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| - Soft opening, so take it with a perfect grain of salt.
As much as it is a homecoming for Bianco, being back at T&C is also a re-awakening it seems. A sort of do-over. This is the stuff we always wanted to see Christopher do. As the Bianco Realm expands here and overseas, it's clear that he is energized, yet still as himself as ever.
FOOD
We had...
Grilled head-on white shrimp with white beans: As good as it gets. Simple, delicious, layers of flavor, but you taste every bean. And suck those shrimp heads! They are awesome. For me, as basic as it was, this was the stand-out dish.
Fennel and orange salad: Refreshing and simple. But good contrast. Great bite between dishes to refresh. Keep one around.
Pork ragu over Fusilli: Hearty, carrot-sweet, firm noodles, rustic chunky pork gravy. This is so up my alley.
Burnt-butter fried sage sauce spinach/ricotta ravioli: good lord.
Seafood stew: these things almost alway look the same. And this is no exception in the looks department. The difference is, where you usually get the same old tomato broth with a bunch of chewy crustaceans and throw-away whitefish... here you get tender bits of delicious sea creatures, each with their own flavor. All in a broth that actually tastes like seafood, not just salty tomato soup. Only suggestion: a big chunk of rustic Marco Bianco bread on the side to sop up all the delicious broth!
Flourless chocolate cake thing with lightly whipped cream: I'm not a dessert guy, so my wife and I split one. We shouldn't have split just one.
OVERALL
Friendly, confident, competent, attentive service. Pretty easy to do on an early soft opening night. We'll see how they do when they're in the weeds. But this crew seems like they're on it, and ready.
The food is what you dream of having if a friend took you to a chef's house in the Italian countryside and said: "We're gonna eat what his family eats when they get together and cook simple, fresh, amazing real food." This is so welcome in Phoenix. And it would be welcome anywhere, if we lived there :-)
As the menu will keep changing, we're looking forward to exploring over the coming years. Bravo Christopher (and Erin and Stevey and Claudio and Marco and Sergio and Crew)!
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