Vu at Hyatt Regency Scottsdale a restaurant so good it makes veal chop sing

Scottsdale boasts some of the best restaurants on the West Coast. But they tend to fall into two categories: underrated with really good food or trendy overhyped with decent, vastly overpriced food.

Vu at Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa breaks the mold and manages to pull off both. You will not find a cooler setting in Scottsdale than this two-level dinning room with an huge opening on the lower level bringing in the open air and a view of water.

Yet this is the rare modern restaurant that doesn’t sacrifice your comfort for glossy magazine style. The bold red curtains are there, but they are used to afford diners a measure of privacy. They surround the large, well-spaced out booths, making it almost feel like you’re eating with your friends and your friends only.

No getting crammed into one row of tiny tables that are so close together that when you raise your fork you need to ask the stranger next to you for permission to partake in the shared elbow room.

What ever design fool thinks that’s a great restaurant setup happily never made their way to Vu.

No matter how well it’s designed, restaurants only matter because of the food. This is where Vu really shines. William Bradley - not to be confused with the vastly Las Vegas overrated Bradley Ogden - is the rare Arizona chef who seems to know how to cook flavorful fish.

The gnocchi melts in your mouth, the foie gras has great accompanying flavors. But really sets Vu apart is its veal chop. To me, veal has always been something mothers cooked to punish their kids. It held all the redeeming value of Tom Arnold’s movie career.

Except at Vu. For the veal chop here was the best dish anyone at our table had and there was some stiff competition.

If you want a big meal on your golf trip, go to Vu and order that veal.