Scottsdale Green Market Lori Watts Parada del Sol Spring Training

Enjoy
By MArI MArkoGIAnIS
Daily Dose
Breakfast and More
Can Downtown Scottsdale have too many
unique, locally owned breakfast spots? Let me
think about it ... no! Fans of dinner-only Fusion
Restaurant & Lounge (on Buckboard Trail, just
south of Camelback) clearly agreed, cheering for
Matt and JenLyn Long to open a second place
dedicated to early-morning fare.
As it turns out, Daily Dose serves continuously
from 7 a.m. through evening, with a
prescription to fit every time of day and
most dishes priced under $10. The breakfast menu
features all the usual suspects and then some,
including eight omelets and seven intriguing spins
on eggs Benedict. The category of “sandwiches,
wraps & other fun things” includes options to
delight your yoga body (fruit & yogurt parfait) or
reward yourself for that recent low cholesterol score
(biscuits & gravy). Plates are rounded out with
sides of herbed potatoes, fruit, cottage cheese or the
unusual DD hash, a sauté of roasted acorn squash,
mushrooms and onions.
If you’re a carb lover, you’ll be happy to see a
section devoted to breakfast in all its battered, fried,
crispy-fried glory. Are pancakes your weakness?
Choose from buttermilk, honey whole wheat, and
gingerbread batters. “Diagnosed yourself with a
craving for French toast? Enjoy it au naturel, topped
with brown-sugared blueberries or made with
cranberry-orange breakfast bread and crowned
with strawberries.” Waffles you want? Choose plain
or sundae style with raspberry/cream/pecans or
Neapolitan flavors.
Beginning at 10:30 a.m. daily, the lunch/dinner
menu features salads, burgers and sandwiches,
tacos and a few wildcard dishes such as a citrus and
avocado shrimp cocktail and chicken wings (honey
orange or traditional). While you can’t get Fusion’s
celebrated Gladiator burger here, JenLyn says the
Daily Dose Burger, incorporating ground chuck and
Australian Kobe, is its close cousin.
Feature
Except for the cheese component, few of Chef
Matt’s seven basic salads include protein, but you
can opt to add one from a 10-item list of “salad
toppers,” priced from $1.95 to $6.95. I’m a diehard
salad gal, but my doctor advises against unnecessary
decision-making, so I’ll choose my salad and let the
chef decide whether it begs for rock shrimp, blue
crab or shaved rib eye.
Housed in prime real estate right on Scottsdale
Road south of Indian School, Daily Dose has a full bar
and predominantly booth seating inside, with low and
high tables on the east-facing patio. Several booths
straddle the calm space between the darker, lounge-like
interior and the bright, sunny patio. If you’re not averse
to the noise of vehicles whizzing by, the patio is a sweet
spot to watch a parade of urban vignettes.
A trio of terriers trot on leashes, their noses
probing the scent of bacon and chorizo. Two
toddlers view the world from a mesh-windowed
trailer their father has hooked to his bike. Locals
glide up on Segways and grab the last patio table.
With an Alice-in-Wonderland size cup of coffee
between my hands, I take it all in and enjoy a
healthy dose of slowing down.
Serving daily (naturally). Breakfast: 7 a.m. to
10:30 a.m.; Lunch & Dinner: 10:30 a.m. to close.
4020 N. Scottsdale Road; 480.994.3673.
february/march 09
www.scottsdaledowntowner.com
photos by morgAn bellinger
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