[Other reviews of Payton Curry's chef-in-residence at Welcome Diner: http://www.yelp.com/biz/payton-curry-at-welcome-diner-phoenix] THE VEGETARIAN ANGLE When you can date a review to the exact day (and with good reason), you know that you're in a special place. We ate at Payton Curry's pop-up restaurant at the Welcome Diner last night, April 19, 2011, and the following is what we ate, but you may have a different menu on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday evenings from 5pm-close through July 4. Chef, I hear, tries to keep it real and keep it local and fresh when sourcing his menu, so it changes each week. McClendon's Select was mentioned more than once. (PRICE NOTE: On Tuesdays from 10pm-close, the menu is 1/2 price to be sure Curry exhausts his fresh produce and meats.) Welcome Diner was serving about 12 people when we arrived, 6 at the inside counter and three couples outside dotting the front yard, set up with a picnic table, a sawhorse, some two tops, and glass tabletop lanterns. The food came out quickly, and our gracious and knowledgeable server asked if we'd like our dishes as they were prepared or in courses. We opted for the former. My darling dining partner and I shared all four dishes. THOSE DAMN GREEN BEANS We started with green beans, as crisp as they were picked, with just one tip snapped off, just like my grandmother taught me. These were served with a citrus creme fraiche and some recently picked tarragon. I always love dairy with tarragon, and this dish, served cool (not cold) if I remember, was dusted with local bee pollen, granular bits that taste of honey and something else and melt on your tongue. MOZZARELLA The menu insists there's basil in this tangential rendition of caprese -- and there probably is -- but the takeaway message from this panko-encrusted slab of mozzarella with the sweetest tomatoes I've eaten is a sweet-n-sour burst with every olive oily bite. A standout appetizer. GNOCCHI If you're like me, when you've eaten or prepared gnocchi before, you assume they get plopped into the boiling salted water before the plump up and rise to the surface. Not so fast, Barilla Boy. Payton Curry's gnocchi, I believe, are (dry?) pan-seared on both sides, keeping all the doughy, gummy deliciousness often lost in the water. The madeira wine and cream reduction here smothers the pillowy gnocchi and tooth-tender walnuts and squiggly good morel mushrooms in a way that makes you close your eyes, shut off your hearing, and attempt to pour all of your sensory energy into taste and smell. When eating this dish, I more than once covered my face with my hand to shield what may have been unflattering facial pangs of ecstasy. LEMON CURD We struggled to choose this dessert over the Strawberry Olive Oil Cake and Strawberry Malt, but we got our strawberry fix as the second layer in this delectable parfait, topped with the airiest foamy meringue, and served in a mason jar. The macerated strawberries made you want to relive childhood and replace mom's jelly with Payton's strawberries to accompany Laura Scudder in your PB&J sandwich. We clanged spoons at the bottom of the jar for the last bit of bee pollen. $62 with tax and tip. We didn't bring a BYOB wine but would next time. (The $13 corkage fee seems high, but there ought to be an explanation for that.) Everyone working in the tiny dinette and serving the tables outside had huge smiles and loads of enthusiasm for what they were contributing to the Garfield neighborhood and to the downtown culinary scene. Others are taking notice, too. Michelle Laudig (former restaurant critic at Phoenix New Times) and Aaron Chamberlin of St. Francis both dropped in during our dinner. I worry about the AZ heat baking the charm out of patio dining in May, June, and July for Chef Curry, but I hope to return in April...maybe on a Tuesday at 10pm for half-price eats. Other reviews of Payton Curry's chef-in-residence at Welcome Diner: http://www.yelp.com/biz/payton-curry-at-welcome-diner-phoenix
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positive