Hue and Lisa Tran at Rice Paper

Thanks again to Hue and Lisa Tran of Rice Paper for hosting the August Get Your PHX. We had a wonderful time and even got to try Lisa’s special litchi cocktail balls. Ask for them when you stop by. Oh, that and the Pho. Wow.

OK. Hold on to your boots. September GYP is going to be a great one. Plus, its something we’ve been wanting to do since we did the rum tasting at Breadfruit. We are going to have a tequila tasting at Padre’s with locally-owned tequila distributor, Sol de Mexico.

There are two great back stories to this event: the story of Denny Durbin of Padres and of Frank Fierro of Sol de Mexico.

Did you know that Denny Durbin, owner of Padre’s was the only 19 year old in Arizona history to own a bar? In 1973 he opened The Beachcomber on 19th Ave and Campbell at the age of 19, just as they lowered the drinking age. Two years later, they raised the drinking age back to 21. Since then, he’s owned three other bars or restaurants, including The Agave Azule Steak and Chophouse in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico. The last one inspired his current venture.

He opened Padre’s because he wanted a place where established Mexican musicians could get heard. Evidently, not many places that have been available for these musicians have survived.

Denny has created an open, modern Mexican food experience that he has generously offered to allow us to sample at the next Get Your PHX.

Frank Fiero and his partners are the local distributors of Sol de Mexico brand tequila.  He was brought to us by one of our own Get Your PHX board members, Monika Woolsey. Sol de Mexico distributes tequila from a centuries-old distillery in Jalisco, Mexico called the Trasa Distillery. Trasa’s first agaves were first planted in 1951 by current owner Cezar Gonzalez’s grandfather.

Frank will personally introduce us to “blanco”, “reposado” and Añejo styles of tequila –all Gold Medal winners in international competition under the Sol de Mexico label.

Frank will help us understand more about the tequila making process and why this historically significant drink is not just about fruity drinks and frat parties.

Frank is also working on something truly unique to the American culinary catalogue. He is working to “mainstream” nopales as a healthy snack food in America.

Nopales, when cut are called nopalitos.

For you who are uninitiated to this southwestern dish: yes, it is a cactus pod and no, you can’t get it at Taco Bell.

But it is very healthy food. It is high in potassium and calcium, according to Monika, our resident nutritional expert. Frank dehydrates them so they are very much the consistency of dried cranberries, and ads a whole variety of spicy and sweet flavors.

As a special for Get Your PHX, Frank and Denny are collaborating to serve spiced, fried nopalitas. Imagine a healthier, tasty french fry made just for us.

Frank got in to the health food business due to political circumstance. His expected business of importing nopales to Arizona for the Mexican food market started to tank with the passage of SB1070 and the exodus of Latino families. Necessity is the mother of invention and this regrettable political situation has led to a creative solution!

So, you will get a three-fer this month. We will celebrate an established local CenPho business, experience a locally distributed line of tequilas and taste test a unique and truly local food.

September Get Your PHX
Thursday, September 22nd from 5:30 to 7:30.
1044 E. Camelback
Phoenix, AZ 85014 Map here

The New Rice Paper

Thanks again to Andy Pappas of La Piccola Cucina who lead the Get Your PHX group in a tour of The Gallantry of the Table in July. If you missed this one, please drop by and talk to Andy about this epicurean philosophy. There is so much to be learned!

So, on to August. We are excited to introduce Rice Paper to you. I’ve been watching the transformation of this little house on 7th St, just south of Oak. And, of course, we’ve been hearing about the coming of downtown’s first Vietnamese hot spot for months. They are joining the ranks of a slew of great restaurants up and down 7th St.

Owners Lan (aka “Lisa”) and Hue Tran hail from San Diego. When I dropped by recently Lisa had been up for almost 24 hours straight preparing food and dealing with the hustle of a newly-opened restaurant. I’m told the Pho takes 24 hours to make properly, as well.

The things you learn….

Lisa and Hue have a particularly interesting story about how they decided to come to Phoenix to open the restaurant  (their family also owns a restaurant in Surprise called Saigon Kitchen). But I’ll let them tell you about it.

I tried the rice rolls last week and was very impressed. The atmosphere was festive, they have a full bar and great meal presentation. I enjoyed that we could order off a checksheet, as with sushi. That way we could each pick something that we could split.

So, here’s the thing to keep in mind for this month —Rice Paper is a small place. They can only take 30 people, tops. So, we are doing a first come, first serve RSVP system on this one.

So, we really, really, really need you to RSVP to this one (did you get that last “really”?)

The upside: there is no cover for this event, plus Lan and Hue are extending their happy hour only for Get Your PHX guests. The happy hour will include:

All wines $5.
$1 off all spring rolls
$6 specialty cocktails
$6 appetizers
$2.75 draft beers

August Get Your PHX
Thursday, August 18th from 5:30 to 8:30
2221 N. Seventh St.
Phoenix, AZ 85006 Map here