Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale..

[Beach Chick]

We'll be here for a long weekend and wondered if the food is good or do we need to venture out to dine?
Thanks!

[Rubee]

Chowhounds' opinions (and even the professional local critics) are torn here - some people think Prado's not worth the price-point, but others love it. I'm in the latter camp. We've probably eaten here about 6-7 times now (only for dinner), and their Happy Hour is one of our favorites - $5 tapas weekdays 3-6 at the MBar. Beautiful restaurant, and great cocktails too.

Their menu focuses more on Italian now, which is the chef's heritage, as opposed to Spanish. He's also a Slow Food proponent, so uses high-quality ingredients and sources seasonally and locally. I especially love the handmade pasta specials where I'm always introduced to something new. I've had pastas like croxetti (a medallion-shaped pasta that in medieval times was stamped with a coat of arms) with Maida tomatoes and Cilento olives, squid-ink calamarata (a large tubular pasta cut into calamari-like rings) with day-boat scallops and Controne beans, and on our most recent visit a Ligurian pasta called trofie served with a classic pesto. E usually orders the wood-grilled meat items, while I lean towards the seafood such as grilled wild prawns or whole fish (a stand-out once was orata/seabream stuffed with orange, fennel, and lavender). Their menu is much larger than the one on line as they have a regular menu, and then a full page supplement of seasonal specials.

We're staying there too. Took advantage of their Facebook special of $99 w/$50 resort credit for next month.

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Prado
4949 E Lincoln Dr, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

[Beach Chick]

Rubee..
We'll be there for the 4th of July weekend..if your there, would love to buy you a drink!
Friends just went to Christoper Gross's place called Crush and enjoyed it..thoughts?

[Rubee]

We're not staying there that weekend, but will visit and take you up on that! And buy you one back : ) I'll add my email to my bio.

I actually haven't been to Christopher's or Crush yet, but they're on my go-to list.

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Christopher's
2502 E Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ 85016

[MesaChow]

You wouldn't *need* to venture out to dine, but if you have a couple of nights, you may want to for at least one of them.

We stayed there last weekend and had a great time on Friday night at MBar for happy hour (cheese plate, prosciutto plate & dates w/ bacon all winners - especially the dates w/ bacon - now $6 per during happy hour). The bartenders are great as well - excellent cocktails.

For dinner at Prado we loved the stuffed squash blossoms appetizer - they were perfect - amply stuffed with cheese and tiny bits of salami. The entrees we selected were good, but not great. I had the lardo wrapped monkfish skewers (w/ cherry tomatoes), which were delicious, but the cous-cous they were atop was not to my liking - the flavors were very strong/bitter and didn't pair well with the fish. Husband enjoyed the ribeye - it had great flavor from their wood fire. Prado has an excellent Claudio Corrallo dessert - which we were too full to enjoy - but I have had it before and would order on a return visit.

BLT is across the street at the Camelback Inn, and Noca & Tarbell's a mere 5 minute drive away. While Prado is still quite good, I would recommend at least one dinner off-site. (Last weekend we went to Noca on Saturday night and dinner was incredible.)

For breakfast, please note that the a la cart menu at Prado is not available on weekends, only the breakfast buffet. This was a big disappointment to me, although husband reported the made to order omelettes were great. I went to the spa instead.

Another note: If the Flamenco guitarists are playing in MBar in the evening, it's very enjoyable as well. MBar & Prado are adjacent to each other, so if sitting in dining room can enjoy the music as well.

Enjoy your visit!

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Noca
3118 E. Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016

[Rubee]

That artisan chocolate made by Claudio Corallo is amazing. I've had it in the pot de crème.

Noca is definitely on our list for our three-day weekend too! E had mentioned Tarbell's, one of his favorites, for our third night, but I'm thinking I want to finally get to Posh. And of course we're going to fit in the fabulous cocktails at BLT (also one of our favorite Happy Hours).

I had to cancel every staycation we booked last year due to work, hoping to finally make this one!

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Tarbell's
3213 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ 85018

Noca
3118 E. Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016

BLT Steak
5402 East Lincoln Drive, Scottsdale, AZ 85253

[Beach Chick]

Thanks so much Rubee and MesaChow!
We got a great deal for $99 with a $50 food credit for breakfast per diam and a room upgrade.
The resort looks stunning and the MBar would be perfect for happy hour but not weekends.. : (
Might hit up J&G at the Phoenician for the $19 burger/beer special.
Noca or Posh sound perfect too.

[MesaChow]

Wow, that is a great deal at the resort!

If you're going to be going off resort, have you been to FnB yet? I'd add that to the list, too, for consideration.

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FnB
7133 E Stetson Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85251

[Rubee]

We took advantage of a $99 rate with $25 per day resort spa/food credit. Gotta take advantage of the summer rates at the beautiful resorts we have here! We'll be there the third weekend. And I of course also recommend FnB ; )

I'm trying to talk my husband into doing our planned dinners, and then late night staff/menu at Posh (Thursday nights) and at FnB or Petite Maison (Friday and Saturday). He just shakes his head.

(and coincidentally today the Montelucia Facebook page has a link to that Claudio Corallo chocolate):
http://www.claudiocorallochocolate.co...

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Petite Maison
7216 E Shoeman Ln, Scottsdale, AZ 85251

[Beach Chick]

I forgot to add that I'll be a the Biltmore after that for 3 days..would Noca or Tarbell's be my best option close by?
Thinking of J&G at the Phoenician for the burger and beer $19 special from Jean George.
We usually do T. Cooks which we adore..open to all suggestions!
Thanks again!

[hohokam]

My strong personal preference is for Noca, but the choice really depends on what kind of menu you're interested in.

Both restaurants offer tweaked and upscale versions of American comfort foods, but usually, Noca also has a good selection of unique dishes, often featuring unusual and meticulously sourced ingredients. The menu at Tarbell's doesn't generally venture too far into this territory. Of course, if you're really just up for something simple after a day in the sun, taking a relaxed meal at the Tarbell's bar might be worth considering.

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Tarbell's
3213 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ 85018

Noca
3118 E. Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016

[Beach Chick]

Tarbell's bar after swimming all day might be the perfect venue to eat and drink..
Thanks hohokam!

[Bill Hunt]

I have only attended three event there, but based on those experiences, we canceled two upcoming events. We were horribly disappointed with every aspect of those events.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Beach Chick]

love love love the Inter-Continental Montelucia resort and spa..
Great food and drink in a Moorish design with lots of patios with misters and fountains with flowers everywhere.
Mbar at the Prado is like being in Madrid and they have one hell of a happy hour.
Prado had a lovely patio that served breakfast that was included in our $99 rate and it was a $25 per person buffet..
I am so not a buffet chick but they had traditonal items along with french toast brioche, egg and cheese quesadillas, turkey/chicken sausages, lox and bagels and fresh squeezed juices.
Didn't make it to any other places except Carolina's today for my Mex fix today..damn, their flour tortillas are heaven bombs.
I'll catch you next time Rubee!

[azhotdish]

Did you eat at ROQ? I found the food I had from there last week to be rather mundane and overpriced.

[Beach Chick]

We dined there after partying in the pool all day on the 4th and wanted some sliders and a cold beer so we sat down and waited for an hour and the fireworks were about to start and I said how long does sliders take?
They brought them out and they were ok but the sweet pot fries were excellent but I found it to be very average.
They comped our $40 meal.

[Rubee]

So glad to hear you like the Montelucia as much as we do! We love hanging out at MBar, which also has two of my favorite bartenders - Tyler and Diane. I've been to ROQ once for their opening party and was not impressed by the food. I think we stayed about 20 minutes and then went over to MBar and Prado. BTW, MBar just started a new reverse Happy Hour every Friday & Saturday from 10pm-12am.

I'm really hoping we'll be able to do our Staycation in the next couple of weeks, but so far it doesn't look good. Boo. And I just heard today that the Montelucia was just named #13 in Travel & Leisure's Worlds Best 2010 List - Top 50 Resorts.
(Other AZ resorts include L'Auberge in Sedona at #29, Royal Palms at #33, The Phoenician at #38).
http://www.travelandleisure.com/world...

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Prado
4949 E Lincoln Dr, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

[Rubee]

Inspired by your post Beach Chick, we went to Prado last night after a fun event at BLT Steak with the new Maker's 46 bourbon release.

Sat at MBar in Prado and enjoyed the flamenco music. Lots of cocktails (had Tyler make my Amante Picante extra-spicy) and E and I shared the ricotta and salami stuffed zucchini blossoms with tiny zucchini still attached, and a fabulous squid-ink spaghetti with clams and snapper ragu. Desserts: Zuppa Inglese and Julia Baker's "Moelleux au Chocolat".

I should add that they no longer have a menu with separate specials. Instead, the menu is printed daily so it's one page with the specials included. Also, there's now a section of the dessert page with Julia Baker Confections (including those amazing truffles). I was also told that there will be a Julia Baker shop opening in the Montelucia.

http://www.juliabakerconfections.com/

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Julia Baker Confections
7440 E. Karen Drive, Suite 500, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

BLT Steak
5402 East Lincoln Drive, Scottsdale, AZ 85253

[Beach Chick]

Awesome Rubee!
I had one hell of a drink the other night..it was a blackberry carpinthea (sp)
This is such a lovely bar and the staff is excellent.
There was a wedding at the Church in the patio area.
I am such a truffle chick..champagne dusted things of pure love..forgot all about them.