Although many may already be familiar with First Fridays, the popular free art walk in Phoenix every first Friday of the month, the first weekend in March has a little something extra to offer.
The Art Detour is a weekend-long art festival where art viewers are invited to spend the entire day browsing galleries often closed to the public.
When your legs grow tired of walking the streets of Phoenix and your hunger kicks in, there are many great eateries in downtown Phoenix from which to choose.
Fate is one of the best among them. This Asian cuisine is fresh and healthy and comes out piping hot.
Fate is a small, remodeled Phoenix home with only a handful of tables in the dining room, allowing for Art Detour guests to maintain a trendy, cultural feel even after stepping off the street.
Diners can literally see their meals being prepared in the kitchen, located in the corner of the all-white dining room. There is art on the upper walls and a live disc jockey on weekends.
Fate's list of dishes is short, but all of them are delicious, and each can be made with chicken, shrimp, beef or tofu.
Meats are prepared differently, depending on the dish, and the tofu is cooked amazingly - a perfect combination of crisp skin and soft middle.
The appetizers are scrumptious, whether you choose the garden-friendly spring rolls, the pot stickers or any of the other well-priced offerings.
While all the dishes are packed with the flavors of garlic and spice, a few stand out above the rest.
The Thai Curry is delicious, with a spicy, creamy sauce, as is the Pattaya, which combines the spicy and sweet.
Almost every dish contains a variety of fresh, crispy vegetables, such as baby corn, pea pods and broccoli, and the sauces are light, ensuring that dishes will not sit heavy in the stomach.
Don't forget to preface your entree with a salad or soup, either.
Try the Shrimp Noodle Salad, a mixture of shrimp, fresh greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots and bean sprouts, with a surprise on the bottom - warm, thick wonton noodles. Tossed in a spicy vinaigrette, it's the perfect segue into heartier dishes.
Fate can get packed, especially on weekends, and diners who forget to make reservations will be disappointed. Servers are still attentive though, especially at lunch, when it's easy to strike up conversation.
Water glasses are promptly refilled, and servers will offer their input on menu choices if asked (although it's hard to go wrong with any dish there).
A flavorful three-course meal can be enjoyed in this cozy house for an extremely reasonable price and, with a trip to the Art Detour, can complete a weekend of low-priced Phoenix fun.
Reach the reporter at: jessica.kokal@asu.edu.
