Wright's
at
The Arizona Biltmore
Phoenix, Arizona

"When people leave the restaurant, I want them to say, ‘This is the freshest, most unique meal I’ve ever had,’ " said Rick Boyer, Chef de Cuisine of Wright’s, the Biltmore’s primo restaurant. Fresh? Definitely. The greens were seeds just days before their appearance in our salads. Others, like the pea-sized cherry-red turnips and the toothpick-length carrots were mere infant vegetables. Unique is not a quality I actually look for in my food—it can all too quickly lead to weirdness—but Wright’s cuisine is certainly not ho-hum—and that’s to relish.

What Boyer cooks—and where he cooks it—makes for a fine romance. Biltmore blocks in a stylized palm design form warm gray walls under copper ceilings and Aztec Deco murals flash bold colors. Arts and Crafts style high-backed Stickley chairs and geometric carpets produce more Wright notes.

Joe Kalinowski, our personable and foodie-literate waiter helps my friend and me select the dinners that will please us most. While pursuing this delectable dilemma, a little something arrives to amuse us. The smoked and seared scallop with a grapefruit and wild mushroom sauce does amuse. We attempt moderation with the three types of bread—French, Olive and Basil-Orange. They arrive with several butters, one laced with truffles, another with dried tomatoes.

Moving to appetizers, a southwest-gorgeous plate of tender sea scallops arrives. Pan-roasted until almost crisp, the scallops sit atop a risotto, yellowed with saffron and dabbed with red pepper puree. It contains just the right hit of chorizo, a spicy Mexican sausage.

Salads follow. Mine, an Arugula and Baby Beet Salad with its base of arugula and baby spinach holds tiny beets, tiny onion rings, poached pear slices and crumbles of smooth-sharp Maytag blue cheese. Doused in a vinaigrette with bits of hazelnuts, it’s a lovely mélange—sweet-tart, smooth-sharp and nutty.

My friend’s Terrine of Wild Mushrooms is wrapped with a portobello mushroom and is embedded with slices of leek. Surrounded by a mix of spicy sprouts, salty olive tapenade, sweet-sharp marinated tomatoes—red and yellow—it tastes of the forest in high summer.

Pan-Braised Dover Sole, my friend’s inspired selection arrives with an essence of bouillabaisse sauce puddled on a plate strewn with those infant turnips. A round patty of Dungeness Crab Brandade sits under a divine fillet of Dover sole. A frilly wafer of fried potato caps it all. The garlicky and sweet crab flavors heighten the taste of the delicate sole without overwhelming it. The lace cap is just plain fun.

I am only slightly envious. My Summerfield Farms Dry-Aged Rack of Lamb is as good as its description is long. A tender rack rich with a hint of game is cooked rare—but cooked, thank you. It leans up against a gratinée, this one a creamy disk of slivered potatoes scalloped with goat cheese. Baby artichokes and intense little olives from Italy’s Liguria region round out these flavors.

Finally getting a grip, we collaborate on dessert choosing only one personal soufflé. It arrives puffed straight up out of its own little soufflé pan. Joe gently spoons a warm sauce of milk chocolate into its center and we devour this delicate, sugary end to our party.

A restaurant I think even himself would applaud—Frank Lloyd Wright that is.

           By Kate Crawford  July 2002

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