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By Barbara Penny Angelakis & Manos Angelakis
Gold Room
Westward Look Resort
245 E. Ina
Tucson Arizona 85704
520-917-2930
On the last evening we spent in Tucson, during our recent trip to Arizona, we dinned at the superb Gold Room Restaurant located at the Westward Look Resort. This hacienda-style estate-cum-dude ranch resort, snuggled in the foothills of the Catalina Mountain, has a charming history and still today exudes a “welcome ya‘all  make yourself at home” folksy ambiance. The feeling of casual comfort spills over into the restaurant and belies its AAA 4 Diamond rating. It’s the culinary equivalent to the fashion statement of wearing a string of natural pearls with blue jeans. The ambience of the cozy dining room situated off the lobby is rustic and low-keyed, with wood-beamed ceiling and railing-tie autumn toned carpet, color coordinated with the table linen and the banquettes lining the walls. Free-standing tables in the center of the room are large and spaciously placed and the dining chairs remained comfortable even after the long leisurely dinner we spent savoring Executive Chef Jamie West’s creations on a French/Italian/Asian/Mexican/Native American, theme. The outstanding feature of the room is the floor to ceiling windows leading out to the terrace which seems suspended between the twinkling lights of Tucson in the valley below, and the sparkling stars in the amazingly clear nighttime sky above.
We were welcomed to the Gold Room by then dinning-room supervisor, Kevin Collinson, who explained that both Chef Jamie West and Sous Chef Aaron Sivula were away from the kitchen that evening and introduced us to Julio Avila, chef du jour. Kevin helped us navigate through the inventive menu and also did an admirable job on the wine pairing suggestions from a well-stocked cellar featuring mostly California, Washington State and Oregon wines with some European labels, like the Schloss Johannisberger Riesling we had with our raw appetizers.
 The dinner-friendly menu has a limited offering of three items per category of appetizer, separated into Soups, Intermezzo, Raw, Wrapped and Sticks and Stones. To help the guests with the difficult decision of which tantalizing item to select, there is a choice for a small plate tasting of all three offerings in each category. We selected Raw and Wrapped tastings. The Raw consisted of tender succulent cubes of Tuna Tartar with Tortilla and Avocado served in a “Spoon” and House Smoked Salmon wrapped around a “Fork” with Papaya Jicama Slaw accompanied by a shot glass of Vanilla Sky Vodka and Scallop Ceviche with Chile and Yellow Tomato and Fennel Water served in a somewhat larger version of the “Shot” glass holding the vodka. A well prepared Ceviche is an all time favorite and this one was one of the best we ever tasted. I could easily have downed several of the shot-glass servings of Ceviche  and a few more spoons of the Tuna Tartar before moving on, but alas I did not want to pass on sampling Manos’ Wrapped tasting. The Wrapped consisted of Lobster Spring Roll with a Sweet & Spicy Dipping Sauce, a Crab Dumpling with Sesame Seaweed Salad and a Mushroom Ravioli, Tomato, Garlic Parmesan & Basil dressing. To cleanse our palate we had the “Small Plate Style” of the Intermezzo, three red-white-orange mounts of sorbet (red = prickly pear, white = lemon, orange = mango) decorated with a sprig of fresh mint. A definite must.
The wines paired with the appetizers, in addition to the above-mentioned Schloss Johannisberger Riesling, were a Hogue Columbia Valley Chardonnay, a lively blend of steel-fermented and barrel-fermented, multilayered, Chardonnay, and an Erath Pinot Gris from Oregon, a very aromatic, citrusy wine, with pears and melon on the nose; tart and juicy on the palate. It was bone dry, a great match to the Asian-inspired “Wrapped” appetizers.
 The entrées were also separated into categories but unfortunately were not offered as a combo tasting. “Into the Fire” (seared filet of beef, pan-seared salmon, pork tenderloin and cowboy steak), “Flash in the Pan” (sugar and spice scallops, duck trilogy, blackened Ahi tuna), “It’s a Dry Heat” (pecan crusted chicken, coffee and mesquite-smoked lamb chops, vegetable plate). I opted to try the Coffee and Mesquite-Smoked Lamb Chops with Minted Pea Couscous, Corn and Mushroom Salsa with Pomegranate Sauce and Manos choose the Filet of Beef Tenderloin, with “Blue Spinach”, Green Chili Tater Tots and Ancho Demi-Glasse. Unfortunately sometimes a good thing (mesquite smoking) can become too much and in the case of the chops, instead of enhancing the savory flavor of the lamb, they were overcome by the heavy mesquite smoking. The pomegranate sauce sadly added yet another layer of camouflage to the already overtaxed chops. But the filet was an exquisite piece of beef, cooked to perfection “black and blue” as requested, resting on a bed of savory spinach (Popeye would have been very proud of us). A bottle of 2005 Chalone Vineyard Pinot Noire, featuring aromas of tart black cherries with hints of clove and nutmeg enhanced the meat courses. This was a full-bodied wine with balanced acidity and a supple mouthfeel that worked well with both the filet and the chops, even cut through the heavy mesquite scent.
Some disappointments such as the lamb chops are bound to happen with such an eclectic menu but when it worked - and from our experience, that was most of the time - it really worked well.
 After dinner we explored the lobby of the Westward Look resort to find the original fittings of the 1912 building as well as the room that gave birth to Santa Claus as we know him today in the United States. In 1931 the Coca-Cola Company asked Swedish artist Haddon H. Sundblom, who was wintering in the sunny saguaro-studded desert of Tucson, to create a children-friendly Santa as an advertising icon for Coke. Sundblom was happy to oblige and created the now familiar corpulent Santa image using as models, a Tucson radio personality, and a retired car salesman. The two darling little girls used in the original paintings, Lani and Sancy Nason, were the young daughters of the Inns owner. And so we ended our trip to Tucson with a beautiful view of both valley and sky, a wonderful dinner, a historic hacienda, and a history lesson.
© March 2007 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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