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| - First read about this in the recent 2009 Best of Phoenix and wow, what a great choice! The place is cozy and friendly (laidback atmosphere) with food that is a wonderful culinary experience. I enjoyed the roasted garlic in olive oil with the toasted baguette slices from the start menu, though the nosh plate might need some work (more types of cured meats, and maybe some of those tiny dill pickles).
From the starter plates we had the crostini duo and the roasted grapes and brie on the multi-grain bread slices was popular with all - the one with the cucumber slices on them, a distant and less exciting second. The other starter - dates stuffed with homemade Chorizo and grueyer cheese, yum! The come on a bed of greens with some sort of vinegar dressing, which was a nice compliment.
For Sharing Section of the menu - the citrus brined fried chicken and cheddar cheese waffles, loved by all! I recommend ordering it early since we asked for it about 7 pm and it was the last one left. Even the braised greens were good. I was not so impressed with the halibut filet plate - nicely seasoned but frankly, a bit dry.
Other thoughts - they really like cucumber here - they put it in the water (makes it quite refreshing), garnished my gin and tonic with it (homemade tonic, nice but not really wowed by it), and had it on the previously mentioned crostini duo plate - just seemed like a lot of cucumer. As for the service, it was good throughout the meal. The waiter kept things well paced and was a good source of information when asked, without being overly obtrusive.
If you haven't gone, worth checking out and if you have gone worth going back again. :-)
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