When you first walk into Tommy V's you may think, hmm...pricey, stuffy and hoity-toity. I mean it is in Scottsdale after all. (no offense, but let's face it Scottsdale does have a reputation) However, I suggest never judge a book by its cover and certainly not by first glance. Turn a couple of pages, you might just be surprised as we were.
When we walked into Tommy V's, Paige ran off (one guess to where since we just came from the spring training game ~lol) and I started taking pictures.
The gentleman behind the counter asked where I'd like to sit but since she ran off, I wasn't sure if she wanted to sit inside, outside, table, high top or bar. Then I realized that the chef was actually asking me. ( I saw the thermometer and tasting spoon in his arm.)
Once Paige returned I let her decide where to sit. I'm certain the chef was thinking inside his head "are they going to figure this out or not" ;)
Paige decided that she wanted to sit at one of the high tops which was perfect.
Our server came over with waters and dropped off the menus and told us he'd be right back.
We were still a bit uncertain about Tommy V's but the wine list looked good and the menu was just as awesome. Can't go wrong with that!
Paige and I decided that we were a bit too full to have dinner so we opted to try a few of their appetizers, have a few glasses of wine and maybe if we had room (we always make room) have dessert.
Meet our server Timothy.
He is so friendly, knowledgeable and just awesome! The service that Timothy provided gave us such a wonderful dining experience at Tommy V's.
We told Timothy we just wanted to order a few appetizers and have some wine. He made some suggestions based on what we told him we liked.
Paige and I ordered our wines - Duck Pond Merlot from Columbia Valley and Frescobaldi "Remole" Sangiovese from Tuscany. While we were waiting for Timothy to come with our wines ~ I got up and took a few more pictures and started writing in my notebook.
While doing that, there was different gentlemen behind the hostess station. I just smiled and continued taking pictures and taking notes. He realized that I was counting and told me "there's a sign right there that tells you our occupancy." I thanked him but continued counting and writing. I figured he was the manager, though I did seem to peak his curiosity.
Tommy V's has two patio areas with about 17 tables and the patios are good sized too. Inside there are about 6 high tops, 4 eight tops, 7 four tops, and a good amount of seating for just two and a semi private room that has a large table for birthday celebration, bridal shower or just for a large family.
They certainly have an impressive display case for their wines when you first walk in behind the hostess station.
I love how they have such a wide selection to choose from. Italy, Spain, Germany, Chile, Argentina, California, Oregon and Washington to name a few. The best part? ~ some wines you can do by the glass, 1/2 bottle or whole bottle! How awesome is that?!
Timothy came with our wines and we placed our order for the appetizers.
This is the burrata caponata, prosciutto, and house cured olives. It comes with a basket of bread.
Paige had never had burrata before and she LOVED it! I've had it before in Italy and it is SO different than mozzarella.
Amazing the difference water buffalo milk and cow milk make when making burrata. By far my favorite is water buffalo milk, hands down it makes the best burrata.
While Paige and I were enjoying our snack, I was taking notes of the flavors of what we were eating. For those that have read my "Weekend Treat" blog, you know that I'm a recent eater of olives. Purples olives, I've never had before. Not bad....though not like the green one I had before. But the prosciutto and the burrata ~ awesome! Now the caponata was a new experience for the both of us. For those not familiar caponata is Sicilian-style eggplant dish with tomatoes and a hint of sweet and sour and served chilled. On the bread and with a little bit of burrata ~ mmmm.
Timothy returned to our table with our next snack and glasses of wine. And perfect timing too!
This yummy looking dish is the crisp pancetta wrapped prawns with sweet gorgonzola with arugula and topped with fig balsamic.
Repeat after me .....OMG!! YUMMY!!!
Paige and I each had a prawn and then split the third one. I was writing notes (literally OMG!! YUMMY!!) when I looked up to see Paige with a distraught look on her face. When I asked her what was wrong....she pointed to the floor with a pouting face.I asked her what happened (since I was writing my notes) and she went to grab the arugula with her shrimp half and she said " I watched in slow motion as my shrimp fell to the floor."
I couldn't help but giggle at her but I offered to share my half with her. She proceeded to argue with me and then finally gave up and accepted the shrimp. (victory!! ~ lol)
We were looking at the menu to decide if we were done when the manager (or so I thought) had stopped by our table to see how things were.
We told him how wonderful our server Timothy had been but then he noticed the half shrimp sitting on the plate. He pointed and asked " you didn't like it?" We told him the food was great but the shrimp had an accident.
Turns out who I thought was the manager was/is one of the owner's of Tommy V's. Meet Zoran.
Zoran is so nice and very personable. Before he came over to talk to us I watched him greet and seat customers, see if they had any questions regarding the menu and made suggestions if they weren't sure. When we spoke to Zoran he explained that his hostess had called in sick so he rolled up his sleeve to pitch in. I told him that I had thought that the chef had sat us and he did confirm that we were in fact sat by the chef. Zoran then took the plate with the shrimp that "took a dive" and came back to chat.
He asked if we were done or if we were going to have something else. Paige and I stared at each other and pondered. Then Zoran asked if he could make a suggestion. He suggested a dish that was not on the menu. With smirks on our face we told Zoran "Sure, that sounds good."
He then took notice that we were just about finished with our wine and asked if we'd like another glass. We both hesitated a bit, we did just come from the game and drank and just had 2 glasses of wine but why not!
He smiled and asked if he could make a recommendation and suggested the Nativa Terra Carmenere Reserva an organic wine from Chile. It was SO GOOD! I loved it.
Then the appetizer that was not on the menu arrived. (drool) Seared scallops sauteed in brown butter with a hint of sage with gnocchi in a light lemon remoulade.
OH MY GOODNESS!!! It was HEAVEN!! The scallops were huge and so tender ~ they practically melted in your mouth and the gnocchi, well perfect! And a surprise ~ they brought us another shrimp!! (so sweet!!)
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| (he does smile ~this was his professional look) |
I asked Zoran if we could see the chef.
Meet Chef Doug. He's been at Tommy V's for about 8 months and prior to Tommy V's he was at the Boulders Resort for 4 years.
Chef Doug is AWESOME! And I don't just mean as a chef either. He took the time to chat with us, let me take his picture (thank you Chef Doug!) but not only that, if a customer had questions about a dish instead of the server going to Chef Doug to ask and then return to them, Chef Doug would come out and speak to them.
Zoran checked on us to see if we liked the dish.
Liked?! LOVED!! We told him that everything we had so far was absolutely amazing.
He had asked if we had room for dessert and we told him how could we not.
He recommended the cannoli with chocolate tartufo ice cream with mini chocolate chips and nuts. OMG can't even describe this dessert. I've had cannoli before but this one was different. This cannoli was refreshing and not super sweet and the chocolate tartufo ~ well....speechless!!
Timothy checked to see how we were doing and asked if we liked the dessert and I asked if I could see the dessert menu (wanted to write down what we were eating) and he started to tell me all the desserts on the menu.
Zoran had done that but when Timothy got to the last one he said "And we have a limoncello sorbet." I looked at him and said " I'm sorry, what was the last one?" He repeated for me. I told him we were not told it was LIMONCELLO sorbet.
Timothy politely asked "shall I bring you?" I smiled and said "YES, please!!" That was the highlight of our dining experience. The perfect ending to a wonderful fun filled day.
Zoran came by and saw we had another dessert. He then asked me about the notebook and picture taking. I told him about my blog. We chatted about other things such as his family, his start in the business and where he's from BUT I promised I wouldn't blog about that. But when you go to Tommy V's, I'm sure Zoran would be happy to chat with you.
In closing, I can't say enough great things about Tommy V's because my experience there was just amazing. I didn't feel like we were out to dinner at a restaurant. I felt more like family visiting an uncle's house and cousin's helping out. I noticed that the entire staff worked together. You know how sometimes you go into a restaurant and you can tell who the server and bus person is and you can feel that somewhat "tension" in the ranks if you will or if another server walks by they just keep walking even though you may have an empty glass of water?? Well, not here. When a staff member would walk by the would glance and nod or say hello. We had a gentleman stop by to refill our water as Timothy was talking to another table.
I'm excited to go back and have an actual dinner and to go have lunch there. They have a happy hour menu from 1130a -630p ~ where they have wines for $5.00 a glass and has an extensive menu with light affairs to panni's to burgers.
To all that made our dining experience the best I've ever had - Timothy, Zoran and last and certainly not the least - Chef Doug. AWESOME and can't wait to see you soon!
A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe. ~Thomas Keller
Sounds wonderful! I can't wait to try it. Maybe this is the place for us to do lunch!
ReplyDeleteyou won't be disappointed! It's awesome. Just let me know when you're available. :)
Delete~ B