August 29, 2011

Peak Side Cafe at the Snowbowl in Flagstaff, Arizona

Peak Side Cafe
Top of Snowbowl Road (by the Snowbowl Sky Ride) (off Hwy 180)
Flagstaff (about 7 miles north of downtown)
Menu
Open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays

The Peak Side Cafe at the Snowbowl is a relaxing restaurant to take in beautiful scenery and fresh mountain air. The patio is expansive - and very family friendly. (There's even sidewalk chalk in the concrete portion of the patio to enjoy.)
This casual eatery has some solid dishes, not the best in town by any means, but good enough to make for a nice casual meal with the whole family before or after a hike, disc golf, or ride up the Skyride to the top of the peak.
Try their house made soup. I had a big bowl of the roasted red pepper soup. It was spicy and flavorful - and complimented the view nicely. The weather up there is always soup weather!




August 6, 2011

Celebrating National Food Holidays in August in Flagstaff, AZ

Everything from s'mores to steak is honored in August. Check out these highlights of where to enjoy national food holidays this month in Flagstaff...
National Mustard Day: August 6 (1st Saturday)
Perfect day to try RisingHy Honey Mustard. It’s made right here in Flagstaff. You can buy it at the local Farmer’s Markets or enjoy it at several local eateries. Find a bunch of RisingHy’s recipes that incorporate their devilishly hot mustard on their website.
National Zucchini Day: August 8
Celebrate your favorite squash variety with the tasty stylings of Buster’s (1800 S Milton) zucchini muffins that come in their yummy baskets of bread! They’re reason enough to go to Buster’s. Or go the opposite route, by getting this green veggie fried right up at the Ski Lift Lodge (6355 N Hwy 180). Their fried zucchinis are so fresh and delish. Perfect “disguise” for getting your veggies in.
National Filet Mignon Day: August 14
If you’re looking for the best steak in town, head to the Cottage Place (126 W. Cottage Ave) and order up the filet mignon. The aged tenderloin cut of beef is always perfectly prepared with bearnaise sauce and is accompanied by fab whipped potatoes. Truly mouthwatering.
National Potato Day: August 19
All hail to this most delicious day, celebrating a hardy and often under-appreciated but never under-consumed edible tuber. Some of the best potatoes in town are found fried up and tossed in herbs at Diablo Burger (120 N Leroux). Chef Richard Fernandez’s housemade potato chips at the new Pizza Furiosa (2500 S Woodlands Village Blvd) are another good way to enjoy your taters today. They come with all of his paninis.
Eat a Peach Day: August 22
Prepare for both Eat a Peach Day and National Peach Pie Day (two days later) by doing some shopping at the Flagstaff Market (Sundays 8am-noon in the City Hall parking lot, Wednesdays 4-7pm at 2257 E Cedar Ave). Biting into a juicy peach is just about as close as you can get to natural perfection. But it never hurts to bake them up in a pie a la mode, either!
Banana Lover’s Day: August 27
“Go, go bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!” Treat yourself to some of Wildflower Bread Company’s (530 East Piccadilly Dr.) banana bread in celebration of Banana Lovers Day. This sweet, sticky bread will have you cheering. Another must-stop for banana lovers – Jospehine’s (503 N. Humphrey’s). Their brunch menu includes Brioche French Toast with Bananas Foster (bananas drenched in a rum brown sugar sauce and flambéed).
Eat Outside Day: August 31
Wrap up the summer by celebrating this day outdoors at one of the best patios in town. There are several good ones to choose from along San Francisco. You can never go wrong with Café Ole’s (119 S San Francisco) laid back oasis. Tinderbox (and The Annex) (34 S San Francisco) has a nice outdoor space – perfect for enjoying one of their delightful Shandys. Just up the street you can take in the sun at The Lumberyard (5 S San Francisco) while sipping one of their homebrews or sangrias with fresh fruit. Head up the street a bit more and tuck into the small, secluded patio of Brix (413 N San Francisco). Where you can wine, dine and toast the end of another fabulous Flagstaff summer.