Named for its north of Camelback location, Noca is the urban-vibed restaurant that's won the hearts and minds of hard-core foodies this year. Although there's an entire staff of polished professionals to credit for this success story, it's possible to boil it down to two talented people - owner Eliot Wexler and chef Chris Curtiss - who share the same birthday and the same philosophy about the restaurant experience: make it phenomenal on every level.
How do they do it? Let me count the ways. Curtiss builds his modern American menu around superb ingredients, using the best purveyors he can find. And his refined but playful food proves he's having as much fun as a guy who works non-stop possibly can.
Meanwhile, Wexler - a perfectionist who's always on the floor to greet and pamper guests - makes sure the comfortably low-key dining room (which offers the coolest, most eclectic mix of background music in town) remains a backdrop to Curtiss' show-stopping dishes. You want entertainment? Head for the five-seat counter overlooking the exhibition kitchen. It's a Balanchine ballet back there.
Every meal begins with amuse bouche and concludes with cellophane-wrapped wedges of chocolate-pecan shortbread for take-home. A sweet, sticky cloud of cotton candy serves as intermezzo between entrees and dessert. As for ever-changing cocktails, oh my! Some of them are so complexly layered they seem more like food than drink. Case in point: a Thai martini made with ginger, lemongrass, basil and chile. Wow!
You may wonder how a restaurant of this caliber fits into Everyday Dining. That's easy. Noca offers so many irresistible daily specials and value-priced menus, you'll want to dine here every single day.
The best bargain is surely the Sunday Simple Supper, a three-course meal priced at $35 per person. Throw in a glass of simple red or white wine for an additional five bucks. The dinners are themed - BBQ night, fried chicken night, bistro night - offering two or three entrée choices as well as side dishes (called supplements), tacked on for $8-$12.
A recent Italian night began with eggplant parmigiana, the interplay of meaty eggplant, robust tomato sauce and mozzarella so perfect I nearly licked the plate. Two of three entrée choices were terrific. Malloreddus - small, ridged canoes of firm, slightly chewy pasta - came coated with braised beef ragu, a heavenly marriage of meat and sauce. Creamy spring vegetable risotto was every bit as outrageous. Vivid with brilliantly green English peas, impossibly sweet corn and melted leeks, it seemed the very essence of spring. If cobia (a firm, rich fish sautéed with lemon, white wine and capers) wasn't quite as mind-boggling, well, maybe that's just starch-loving me.
The evening's supplements included fabulous arancini - plump, crunchy rice balls, studded with peas and oozing with mozzarella ($8) - and diver scallops (moist and sweet inside, browned and crisp without), offered with baby arugula, shaved fennel and pine nuts ($10). For dessert (the third course), a simple but lush Italian classic - Moscato d'Asti-drizzled berries smoothed with zabaione.
Whereas Sunday Suppers focus on comfort, Bar Bites, offered on the first and third Thursday of the month, display loads of sex appeal. The constantly changing menu offers five or six selections priced from $8-$15. If that seems high, trust me, you haven't seen or tasted these amazing small plates yet. For the quality you're getting, they're a steal, especially if you go with the chef's tasting menu, which offers five selections for $50 per person.
My tasting menu included: Gala melon salad, a Zenlike composition of color and shape (pale green melon, pink pickled radish slivers, shaves of cuke and marcona almonds ($8); sweet corn bread pudding, topped with crispy shallots and a strip of house-made bacon, accompanied by a tiny pitcher of corn milk ($9); silky kampachi crudo surrounded by puddles of chile oil, dabs of avocado mousse and explosively sweet bites of oven-dried tomato ($10); ethereal foie gras mousse, served in a tiny glass jar with brioche toast, cherries simmered in cherry lambic, peach puree and balsamic-drizzled strawberries ($14); and rich sweetbread fricassee, studded with English peas and corn ($12).
Make room, somehow, for salted butter gelato (don't over-think; just order) and deconstructed cheesecake with passion fruit curd and cookie crust crumbles, both delicious and unique.
Wagyu pastrami, piled high on a buttery pumpernickel crouton, topped with pickled cukes and onions and spooned with Dijon foam is the best pastrami I've ever eaten. Made in-house and served Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's aromatic, juicy, completely unbelievable.
But "pinch-me-I'm-dreaming" is my reaction to nearly everything at Noca. Pick a day and see for yourself.
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