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When steak is the main attraction, side dishes sometimes pale in comparison. The chefs at Mastro’s offer a remedy: luxurious lobster mashed potatoes. Bathed in butter and topped with sweet hunks of lobster, these decadent spuds will elevate your dinner to a new level. Mastro’s City Hall executive chef Richard Rodriguez has a few tips for the home cook tackling this recipe. If you’re going to use fresh lobster, Rodriguez advises purchasing from a reputable...

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When I went to Italy on a class art trip at 16, I turned my nose up at our nightly four course dinners. I know, I know: poor little girl getting to travel abroad and try new cuisines. But I suppose my palate just wasn't refined enough then, what with all that hormonal brattiness clouding my tongue. Plus it all seemed so overwhelming: bread followed by salad followed by pasta followed by meat followed by dessert. Too much.

Older and wiser, I can now get behind the excess every now and again. At Fat OX, Scottsdale's latest upscale Italian eatery, I got to relive the jubilant surplus that is a multi-course Italian dinner. But this time, I liked it.