- [Announcer] And now, an Arizona PBS original production.

- I'm chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to "Check, Please Arizona."

The show where valley 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 each other and with you right here on "Check, Please Arizona."

(cheerful jazz music) - [Announcer] "Check, Please Arizona" is made possible in part by the generous support of Susan and William Ahearn, Deborah and Michael Elliot, Barbara and Terry Fenzl, Nita and Phil Francis, Mary and William Way.

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(cheerful jazz music) - I'm chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to "Check, Please Arizona."

In this episode, we check out restaurants in Tempe, downtown Phoenix, and Scottsdale.

Before we get to dining, let's meet our guests.

Laurie King works in education, but when school's out, she's hosting her dinner parties at her home.

Star Morrison is a self proclaimed foodie.

And when she's not checking out new spots, she's running her own business as a natural hair stylist.

But up first is Kevin Brown.

He's a retired IT guy who just bought an electric bike so he and his wife could tool around Tempe with quiet ease, and that's where his pick is located.

It's Harlow's Cafe.

(energetic big band music begins) - Harlow's cafe is a restaurant that has been around since 1976.

We acquired the business in 1980 as a family.

So I've been here since I was 14 years old, started off as a bus boy.

I acquired the business from my parents and my wife and I now own the restaurant.

In 1996, we had a contest to change our name.

A local reggae player named Walt Richardson came up with the name, and it's been Harlow since.

Harlow's Cafe food is American food known for breakfast and lunch, and we serve breakfast all day long.

Our number one, probably, dish that we have is our chorizo and eggs, by far.

Also, our chicken fried steak.

It's been on our menu for a while, but also is a very big seller.

Our French dip is a big seller, so it's a diversified menu.

Our ambience is pretty much like being at home, old grandma, grandpa's house back in the Midwest.

We don't change it 'cause that's what people really truly like.

When you come into our establishment, I like people to feel like they're at home, they can sit down and relax.

I'm here for the customer.

I'm here for the people that walk in that door every single day, and my job is to be sure that they come in, have a great new meal, have a good time while they're in here, 'cause it's probably the only part of their day that they're gonna be able to relax, and then take their day on.

But the most thing that makes us happy is when somebody leaves full and laughing, saying, "I love Harlow's Cafe."

And that's what we hear over and over and over again.

And that's why we enjoy this business so much.

(energetic big big band music continues) - Kevin.

Why Harlow's and what's your favorite dish there?

- Well, we usually eat breakfast there.

I think that's the best meal.

They do only do breakfast and lunch, and I think that's the best meal that they make, it's breakfast.

- What's your go-to thing for breakfast?

- Chorizo and eggs.

- Chorizo and eggs.

I love it.

Just stop at chorizo.

Well, I love eggs, though.

(Kevin laughing) I love the power of chorizo.

(Kevin laughing) So how do they prepare it?

What's it like?

- They fry their chorizo with the scrambled eggs so you have, not an omelet, but just scrambled eggs and chorizo with fried potatoes on the side and tortillas.

- [Mark] So the goodness is all through it.

- [Kevin] The goodness is all through it and there's twice as much as I can eat.

- [Mark] What the spice level on the chorizo?

- It's pretty mild.

I mean, there's a little spice, but most people wouldn't have any trouble with it.

It's not spicy.

I've had chorizo that you could barely eat, or I could barely eat, but this is not that.

It's pretty mild that most people wouldn't have any problem handling.

- What would you describe atmosphere like?

- It reminds me of, I used to travel a lot with my old man when I was young and it reminds me of just an old fashioned diner, and there just aren't enough of those left.

- [Mark] Yeah, it's been around for, I think, 40 some odd years or something like that?

- Yeah, it's been there a long time.

- [Mark] So Laurie, what did you have?

- When I walked in, first of all, it just felt like home.

Because I grew up in a small Midwestern town and we have a bunch of restaurants like this and just felt like that.

So I was transported to my childhood and so I ordered a childhood dish.

Which might sound a little, chipped beef on toast.

Chipped beef on toast.

- For those that don't know, I do know what that is.

- Well, you're quite low brow then, right?

(laughs) - Yes, well, I can do that.

- So I think of it as maybe a version of biscuits and gravy.

Because it's chipped beef, which is like, well, when I was growing up it was basically sliced lunch meat.

- [Mark] Just say it.

(laughs) - It came in a package, a plastic thing that you peeled off and it was something you could make yourself as a kid.

- How can you make that better?

Put a little heavy cream in.

- Then you put cream on it so it's in a gravy and then it's on toast, and so I had that.

But I went with friends, and so we did some splitting and we also had the waffle, the Belgian waffle.

And so the chipped beef on toast was exactly as I had remembered it as a kid.

I don't ever have to eat it again, but it's delicious.

But as you're eating it, you're like, "What am I doing to my body?"

(laughs) But it was very good.

And the Belgian waffle was phenomenal.

It was really fantastic.

- SO what was your favorite part about the atmosphere?

- It was just so cozy and familiar and the waitress called me "hun".

It was just one of those places, and the service was incredible.

Our food was out within 10 minutes and it was exactly what you expected.

It was delicious and it was homey and it was great.

- Star, okay.

This is your first time there, right?

- Yes, that was my first time there.

I went alone for lunch.

I was on a lunch break from work and I did lunch there.

- So what'd you have?

- I had a French dip for the first time.

Really exciting.

I've never had an actual French dip, always a variation, a friend made a French dip egg roll or something.

But I was like, "Let me get an actual French dip."

And it was amazing.

I'd go there just for that.

I don't care about anything else.

But I had a French dip and it was, what they say, the bomb.com.

(Laurie laughing) It was really good.

(laughs) - That's trademarked, by the way.

(Star and Laurie laughing) - It was so good.

I took the rest home.

It was a big portion, which was awesome, and super flavorful, I was very shocked, actually.

I loved it.

- [Mark] So the best thing about a French dip is the dip.

How is the broth, the goodness?

(laughs) - I could just drink it, actually.

(laughs) - Well, that's all you need to say.

- I could just drink it.

It was so good.

- Oh, that's amazing.

That's awesome.

So any other takeaways from it?

Atmosphere or service?

- The atmosphere, like what Lori said, very cozy.

When you walk in it's super small, everybody's close together, very close knit.

It's warm.

The vintage vibes.

I'm really into vintage vibes and diner, like what Kevin said, so the vintage photos on the wall, the pictures of families or different people who've visited, it was very warm and inviting and it seemed like a family owned, family oriented place.

- [Mark] What'd you have for a cocktail?

- I had a strawberry lemonade mule.

It was Mule Monday when I went.

- Oh, I saw that.

(Star laughing) I also went on Monday and saw that it was Mule Monday.

- It was Mule Monday.

I had a strawberry lemonade mule and it was awesome.

- You just admitted to drinking on your lunch break from work.

- I'm self employed.

(laughs) - That's so brilliant!

(laughs) - By the way, she's also creative.

SHe's a natural.

What's more natural than having a mule?

- [Star] It was just one.

(laughs) - I saw that on the board, cause I was there that morning.

But I was on my way into the office, so I had coffee.

- Anything else?

Dessert?

Did you have dessert when you were there or was the mule your dessert?

- I had a banana nut muffin.

It's not really dessert, but it was moist.

- [Mark] And they're known for their muffins.

- And it was good, and I enjoyed it.

(laughs) That was my sweetness.

- Anything for you?

- So there were three of us that went.

And so one of the other diners had the potatoes.

So reached across the table, those are fantastic.

- Those home fries are really good.

- They're really great.

But I mean, come on, potatoes.

- Kevin, this is your place.

So you said home fries are really good.

What makes good home fries in your mind?

- Well, they're not the reconstituted fried potato like you get in a lot of places.

It looks like they probably bake or boil potatoes and then chop 'em up and fry 'em on the flat top so that they're crispy on the outside and still soft in the middle.

- Crispy on the outside, you're nodding your head, Star.

- That's secret.

That is the secret.

(laughs) - If you want to try Harlow's Cafe, it's located on University, just east of Priest in Tempe.

An average meal will cost $20 and they don't take reservations.

(cheerful jazz music) Our next stop is Star's selection, comfort food in Scottsdale.

This is Sugar Jam Southern Kitchen.

(upbeat guitar music begins) - Sugar Jam is my place that feels comfortable.

It's family owned, and we serve comfort food, Southern inspired comfort food.

I started off at the local farmer's market, downtown Phoenix, and I would sell my cookies every single weekend.

And so one of my customers actually let me know that, "Hey, I have a property, I don't know if it might work for you or not, but I think it might be something you could take a look at.

", Being able to have a bigger kitchen and putting all the things I needed into that kitchen allowed me to expand on my menu.

So my recipes, some of them are my dad's.

He's a former iron worker out of New Jersey.

And the other side of his life was culinary and just the passion of cooking.

One of my favorites is my Parisian style French toast, marinated in gramonye, served with our chicken tenders.

That one I hold very dear to my heart.

My dad has been making me French toast since I was a little girl, and I may have amped up the recipe a little bit, but the core of it is really my dad.

The salmon croquettes I hold dear to me as well, because my grandmother, she used to make salmon croquettes.

We get Norwegian fresh salmon in every single week.

We have a specialty seasoning that we create in house.

And that's what I love about us here, is that we are hands on.

Everything that we can do from scratch we are doing as much as we can from scratch.

There's nothing pretentious here.

We just like to have fun and some good food, fun atmosphere.

I want people to feel when they come in here an experience of togetherness, a place where we can reverse the clock to a different time and era that neighbors talk to one another.

I hope that when they taste my food that they feel like, "This just tastes like a little bit of home."

(upbeat guitar music continues) - Star, first of all, how did you find this place?

And what is your go-to dish?

- So I'm big on going to brunch.

And like I said before, I work for myself.

So getting out on a Sunday or something like that, a Saturday, to do brunch is a gift.

So I heard about it from all my friends, they're like, "You have to go to this Sugar Jam place.

It's such a great vibe."

I'm like, "Okay, when I got some time I can go."

So I went and it was just amazing.

The service was A1 as soon as I walked through the door.

Me and my son went in, I went with my son, went on a little lunch date.

So we went in and I definitely got country style vibes from their decorations, not too country.

It was still a little modernized.

The service was very Southern hospitality like.

My server was so sweet.

Very attentive, very personable with my son.

I had chicken and waffles.

And I just wanna talk about the waffle really fast.

(laughs) - Please do, I'm sitting here, my mouth waters a little bit.

- The waffle was like cake.

I have never tasted a waffle so soft, it's normally a little crispy and normally I need it crispy, normally, but for some reason I was okay with the soft and it was amazing.

Even my son, he's not big on eating, so we shared our meal.

He wanted more of the waffles and I'm like, "You never eat, so I know these waffles are amazing."

- So they were cake like, so really tender?

- And sweet.

You can taste the vanilla.

There was a little spice in the batter, I can taste it.

And I was just, I just wanna go back for waffles and I'm not even huge on waffles, it was amazing.

- What about chicken?

How was that?

- The chicken.

- [Mark] No, on that.

You already said it.

I'm just kidding.

- The chicken.

Chicken was the batter.

I need to figure out if I can purchase this batter, because it was amazing.

The perfect amount of crisp, you can just hear the crunch.

I'm big on hearing the crunch.

Sometimes it looks crunchy, but you don't hear the crunch.

I heard the crunch.

I felt the crunch.

I want to be the crunch.

It was so good, amazing.

(Laurie laughing) - Hear the crunch, be the crunch.

Hear the crunch, be the crunch.

(Laurie and Star laughing) - I think that that is the takeaway from this place.

- [Star] It was amazing.

- I love it.

Thank you very much, Star.

Laurie, what did you have when you were there?

- I had Salisbury steak, but I started with the deviled eggs, which were incredible.

So there's three different kinds and there were three of us eating and so we each had one.

I had the one with, I think, the cucumber on it.

And they were so good.

I mean, it's a deviled egg.

But, I don't know, they were so good.

I would go, I would drive all the way up there again for those deviled eggs.

- [Star] I'll take your word for it, I love deviled eggs.

- [Mark] You can go wrong with devil eggs real quickly.

- Especially if you leave 'em out in the sun for a couple hours.

(Star laughing) No, these were fantastic.

- So you've been on a picnic.

(Laurie laughing) - No, they were fantastic.

And my entree was fine.

It was a little dry.

But the sides, the gravy was phenomenal that they put on there and the sides were incredible.

The mashed potatoes, and I didn't want the macaroni and cheese to end.

So it was just great.

But you mentioned the fried chicken and the couple sitting next to us ordered that and I was like, "Oh man, I wish I would have ordered that."

So that looked really, really great.

The bartender, he was really being creative.

I had a smoking Rosemary blue lemonade.

I don't typically like my cocktails very sweet, so this was a little sweet, but I could have inferred that from the name.

But the rosemary was, I think, set on fire.

So it was this smoking, so it was a really interesting flavor and it was fun to watch him make it.

- Good.

Kevin, you were there day or night?

- Day.

We had lunch.

- You had lunch.

So what'd you have?

- I had a catfish poor boy and it was good.

- [Mark] Was it fried catfish?

- [Kevin] It was fried.

It was fried catfish with a cornmeal breading, which I like, gives you a little crunch on the outside and that little crunch that you get from cornmeal.

- [Mark] A touch of sweetness.

- [Kevin] And I had potato salad and I think coleslaw to go with it and they were both very good.

- So the coleslaw that I had when I was there, I don't know if it was the same, but it was an apple coleslaw with fresh, brilliantly fresh, Granny Smith apples and I'd actually never had that, it was delicious.

- [Kevin] I hadn't had it before either.

It was really good.

- It was tart and a little sweet, which I liked.

- I tend not to like sweet foods unless they're dessert or something.

- [Mark] Did you have dessert there?

- I had half a cookie.

(Laurie laughing) I took my brother there and we split a cookie.

'Cause after having the meal, I didn't have room for any, I shouldn't even have eaten that.

- Well, how was the cookie?

I have to ask, because Sugar Jam started as a, she started making cookies.

That's how it all started.

So how was the cookie?

- [Kevin] It was great.

- So you had to, 'cause it grew into this whole thing.

Star, did you have anything?

- I did not have anything sweet.

I couldn't fit anything sweet after the, like I said, the portion was so big, me and my son split it and then we still couldn't fit anything else.

So I did not get to have dessert that time.

- Well I have to just say a little bit, I had the pecan pie.

And I don't like pecan pie 'cause generally too sweet.

It was extraordinary.

Not only was it great 'cause it's that buttery, you just taste butter, not sugar, right away and the caramelized pecans, crispy, great.

And the crust was flaky.

Extraordinary.

I actually ended up buying one for my friend and taking two more homes.

- You're making my mouth water.

(laughs) - [Mark] You have to go.

It's amazing.

- [Star] I saw them, but I didn't purchase any.

I need to go back.

(laughs) - And I'm just saying, it just blew me away.

And I'm not gonna talk about all that other good food I had, but I did have some good food.

(Star laughing) So Star, one last word about your choice.

Sugar Jam.

- Great vibes, great food, great service.

- Awesome.

Thank you.

If you want to try Sugar Jam Southern Kitchen, it's located on Hayden Road just north of Raintree.

An average meal will cost $32 and they do take reservations.

(cheerful jazz music) Our last restaurant is Laurie's choice.

The menu highlights the very best of Arizona grown produce in a very distinctive way.

This is The Larder and the Delta."

(exciting brass music begins) - First and foremost, I want people to understand that this isn't a soul food restaurant.

The concept behind The Larder and the Delta and what it's evolved into is we tell a story of the South through Arizona products.

We are a vegetable focused restaurant first, and we interpret different dishes a certain way.

It goes back to the slave trade, slavery.

Slave weren't given many proteins.

We had to make do with what we had to make do with.

And a lot of times, oftentimes, it was a lot of tubular vegetables and peanuts and seeds and nuts and grains and that thing.

And that's what we trying to do here.

We try and incorporate each one of those different aspects in all of our dishes.

There are many people who have taught me a lot.

My six year old Noah has taught me a lot and certain things and be able to think a certain way when it comes to food.

So the vibe here is it's a laid back kind of vibe.

We don't really take ourself too serious.

It's not over stuffy or any of that kind of thing.

You don't walk in and it's quiet and very soft tone music.

You walk in, it's Yosi and Baye, it's Wu Tung on brunch and stuff like that.

Brunch is completely fun and it changes every week.

Our cocktail program follows suit with the of food.

We want a solid well balanced, good cocktail that is fun to drink, it's interesting to drink.

It has many different layers and depth.

The dish that best describes me?

I guess I would have to say the hopping John.

'Cause it's my favorite dish.

Crunchy, 'cause I can be crunchy at times.

t's got all these textures and all these different layers to it.

If you were to ask people, I think that people would say the same things about me.

But what I want people to leave with, and most people do, is that they read the menu and when they eat it, they're completely blown away how different it is.

You're gonna leave here with a whole different interpretation or expectation of what Southern food is.

(exciting brass music continues) - Laurie, you picked this restaurant.

What brings you there?

And you've been a lot, right?

- A number of times.

- Okay, what brings you there?

What's your favorite dish?

- When I go for dinner, the scallops are just phenomenal.

I have never had anything that I haven't absolutely loved.

I started patronizing The Larder and the Delta when the chef had opened a small, what do they call them?

Kiosks at the DeSoto.

And he would make this corn chowder that was served room temperature or cold, and it was my favorite thing to get for lunch.

And then when he left there and opened his own place, just really started, just enjoying all of the incredible things that he would do for dinner.

And when I visited for today's show, I went for the first time for brunch.

And there's gonna be a theme here of all the things I had.

It seems gravy might be the theme.

(laughs) 'Cause I had the biscuits and gravy, 'cause, come on.

And it was incredible.

It was just absolutely incredible.

- [Mark] Tell me about the biscuits.

Tender, hard?

- [Laurie] Perfect, perfect.

The bottom one was a little crispy on the bottom and it was fluffy and flavorful.

- Fluffy.

I knew chef Stephen Jones would make fluffy, crispy on the bottom.

- Fluffy, not dense.

(laughs) - Not dense, right.

And the gravy was just perfectly flavored.

And so it was phenomenal.

And I paired that with a bloody Mary.

It's phenomenal.

- You're nodding, Star.

Did you have one of these cocktails from the mixologist?

- I did, I had Rosemary's baby.

And I'm really into herbs and things like that and I love the way rosemary smells as an essential oil.

So I was like, "Let me get that in my drink."

And it came very beautiful.

I took a beautiful picture of it.

And the flavor was just amazing.

You know how some cocktails you can just taste all of the sweetness that they put in it and you can't really taste your alcohol?

It was like the perfect balance to where I can drink it slowly and get where I need to be with just one.

- [Laurie] There you go.

- And I was, I was like, "Girl, you did your thing.

You did your thing."

(laughs) (Laurie laughing) - What did you eat?

What'd you get?

- I had the main divers scallops, I believe that's what it was.

And I'm always skeptical about scallops because in two seconds they can be overcooked.

So they were perfectly seared on each side and nice and tender and the sweetness was there and it was paired with some type of mushroom.

I can't remember what type, but there was also berries in there.

So I was getting such a fresh flavor palette from it, with mixing the berries with the mushrooms.

And there was a puree of some type of potato underneath.

So just swoop everything up and it was just amazing.

- Kevin, what you do there?

- We took two people from out of town to brunch down there and I had an omelet and it was really good.

It had micro greens and a slice of bacon.

- [Mark] You had the Delta omelet, right?

- [Kevin] The Delta omelet.

It was really nice.

- [Mark] What were the flavors like, though?

- They were really rich and I could really taste the greens that weren't cooked in there.

So it was like a little salad in your omelet.

It was something I hadn't had before, but I really liked it.

My wife had dirty rice, which she had never had before.

And she's pretty fussy and is not a very adventurous eater.

- [Mark] But they were able to accommodate, she has certain things she doesn't eat.

- [Kevin] She had an allergy to milk and they had that that she could it have, and she liked that too.

- Did you have any dessert?

- They don't serve dessert during brunch.

- And when you have biscuits and gravy, you can't have dessert.

- You can't?

Well, you can, but... (Laurie laughing) - No dessert for me.

I never fit dessert.

(laughs) Just never can fit it.

(laughs) - Can we all leave right now and go have dessert?

- [Star] We need dessert.

- We could, if we can get in.

So one thing I think is important to know if you wanna go for brunch, you either need to get there at 10, or you need to have reservations, 'cause it's taken off and it's a small space.

- [Star] Reservations, girl.

- [Laurie] Or you could sit at the bar, right?

You sat at the bar.

- I sat at the bar when I went for dinner, yes.

- What was the atmosphere like?

- It's really hip and I'm too old to be hip.

(Mark laughing) Otherwise I liked it.

(Star laughing) - Yeah, it was very hip, the ambiance.

The dim lighting at dinner time was awesome.

It was just really cool.

They leave you but don't leave you at the same time.

They're not harassing you for service, but they're also very present, which I loved.

- A lot of action from the kitchen, right?

- [Laurie] Oh yeah, you get to see everything.

It's completely open.

- [Mark] I mean, you are right there.

- [Star] I watched them filet fish right there in front of me, it was so cool.

I'm just looking at them.

(laughs) It was cool.

- So you know it's fresh.

- Yes, I knew what was up when I saw that.

- I'd describe it as hyper fresh.

It feels like the produce was just picked and brought in the back door and they clean it up and give it to you, it's amazing.

- Well, knowing them, I'm sure it was.

- [Star] Right.

(laughs) - If you want to try The Larder and the Delta, it's located downtown Phoenix on Portland, west of Central Avenue.

An average meal will cost $72 with tax and tip and they do take reservations.

I want to thank Star, Laurie, and Kevin for sharing their picks with us.

If you want 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.

And 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.

(cheerful jazz music) - [Announcer 3] 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 4] 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.

- [Announcer 5] Ironwood Cancer and Research Centers.

Personalized cancer care through medical oncology, radiation oncology, and radiology services.

Focusing on emotional, physical, and social support.

Outsmarting cancer one patient at a time.

- [Announcer 6] AJ's Fine Foods for gourmet to go meals.

Chef prepared entrees and sides, brick oven pizza, handcrafted sandwiches, and soups or sushi to go.

AJ's Fine Foods: more than a market, 10 valley locations at ajsfinefoods.com.

(cheerful jazz music)