Durant's is one of those old steakhouses, much like old steakhouses all over the country, that has been a fixture in downtown Phoenix for decades, and that is where we headed for dinner tonight. It was a trip back in time, as we were greeted by a gaggle of tuxedoed waiters and a flock of bar waitresses with their hair up and with a frilly apron over their clothes. The mezzalunar banquettes were upholstered in a deep red vinyl that almost matched the red flocked wallpaper. We half expected to hear a Rat Packer start crooning.
Our meal started with "Durant's Debris," a dreadful name for a delicious starter of small tips and pieces of beef marinated and broiled on a skewer. They were quite tender and tasty, and several of them would have made a fine meal. After a salad course of iceberg wedges and cherry tomatoes topped with a very chunky Roquefort dressing, we got to our main courses. I had a thick ribeye steak with garlic mashed potatoes and my dinner companion had the chicken "Oscar" (quotation marks were the restaurant's), which was a grilled chicken breast topped with a layer of grilled asparagus spears, then a layer of melted provolone cheese, and then a layer of grilled shrimp. We also shared a side dish of mixed sauteed mushrooms.
With barely room for more food, we decided to split something and ordered a strawberry shortcake. It's a good thing we were splitting, cause as it was, we only ended up eating about two-thirds of it. It wasn't that we didn't like it, it was just unconscionably huge! This tower of dessert had three big rounds of shortbread in graduated sizes with full serving quantities of strawberries and whipped cream in between each layer and on top. I do believe that this tower must have stood nine to ten inches tall!
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