By Erin Forney, Guest Blogger, Foodies Like Us http://www.foodtrampdiaries.com

Top of the Rock is a beautiful fine dining restaurant located in Tempe at The Buttes resort by Marriot.  It is set high above everything else ground level, so the views are spectacular.  Top of the Rock will be a part of Restaurant Week 2010 this year and it would be the perfect place for a romantic three course dinner at a reasonable price.

Top of the Rock’s menu is as follows: one choice from each course for $39.00 per person.

Appetizer – Starter Options:

1. Sweet Potato Gnocchi with chorizo and wild mushrooms, smothered in a citrus buerre blanc

2. Pan Seared Ahi Tuna with pickled seaweed salad and a spicy wasabi cream sauce

3. Top of the Rock Signature Salad

Entree Options:

1.  Certified Angus Beef Medallions ~ Two 3 oz. Filet medallions pan seared to perfection, served with diners choice of Dianne, au poivre, or Oscar style on Yukon Gold mashed Potatoes with Blistered Asparagus, Baby Carrots, and Cippolini Onions

2.  Domestic Lamb ~ Two Lamb Racks grilled with savory garlic, and shallots, atop a creamy Truffle Mac-N-Cheese, Carnival Cauliflower, Baby Carrots and Blistered Asparagus, and smothered in their own mint au-jus

3.  Fresh from the Sea ~ for every day during Restaurant week, Chef James will bring in a different fresh fish prepared uniquely

Dessert Options:

1.  Trio of luscious flavored Crème Brule

2.  Louisiana style Bread Pudding, with Roasted Banana Gelato

3.  Delightful Trendy Tasting Ice Cream or Sorbet

My husband and I went last weekend to preview the menu and it was absolutely delicious. I can’t even pick one highlight because so many parts of it were outstanding. The sweet potato gnocchi will not disappoint, with small chunks of salty chorizo and wild mushrooms with the perfect amount of citrus buerre blanc to highlight the dimensions of flavor. It was definitely my favorite starter.

For the main course, I got the double rack of lamb and my husband got a grilled salmon filet from the “fresh from the sea” choice.  I always get my lamb cooked medium and it was perfectly cooked here.  The lamb comes with a mint au-jus which didn’t sound appetizing to me, so I asked for it on the side. The truffle mac n cheese that comes with the lamb is decadent and everything you would imagine truffle mac to be.  It was creamy and the truffle oil and truffle pieces just put it over the top…Delicious.  I had a bite of my husband’s fish and may have been even more excited to try the caramelized onion, bacon and potato hash that was lying underneath it.  I could not get over how perfect every single part of this meal was.

The only tiny disappointment I had was my tri colored “carnival cauliflower”.  Cauliflower is on of my favorite vegetables, especially when I’m at a restaurant.  For some reason the cauliflower I got that night tasted like smoky meat.  I noticed it was grilled, so maybe it was placed on a grill area that a steak had just been on? Either way, it didn’t really matter because every other bite I took of this meal was perfection.

Dessert was incredible of course. I was in love with the bread pudding. It had the perfect consistency and tasted the way bread pudding should, not dry by any means.  It had a yummy hot caramel sauce and banana gelato that paired perfect with every bite.  My husband really loved the trio of crème brulees; my favorite was the chocolate, and it reminded me of nutella for some reason — just delicious.

Top of the Rock is the perfect choice for restaurant week for the simple point of a great value.  The portions you will get are not by any means the fine dining standard, they were very large.  I had to give my husband a rack of my lamb or else I wouldn’t have had room to try dessert.  Besides the tremendous value, the service at Top of the Rock is impeccable and Chef James Hildebrand does everything he can to make sure every single diner is pleased with their meal and experience.

Top of the Rock

2000 Westcourt Way

Tempe, Arizona 85282-1098

602-225-9000

Open for dinner and Sunday Brunch

By Erin Forney, Guest Blogger, Foodies Like Us http://www.foodtrampdiaries.com

“Lunch and Learn” is a special luncheon/dinner series taking place on select Saturdays through August at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa.  Chef Beau MacMillan, who you may have seen this year on the new Food Network series “Worst Cooks in America”, is also the Executive chef at Elements — which is a fine dining restaurant within this resort and he is the gracious host for this event.  Not only do you get a wine pairing with each course, you also get a full recipe booklet of everything made at your Lunch and Learn to take home to try yourself.  Wine is courtesy of Thomas Manda of Southern Wine and Spirits.

The Saturday I attended was on July 10^th , which was their special “A Taste of the Cooking Channel” event.  I was immediately excited because since Cooking Channel debuted a few weeks ago, I have been watching pretty much nonstop every night since.  Beau brought a recipe of his own as well as Lee Hilson, the Executive chef at T Cooks inside the Royal Palms, and Mark Tarbell, Executive chef of Tarbell’s.  All three Executive chefs were contestants on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef”.  The tie-in with the Iron Chef and introduction of the Cooking Channel really blended well and the food was superb.

Also in attendance was Bruce Seidel, the Senior VP of Programming and Production for the Cooking Channel.  He did a nice short explanation of the new channel branching out from Food Network and we also saw a short video of what the Cooking Channel is all about.  I’ve been waiting for this channel to come out, but for foodies in the room who weren’t aware the channel had started on all major cable and satellite networks, the video was a great way to introduce the new kid on the block.

Lee Hilson had the first course which was Pasta Carbonara “Iron Chef Style”, paired with Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc.  This was my favorite dish of the three courses. It was a SERIOUS pasta dish with fresh made noodles that almost reminded me of egg noodles.  The cream sauce was warm, creamy, and perfectly seasoned with delicious thick cut lardons.  There was also an over easy egg yolk on top, which really made this dish almost too decadent, but I ate every bite.

The second course was Beau Mac’s Grilled Dry Aged Prime Rib Eye with Asparagus, Gratin Potatoes, and Bacon Mushroom Hash paired with Robert Mondavi Merlot.  Let’s not forget the amazing black garlic compound butter on top of that juicy steak.  This dish was delicious as well.  The rib eye had the perfect marbling and is dry aged 28 days before cooking.  My favorite part of this course was the black garlic compound butter.  I have black garlic in my kitchen and I’ve never really found the best use for it, but this really works!  One of the most delicious compound butters I’ve ever had, I can’t wait to make this at home.

The third dessert course was Grandma Polly’s Tart Apple Pie from Mark Tarbell, paired with Robert Mondavi Muscato.  Mark painted a great picture of how this pie came about, as it was always his request as a child each year for his birthday.  Telling us about this pie and how his birthday was in the fall had my mouth watering before I even got my plate.  He explained to get a superb flaky crust a touch of cider vinegar is added to his dough. The crust is always my favorite part of a pie, and boy this crust hit the spot! It was buttery, flaky, firm…just the perfect consistency.  The apple filling was very tasty with vanilla bean ice cream on top and a drizzle of caramel. YUM.

Following our amazing three course lunch, Beau, Lee, Mark, and Bruce did a question and answer session from the audience led by Dave Tyda of EaterAz.com.  We learned a lot about the chef’s experiences of being on the famed “Iron Chef” and also learned many things about the Cooking Channel and the exciting programming additions they have planned in the next year.  This was a great event, a great experience and I highly suggest you check it out and make a reservation to attend one in the near future.  Not only do you learn a lot, but you get a little buzzed in the process with all of the delicious wine pairings with each course.  Sanctuary is also running special room rates if you’d like to make this a staycation and get the royal treatment.  Call 480.607.2300 for more information.