Tempe Center for the Arts Lounge

[lemniscate]

Last night my husband and I had dinner and drinks at the Lounge at the TCA. Click for TCA homepage.. It's situated in the TCA with a glass wall facing west up Tempe Lake, overlooking the bridges and the new lakefront buildings. A negative edge pool is just outside the Lounge which blends visually with Tempe Lake. There is a floating fireplace in the glass wall which is a very cool design element. There are maybe 8-10 tables in the lounge plus a small bar. The view after dark was spectacular with the lights on the bridges and the buildings reflecting in the water. We went on Thursday because the art gallery in the TCA is open until 9pm and I wanted to show my husband a very nice Trompe l'oeil show that's currently installed.

The food was very, very good and I thought the prices were very reasonable. Husband had the flat iron steak frites and I had the watermelon nicoise salad. His steak was done to his liking and tender and the frites were nice and crispy with a garlicy demiglace drizzled over them. The watermelon nicoise was a very pleasing sweet, tangy, salty taste. The salty olives with the sweet watermelon and feta cheese and fennel was just a very good combo I would have never thought of. But of course, like a total noob, I didn't take any pics of the food or the scenery even though I had my camera in my purse.

The bartender and young chef were very friendly. The bartender made my G&T's just right. This place needs and deserves more recognition. If you are anywhere in the the area, stop by for a drink or a meal and just enjoy this place. It's quite a breathtaking building.