For 22+ years, Rancho Pinot has been serving the community of Scottsdale gourmet American comfort food. Chef Chrysa Robertson combines her love of food with her Northern Italian heritage to create a satisfying dining experience for her guests. Her resume includes working with some of the greats such as Nancy Silverton and Mark Peel in Napa Valley, California. In 2011, Chrysa won the “Chef Extraordinaire” award from the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival. She originates from Detroit (my home town) but has lived in Arizona most of her life.
The ambiance in the restaurant is casual and rustic Western. It has a comfortable open atmosphere to give diners plenty of space. There’s an array of fun artwork to peruse and a super cool cactus statue in the middle of the dining room. The staff is so friendly, they practically greet you in the parking lot! Well actually, we were waiting for 3 guests and our waitress, Jillian, did head outside to greet and usher them in. And a hug on the way out was not due to an overabundance of wine at our dinner, but just because she was so delightful!
Of the three dining experiences we had in Scottsdale this trip, Rancho Pinot served up the best food. Our incredible meal began with their Crispy Stuffed Squash Blossoms filled with ricotta herb filling and served with a tomato vinaigrette. Squash Blossoms are few and far between on menus as their availability is limited and one must know what to do with them. These were absolutely divine!
Rancho Pinot is long known for their Nonni’s Sunday Chicken which are braised thighs (my part of choice), mushrooms, onion, white wine, herbs, crispy polenta and grated Italian cheeses. One bite tells you why it has remained a favorite for so long as it was succulent and delicious!
Stealing the bite of chicken from someone else at my table, I had decided to order the Grilled Lamb Chops with flageolet beans, preserved lemon, frisse and mint pesto. A great presentation and I loved the accompaniments to the perfectly medium rare grilled chops. Need I say more than “yum!”
Another outstanding dish at our table was the Vegetable Plate (chef’s choice) using fresh seasonal vegetables. This was quite a remarkable dish. Forget relinquishing vegetarians to a sad plate of uninteresting veggies. This dish was so stunning, I was seriously jealous that I didn’t order it myself!
No passing up dessert tonight! We ordered two of them; an Ice Cream Sundae, not just a 31 flavors variety – this one was studded with what seemed like bread pudding cubes and luscious chocolate sauce, topped with oodles of fresh whipped cream. Dessert number 2 was an Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake made with organic strawberries packed with flavor. UNCLE! I surrender!!