also will be trying Oak Creek Brewery on this trip for the first time. Thanks again.

My favorite places are Cucina Rustica ( owned by Dahl and Diluca) in the Village of Oak Creek and the Cowboy Club (uptown). Judy's is excellent as well. I don't eat sushi so I can't help there.

I did not have sushi while I was in the area, but I did dine at a sublime place - The Inn at El Portal. They serve dinner to the public a couple of nights a week, and the prices are high. However, the meal I ate there was one of the great meals of my life - a pureed vegetable cream soup, garnished with mushrooms, tortilla strips, and colorful sauces; field greens salad with sugared pecans, sliced pear, and balsamic dressing; fruited duck with wild rice and mixed vegetables. They also have a selection of local wines.

It's pricey, but worth every last dime.

I just got back from a week in a rental house in west Sedona. We tried several restaurants we hadn't been to before. My old favorite, Minami, is still wonderful. I described this restaurant above. The sushi chef (and owner), Mishi, takes sushi to a high level w/his presentations on the plate. And it is such an unassuming little place, you'd never expect it to be this good when you see it and walk in the door. The hamachi literally melted in my mouth. And the rest of the Japanese food we had (tempura, miso, agadashi tofu, etc.) was very very good. We sat at the small sushi bar and had a great time. It was our very favorite meal of the week. Mishis' ex-wife (works the front) and her current husband (makes the tempura and other Japanese food in the back) run the restaurant w/Mishi.

We also went to Cucina Rustica. Very nice atmosphere. Richly prepared food. Great service, even though it was New Years Eve. Very pricey. It depends on what type of people your friends are; that is a very upscale place. The food is very rich. For us, this is the kind of place we would only go to for a special occasion.

I'm going to do a trip report soon as we went to some other restaurants and places we had never been, and did a lot of new things. What a great week.

Just for the record, my son just corrected me (he is good at that, a 15 yr old) and reminded me that the sushi chef at Minami in Sedona is named Yoshi, not Mishi. Mishi is the sushi chef at our local Northern VA sushi place...