Salt Cellar

Salt Cellar

550 N Hayden Rd.

Scottsdale, AZ 85257

Companion and I arrived for a 5:00 dinner reservation just a bit early. We were asked to wait in the bar, which would not have been a problem except that every seat was already taken with people waiting. After a short wait, we were seated at our table.

The bar waitress arrived quickly and took our drink order – 20 year old port for myself and a pink squirrel for companion. The port was a Graham and was excellent, and companion loved the pink squirrel. It is notable that the bar has a large stock of premium single malts, ports, and other spirits. Best of all, they have a bartender that has knowledge of what is being served and knows what he/she is doing.

We started our dinner with a bowl of chowder – Manhattan for companion and New England for myself. The chowder had lots of chubby clams and potatoes in it, and instead of being thick and goopy (is that even a word?) it had a nicer, thinner texture that was very enjoyable.

Next came an order of Steamed Mussels. They were satisfactory except that many of the shells did not have a mussel in them. Our waitress made things right very quickly by bringing us a steaming hot new order to replace those. The mussels were cooked perfectly and came with a broth and a melted butter cruet to dip them in. Best of all, the mussels were totally clean with not a drop of foreign material in them.

On with the salad, perhaps the only weak point in the meal. Two problems presented themselves – first was that the salad itself was either torn into small pieces that were hard to get on the fork, and other pieces were too big to be put in ones mouth without being cut up. The second problem was that we selected the house vinaigrette, which just really wasn’t to my personal taste. Not wanting to be a complainer, I ate the salad and accepted it as part of the experience.

The main course arrived next – baked stuffed lobster. Each lobster was stuffed with a mixture of crab meat and scallops, then covered in bread crumbs and baked. The lobsters are smaller ones – about 1 ¼ pounds I would guess, but after the appetizers and the salad they were more than adequate. The lobsters come with a candle heater with drawn butter in it. I prefer a good salt butter to eat with my seafood, and somehow, miraculously, a small packet of Maldon Sea Salt appeared from my purse to help with the butter. The lobster was delicious and nicely cooked. Our waitress, when serving it took the hard parts apart for us so the eating it was simple and non-messy.

Our only unfortunate part of the evening was that we were seated next to a buffoon cardiologist that insisted on recounting his latest surgery experiences to his table in loud enough tones that the entire dining room found out about his sutures. I did not allow that to affect my appetite though.

Service and cleanliness were excellent as was the food.

5 Stars