Special event at Pesto Brothers in Flagstaff this Thursday (2/4/10)

This Thursday (February 4, 2010) Pesto Brothers (120 N. Leroux St. Flagstaff AZ in the Old Town Shops) is hosting a special wine dinner. The multi-course meal is $49 per person, tax and tip included.
On hand will be Eric Glomsky, wine maker for Page Springs Cellars & co-owner of AZ Stronghold Vineyards, whose wines will be featured/served with dinner. Seating is limited. For reservations call 928-774-3020.
This event will be the first Flagstaff Tastecasters event. The Flagstaff Tastecasters are a group of local foodies (that I am a member of) that use social media to broadcast their experiences at restaurants live as the meal is happening. You can follow my experience at the event from 6-8pm on Thursday by watching Twitter's #tastecasters or me @AngeleOutWest.

Here's the menu for the special event prepared by Chef Richard:

Page Springs Vino de la Familia Blanca
Grilled bruschetta with warm tallegio, house made sweet onion jam, imported prosciutto & reduced balsamic


Arizona Stronghold Mangus
Seared duck ravioli with walnut herb pesto & shaved manchego


Page Springs Vino del Barrio
Spiedini of marinated sirloin on a saffron & red pepper risotto fritter & braised spaghetti squash


Arizona Stronghold Dayden Rose
Espresso Panna cotta with roasted banana sauce

*Vegetarian or Gluten Free Options Available for all courses! Please notify our staff when you make your reservation.

La Fonda - A Flagstaff local favorite for traditional Mexican food

La Fonda
1900 N 2nd St
menu at: lafondaflg.com

A restaurant for locals in the know is LaFonda. This always busy at luinch Mexican food gem has been around since the 50s. The family later also started several other Arizona Mexican restaurants.
LaFonda has one of the best lunch specials in town. For 7.50 you get a 2 item combo plus rice, beans and a sopapilla.
The food is traditional Mexican. Nothing TexMex about the food here.
My fav here: Lunch special A- a cheese enchilada and chicken picaro. Always fresh and served piping hot rolled up to the table on an old fashioned cart.
The salsa is self serve on the table, as is honey. The salsa is "cure your sinus issues" hot. Mmmm. It's thin and not too chunky.
My kids love that honey is on the table. They put it on their chips and love it.
To finish the meal: a sopapilla. This light, fluffy puffed up tortilla-like dessert is delish with honey drizzled across the top.
All in all, LaFonda is a classic no-frills restaurant with good food and a down-home atmosphere. It's where I go when I want Mexican for lunch in Flagstaff.

East Coast Deli and Grill opens in Flagstaff, a look at their menu

• East Coast Deli and Grill
• 1300 S Milton
• 779-0039
  
• menu below

Flagstaff has a new sandwich shop. The East Coast Deli is a Pittsburgh style deli with many of that area's specialties on the menu. They serve down to earth priced meals breakfast, lunch and dinner. (See menu below to see all that they serve up right now.)
East Coast Deli is in the former home of Ay Caray in the strip mall next to Picassos on Milton Rd. It was pretty busy when I stopped in and picked up a menu. They offer student discounts and free wi fi in addition to daily soups and other specials.
Here's a look at their menu:

You can find specials and some photos of the place on East Coast Deli's facebook page HERE.

Hot Buffalo-style Chicken Wings of Flagstaff: New Jersey Pizza Company

The Hot Buffalo-style Chicken Wings of Flagstaff guide continues today with wings from the New Jersey Pizza Company.

New Jersey Pizza Company
224 E Cedar
menu: pizzaflagstaff.com (but they just got a new menu that's not online yet as of 1/16/10)

New Jersey Pizza used to have three kinds of sauces for their wings: Thai peanut, buffalo and sweet BBQ. But as of January 16, 2010 they only have one sauce: buffalo.
What's weird is the new buffalo takes like a weird concoction of a peanut sauce meets buffalo sauce. If you look at the photo above you can see that the wings are drowned in this sauce. Look carefully and you can see distinct swirls of the peanuty brown sauce and the red buffalo sauce.
All I can really say about it is that it is definately unique. First bite, I was intrigued but by wing #2, not so much. I liked their old wings much better.
Maybe something weird was going on in their kitchen today cause the pizza was no where near as good as normal either. New Jersey is someplace worthy of giving a second chance to, but I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to try their wings again.

Hot Buffalo-style Chicken Wings of Flagstaff: Fratelli Pizza

Looking for the best hot wings in Flagstaff? This article is part of the new Hot Buffalo-style Chicken Wings of Flagstaff guide that samples the wings of the city so you can find your favorite. Today's wings are from Fratelli Pizza.

Fratelli Pizza (downtown location)
119 West Phoenix
menu at: http://www.fratellipizza.net

Fratelli is a classic Flagstaff pizzaria. Known for their fab slices, they have worthy wings too. Fratelli's wings come in only two options. The wings are crispy without being dry. An order is 8 wigs. You can get half and half if you want. They come with a handful of baby carrot, a big ol cup of Fratelli's fab ranch dressing and some lettuce (that can make a nice simple salad to cool down after the spicy buffalo sauce). Here's a look at how the flavors shake down:
Spicy buffalo- No kidding about the spicy. These are surprisingly hot being there's no regular. Bold flavor that is quite addictive. I couldn't wait to go back for another one for some more burn on my lips.
BBQ- More of a rib glaze than a pure barbeque sauce. Dark brown and super sticky. Mild flavor and sweet and sticky like honey.