St. Francis
111 E Camelback Rd

I tried St. Francis almost a month ago and I’m so sorry that I could not get a review up on GetYourPHX.com sooner. This is a great addition to Phoenix’s food scene.

The night we went, it felt as if the summer had broken. There was a cool breeze; not heard from since April. Long-ago forgotten, like the Pleistocene.  It tickled its way in through St. Francis’ huge open facade and in to the dining room.

The open-air bar at the front of St. Francis framed the darkening mountains to the north of the restaurant for me, as if planned that way.

The food was delicate and nuanced in the case of the forbidden rice and vegetables. The fingerling rosemary potatoes were bold and undaunted. The fig and goat cheese flat bread swirled on my tongue.

The potatoes were Bruce Springsteen to the vegetables’ London Philharmonic and the flatbread’s Grateful Dead.

The staff were quick, professional and quite enthused about their new home. They walked with a tilted briskness that you’d expect to see in old New Yorker etchings from the 1930s.

I hope to visit again soon.

The Good: The restaurant was comfortable, yet sharp and clean.

The Bad: Am I just getting older and cheaper, or does everything just seem more expensive to me these days?

The Ugly: I hate valet parking. Just gotta say it.