Posh Restaurant Boasts Improvisational Cuisine, Interactive Environment

Check, cross, and relax. Dinner is that easy at Posh — but only for the bold and daring.

I had heard of Posh, the contemporary American restaurant located within the Optima Camelview condos near Scottsdale Fashion Square, from a few people; and each have had nearly the same reaction about the improvisational restaurant — “go into with an open mind,” and “get ready to try things you would normally never try.”

So into it with an open mind I did, expecting quite a culinary adventure. Instead of a “choose your own journey,” it was more of a “tell us which paths are off limits, and we’ll surprise you with the rest.” (Control freaks, beware.)

Instead reading a three-page menu front and back a few times, hesitantly choosing an appetizer and entree at the last minute, at Posh all I had was one half-sheet of paper with a few options.

First, you decide how many courses you want, ranging from four to eight; we chose five. Then, you cross off the main ingredients you dislike, which, for me, included frog legs and oysters; I was game to try the alligator and quail. This list of ingredients changes based on “what is fresh and seasonal,” according to Posh’s ever-changing menu. Next, mark the temperature you’d like your meat and fish cooked; and, lastly, specify any other ingredients to which you are allergic and/or ingredients you generally dislike that you want Joshua Hebert, chef and owner of Posh, to avoid completely.

And that was it. Now it was time to wait for the first course, which would be either a salad or soup.

We sat with our wine and chatted in the warm, candlelit environment. The day we visited was the day of a surprise thunderstorm, so it was quite the intimate setting with just myself, my dinner companion and one other table on the far side of the restaurant.

Just before I began to wonder when we’d receive our first course, my salad arrived. Beautifully presented, the glacier lettuce atop beets and topped with thinly sliced apples literally bursted with flavor. The waitress had mentioned the ingredients were locally sourced, and the salad proved it with its clean, fresh flavors.

We received everything from wild boar bacon; shrimp atop cabbage, lettuce, red onions and red wine sauce droplets; and soft shell crab served with white and green asparagus and a drizzle of Chinese BBQ sauce; to a harmonious chocolate symphony of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, white chocolate shavings, shortbread, blackberries, raspberries and banana syrup to drizzle atop. Of course, there were a few other dishes in-between, including foie gras and a cheese platter wiped clean within the first five minutes of it landing on our table.

Each dish we received throughout the night was an appropriately-sized portion — small dishes that gave you just enough food to savor the flavors and hold you over the 20 minutes or so until the next entree arrived. Not once did I feel like a glutton, and only once, at the end of our two-hour-plus culinary ride, did I ask my companion, “Where did the time go?”

What’s unique about Posh is no two similar dishes would be served, ever. However, one must take note that Posh is more than just the presentation and taste of its courses — though, don’t get me wrong, every dish was nothing short of innovative and appetizing. It’s also about taking advantage of the interactive environment and the way Hebert builds anticipation and that element of surprise; you don’t know what you’re going to eat or when you’re going to eat it.

That night, Chef Hebert proved to me that, sometimes, allowing others to make the decisions for me can be a great thing. We all have to take risks sometimes; make your next bold move at Posh.