Jaunted

Just a few bites each, he said. It really didn't take much to convince us. Skipping out on formal table seating, we perched instead at a curved marbletop bar that offered direct sight lines into the exhibition kitchen. From there, we got a sneak peak at each Mediterranean-inspired dish as Chef Brian and his crew prepped, sauced and served it to us along with a new wine pairing.

To the chef's credit, he gave us fair warning not to fill up on the still-steaming baked breads and savory dipping sauces and instead save room for what was to come: pumpkin ricotta gnocchi, lamb sausage ragout, bay scallops with blood orange syrup and braised short rib ravioli, among other inventive delicacies. Despite our best efforts to simply sample the food--and not lick the dishes clean--we literally ate everything that was put before us. At one point I vaguely recall Holly pleading with the chef to stop delivering new courses, and my sister pleading with him not to stop.

The meal culminated with a flight of desserts: Fritters filled with sweetened goat cheese, a chocolate crème brulee, flourless chocolate torte with Bailey's cream and our final undoing, a hazelnut tiramisu. I'm not exactly sure how we managed to go from visions of low-calorie spa fare to a full on food orgy, but an obscene number of plates later, we successfully finished our dinner.

Okay, so maybe we were a little blindsided on the whole healthy food thing--the lighter cuisine is actually served at the Revive Spa Bistro--and we definitely didn't get that jump-start on our resolutions, but the three of us had to admit: Chef Brian's sneaky little "tasting menu" made for one hell of a last supper.

Related Stories:
· JW Marriott Desert Ridge [Official Site]
· Table Crashing Coverage [Jaunted]
· Arizona Travel coverage [Jaunted]