Killer Crespelle In The Desert
Pane Bianco, Chris Bianco's sandwich shop on North Central Avenue along the Valley Metro light rail line in Phoenix, does some mean sandwiches and, honestly, even better entrées. The antipasti and handmade mozzarella with local tomato and basil with olive oil are great; meatballs are moist and flavorful with a tangy, chunky sauce; and the tuna sandwich is good enough to convert the most devout tuna fish sandwich hater. But the crespelle are the kind of dish that sends you to your kitchen trying to replicate them — delicate and delicious with whole basil leaf in the sauce — awesome. You get to sop all that great sauce with the free Bianco bread, a thin, hard crust with soft, airy give inside. And for these reasons this dish made my list of most memorable meals of 2011.