While wondering what to do with our Sunday this morning, I picked up a recent "Phoenix" magazine which happened to be it's annual "Best Of..." edition. Flicking through it looking for something fun I stumbled on Joe's Farm Grill and we decided to go check it out.
It's way the hell out SE of us in Gilbert, about 30 miles away so I let the iPhone guide us there... any excuse to play with my favorite new toy ;-) It actually turned out really well though, Google Maps suggested a totally different route then I would have taken so we ended up exploring the 202 freeway which we had never been on before. It's a major shortcut to get to a bunch of places we go to semi-regularly like Papago Park and Tempe Town Lake, as well as a much quicker route east then my usual Freeways 10 & 60 combo.
About half an hour later we arrive at Joe's Farm Grill. True to it's name it is a 12 acre plot of land that was (and still is) a farm. We parked by the Coffee Shop and walked through the beautiful gardens to the restaurant. There are lots of gigantic trees dotted around in the gardens but kids are discouraged from climbing in them by signs reading "Warning! Please keep off of trees. Danger of falling and scorpions." What? Scorpions can climb trees?
We sat outside on the patio and eat our food, which was amazingly delicious. They have a few gourmet burgers which feature organic, all locally produced ingredients, and then some salads, pizzas, and smoked slow cooked meat sandwiches too - all so good it was crazy, we're definitely going back often. About halfway through, I glance down at my shorts, notice a small drip of barbecue sauce and go "Aw man, I dripped something on my shorts". So Sally looks down at my shorts and bursts out laughing. While distracted by the drip of barbecue sauce, I hadn't noticed that the stitching had ripped in my shorts from the bottom of the zipper round 2~3 inches into the crotch! World, meet my junk :-) Luckily they were very baggy shorts and didn't look too bad while I was walking around.
So we finished our food and decided to take a quick walk around the gardens, taking some of the pics you see here. We eventually found the restrooms and head inside. They were the coolest restrooms I've been in in ages! Firstly very cool, all white, almost Philippe Starck-esque design. Then I noticed above the urinal was a flat screen TV showing Stingray, one of many of 60's British puppeteer extraudinaire Gerry Anderson's classic marionation series, Thunderbirds being the most famous. Note for Americans unfamiliar with Gerry, "Team America World Police" was inspired by and made fun of these shows. There was also holes in the walls of the bathroom that had GIJoe and Barbie dolls in them, covered in perspex. Trippy and bizarre, we liked it!
We head back towards the coffee shop where we'd parked and notice another building opposite it which we check out. First of all there is an open space where they have a farmers market, then next to it I notice what looks like an old Italian motor-racing sign. Upon closer inspection, it says "Motorino Centrale. Italian scooters". Holy crap, it's a tiny store selling Vespas and Lambrettas by appointment only. Unfortunately it was closed, although as I hadn't made an appointment I guess that was no surprise. Looking back across the parking lot to the coffee shop, we notice that right outside the door is a parking area designated for scooters only :-)
So maybe you think "This is America, there's no money in little Italian scooters here"? Well parked outside the Motorino Centrale in a reserved spot was an Aston Martin Vanquish convertible, which start at about $250k for one with no steering wheel or tires. Ciao...
