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| - We arrived 15 minutes late for our reservation, wide-eyed from the hideous traffic jam we had encountered on the 101. Our sympathetic, attentive hostess immediately brought us a drink. What a great intro! When shown to our table (I hate banquette seating), we requested instead an outdoor table. We were quickly and cheerfully accommodated. After my chair was switched out for something more comfortable (I am a wide load) and the tippy table was adjusted (all done, again, cheerfully & quickly), we were finally ready to order. First course: mussels with a cocoanut curry sauce and the sweetbreads. Mussels were great; sauce was top-notch. My sweetbreads were completely overwhelmed with a breading and pungent sweet and sour sauce. What a criminal thing to do to delicate sweetbreads. PLEASE find another way to serve these delicacies which are so seldom found on a menu!
We politely requested (for a second time) more focaccia bread to sop up all that curry-cocoanut goodness. I don't really think "I heard you the first time, I didn't think you were kidding" is an appropriate response from a waiter. The wait--and the snark--were worth it, though, when the hot focaccia finally appeared (with an apology from our second waiter) The crust was unbelievable buttery. Our second, younger waiter was an obvious foodie, so enthusiastic about the food, and made up for the rudeness of the first.
Next course was a plate of cold thinly sliced yellow beets with feta, which my table mate loved, and the barbecued octopus. The octopus had a wonderful char, and was tender, a feat I admire, as every time I try to prepare octopus it tastes like my car tires. It was, unfortunately showered in a delicious but too copious sauce. Please let some of these dishes speak for themselves, people! Finally, dessert was a very yummy pudding-textured chocolate cake with a soft marshmallow topping.
The tempo of the meal was rather leisurely, but the place was really hopping for an early Wednesday evening. We are big fans of Binkley's in Cave Creek, and particularly love Bink's cafe, which is practically our neighborhood hangout, so it was fun to try a new Binkleys. We will be back, as I am dying to try the marrow, the fois gras, the sand dabs...the list goes on and on.
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