perfect place.

- That's great.

- I think it also is very good for families.

- I love it.

If you want to try the Coronado, they are located in the historic Coronado neighborhood on 12th Street, just south of Oak.

An average meal will cost $19 and they do take reservations.

(upbeat music) Our last restaurant slot belongs to Michelle.

A modern place serving American fare with an emphasis on local flavors.

This is Ocotillo.

(low tempo music) - Ocotillo restaurant is a new American restaurant that focuses on health and wellness.

It's a pretty cool spot, you know?

It's got a good outdoor, indoor-outdoor vibe.

It's a nice, natural, outdoor Arizona environment.

We've been in Architectural Digest.

We have a fairly forward menu and it changes all the time.

You know, we definitely focus on seasonality.

And we focus on special diets.

You know, we're pretty progressive, you know?

We're one of the first places to have a vegetable section.

We've always had that.

You know, we're very forward about taking vegetables and making them into composed dishes instead of having them being an afterthought.

Ocotillo chicken is on there for a long time, you know?

Since the beginning.

And we serve it with a, a cold date, potato, pecan salad.

It's a little bit different set up than what you would imagine.

Something that's always gonna be our menu.

And same with the roasted cauliflower.

Those two are like, definitely, signature a Ocotillo items.

Our brunch menu's kind of random, you know?

It starts with a sweet section.

And it has a light section.

Then it has a vegetable section.

Then it has a savory section.

And then, there's a drinking section.

You know, we try and put menus together that anyone can come and find something that they would like.

Ocotillo is kind of a melting pot of all different kinds of things.

Let's make it fun, you know?

Let's make it casual.

Let's make it, kind of, no rules.

- Michelle, what makes Ocotillo special?

- How I found Ocotillo is, my friends and I, we're all nurse practitioners.

We promised that we would, once a month, meet at a restaurant and enjoy each other's company.

So my favorite cuisine is American cuisine, and I like a modern twist to it.

And I came up with the Ocotillo.

And the architecture was really impressive.

- What'd you have for food there?

- I had my favorite dish, because I love it so much.

And it was the mesquite grilled Ocotillo chicken.

It's very flavorable, needless to say, is seasoned very well.

They serve a half a chicken.

The sides that I got with my chicken was the potato salad, which was phenomenal.

- Classic or little twist?

- Oh, a twist, definitely.

Was a little bit of lemon maybe, but it was something citrus.

- When we went, I have to agree.

Walking in, it had sort of a red carpet feel because it has a long walkway and you get to see all of the outdoor seating.

It's such a gorgeous outdoor area.

I ended up getting the Grap-arita, which I did not know, initially, what it would be.

But my waitress was kind enough to explain.

Grapa is a bourbon and it's unique in that it is made with the skins of white grapes.

It was delicious.

My partner and I, Jules, shared a lot of different dishes so that we could try all of the beautiful things on the menu.

So we got the toast with herbed ricotta.

And then it had the sun dried balsamic strawberries.

With a balsamico sauce over it.

And I had never had a sun dried strawberry, but it was delicious, it was- - I had that too.

- Yes!

- You did?

- Yeah, I did.

- What's the texture like of these sun dried, are they?

- Quite chewy.

- Chewy?

- Oh, yeah.

- They're very dense.

I found it really pleasant.

- Yeah, well, the taste was what got it from me.

- Well, that intensifies the flavor, but balsamic on strawberries is actually a very Northern Italian.

- Yeah, yeah, balsamic syrup.

- And then I ended up getting one of their plant-based options.

The stuffed squash blossoms.

The presentation was so cool.

To have these blossoms with a bit of stem.

They're all sitting upward.

They're battered and fried, and quite a generous portion, honestly.

They also have some avocado on the side as a garnish.

They've got a bit of a sauce.

And I will say, the flavors on those were amazing.

My only qualm is those are stuffed with a vegan cheese, among several other ingredients.

And I could tell that the vegan cheese was there.

Vegan cheese can be quite a hard thing to incorporate, because either, you have the cheeses that taste pretty good but don't melt, or you have the cheese that melts very well, but tastes kind of odd.

It's an acquired taste for some, but I, I personally don't like it.

Otherwise, though, I mean, the flavor was out of this world.

- Andre, what did you have for appetizers?

- Well, my wife and I started with mimosas.

And it had a nice twist to it.

It was made a typical way, but I think they put grapefruit juice in it as well as the orange juice.

It was really delicious.

My wife ordered the mushroom quiche.

It came with a nice spring salad on the side that she really enjoyed.

I went with the smoked brisket on polenta.

And, oh my, I'm a fan of polenta.

I don't know whether they make their own, as far as the grinding, because it was ground very fine.

But there were little bits of less, or more coarse ground polenta in it.

And it was in a, in a bowl.

And they put the polenta.

And they put the brief brisket over that with like an au jus dressing over that, and then a fried egg, and crispy onions all on top of that.

And it was terrific, absolutely terrific.

We had to have something sweet.

So we went with the cinnamon brioche cinnabun, that had a maple pumpkin glaze over it with roasted pecans.

- Oh, my goodness.

- I'll see you guys, later, I'm gonna go get that.

- It put me in a sugar coma, it was like, it was terrific.

- So did you get anything for dessert?

- I did, I ended up getting the strawberry shortcake, and the presentation was interesting because it wasn't stacked.

It wasn't, you know, one solid piece of cake.

And then there was some vanilla custard that was a bit salty.

Not in an unpleasant way at all.

It, the salt really came through.

It wasn't overly sweet, that I loved.

There were strawberries over top.

Not a ton of strawberry syrup over it.

I might have wanted more.

The only disappointing thing, the cake was a bit dry, but the flavor was there.

So the, ironically, the cake part was what I liked least, but the custard was incredible.

- Well, what's your takeaway, Michelle?

- It's a great place for large gatherings.

- Absolutely.

- Gigantic restaurant.

And it's elegant.

The decor, you know?

It's dining elegance.

- I would agree, big gatherings are fantastic.

I would go here on a special occasion if you want to kind of have a very nice restaurant experience with family or friends.

Or go during happy hour.

If you're like me, I'm an educator.

I don't have the budget for such elevated food on a regular basis.

But absolutely for drinks and their happy hour menu, which includes the ricotta toast.

So, go try that, that toast at happy hour.

- I love that tip, that's very helpful, thank you.

- For me, the tip would be definitely if you were doing a, a baby shower, or a family reunion, or gathering, it would be great place to go.

There was a quiet elegance to the whole restaurant.

And the way the food was prepared and served, it, you know, it was just really on point at every, at every juncture.

- If you want to try Ocotillo, it's located in Phoenix on 3rd Street and Flower.

An average meal will cost about $45, and they do recommend reservations.

I want to thank Michelle, Marlaina, and Andre for joining me at the table today.

And I want to 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 at spot.

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 the 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.

- [Announcer] Tomorrow's technology today, and much more is used to treat cancer at Ironwood Cancer and Research Centers.

Always looking to find more.

More time.

More life.

Ironwood Cancer & Research Centers.

Outsmarting cancer one patient at a time.

- [Announcer] Albertson's, Safeway Pharmacies and valley nonprofit, Mission of Mercy, are proud to support cancer awareness.

They encourage you to talk to your doctor, get recommended screenings, and don't forget your flu vaccine.

More information at albertsons.com or safeway.com.

(upbeat music)