Tasting deseo: An Evening with Chef Rodriguez

On Friday, December 10th, PhoenixBites had the honor of co-hosting an event with The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa.  Our media guests were treated to a muddling class, ceviche instruction and tasting as well as a delightful dinner and dessert.

deseo is located on the lobby level of the resort offering an enticing menu created by James Beard award winning Chef Douglas Rodriguez, regarded as the inventor of Nuevo Latino Cuisine.

Upon arrival, we were escorted to the Muddle Bar.  The room is warm and dark, offering up a relaxing atmosphere largely due to the rich, warm wood.

We were presented with the Grande Mojito.

Our instructor and mixologist, Monique Dias, was so enthusiastic and full of information regarding all facets of muddling.  It was not only an enjoyable experience, but an interesting history lesson of sorts.  Tasty too!

We were able to sample the Grande as well as the Berry Grande Mojitos.  While both were delicious and I rather enjoyed the introduction of fruit, I am partial to the original version.

After our Muddling Course was complete we were lead to “the rail”.  The Rail overlooks the open kitchen.  I have to say, if given a choice of dining at a table in the main room or at The Rail, I would always choose the rail.  I couldn’t imagine all the things you would be able to see on a busy night, not to mention the tips one could pick up just by being in the presence of these amazing chefs!  Chef Rodriguez treated us to an in-depth lesson in all things ceviche.  I was amazed at the amount of information that he knew and shared with us.  (I won’t spill it all, since I really want you to check out deseo and The Rail and have your experience not be tainted by mine!)

Our first indulgence was the Rainbow Ceviche, a beautifully presented dish featuring tuna, salmon and hamachi dressed with white soy, citrus, sesame seeds and pickled jalapeno.  In short – it was amazing and my hands-down favorite of the three ceviches of the night.  It was so fresh and light and the slight punch of the pickled jalapenos was unexpected yet welcomed.

Next up we had the Lobster Escabeche which was a delicate ceviche served with avocado, chives, sweet aji and garlic chips.  This is not what you think of when you hear “ceviche”.  It was delicate yet rich.  Beautifully presented and a treat to my mouth!

We completed the trio with the Ceviche Mixto Clasico, full of lobster, shrimp, scallops, calamari, octopus, crab, red onion and an accompaniment of sweet potato.  What a decadent way to round out the tasting.

Prior to being served our entrees, Chef Rodriguez spread some holiday cheer by treating all of our guests to a personalized autographed copy of his most recent book, The Great Ceviche Book, revised. This book will provide you a bounty of information and instruction as well as hints and tips to create an array of ceviches!  This was such a wonderful treat to our guests and we were blown away by his generosity.
After we calmed down from the excitement, is was time for our entrees.  We were served a split plate of tender beef tenderloin and merluza sea bass and fideo.  The contrast of flavors and textures of these two dishes was complex and only lent to the entire experience of the evening.

We ended the evening with a deliciously elegant dessert:

Overall – this event, having been our first to co-host – will be close to impossible to beat.  The staff was incredible.  Everyone was so helpful and friendly.  The atmosphere was lively, but not in a crazy Scottsdale Saturday night kind of way.  The food was impeccable and all the attention to detail and care in explanation made it a night worth repeating!

I hope that those that attended enjoyed themselves as much as Amy and I did!  A huge thank you goes out to all of those at the Westin Kierland that worked so hard to make this amazing evening happen!