Daily risotto

The creamy risottos make me swoon. Two are on the menu, plus a daily risotto. Once it was lobster and mushroom ($18) with a healthy portion of crustacean chunks and an earthy risotto base. On another occasion it was saffron risotto with a lamb shank, osso buco-style ($17) and a sprinkling of dried mint – sublime. The juicy, bone-in Berkshire pork chop, with a pineapple port demi-glace, sautéed spinach and roasted potatoes ($14) is also terrific.

The wood-fired pizzas Napoletana-style are respectable but don’t measure up to others around town. It’s not the toppings – such as two-year-aged pepperoni ($12) or wild mushroom, arugula and a whisper of truffle oil ($14). It’s the crust. It’s perfectly blistered and thin, but it lacks flavor.

Desserts skew Italian – hazelnut panna cotta ($7), Nutella calzone ($10), and a jumbo ramekin of perfect tiramisu ($6). The calzone is delicious but messy, and the tough pizza dough is impossible to cut.

After three visits, I’m convinced that Local Bistro means “neighborhood gem.”


Local Bistro

Cuisine: Italian/French bistro
Address: 20581 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale
Phone: 480-302-6050
Website: localbistroaz.com
Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday; dinner 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday; brunch 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; happy hour 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday
Highlights: Drunk bread ($12), bucatini all’amatriciana ($14), wild mushroom pizza ($14), daily risotto ($17-$18), tiramisu ($6)