The Divine Dish

Weekend at the Arizona Biltmore

Posted on May 07, 2009 under Archives | No Comment

A few weeks ago I travelled to Phoenix and stayed at the lovely Biltmore hotel.  Located six miles northeast of downtown Phoenix on 36 impeccably landscaped acres, this  Frank Lloyd Wright influenced resort is a nice weekend getaway destination.  A unique architectural gem, the resort  houses 739 large rooms and 72 villas with Mission-style furniture, eight swimming pools, seven tennis courts, a 20,000 square foot spa and four restaurants.

I was lucky enough to stay at their new Ocatilla Wing and was greeted with a nice chocolate plate and goodies.

I also enjoyed the spa, beautiful pools and had a private golf lesson with pro Ron Heraty.  Golfers will enjoy the 18-hole putting course and two 18-hole PGA courses, The Links and The Adobe, at the adjacent Biltmore Country Club.  The Adobe Course (6,428 yards) is one of the oldest in Arizona, dating back to 1928.  Stately and grand, this course is spacious and offers wide flat fairways.  The younger, eccentric shorter Links Course (6,300 yards) houses unexpected swerves, ups and downs and turns amidst rolling fairways lined with luscious pines surrounding some of the most stunning homes in Phoenix.

My friend Sheila joined me for dinner at the resort’s Wright restaurant.  Here are some pics:

The Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa is located at 2400 E. Missouri Avenue in Scottsdale, Phoenix.  To make reservations, call 602/955-6600.

Interview with Ron Heraty, Head Golf Pro at the Arizona Biltmore

Posted on May 07, 2009 under Archives, Interviews, Other interesting people | No Comment

While in Arizona for a golf story I got to take a private lesson with head golf pro Ron Heraty at the Arizona Biltmore.  Ron has been a member of the PGA for 15 years is a graduate of the Professional Golf Association Business School in San Diego and in Denver.

We talked about his golf background and the  two 18-hole courses, The Links and The Adobe, at the Biltmore. 

Interview with Master Baker Ben Hershberger

Posted on Apr 23, 2009 under Archives, Chefs, Interviews | 1 Comment

While visiting the Phonenician in Scottsdale for a story on golf getaways I was lucky enough to sit down with Master Baker Ben Hershberger.  I was there to write about golf, but after tasting some of his bread I had to speak with him.  Holding the esteemed title of Certified Master Baker through the Retail Bakers of America, Hershberger is an expert on the “science” of bread making.  By manipulating the time, temperature and hydration rate of the dough, he creates the recipes for the wide variety of breads that are baked fresh daily on property and featured at Il Terrazzo, the resort’s signature Italian restaurant, as well as through In-Room Dining and the Banquet Department.  Hershberger uses organic flour, natural sourdough (which has been passed down for more than 100 years) and Mediterranean Sea salt for the highest possible quality.

Hershberger, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, has been baking for more than 20 years.  He first started as a young child growing up in Nevada, where he would make home-made pastries and breads by milling whole grain millet, rice, barley and wheat by hand to use in his creations.  In the corporate world, Hershberger held the distinctive title of corporate baker and trainer for Ritz-Carlton Hotels, opening bakeries in Japan, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Colorado, here in the United States.  Most recently, he was an instructor at the Florida Culinary Institute, teaching students the art of baking.  He was also a baker at Maddy’s and Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.  In addition to tasting his lovely breads at the resort, he was nice enough to bake me fresh loaves of rosemary, rye, olive walnut, sourdough, chocolate cherry and a huge baget before I took off back to LA.  I received many requests on the plane for samples, which I quickly refused, as I selfishly wanted all that bread for myself.   Here are some pics of his delicious bread:

I highly recommend stopping in to try Chef Hershberger’s breads, or if in the Phoenix area you can pick them up at the Saturday Farmer’s market.  I spoke with the chef about his baking philosophy and background – interview is below. 

That’s Amore! Dinner at Trattoria Fantastica

Posted on Apr 20, 2009 under Archives, Everything Else, Food and Travel News | No Comment

Last weekend I headed to Little Italy to finish research for an  article on the upcoming Festa Siciliana.  On Sunday, May 17, traditions of Italian art, music and food will come alive during the annual festa, now in it’s 16th year.

I met with Giovanna De Bono, her husband Tony (both belong to Roman Holiday – a group that sings and preforms Italian music at the festa and other venues), Bernadette Tarantino and her husband Mike Malone – she and Giovanna do much of the planning for the festa and Bernadette and her husband run Tarantino Gourmet Sausages – and Joe Busalacchi, owner of Trattoria Fantastica (where we  all met for dinner) as well as six other Italian restaurants in and around Little Italy.

I learned a lot about the history of Little Italy.  San Diego was the destination for many Sicilian immigrants at the turn of the 20th century.  Little Italy’s neighborhood, bounded on the south by Ash Street, on the north by Laurel, on the east by the I-5 freeway and on the west by San Diego Harbor, is steeped in the history of the Sicilian families that originally settled the neighborhood in the early 1900s.

By 1930, some 6,000 Italian families who had migrated from coastal fishing villages in Genoa and Sicily had settled in what is now known as Little Italy.  In 1967 the idyllic community was shattered when the I-5 freeway was cut south to downtown and broke the neighborhood up, scattering Sicilian families into pockets all over San Diego.  It remained that way until the early 1990’s, when new real estate and retail development began to revitalize the neighborhood.  In 1993, baker Mario Cefalu pulled together a few restaurants and bands to bring everyone back to the old neighborhood again – and the first Festa Siciliana was born.

Over the past 15 years, the festival has grown to include three stages housing singers, dancers and Italian bands, a Sicilian flag procession, children’s rides, arts and jewelry booths, a beer and wine garden, a Sicilian cultural center manned by residents sharing old photographs and memories and dozens of booths offering traditional Sicilian food.

Here is some of the wonderful food we sampled at Trattoria Fantastica:

Here is what my plate looked like – a sampling of all this yummy food.

Trattoria Fantasica owner Joe Bosalacchi joined us for dessert and more wine and shared stories of growing up in Little Italy.

We shared dessert – my fave was a wonderful canneloni that tasted like the ones I had in Sicily.  Joe then escorted us to his neighboring restaurant (he owns seven) Po Pazzo, an upscale grill complete with a long bar and music.

Giovanna and her husband Tony are musicians and they serenaded us and the crowd of diners  with a few songs.

Joe also got up and performed a nice rendition of “My Way,” accompanied by Giovanna’s husband Tony.

We all had a wonderful time – great food and lots of wonderful stories about the Little Italy neighborhood.

Be sure to hop on the train or drive down to San Diego to try some great Sicilian food, hear some music, and enjoy Little Italy at the May 17 Festa Siciliana.