Presentation so beautiful you are slightly reluctant to eat the food once it is presented here at Distrito in Scottsdale, Arizona located inside the Saguaro Hotel where parking is free for patrons of the hotel and a nominal valet fee for non-patrons.

After I got over my reluctance to eat edible art I opted to start the night with the Pardinolas (fried cocktail crab claws w/green aioli)..EXCITING RIGHT. In laymen terms this is blue crab claws that have been de-shelled with the exception of the actual claw, dipped in tempura batter, then fried. Now the menu had me at “crab” and “fried” which brought my excitement meter to super high, because my palate is anticipating the taste of sweet crab, seasoned enough to taste the light salt, but not overpowering enough to lose the oceanic flavor you should have from all shell fish. What I got was the complete opposite and not to my delight..now don’t get me wrong the concept was superb, and I truly believe it could have been a home run, but it didn’t get past 2nd base, because the crab was flavorless and slightly overcooked which meant slightly mushy.

Since I have never been known to give up at appetizers I proceeded to an entrée, and selected the tacos, Distrito’s version of a high fluent street taco with a fancy spin. There are 3 tacos on the menu, but unfortunately you cannot mix and match, so 3 mini pescado tacos (mahi mahi) it was, with red cabbage, avocado & chipolte remoulade. First bite I taste the remoulade, second bite the bitter taste of the cabbage, and third bite a citrus flavor from the citrus chai…what’s the fish taste like you are wondering, I wish I could tell you, but with all those other fore-mentioned flavors it completely dominated the barely seasoned grilled mahi mahi. Some street tacos are the best flavored tacos ever, nothing fancy smancy, just plain good and better left untampered with…this proves BEAUTY DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL DELICIOUS.

On the bright side the atmosphere at Distrito is awesome, open and airy, perfect for a date, and the waitstaff is friendly, but not that quite forth right considering he could have told me that taco or appetizer was not that good…ON TO THE NEXT SO STAY TUNED!!!