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| - If reps for the Michelin Guide ever stop in Phoenix (Which might be a long ways away since only 4 US cities are currently in the guide) Binkley's would be #1 on their radar. My last dining adventure that even comes close to my experience here would be at David Barzelay's Lazy Bear in San Francisco, a 2 Michelin starred restaurant. It is no surprise to me that Chef Binkley is currently a semi finalist for the James Beard Awards this year.
Chef Binkley truly put his heart and soul into the redesign of this restaurant. I remember enjoying eating here at this location back when it was called Bink's Midtown which had more of a traditional set up so I was excited to try out his new restaurant concept. The dining experience in its execution is very similar to Lazy Bear in that you reserve and pay in advance for your meal through their website. The cost was similar to Lazy Bear's pricing in San Francisco at $165 a person base price, with options to add on wine service or items such as Wagyu beef or caviar for an additional cost. You will also pay an additional fee on top of the base price for tax and tip. At this time you can also list any food allergies or restrictions.
Service first starts out on the patio, moves to the bar, and then to the main dining area. Each course has a small portion of food, spanning through 20+ courses during your 3.5 hour dining adventure here. Each dish has been carefully thought out and exquisitely crafted. We hit a blackjack jackpot with 21 delicious and creative courses, starting with a lovely tequila-grapefruit cocktail and ending with a decadent white truffle panna cotta. They pull out all the stops for the dishes here both ingredient and technique wise. Our courses had indulgent ingredients such as saffron, foie gras, white and black truffles. We even got to see an impressive jar of the largest, freshest black truffles I had ever seen, which was used for one of our meals (Black truffle nachos). I appreciated the fact that most of the ingredients are sourced locally when possible.
My favorite courses were the salsify soup and the creamed chicos. In general our menu was best described as eclectic, borrowing elements from Southwestern, Japanese, and modernist cuisine. The courses themselves had a bit of whimsy to them which I absolutely loved. Where else can you get a dish that looks like a Brussels sprout but is actually Brussels sprout leaves with foie gras mousse hiding inside? One course even had an aromatic element, using liquid nitrogen to disperse a light pleasant orange "essence" while we ate our dessert.
Service was impeccable from the gentleman refilling our water glasses to the sous chefs preparing the meals and sometimes serving them to you too.
What put my dining experience over the top was simply Chef Binkley himself. He would go around to each table to chat and make sure everyone was having a good time. He welcomes people to walk into the open kitchen set up and ask questions. At the end of the meal I asked him about his Big Green Egg on the back patio; we had a nice chat about BBQ and grilling and I got a lot of great information from him. He even personally called a few days after our dining experience to say thanks.
I would recommend Binkley's without hesitation to anyone looking for one of the best dining experiences you'll have for both food and service.
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