AZJL_Mar13

other when it came down to the last rice ball and no words
needed to be said. It was cut into equal halves because no one
was going to oer to give up the last bite.
MIXED GREEN DINNER SALAD WITH WHITE BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE
$5 I had a confession to make. I have never heard of, let alone
tasted, white balsamic vinegar, so this I had to have. It was
truly delicious. e salad was cold, crisp and fresh, perfect
really, and the dressing was out of this world. White balsamic
is lighter and not as sweet as dark balsamic, which makes it an
excellent and aesthetically pleasing ingredient for a dressing. I
am going to look for this in the store.
FUNGHI PIZZA $8 (8” PERSONAL PIZZA) Roasted Mushrooms/
Goat Cheese/True Oil/Chives ere is a list of house
specialty pizzas or you can build your own. is one sounded
delicious, as I am a fan of the mushroom in or on anything,
so I went with it. It’s a thin crust pizza (not a cracker), and it
arrives hot and loaded with a variety of mushrooms that
taste like they were sautéed before they were baked on the
pizza. It is fresh and wonderful. e crust is golden
brown from the wood-red oven, and at this price it really
can’t be beat.
ARTICHOKE HEART AND SPINACH PIZZA $8 (8” PERSONAL PIZZA)
is was a build-your-own aair and, like the other pizza,
came loaded with toppings. e artichoke hearts were huge
but invisible under the generous serving of fresh spinach
leaves. e menu says that they use a house blend of cheeses,
and I’m not sure what it is but it works!
BREAD PUDDING $6.50 House-Made Brioche/Roasted
Chestnuts/Dates/Tuaca Custard My friend, who for the
past 15 minutes has been saying how stued she is, orders
dessert. What’s that about? She goes for the bread pudding,
and it is elegantly served on a large plate in a pool of custard
sauce. e bread pudding has a crispy, powdered sugar-coated
crust. It falls apart in chunks in the shape of croutons under
the pressure of our fast-moving forks, and she says, “I think
these are croutons.” It wasn’t your traditional bread pudding,
but I can report there was none left. e custard sauce was
heavenly and reminded me of warm rummy eggnog. It was
worthy of spooning up after the bread pudding was gone.
ere was one disappointment. As I mentioned earlier, the
cocktail specialties looked interesting and I felt like having
an after-dinner drink. e one I ordered, a rye and apple
bitters with cinnamon, apparently was a “seasonal” drink and
no longer available. I asked the waiter to please double check
because he hadn’t been that knowledgeable about the menu
before, but, darn it, he was right this time. is is a pet peeve
of mine. If you don’t have it, don’t put it on the menu.
Kids grow up and I guess pizza does too, and
that’s why there was true oil on mine. e
Parlor is a charming place with very good food
at reasonable prices. I will go back, though not
on Sundays, when they are closed. I still want
that drink!
Contact A. Noshman at a.noshman@azjewishlife.
com.
FINALLY...
AN ALTERNATIVE!
Abe’s of Scottsdale Deli and Restaurant belongs to a very different
delicatessen era, the glamorous age of 1930s Times Square delis
where Broadway performers ducked out between shows for a pastrami
on rye. Abe’s of Scottsdale is pleased to open this fall in the Acacia
Creek Village Shopping Center at the southwest corner of Scottsdale
Road and Gold Dust Avenue behind California Pizza Kitchen.
10050 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 127
Scottsdale, Arizona 85253
TEL: (480) 699-5700
www.abesdeliscottsdale.com
ARIZONA JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2013 41