New Year’s Eve Dinner

I had a lovely dinner with great friends on New Year’s Eve at a restaurant called Quiessence. Quiessence is located on a 12 acre plot of land in south Phoenix called The Farm at South Mountain. The property is shaded by hundreds of pecan trees and is home to several restaurants providing a variety of organic and seasonal food. The philosophy of the restaurants is similar to that of the great Alice Waters; that food should be natural, seasonal, fresh, and rooted in tradition. They purchase the majority of their food from local farmers and things they can’t get locally are purchased from small farms across the country and always with an eye toward seasonal, organic, and sustainable farming and fishing methods. It’s an interesting story that you can read more about here.

Our dinner included Island Creek Oysters, fresh truffle risotto, lobster stuffed jumbo shrimp, and chocolate torte with vanilla bean ice cream. It was fabulous.

For my local readers, it’s well worth a visit to enjoy the fabulous food and the quiet, rustic setting. You will forget you are in a big city.