“Thank you for coming to my house.” If you have been fortunate enough to visit El New Yorican, these words, accompanied by a firm handshake, will be the last ones you hear upon leaving the restaurant. They will have come after your serving of camarones en salsa criolla (plump pink…
Looking for a little ‘que with your boo? Starting at noon this Saturday, October 29, over 45 barbecue teams from across the nation will compete for smoked glory (and $10,000 in prizes) at the Roctober BBQ Boo Bash and Halloween Fest at Rock Springs Café & Saloon, the old-timey restaurant…
Caramel-coated popcorn, candy apples, pumpkin spiced caramels — congratulations, you’ve just become the most popular house on the trick-or-treat street. That is, if you’re planning on attending Candy Apple Family Fright Night, the baking class and costume party hosted by Luci’s Healthy Marketplace, the natural foods haven in Central Phoenix…
Welcome to Chow Bella’s Bites & Dishes, where each week Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question or topic New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you’d like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. Last week, the Internet food community nearly popped a gastronomical gasket…
At an event where speakers “share their life’s work, passions, and concepts,” selecting Justin Beckett, owner and chef of Beckett’s Table, one of the first restaurants to bring seasonal American cooking to the Valley, to participate at this year’s TEDxPhoenix event seems like a no-brainer. TEDxPhoenix, an offshoot of the…
Spirits expert, ex-wine director at Oakville Grocery Co., and Sumosommelier David Johnson is at it again. After recently competing in the first Tommy Bahama “Rumologist” comeptition and attending celebu-chef Stephanie Izard’s Goat Tour dinner, Johnson has joined forces with chef Johnny Chu of The Mint, Scottsdale’s swanky ultra-lounge and restaurant,…
Black Cat Coffee House, the new coffee shop two doors down from Over Easy in the Arcadia Towne Center at 4730 East Indian School Road (Indian School and 44th Street) and first mentioned by yours truly in July, is open for business. The cozy little java joint will serve up…
Red with meat, white with fish — where’s the love when it comes to pairing wine with foods that aren’t critters? Vino 100, the unassuming little wine shop and bar in Cave Creek, has an event to answer that question. From 6:30 to 8 p.m., Friday, October 28, Vino 100…
Look, I’m no food allergy expert, but as a former child, I feel I have a fairly good handle on the kinds of happenings that make Halloween fun for kids. And unfortunately, the first annual Arizona Food Allergy Alliance (AFAA) Trunk-Or-Treat Event in Phoenix, Tucson, and Pinetop-Lakeside isn’t one them…
For fans of offal (pronounced awful), those delicious odds and ends of animals, or for those curious enough to want to take a taste or two, Petite Maison, the charming little French eatery in Scottsdale, is serving up something special this Halloween weekend — and if it’s as popular as…
Last night, while the rest of us were watching Modern Family and putting the finishing touches on our Transformers costume for Halloween, Christopher Gross, the James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of Christopher’s and Crush Lounge in Central Phoenix, was busy with his own evening activity: making dinner for none…
From the folks who brought the Valley The Living Room, the contemporary wine cafe and lounge, comes another room of sorts. This time, with a distinctive fishy flair. Located in downtown Ocotillo and in the same shopping complex as The Living Room, The Sushi Room, opening at 4 p.m. today,…
Good-bye Princess, hello Pringles. A survey by UK charity Cats Protection has discovered that cat owners are increasingly naming their pets after food. The online poll of more than 1,000 people showed that traditional cat monikers like Tiddles and Thomas were being ditched in favor of food-focused names including Pringle,…
What happens when some of San Diego’s premier craft beers are paired with the (RAWR!) wildness of the Midwest? Only twenty people get to find out. At 6:30 p.m. on Friday, October 28, Trophy’s, the “hunter’s steakhouse” in Queen Creek owned by big-game hunter Kevin Dettler, will be pairing meat,…
Eliot Wexler, owner of the award-winning restaurant Noca in Central Phoenix, has a theory about why we’re obsessed with doughnuts. “The great thing about doughnuts, in general, is that whatever culture you’re from, across the world, there is a doughnut. A variation, a permutation. Whatever culture you were in growing…
Burgers as a passive form of birth control? It’s true. The Sun reports fertility doctors from Harvard University and the University of Murcia, Spain, have discovered that healthy young men between the ages of 18 and 22 who ate a high proportion of junk food had poorer quality sperm than…
After leaving Renegade Canteen earlier this month, it looks like James Beard award-winning chef and former owner of Roaring Fork Robert McGrath has already landed a new gig: as executive chef of the Spotted Donkey Cantina, the upscale restaurant of Southwestern and Mexican cuisine at Hayden Village in Scottsdale. The…
For those of you in the South Mountain area who might be freaking out that family owned La Cucina Italiana, which opened last July, is no more, DON’T PANIC — they’ve just changed their name to Our Family Bistro and their tagline from “South Mountain’s Traditional Italian Restaurant” to “Steak…
Looks like a lot’s going on for the Bidwill family these days. Last week, the owners of the Arizona Cardinals, along with the rest of us, got the news that Phoenix will be the host city for Super Bowl 49 and, as the new owners of Tom’s Tavern & 1929…
Thank goodness Olive & Ivy, the Fox restaurant concept of Mediterranean meets California chic fare located at the Scottsdale Waterfront, is skipping the tradition of giving wood to celebrate its five year anniversary tomorrow. Instead, its offering five dollar food and drink specials all day long — and yeah, we…
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, some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that have just opened,…
Holy oceans, that’s a lot of shellfish. Last week, Phoenix-based Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, a luxury chain of eight restaurants in Arizona, California, and Texas (with one location in the Scottsdale Quarter), and Wildfish Seafood Grille, Eddie’s sister chain of three restaurants in the same three states (with one location…
