The first week of our ten week Sunday Brunch series found us at the restaurant Il Terrazzo inside The Phoenician resort.

We first visited The Phoenician as a part of our Arizona AAA Five-Diamond Resort Tour a little over a year ago.  The Phoenician quickly won our hearts and was one of our first calls when we began putting our Sunday Brunch series together.

After church on Sunday, we grabbed baby boomer friends Stewart and Victoria Taylor and headed off to Il Terrazzo.

First impressions at The Phoenician are very impressive as you pull your car underneath a massive portico replete with stunning fountains and massive southwestern sculptures.

Il Terrazzo’s Sunday Brunch offers free valet service, and as you walk across the lobby’s mirror-like marble floors and gaze through the floor-to-ceiling windows there is certain to be a few oohs and aahs coming from your party.

As we settled ourselves in our seats, we were immediately offered frosty flutes of Prosecco while we listened to our waiter explain the details of Sunday Brunch at Il Terrazzo.

Sunday Brunch Week #1 ~ Il Terrazzo, The Phoenician, Scottsdale

The Sunday Brunch is $35/person and includes a three-course pre-fix menu.  This includes a starter, entrée, a fabulous decadent tower of house-made desserts (pictured above), as well as Prosecco, juice, and Starbucks Coffee.  If you like, you may also add $10 to your individual bill and also have access to a traditional breakfast buffet.

There were a few duplications at our table, but for our starters we enjoyed Arancini (Risotto Croquettes, English Peas, Italian Sausage, Fontina), Smoked Salmon (Roasted Beets, Red Onion, Navel Orange, Wild Arugula), and Seared Ahi (Asparagus, Meyer Lemon, Black Olive, Grape Tomato, Hard Cooked Egg).

Note:  click photographs for large view

Again, with a few duplications at our table, our entrée selections included Shrimp Mac & Cheese (English Peas, Tasso Ham), Short Rib Sliders (Crispy Onions, Horseradish Crema, Braising Jus), and Steak Frites (Kobe Flat Iron, Fries Tossed in Garlic, Asiago and Parsley).

As the writer, I (Mr. Roaming Boomer) can attest that everything was outstanding.  However, with certainly no bias on my part (wink) you need to understand that the Shrimp Mac & Cheese is likely to produce a great desire to stand and sing ovations to the chef.

Wow!  That was good!

After a little lite grazing at the breakfast buffet (we had to test it out on your behalf), we grabbed a piping hot cup of Starbucks Coffee and began to climb our Decadent Tower of Dessert (echo, echo, echo).  We enjoyed creme puffs, cheese cake, a fancy version of s’mores, and much more.

I could tell that my friends were enjoying the dessert as with each bite their heads would slowly tilt back, their eyes would roll back, and a slight guttural mmmm proceeded deep from within their diaphragms.

It’s a little something that I like to called a mouthgasm.

Well, two hours of great conversation with friends while enjoying a most delightful Sunday Brunch is a great delight.

Eight “thumbs up” Il Terrazzo!  We had a fabulous experience!

:Approve:

Disclosure:  our wonderful Sunday Brunch was provided by the kind folks at Il Terrazzo.  Thanks!

Note: don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll whisk you off to another exciting and mouthwatering Sunday Brunch experience.