While making the second stop on our Arizona AAA Five-Diamond Resort Tour at The Phoenician resort, we were privileged to dine at their AAA Four-Diamond Il Terrazzo restaurant.

Carol w/ Food & Beverage Supervisor Brian Cresson (left), and Chef Kyle Lipetzky

Il Terrazzo’s authentic Italian cuisine captures the rich flavors and spices indigenous to this Southern European region.  The progressive menu is highlighted by hand-crafted artisan breads and fresh pastas, created right on the resort property.

We chose to enjoy Il Terrazzo’s outside seating, under the evening Sonoran sky, and began to make ourselves comfortable.  We ordered a nice bottle of Pinot Noir, enjoyed their bread offerings which we dipped in wonderful balsamic and oil.

As we sat back to study the menu, this little floppy-eared rabbit came right up to our table, and stood up on his back legs looking to see if we had any food to offer.  I must admit, I have seen birds, squirrels, any number of small rodent type animals, but this is the first time I have seen a rabbit behave in this manner.  As a manner of fact, there seemed to be at least two of them hopping around the patio making themselves quite at home.

I feared for the little guys when I twice saw a Great Horned Owl fly by casing the joint!

After the spectacle of the rabbits died down in the room, we made some important decisions on our evenings fare.

Carol w/ waiter Brian

For starters, Carol began with the Il Terrazzo House Salad (Field Greens, Fresh Grapes, Candied Walnuts, Bleu Cheese, with a Sour Cherry Vinaigrette), while I opted for my much beloved Mussels (Garlic, Lemon, White Wine, and Black Pepper).  Here’s a little hint:  the starter mussels in this restaurant where large enough to become a full meal.  I had to force myself to stop eating them, or I wouldn’t have had any room for my main course.  Nonetheless, they were wonderful, and of course the broth was just perfect for dipping some of that hand-crafted Italian bread.  YUM!

For our main course, contrary to our normal behavior of trying differing menu items, we both opted for the Black Angus Short Ribs (Elbow Macaroni, White Cheddar, Broccoli, and Black Truffle).  Holy major gourmet comfort food Batman!  This was good!

However, we were both a little embarrassed because we had both enjoyed the mountain of mussels so much, we left little room for this wonderful main dish.  Fortunately, someone back in time invented a way to carry out our left-overs, and we enjoyed the heck out of those tender short ribs for several days!

What a wonderful place for a date with my bride of nearly 25 years.  The food was outstanding, the service impeccable, and the ambiance highly romantic.

We are looking forward to another visit to try out their fresh fish, their Kobe Flat Iron Steak with Spinach Risotto sounded very interesting, and because we were so full, we couldn’t even think of trying out the desert tray.

What a wonderful thing it is to have a restaurant like Il Terrazzo right in our backyard!  We will definitely be back, and would highly recommend that you give them a visit as well.

Disclosure:  this wonderful meal was provided by The Phoenician’s Il Terrazzo restaurant.  Thanks!