Aaron M.
Yelp
Our first time in Sedona, we're celebrating our anniversary, staying at the exquisite Ambiente landscape hotel.
It's a special treat, staying and dining poolside amidst the red rock Sedona cliffs all around.
I feel extra lucky, being able to be the first Yelper to review Forty1 (Oops! Almost! Well played Elizabeth A!), which is one of the finest restaurants we've been to, in all of our travels.
I understand they have changed chefs since originally opening, but whomever they have now is doing amazing things. Service has also been polished and professional. Emma, Mary, and especially Lana all took great care of us.
Our first night at Ambiente we stayed for dinner and they set the stage for a phenomenal vacation.
We haven't been to a restaurant that serves an amuse bouche and refolds our napkins for us since forever, and it was such a treat.
The amuse bouche introduced us to the skillful chef, we both loved the perfectly balanced spoonful of pickled daikon and creamy flavorful puree.
Our first dish was the wild caught blue shrimp aguachile, prepared like a ceviche, with delicious jugo verde, pickled Serrano, mango, yuzu pearls, roasted pepitas, pomegranate, and micro cilantro. The shrimp were perfect, and we drank the juice up with a spoon before allowing the dish to leave our table.
Next was my wife's favorite dish of our whole vacation, Forty1's version of Surf and Turf, with a delicious and crispy hoisin marinated pork belly, two *perfectly* cooked seared scallops, cantaloupe melon, honeydew gastrique, and a little ube sorbet as a palette cleanser. Perfection.
And lastly, our most indulgent dish, we shared a delicious chef special, not on the menu. Our server raved about how good it was when the staff got to taste it, and they were right. Chef created a perfectly cooked tender filet of beef, topped with pulled king crab meat. It was rich and indulgent and again cooked perfectly.
We stayed for dessert as well, eager to taste a little more of that ube gelato, and I ordered chocolate and pistachio gelatos as well. Just like everything else that night, they were perfect.
We've also now had opportunity to try the breakfasts and lunch offerings. Everything is delicious and perfect, but expensive. We're on vacation and celebrating a special occasion, we're feeling fortunate to be able to indulge a little more than we normally would or could.