Vincent on Camelback

A lobster chimichanga makes an unusually clear introduction to Vincent on Camelback. The dish places Maine lobster, leeks and goat cheese inside a Southwestern form, while the restaurant’s repertoire draws on French sauces and technique. Vincent Guérithault opened his Phoenix restaurant in 1986 after a career that included kitchens in France and Chicago. Forty years later, the restaurant marks that anniversary with Vincent and his son Christian cooking together. Its identity comes from that sustained exchange between a French culinary education and the ingredients of the Southwest.

The sample dinner menu gives the exchange concrete expression. A smoked-salmon quesadilla comes with horseradish cream; escargots retain the familiar combination of mushrooms and garlic butter. Main courses include duck confit à l’orange, beef tenderloin with green-peppercorn sauce, and macadamia-crusted scallops with basil beurre blanc. These dishes show that the restaurant has room for recognizable French preparations alongside its hybrids. Since the menu changes daily, the published examples describe its vocabulary rather than promise an identical selection at every dinner. A diner drawn to sauces, seafood and a fuller sequence of courses has several ways into the cooking.

Vincent also offers a seven-course Discovery Menu, with an optional wine pairing, as an alternative to ordering individual dishes. That choice changes the shape of the occasion: à la carte leaves the table free to concentrate on a few preferred preparations, while the tasting format gives the kitchen control of the progression. The substantial wine selection supports both approaches without making a pairing compulsory. Vincent suits a considered dinner for people who want French technique to say something about Phoenix. Its distinction is the conversation between traditions, rather than the reproduction of a Paris dining room in Arizona.

Sources: Vincent: cooking, anniversary and contact · Vincent: sample menus and Discovery Menu · Vincent: Vincent Guérithault’s history · Vincent on Camelback: Google Maps listing