- I'm Chef Mark Tarbell.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Arizona," the show where Arizona foodies recommend their favorite restaurants.

Coming up, we have guests who are passionate about their picks.

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

Arizona."

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

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Arizona!"

In this episode, we're hitting up a vegan soul food spot, Mexican-Chinese fusion, and a wine bar.

Unfortunately, one of our guests could not make it today with a last-minute emergency, but we'll still review her restaurant.

So let's meet the others.

Allison Cuoco is a child psychologist with two kids of her own.

She loves to read, and was once an extra in a Robert De Niro movie.

Her pick is special to her and her husband.

But first, Bill Kunz.

Bill's a retired naval officer and business executive.

He and his wife just returned from a trip overseas filled with wine and champagne tasting, so of course, his pick reflects that vibe.

A Scottsdale spot owned by a retired baseball player who loves wine, this is Sorso Wine Room.

(upbeat music) - Sorso Wine Room is a wine bar restaurant at the Scottsdale Quarter that we try to bring wines from around the world and introduce them to people, and not be stuffy about it.

We try to be welcoming.

And then we pair that with a lot of various food items meant for sharing, like bruschetta and sandwiches, salads, and a lot of shareable plates.

So Sorso means sip in Italian.

We offer glasses of wine, bottles of wine, cocktails, and beer.

We try to keep it, you know, fresh, always changing things up, and then our (indistinct) system, the wine wall, is a fun feature for people to be able to try a lot of wines.

We have 32 different wines on tap, basically.

So it's an Argon system that keeps the the wine fresh, but you can take your card and go up to the machine and do a quarter glass, half glass, or full glass of whatever wine we have on the wall.

We also work hard to make sure our list is really expansive so we have wines from all over the world.

Hopefully, our goal is to have something for everybody.

My wife Lauren designed the interior, and I think we did a really good job with it.

Just rustic industrial was our goal.

She really wanted to feel like when you come in to enjoy the restaurant, you're just coming over, hanging out in our living room, coming into our house, and become part of the whole experience.

(upbeat music) Cellar 24 is what I'm sitting in now.

It's our semi-private kind of event space.

When I used to play Major League Baseball, I wore number 24 with the Kansas City Royals, so the 24 is a slight homage to the previous life we used to live.

I would say playing baseball is more difficult than running a restaurant, but they both present their challenges, and they're both, you know, fun to figure out.

(upbeat music) - So Bill, how did you find Sorso, and what do you like to eat there?

- Well actually, my wife found Sorso.

- [Mark] Oh.

- So one of her favorite activities is wine bars near my location, so that comes up, and we punch that in and Sorso popped up, and the minute we walked in, we go, "Whoa, this is different."

- [Mark] Yeah.

- [Bill] And we really like the welcoming atmosphere, and then as you dug into what they had to offer, you know, they had wine on many different levels.

They had a great cocktail program, and then a food menu that really supports all that.

- Yeah, it's got that vibe, right, Allison?

- Mm hmm, oh yeah.

- Don't you think?

It's sort of like that buzzy, but not loud, but really kind of energetic, nice seating areas.

- We were there on a Wednesday night, and it was Trivia Night.

- [Mark] Oh.

- So there was even more energy and vibe happening.

It was busy and exciting, it was fun.

- Well, you in Europe experienced the wine dispensing, I would say, preservation and dispensing thing.

- You know what's really great about how they do their wine program with the Enomatic.

So what I like about Sorso from a wine perspective, so if you're just looking at the menu, you can buy like any varietal at three different price points.

So the high end in the Enomatic, so you can go over there and say maybe you don't wanna pay $28 for a glass of Caymus.

- [Mark] Yes.

- [Bill] But you could go there for a one ounce pour, and get it for $5.

- Oh man, that is so great, 'cause you actually can, maybe you'd heard of this wine like Caymus, or whatever, or Pouilly-Fuisse, but you had really kind of hesitant to buy it, 'cause it's $48 a glass or $28, and you got to taste it, it's cool.

- It is cool.

I think they had options, right?

You could do like a six or a nine ounce pour.

- [Mark] And you get a taste.

- [Bill] Yeah, you can do it.

- [Allison] Yeah.

- [Bill] Yeah, many different options.

- Bill, this is your place.

What did you have for appetizers?

- Well, one of the appetizers that we started with was the Brussels board, and the Brussels board really consisted of oven roasted Brussels sprouts, and it had dates, it had pancetta, and there was another kind of- - Parmesan, I think what I saw.

- It brings it all together.

- Got that Parmigiano Reggiano.

(Allison chuckling) - Exactly, and actually, from a flavor profile, I thought it really achieved, you know, you got the bitterness, you know, you got the sweet- - [Mark] There you go.

- And you got the salty, but our Brussels sprouts were just a tad bit underdone, so.

- So you like 'em a little bit more roasted.

So what's- - Like 'em crispy.

- Brussels sprouts are sort of like cabbage, so when they're undercooked, they're a little bit bitter, and when they get to more roasted, they convert to sweet.

So somewhere in between is usually where people like it.

But of course the dates are there to balance that out.

What else did you have?

- And then we had several bruschettas, and what's nice about the bruschetta is that they have a wide variety of ingredients, so you can go in many directions.

So one of 'em, we went with more of the Spanish direction, so it had some ham, and then it would have Manchego cheese.

I think there was some sun dried tomatoes, and there was some sort of pesto sauce underneath it that brought it all together.

- So Allison, what did you have for appetizers?

- So we also did the Brussels board, which was delicious, and we did the shishito peppers, which had a really nice sweet and spicy sauce.

And kind of what we noticed with the Brussels board is it needed a little bit of a glaze, so we took some of the glaze from the shishito peppers- - No way.

- And dipped it.

- That is awesome.

- It was delicious, yeah.

- That's creativity, I love that.

(overlapping speech) - [Bill] You know what I love about shishito peppers?

It's like playing Russian roulette.

- [Allison] That's right.

- You never know what you're going to get when you bite in to one.

- They say one in 10.

- Oh, is that right?

- It's pretty hot, yeah.

- They were pretty tolerable.

They weren't too bad, they were delicious, though.

We did the baked brie also, which was really nice.

It had honey and pistachios, and it was served with crostinis and apple slices, and it was just delicious.

We all shared that and loved just the consistency.

- [Mark] Was it warm and silky?

- [Allison] It was warm, and it had the sweet and crunch with it.

- [Bill] Cool.

- [Allison] So yeah, it was delicious.

- Yeah, I love that.

And what did you have for entrees, Bill?

- So I had the crab melt, and what I really liked about it, first of all, it had a big unctuous flavor to it, so you've got the fatty qualities of the cheese melting into the rich crab, and then that was underscored with a nice pesto and sun dried tomato component, and it was served on a gluten-free bun.

- [Mark] Wow.

- [Bill] So that's, you know, that's a winner.

- Allison, what'd you have for entrees?

- So we did a salad, an apple and goat cheese salad, and the pro flatbread, which was really nice.

It had prosciutto and pistachios, and it had some arugula and cheese and a nice balsamic drizzle on it.

- Nice, what'd you have for dessert?

- We did the espresso cannolis, and then the hot cookie.

- [Mark] Hot cookies, those are mm.

- [Allison] Warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream.

- [Mark] Dessert?

- No dessert for us.

- That's right?

- You know- - Your dessert is wine, Bill.

- It was, but you know, again, so you look at these menu items that they have, so again, like in the case of I had the crab melt, so it's kind of fatty and rich, but then, you know, you pair it with an acidic wine, so they're kind of smart about how they really match what they have on their food menu and their wine menu so you can really, so it all works.

- Well, the owners really have a passion for food and wine.

You can see it.

Now it's time for pro tips, Allison.

- Well, we were there on a Wednesday, and I did make a reservation, which I'm happy we did, because it was trivia night.

So I think if you're looking for like a fun, you know, date night or something to do with friends, Wednesday nights is a great time to go, but make a reservation 'cause it definitely got busy.

- I would say my pro tip is hit the happy hour Monday through Friday, three to six.

You can't go wrong with that.

Now, it's easy for me to say as a retired guy, so.

(all laughing) - All right, well, thank you.

If you want to try Sorso Wine Room, it's located inside the Scottsdale Quarter at Scottsdale Road just north of Greenway.

An average meal without drinks is $20, and they do take reservations.

(upbeat music) Our next pick is Allison.

Her husband took her here when they were first dating, and it must have worked, because she married him, and they still love this iconic Mexican Chinese fusion joint.

This is Chino Bandido.

(upbeat music) - Chino Bandido is an an off-the-wall fusion of Chinese, Mexican, Caribbean.

My husband, Frank Collins Sr., he and I started it November 1st, 1990.

You know, we really had to work at it for a while, because we would have people who would drag their friends and coworkers in and say, "No, no, no, I know it sounds weird, but you just gotta try it."

Frank Senior passed away in January of 2013, so it was really hard to go on without him, but he's still with me, so that helps me a lot.

He was Chino Bandido.

(laughs) (upbeat music) We have 14 different meat items, and you can have them one of basically two ways.

First way is a rice bowl, one item with rice, and then the other way is two items with rice and beans.

You can have the meat left alone, you can have it in a quesadilla, or in a burrito for free.

And you can mix and match.

Our most popular item is Jade Red Chicken, and so that's the one that's kind of like sweet and sour with a zap to it.

But the jerk chicken with the Jade Red Chicken and the jerk fried rice is very popular.

We still have original customers who came in the first week, 33 years ago, and it just warms your heart.

It's the best part of the entire thing.

I want every kid, whether they're five or 50 or 95, to leave here with a smile on their face.

- So Allison, you must still love it, why?

- Yeah, you know, I mean, it's been probably 17, 18 years since I first started going, and it's just nostalgic in a sense that it reminds me of just, you know, those earlier days when I'd first moved to Arizona and met my husband, and we had gone there, and it's just such a comfortable environment.

It's very casual.

The food is delicious, so I can be pretty certain that when I go I'm gonna get a great meal.

- What do you like to eat there?

- Oh, well, I always get the same thing.

I wish I would venture out a little bit more, but it's just so good.

I do the Jade Red Chicken and the carnitas in a quesadilla.

So at Chino Bandido, kind of the cool thing is that you can pick any item, and you can have it served either normal, or in a burrito or in a quesadilla.

So that's kind of fun and quirky, and so I do that, and then I am kind of traditional in the sense I get refried beans and just white rice.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- And I like to mix 'em together, and then I eat it all, and I love how the flavors just all mix together.

- I love the fusion.

So Jade Red, I had it too, but please describe.

- It's a, you know, fried chicken and it's served in kind of a sweet and spicy red sauce, which makes it the, you know, red name that goes along with it, and it's just a nice, you know, my kids went with us, and they were like, "What's like an orange chicken?"

And I said, "Well this is kind of similar."

It's sweet, but it's got a little bit of a kick.

But it wasn't too much for them.

- Exactly.

Bill, what did you have?

- I had the Diablo Chicken, and I had the egg foo young.

I did it in a bowl, and then I had it with the black beans, and then I had it with the jerk fried rice, so you could see I was going the hot, spicy route.

- And was it hot?

- Yeah, it was.

- [Mark] You could take the heat.

- I could take the heat.

I guess maybe I'm old enough.

My tongue is dull enough, so I can survive.

- That's awesome.

- Whereas like my wife, when she, you know, she's going in there tentatively so, but fortunately, they have a friendly staff, so they're walking her through the menu so they could take her down a milder path which she chose.

But you know, regarding the Diablo Chicken, so first of all, I kind of like the idea that, okay, now we're gonna take something like how we would typically prepare it like a Kung Pao Chicken.

- [Mark] Yes.

- [Bill] And so it has that same sort of coating you get.

This time, no, we're gonna apply like the traditional Mexican fiery spices to that, and a nice little tight sauce, I thought that was good, so it really kind of got you going.

(all laughing) - I like that.

Bill was doing one of these things.

- Yeah.

- It got me going.

- And then, but I contrast it, so I went, because I love Egg Foo Young, and it's one of my favorite things.

- [Mark] Yes.

- And I really, really liked their Egg Foo Young, so you know, typical it has, you know, the beans sprouts, it has the meat.

In this case, they use a barbecue, then has scallions, and they actually serve it delicately.

A lot of times, you know, you can go to a lot of places, and it can be a heavy dish.

But the thing I thought where they missed a little bit on this, and I shouldn't say that, because they've been doing this for many, many years, but you know, when you get Egg Foo Young, there's always some sort of sauce or some gravy with it.

You know, they just had a gravy.

It just didn't have a lot of flavor to it for my liking.

I was thinking, you know, you could go with like a salsa roja, or a salsa verde over it, but again, they know what they're doing.

I'm just observing.

- That would be a great suggestion, you know?

Just ask for a couple more traditional sauces and throw it on there.

- Right.

- [Mark] For your own twist on it.

- Yeah.

- So Allison, you had sort of an epic dessert, right?

- Snicker doodle, yes.

- [Mark] Is that a go-to you always do?

- I mean, it just comes with your meal, which is a nice little bonus.

- [Mark] That's right.

- [Allison] Yeah.

- That's right.

See, I'm not a dessert person so I said, "Boy, this is the thickest tortilla I've ever seen."

(all laughing) And I was like, "That's weird."

- Right, right.

- It was a snicker doodle.

I thought it was a tortilla.

- Yeah, it's just this, again, the restaurant's eclectic and quirky, and I think that just is like, you know, the last little piece of it that just kind of ties it all together is that you get this really soft cookie at the end, and if you go on a Saturday or Sunday, they have a lava, like a volcano cookie.

- [Mark] Ooh.

- So they have another option.

I know, so that's like a bonus to hit it on the weekend.

- All right, Allison, your restaurant pro tips.

- Well, I guess I just gave it to you.

- [Mark] Yeah, okay.

- [Allison] If you're in the area on the weekend, you know, definitely stop in, it's super casual, but it does get really busy, so be ready, you know, that there might be a line.

Don't be intimidated, ask questions, 'cause it kind of feels a little intimidating.

And then if you go on Saturday or Sunday, you have the option of getting the volcano cookie.

- [Mark] Volcano cookie.

- Yeah.

- Pro tip, love it, Bill?

- Well, I would just say, Allison alluded to it, is that, you know, if this is your first time, they'll spend as much time with you at the counter walking you through that, giving recommendations, asking you if you like spicy food or whatever, and how you like your things, and you can really, in a way, just customize it to your palate, so that's, and it's like I said, it's just in a very friendly embracive atmosphere.

- If you wanna try Chino Bandido, they're located near Third Avenue on Bell Road.

An average meal will cost about 15 bucks, and they do not take reservations.

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

As I mentioned, she couldn't be here today, but she loves to wow her friends with her choice, an East Valley restaurant serving vegan soul food.

This is Nana's Kitchen.

(upbeat music) - Nana's Kitchen is a comfort vegan food restaurant.

We opened up a vegan restaurant off of the vision that my wife had for opening a restaurant to honor her grandmother.

So when she was younger, she loved to be in the kitchen learning to cook with her grandmother Nana.

We specialize in different styles of cuisine, mostly soul food.

We have a wide variety of entrees for people to pick from, whether that be Philly cheese steaks or our Southern dish of mac and cheese, greens, barbecue beans, cornbread.

The biggest thing that sets apart our plant-based food would probably be the vegan ribs.

It's not too common that you see places that offer vegan ribs, let alone, you know, just the type of texture and the process that goes into making those dishes.

(upbeat music) Soul food means to me, it means family, it means warmth, it means community, it means just a nostalgic taste from my childhood.

My wife and I actually met at Chandler when we were in middle school, and then we got together in high school, and we've been together ever since.

So opening up a restaurant just down the street from where my wife and I actually met has been a dream come true for us.

The best compliment is to come back.

They say your business is only as good as the repeat business that you get, so you know, we take pride in putting out a product that people can enjoy time and time again, and they want to bring their family, and that's just a joy to see.

- Mm, smells so good.

- So, Bill, have you ever had vegan food?

- No, this was my first foray into vegan food, and really kind of what enticed me about it was this notion soul vegan, and so, okay, that sounds very promising.

- Sounds cool.

- [Bill] Yeah, so I go in there with high hopes, and- - [Mark] What'd you order?

- Well, I was hoping that they would have the chicken and waffles, their take on it, but unfortunately, that was no longer on the menu, so quickly I substituted, and I went with the Wangz and fries.

- [Mark] Wangz and fries.

- Wangz and fries.

- The names were great, yeah.

- Yeah, they had very soul, a nice play on all those names, yeah, and I kinda like that.

- Yes, yes, and it's made with cauliflower?

- Yeah, it is, and it was fried cauliflower, kind of with a version of a barbecue sauce, and then if you wanted to add other sauces, so you could adjust if you wanted something spicier.

But what I didn't like about the Wangz was that it was more in a floret style.

- [Mark] Okay.

- [Bill] And so I had a couple of them, they were cut flatter, and so they were more tender, And then it gave me more of a sense I was actually eating a chicken wing.

So with that, it also had fries, and they had some crazy seasoning on the fries.

I didn't really care for that, and then I followed it up with a plant-based burger, again over a bed of fries, and what I really liked about the burger, it really had the texture of a burger.

You know, they cooked it, and it had a crust on it, so you got that sense of that.

And then also the vegan cheese on it really had a good American cheese taste to it.

The other thing they had, and my wife ordered it, and I thought this was a clever idea.

So they have a ear of corn, and then they crust it like a Coney dog batter.

So I go, "Great, corn dog on corn.

This is a great idea," and I enjoyed that, so that was kinda fun.

- Oh my.

Allison, what'd you have?

- Yeah, so I had the Nana's Soul, which was a rib plate.

I think you could choose if you wanted ribs or a different type of meat.

It came with mac and cheese, baked beans, collared greens and a cornbread.

And visually, you know, we eat a lot with our eyes.

It looked like ribs, it had grill marks on it, and it had a lot of flavor to it for sure.

I loved the mac and cheese.

I don't know what they used for the cheese substitute there, but that was delicious.

It had a lot of great flavor to it as well.

- I'd say, yeah, tender.

It was really creamy, it was good.

- Yeah, we had a cheese steak too, the Philly cheese steak.

- [Mark] Oh, you did?

- [Allison] Yes, and that was- - Now, that is challenging.

- Yeah.

- [Mark] In vegan world.

- I was wondering how they were gonna do this, and yeah, it was surprising that when you ate it, the texture of whatever they were using really did have kind of that meat texture and had nice peppers, and again some sort of cheese type sauce with it, so that was really, really nice and unexpected, that.

- I had the same thing, it was crazy.

I actually, for a minute there, I was like, "I'm eating Philly cheese steak."

- [Allison] Right, yeah.

- I was like, "Wait, wait a second."

So that's good.

Did you have any dessert, Bill?

- I did, so I had the Biscoff cheesecake, and so overall, it was way too sweet for me and it was dense, but I did love that little Biscoff crust on it.

I mean, it was thick, 'cause you can never have too much Biscoff.

(all laughing) - What did you have, Allison, for dessert?

- We shared a banana pudding cake, an Oreo cheesecake, and then funnel cake.

And so yeah, same kind of feelings with the Oreo cheesecake and the banana pudding cake.

They had a nice flavor, but they were pretty dense.

But the funnel cake was delicious.

- [Mark] Really?

- [Allison] Yes.

- [Mark] Describe it.

- It was cinnamon and it was served with some whipped cream, and it was just a nice crispiness, and the sugar and cinnamon that they had it coated in just made me feel like I was at the fair.

- Any pro tips for you, Bill?

- I think you just go there, you have to talk to the people at the counter to really understand what's on the menu, and I think I could've done a better job of that really understanding all their offerings.

- I agree, I mean, I think doing a little research beforehand, kind of reading about the different items, 'cause it was overwhelming.

I didn't quite know what to order- - [Bill] Exactly.

- And what to be prepared for, and then we got there right as soon as it was opening, and I would say they were not as prepared yet for all the customers, so maybe go a little bit after the opening time so they're ready for you.

- That's a good tip, 'cause after this, it's gonna get busy.

If you want to try Nana's Kitchen, they're in Chandler on Arizona Avenue just south of Ray Road.

An average meal is $15, and they do not take reservations.

I wanna thank Allison and Bill for joining me at the table, and 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 social media using #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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