Croissant in the City

"The art of cooking is among the most intimate things that we can do for another."

~Charlie Trotter

Brittle tree branches stuffed in trash cans. Ornaments and garland on the clearance racks. No more lame Christmas movies on ABC Family (I just watched my last DVR-ed one today…sadness). Goodbye twinkling Christmas lights. It's official, Christmas is over. 

The saddest part of the end of the holiday? No more Christmas cookies! In tribute, I give you my Christmas Cookie Montage. It's deliciously drool-worthy. Put on a Christmas carol and enjoy this last tidbit of holiday joy.

Till next year, Christmas cookies!
        
 

Sent from my iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

"The belly rules the mind."

~Spanish Proverb

Sent from my iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places."

~Ernest Hemingway

(One of my favorite Hemingway quotes.)

"I will eat them in a box.

And I will eat them with a fox.

And I will eat them in a house.

And I will eat them with a mouse.

And I will eat them here and there.

Say! I will eat them ANYWHERE!"

~Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Everytime I arrive at Pasta BAR, I'm sentenced to sit in their weird, enclosed outdoor patio annex. I feel like a little kid, seated in another room at the kids table, while my aunts are getting drunk on vino at the adult table and telling bawdy stories. Do I need to be glitterati to sit in the main dining room? (Do we have glitterati in Phoenix?) It seems so much more fun than the dim annex, which feels like the sparse back porch of a house. 

I feel terrible asking the hostess, as she leads me away from the laughter and lights of the main space, to do a U-turn and take me to the party! I was a hostess and hated customers messing up my perfectly laid out seating plan. So, to the annex I go…once again. 

My wine arrives. Cutie's lemon-basil martini, it's sidekick. We're drinking it in the annex. Boo!

Fried Buffalo Mozzarella with marinara crudo makes an appearance. Hot, crisp exterior. Creamy, melty (is that a proper word…it is now) mozzarella. Sopping up light marinara and using your finger to push on some of the torn leaves of basil. A perfect bite. The cold desert night and my sentence in the annex are fading. 

Another glass of wine strolls over to my table. I'm deep in conversation with Cutie about my latest crush, when two white bowls of pasta present themselves for our gastronomic pleasure. 

Light, pillows of ricotta gnocchi. The sauce, sweet and spicy fennel sausage ragu. It sounds a bit heavy, but it doesn't make me feel stuffed and weighed down, which is probably why I repeatedly order it. 

Cutie, a vegetarian, can't sway the waiter to do a vegetarian gnocchi (I did remove all the meat from a piece so she could taste). So, she orders Bavette al Cedro: lemon, Italian butter and Parmigiano. We thought it would be too simple. It was simply beautiful. Meyer lemon zing. The butter and Parm giving it a creamy depth. 

The dessert menu does nothing for me. Granita. A chocolate candy something or other. Limoncello cheesecake, which does taste like lemon, but does not taste like limoncello. 

We pay the bill and stumble outside to find someplace to have dessert, when a cold gust hits me square in the face. I awaken from my gnocchi-haze to find that I've just enjoyed my dinner in the annex. 

I will eat them here or there. I will apparently eat them ANYWHERE! 

Pasta BAR

705 North 1st Street Suite #110

Phoenix, AZ 85004