Tinderbox is the newest hip-to-upscale downtown Flagstaff restaurant, and it has a lot going for it. The dining room is modern, warmed up with nice lighting, big sheets of plywood, and good music on the subtle-volumed stereo. Kind of an industrial chic meets DIY folk interior, I suppose. They also have a patio that’s rumored to be a great place to drink and dine, but it was just a bit too cool on the night we went, so we stayed indoors.

The appetizer menu has lots to explore including an intriguing “french fry of the day.” We went with the very tasty salmon duo — smoked salmon and salmon tartar, with crostini, some greens, and (delicious) pickle slices. We also started with a nice pinot grigio and, when I ordered the pilsner our server recommended the “Shandy:” Pilsner with a bit of orange and a shot of vodka. I gave it a try and found it to be a pretty nice combination, sort of a high-octane hefeweizen with the citrus tang.

For entrees we ordered the meatlof ("signature") and the pork chop. Both were quite tasty, with very large portions of meat. And while we both really enjoyed the meats (moist meatloaf with a little bit of crust, just great; and perfectly cooked pork chop), the stars were the sides, which included some absolutely wonderful garlic mashed potatoes, and a mound of green beans that were out of this world, seasoned and cooked to a crunchy, savory bite. Wow. I was actually rendered mostly speechless by green beans.

Dessert was a nice trio of cinnamon-sugared donut holes with a tres leches sauce. By that time I was stuffed and had to waddle away.

Tinderbox is a great new addition to Flagstaff. I think Flag might have to get used to a place with upscale (and accordingly priced) food in a urban-to-hip setting — it’s just not something in this city’s repertoire, yet. But I hope it has lots of success. I’m looking forward to some patio time.