Chili. Cheddar. Chicken. Alone, these words are commonplace, but together they make a simple yet delicious sandwich that’s a bit of a tongue twister: the green chili cheddar chicken melt. We’re not talking fancy here, just good eats and great ingredients. Plus, roasted green chilis — is there anything they…
Of all the regions who have their own names for the Alsatian dish flammekueche, I enjoy the rest of France’s best: tarte flambée, which translates as “pie baked in the flames.” Mm, no wonder it’s so famous. Not flambéed, as the translation would suggest, it is cooked in an oven,…
If you want to experience the French answer to pizza, you should order the flammekueche at La Petite France in Scottsdale, an Alsatian dish that seems to express everything that the region in northeastern France (not to mention this restaurant) is all about. Also called tarte flambée in the rest…
Restaurant: Coronado Café Location: 2201 North Seventh Street New Brunch Open: About two weeks Eats: Brunch favorites with a twist Price Point: Around $11 to $20 a person Around the beginning of April, Coronado Café, the charming little bungalow turned eatery near the theater and arts district in Central Phoenix,…
Welcome to Chow Bella’s Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you’d like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. Miss a question? Go here. Black cats, the evil eye, knocking on wood — most…
If you’ve visited Stanley’s Homemade Polish Sausage Company on McDowell Road lately in search of a damn good smoked sausage sandwich (or other meaty delights) only to find it shuttered with a sign on the window noting the address and hours of its retail-only location on Bell Road, fear not…
Sure, it may be called Arizona Spring Restaurant Week, but this nine-day sup-fest — from Saturday, May 19, through Sunday, May 27 — takes place when the Valley starts heating up and the restaurant business starts slowing down. In Phoenix and beyond, about 90 eateries are offering three-course dinners at…
Not the prettiest sounding word to American ears, you could call larb (pronounced “lawb”), the meat salad originating in the country of Laos, by its “street” name: Lao-style, or Laotian-style, salad. No matter what the moniker, this meat-minded, fresh, and spicy salad, regarded as the national dish of Laos, is…
For those of you lamenting downtown’s lack of exciting restaurant choices, please direct your attention for a moment to an arguably more disturbing development going on at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and McDowell Road — an intersection that touches the F.Q. Story, Willo, and Encanto-Palmcroft historic districts — and…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
The origins of gelato — Italian ice cream made with less butterfat, a higher density, and served slightly warmer than its American counterpart — date back to frozen treats made from mountaintop snow and ice in ancient Rome and Egypt. Thankfully, for those of us in search of the frozen…
Somewhere between chef and restaurateur Aaron May opening Praying Monk in Scottsdale (and being locked out of his taco shop, Vitamin T, at CityScape after a landlord-tenant dispute) and restaurateur Sam Fox announcing the addition of a seafood concept to his second Arizona Culinary Dropout location in Phoenix, the two…
Like a Cuban cigar, a decent Cuban sandwich can be tough to find. A take on mixto sandwiches in Cuba and an invention of cigar workers in Tampa’s Ybor City in the early 1900s by Spanish, Italian, and Cuban immigrants fleeing poverty to seek new lives in America, the main…
“Hello and welcome to India Grill. Light or dark?” “…?…” “Light or dark?” There’s a first time for everything. And if you happen to have the good fortune of coming upon Tempe’s India Grill, this curious question (not “table or booth”) will be asked of you at dusk, alluding to…
Ah, the roads of life. Sometimes exciting, sometimes treacherous, and sometimes just plain boring — unless you happen upon a decent little Indian restaurant on your way along the exciting or treacherous ones. That’s usually a nice surprise. And so it is with India Grill. On West Elliot Road, the…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
Since chef Robert McGrath called it quits last October, things have been rather quiet at Renegade Canteen, the upscale restaurant in North Scottsdale — until now. Owners John Rosso and Steven Goodhue have selected Donald Fawcett as the establishment’s new executive chef. Originally from the Midwest, Fawcett’s last two gigs,…
Welcome to Chow Bella’s Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you’d like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. Miss a question? Go here. Maybe they gave us some great recipes, showed us how…
Sunday, June 17, may be the last day of the season for the Valley landmark known as the Wrigley Mansion (better hurry and schedule that Sunday brunch), but before it re-opens on Wednesday, September 12, a new executive chef will have completely changed its menu. “We’ve been wanting to change…
At just 32, Stephen Jones, executive chef of Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, the “cozy, yet chic metropolitan gastro lounge” set to open this June in CityScape’s Hotel Palomar, is ready to take the Phoenix dining scene to a new level. “There used to be a stigma about young chefs,”…
Sorting out some of the menu descriptions on Chinese menus isn’t always easy — in fact, at times, in can be down right cryptic. “Green bean jelly with vegetables” may be one of those menu items that reads more Dr. Seuss than delicious, but this northeastern Chinese version of a…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
