Burrata, burrito, linguini: Andi’s best bites this week
This week I dug my fork into a creamy ball of fresh burrata cheese bathed in truffle foam in Scottsdale. I twirled a buttery bite of homestyle linguini at an old-school Italian American deli known for its pizza. And, over on 16th Street in Phoenix, I was initiated into the club of La Santisima, the beloved taqueria known for its wild, colorful style and inventive tacos. There I ate a serious seafood burrito. Spoiler: It’s my new favorite way to eat smoked marlin.
The only thing these delicious dishes have in common is that they were too good not to share. Here are the best things I ate this week.
Burrata salad at The Americano
Burrata is a dreamy Italian mozzarella ball enhanced with a dollop of rich stracciatella cream that gushes out when you cut into it. When it’s the main ingredient, you don’t need much else to make the dish divine. But every plate is a show at swanky Scottsdale restaurant The Americano, and its burrata plate ($19) is no exception.
I was drawn in by the ‘nduja, a springy salame spread that’s enhanced with Calabrian chile peppers. In this case, a tiny bit was rubbed on toast that accompanied the fresh ball of cow’s milk, which arrived topped with a truffle foam. The funky toast was just one of several accompaniments, along with roasted cubes of delicata squash and a floral honey. The truffle foam’s light, savory essence tied everything together, one luscious spoonful of burrata at a time.
Details: 17797 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. 480-573-0001, theamericanorestaurant.com.
Smoked marlin burrito at La Santisima
This 16th Street taqueria hits you with a hurricane of colors and wild flavor combinations, starting at the salsa bar, which is framed by massive Mexican folk art paintings and offers the likes of peanut, pecan, chile de arbol or pink strawberry spice salsas.
The menu is basically a full-page chart of dish names (with no descriptions) and their various preparation techniques, from tacos and “quesas” to cazuelas and lonches, the term for the tortas that are popular in chef Felipe Guzman’s native Jalisco. Thankfully my lunch partner was already a fan and insisted we order the coastal Sinaloan specialty, the Mazatlan marlin.
Ordered as a burrito ($15.99) it came stuffed with rice and the restaurant’s fruity guacamole. Almost like tuna fish, smoked marlin can often have an overwhelming gamey flavor. But not here. The chunks of red fish were mild. I’d never eaten marlin in a burrito before, and at La Santisima, it’s a bold move with a genius result.
Details: Two locations, 4117 N. 16th St., Phoenix. 602-254-6330 and 5932 W. Glendale Ave., Glendale. 623-939-3292. lasantisimagourmet.com.
Linguine with clam sauce at De Falco’s Italian Eatery
This gem of an Italian deli has been serving Phoenix and Scottsdale since 1972, and its bustling aisles are the perfect place to spend a weeknight perusing the capers and canned tomato sauces. In the dining room, the pastas are Italian American staples like meat lasagna and stuffed shells, prepared with the standard supermarket De Cecco dry noodles. That somehow makes them even more comforting.
I enjoyed a heaping bowl of linguini with white clam sauce, $11 for a half size.
They do not skimp on the seafood and my pasta came packed with not only clams in the shell but chopped clam meat with a nice, salty flavor. Rolling this buttery linguini around my fork was a special pleasure because it tasted like something you’d make at home, but better because I didn’t have to.
Details: 2334 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. 480-990-8660, defalcosdeli.com.