compete — a platter of local roasted multicolor beets was too busy for my taste, buried with big chunks of garlic confit, butter pecan goat cheese, granola, micro blossoms and stripes of beet puree ($13). Still, The Vic Bar + Kitchen
Desserts also prove to be a special moment for the new Vic Bar +Kitchen. Inside or outside, homemade chocolate cake (right) is the perfect capper.
offers satisfying dishes for milder appetites, including a reliable Cheddar burger made of fresh ground steak ($12), and a good, crispy fried fish sandwich topped in American cheese, avocado and a bit of Sriracha aioli. Butter basting elevates the roast chicken entrée ($21), as well, paired for winter with local yams, creamed spinach and charred tomato fondue. For dessert, chocolate cake
tomato, pickled onions, cured jalapeno cheese and a swath of chile paste on focaccia ($13), or pimento cheese- crusted roast tenderloin with purple potato-apple hash and a drizzle of Noble No. 5 finishing vinegar ($30). Recipes can sound
bizarre, yet mostly, flavors come together. That poutine, for example, brings thick, handcut fries smothered in melting Asiago, chopped spring garlic and a succulent truffle-butter gravy stocked with minced Mikuni, basil-fed snails foraged from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The result is rich, earthy and textured. Grilled bacon is another
delight — hardly healthy, though worth the calories for its thick pork belly wands cooked crisp edged and rimmed with glorious fat ($12). The small plate goes a long way for indulgence, decorated with Maytag blue cheese-stuffed honey dates
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and spiced pecans, drizzled with chile-agave syrup and brightened with scatterings of spinachy bull’s blood microgreens and edible blossoms. The dish calls for a cocktail to balance the fat, and an ice-cold vodka Blackberry Mule is spot on, served in a copper mug. Indeed, cocktails are a Vic
specialty, like the meal-in-a- glass Bloody Marys served red or green and spiked with goodies, including bacon, spiced citrus and fiery chile peppers. This is a great place to sit at the expansive centerpiece bar and nibble on shared plates such as the dainty Deviled Blue Sky duck egg ($3.50), or smoky steelhead trout spread on rye toast with diced tomato, onion, quail eggs and fried capers ($10).
Big, bold flavors are the
rule for this kitchen, including the Thai flatbread that’s spread with coconut-cashew butter sauce, pickled onions, jalapenos, avocado, cilantro, scallions, basil and Sriracha on a shatteringly crisp, thin crust. I’ve never had bone marrow like this, either, the fire-roasted slab served with unusual but vibrant toppings of truffle butter, pickled ramp jam and bits of snail, all for scooping with herbed flatbread ($14). Nearly every dish comes
with something extra, such as a panzanella salad tossed with creamy truffled burrata and marinated cucumber among herbed red and green tomatoes, red onion, oversize herbed croutons and flurry of Parmesan ($16). The ingredients sometimes
($10) is a pleasing, homemade confection everyone can appreciate. But it’s more fun to go outside the box and try the blue cheesecake ($10), a sweet slab swirled with tangy bleu cheese and topped in macerated strawberries. The treat shined even brighter when my server suggested sipping a Ballotin Caramel Turtle Bourbon alongside. And like most everything
at this Buckeye gem, the combination delivered unexpected joy. What a perfect place for your next great culinary surprise of 2017! n
Carey Sweet writes about food and wine for the Arizona Republic, San Francisco Chronicle, and Scottsdale and Sunset magazines.
DETAILS
VIC BAR + KITCHEN 5325 North Verrado Way (in The Victory Club at Verrado), Buckeye, 623-533-4722,
vicbarandkitchen.com. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday-Tuesday; 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.
PREVIEW 2017 | AZ GOLF Insider | 17
COURTESY OF VERRADO GOLF CLUB
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