Well, we decide to go with the following restaurants. Unfortunately, not enough time to visit all of them (or $$$ , for that matter). Most of these are quite expensive. We checked all of the places that everyone listed. All were great suggestions, but going with the following:

Grazie's Wine Bar and Pizzeria

T. Cooks

Cowboy Ciao

The Heartline Café

L’Auberge Restaurant

Zinc Bistro

North

I am off to explore that great state of AZ.

See you all in 1 week.

First, what a beautiful state. I probably only saw 1% of it or so. But, was amazed nonetheless. Breathtaking beautiful.

Dining:

Grazie's Wine Bar and Pizzeria: Probably the BEST Pizza I ever had. Or, close to it. My wife thought that it was the BEST that she ever had.

T. Cooks: Nice place. Wine prices are a little high. Food is good to very good. But, I think that prices can come down by $5.00 on each dish.

Cowboy Ciao: Local place. Unique. Very nice. Worth checking out.

Savannah Seafood & Steakhouse: Can skip. It is OK. Many of such around. Not bad.

L’Auberge Restaurant: WOW. This is up there with the best of ‘em. The entire experience is great: service, ambiance, impressive wine list, etc… Food is excellent. Really excellent. Perfect. A must in Sedona.

Accommodations:

Phoenix: Hilton The Point @ Tapatio Cliffs: Nice place. Very nice. Recommend. Beautiful property. Good service. Good location (between Phoenix & Scottsdale).

Sedona: L’Auberge Resort. WOW. Award of excellence every year for dining & service. Rated as Top 500 resorts/hotels in the world. From A to Z, they know what they are doing. Pricy. Very pricy. But, worth every penny. The place to stay when in Sedona if you do not mind to drop a few dollars.

LCC I stayed at the Hilton Point resort in Tempe back in 1998, is this the same one?

I do not think so. They have 2 or 3 locations there.

LCC,

We stayed at L'Auberge last year for a long weekend. The place and location really are magnificent. The cottages are outstanding and the concierge was phenomenal.

We were terribly unimpressed with the restaurant though. Had mediocre service and the food, though good, couldn't hold a candle to other top-notch restaurants. Way over-priced. Oh well. Sounds like you had a blast!

Hmmm, Ok.

I had escargot. It was very nice. And, I had pheasant. Excellent. Soufflé was really good also.

My wife had ravioli mushrooms. Really, probably the best I ever had. And, my wife thought so also. She orders that a lot & was impressed. And, she had salmon with lobster. Also, really good.

Too bad that night was not as impressive. It is an expensive restaurant. They are not supposed to have "off" nights. I agree.

Also, forgot to post about L'Auberge. Some of the best breakfast we ever had. Pricy.

We just returned from Thanksgiving weekend in the Phoenix area. I used this message thread for some restarant recommendations, and here are my thoughts...

Grazie Pizzeria & Wine Bar - I will second some of the comments posted in this thread... BEST PIZZA I have ever had!!! Atmosphere was cool, very reasonable prices, wines were great! I though the pizza was great, the dessert was amazing. I can't wait to go back.

Cowboy Caio - Good food, loooooooong wine list. Overall it didn't wow me like I thought it might, but it was still very good, The have a really cool new wine bar www.kazbar.net, that it well worth a visit.

Staying at the Pointe South Mountain Resort Jan. 16-19. I'd love any dining recommendations reasonably close to the hotel.

I know Arizona is a non BYOW state but I understand there ARE a few exceptions where you can. Going to Scottsdale/Phoenix next month, does anyone have info on "legal" BYO restaurants in that area?

I'll answer my own question. A couple nights ago, went to Coup Des Tartes in Phoenix. Wonderful food, friendly people, ate outside and $8 / bottle corkage.