More Belt Buckles Are In

We kicked off the week by meeting Melinda for lunch at Dillon's KC BBQ which is the best place in the universe for onion rings. The onion rings are a loss leader for them, not unlike Costco's rotisserie chicken. The first time Melinda took me there about 8 years ago a generous order was $5.00. The price is currently $6.00. Dillon's is a local chain with five locations, all in the West Valley. For context, I am centrally located in Scottsdale about five minutes away from Old Town, on the Phoenix border and not far from East Valley locales such as Tempe. We can drive a half hour in any direction and reach most areas of town. In this case, we met at Dillon's in Glendale which is about the halfway point between Melinda and us. Melinda gave me a bit of work to do while we were waiting for our onion rings which was to go over and approve our new estate sale price signs. She also created a master price sheet which has all pricing categorized by sheet and fits on one side of one piece of paper. This will be kept at the cash wrap for the cashiers to reference. By the time I finished that, my onion rings were kind of cold but they were still good. Next time there will be no waiting when the onion rings arrive! I normally get a sandwich but this time I decided on a two-meat platter. I chose the pulled pork and smoked sausage, with macaroni and cheese and fries. I ate about a third of what was on the plate and paired with the healthy buns I ordered from Organic Bread Of Heaven, I was able to make three sandwiches with the remainder!

After our lunch we tried to pick up the Briesmobile and it is a good thing we allowed plenty of time before they closed. It took us three tries to find the place - I went to where I thought it was, a shop called One Stop but it was a driver's license facility. Then I looked up the address the transport lady gave me and we ended up at DeVry University. I thought it was interesting because technically DeVry is my alma mater since I went to Keller Graduate School of Management. In thinking about it, this marks 30 years since I graduated and officially told myself I am done with school! At any rate, this location was obviously wrong so I tried to call the shop but there was no answer. It turned out there was a typo in the street number and I was able to get the correct number when I Googled it. There was further confusion at the shop because the guy who helped us was off work when the van came in. It turned out they had sold two other Ford Transit Connects that day and he thought I was one of the buyers who wanted to return it! I knew we were at the right place because I saw the van in the parking lot. All was sorted out in the end and we were on our way. When I left I noticed that the tire pressure light was on but I did not want to deal with going back into to the shop after all that. The van is running well but there is a bit of a punch list needed. Something was bothering me near my left foot and it was a dangling wire, I'll need the tire pressure adjusted and there are some other cosmetics involved. I had considered going back there for future service but after the experience Monday I will not travel that far and instead give the local highly rated shop a try.

Fast forward to Saturday evening and Kuochun decided to pull the trigger on going to an Italian restaurant which was featured on Check, Please! Arizona and I thought was a must-try. It is called RigaTony's and it was about 23 minutes away in Tempe. We purposely arrived a little after 8:00 (they closed at 10:00) and although it was still hopping, we waited less than ten minutes for a table. We both absolutely loved this restaurant! From top to bottom the service was genuinely helpful and friendly and the atmosphere was so cozy. Now this is definitely a "red sauce Italian" place, probably New York-inspired but that is not something we see in Chicagoland. The antipasto salad was included with the meal and it was served family style. It was not at all the clunky antipasto salad you normally see. It was high-quality spring mix with a great dressing, finely julienned pieces of salami, shredded cheese, olives, tomatoes and pepperoncini peppers. I gave the olives and peppers to Kuochun and we made sure none of that delicious salad went to waste! I ordered the Tour Of RigaTony where you choose four items from four columns of two choices. I went with the chicken parmesan, Italian sausage, cheese manicotti and fettucine alfredo. I had the same plan here as I did at Dillon's - eat half and save the other half for another meal. I ate the chicken and fettucine (and tried the manicotti to see how it would be in restaurant) and everything was so good. The pasta was definitely fresh, not dried! The bread was not ready right away but it eventually came, hot from the oven. They were big fluffy slices with seasoning on top.

RigaTony's actually had their version of jambalaya on the menu but Kuochun was more in a seafood mood. He was going to order a shrimp and scallops dish but I said are you sure, you don't even like scallops and suggested the Cioppino which is mussels, clams, calamari, shrimp and Italian sausage with angel hair pasta and an herb tomato stew. He went with my suggestion and he was so glad he did! I was concerned that the broth was going to be too watery for him but it was perfect, the amount of seafood was very generous and the angel hair pasta was super thin which we both love. I said too bad you're not into bread because people would dip the bread in that sauce! He did it anyway, I suggested that he use the heel which worked really well. I thought it was later than it was so I did not order dessert but next time for sure! When I mentioned that jambalaya is Kuochun's go-to everywhere, our server said that he eats it on every shift he works. Kuochun is looking forward to trying it next time. On top of everything else, they have a great rewards program with 10% rewards on every visit. The rewards can be used the next time or accumulated until there is enough for a free meal. This is not something they need to do but I thought it was a smart way to get customers to come back again and again. Sue G., we will definitely take you when you come visit. I checked and chicken Marsala is on the menu!

The drive home was not fun as we discovered the highway was closed and it took twice as long to get back. On top of it, we did not realize that the headlights were turned off and I was driving Kuochun's car and did not know how to turn them back on! I assumed they were set to automatic. Luckily I figured it out but that was a scary moment.

It was a busy week so I was only able to post seven new items - four belt buckles, two keychains and the Artie Yellowhorse turtle pin. I knew this running horses belt buckle was very special when I found it and after doing some research discovered it was made by deceased Yaqui/French artist Danny Romero. For fun, I put the information into ChatGPT and it told me to send this piece to auction and that it was worth up to $4,000. I do not need to get that much for it so I listed it online as I usually do. There is definitely nothing like it on the internet! I mentioned posting the belt buckles as a priority as they are easier to do. The ones I have saved for last though required more time and research but I am glad they are done! There are two more belt buckles to go - an older one which has a great setting but someone replaced the original stone with block turquoise some years later and the other one which appears to be made of antler. I think it is genuine turquoise, it has the browns and greens of Nevada mines but I am going to take it to Old Town Scottsdale to confirm.