Photos by David Moore Pork shoulder sandwich

Though regulars may scoff at Adobe’s revamped menu, there’s much to love in Wade Moises’ inspiring, satisfying dishes.

My guess is that by spring, Adobe Restaurant will be a destination for diners who have discovered it’s a gem for its great location (edging the Arizona Biltmore Golf Course), its intriguing contemporary Italian-inspired menu at breakfast and lunch (roasted pork-arugula omelet, $10), and reasonable prices (nothing over $12, for a generous hanger steak salad).

Yet, since Chef Wade Moises took over the operation in September, he’s had a challenge reinventing this café tucked in the pro shop overlooking the 1928-minted Adobe fairways.

“Boo!” read an e-mail I got from a longtime Biltmore resident who had made near daily treks to Adobe for too many years to remember. She missed her Denver omelet and her Asian chicken salad, complete with an almond cookie. What was up with eggs scrambled with quark, an artisan goat cheese ($9), and a local lettuces salad ($6) topped in local roots and Indian yulu seeds?

It didn’t help that Moises walked into a place that looked like a tired Southwestern coffee shop and spent his first few months redecorating while trying to serve food. Reality, too, dictated that he keep standards like hot dogs – upgraded to grass-fed organic beef ($5) – and deli sandwiches ($7-$9) done fancier, such as tuna slathered in chickpea mayo on fresh-baked brioche.

Yet, as the debris has settled, there’s no denying Moises has improved things drastically. While we won’t see the flair that made him a name at Sassi and Pasta Bar, there’s cleverness in an “egg salad” ($10), an over-easy egg lounging on a bed of arugula, topped with a slab of pecorino cheese and scattered with nutty trumpet mushrooms.


A pork shoulder sandwich ($7) brims with tender meat moistened in a mildly sweet sauce, with cabbage adding crunch and tart contrast. Like all Adobe sandwiches it comes à la carte, and a sumptuous pairing is the pork-n-beans ($3), an addictively spoonable stew of white beans spiked with shredded meat and soft onions. It’s just the thing to down with a tomato beer (yes, beer and tomato juice, $7). The salame baguette ($8) is another salty, satisfying bite, served with Sicilian (chickpea) fries.

While the menu is rather limited, it’s hard to stray too far from belly-filling favorites, like the Dangerfield sandwich ($12), a fork-and-knife affair of grass-fed burger, egg and bacon piled on an English muffin and doused in gravy.

When Moises left Sassi, and then Pasta Bar, he brought Pastry Chef Lisa Mazikowski with him. Try the rich mini chocolate brownie layer cake ($4) or a cinnamon roll ($3) paired with an Irish coffee ($7) from the bar, and enjoy it all on the patio overlooking the gorgeous golf course.

What’s not to like?

DETAILS
Adobe Restaurant
Cuisine: American
Address: 2400 E. Missouri Ave., Phoenix (Arizona Biltmore)
Phone: 602-468-9160
Website: azbiltmoregc.com
Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily
Highlights: Pork shoulder sandwich ($7), salame baguette ($8), Dangerfield sandwich ($12), pork-n-beans ($3), mini chocolate brownie layer cake ($4)