Chef Nobuo Fukuda’s new restaurant, Nobuo at Teeter House, is undoubtedly the most anticipated opening of the past year. When his last eatery, Sea Saw, went out with a bang and a whole lot of hamachi last June, fans of the James Beard Award winner’s stunning modern Japanese cuisine were only comforted…

Wine writer Alice Feiring’s The Battle for Wine and Love: Or How I Save the World From Parkerization, my food-centric book club’s latest pick, was a fitting summer read, serving up a lot of insider wine world info in the form of a personal narrative that sees the author visiting winemakers…

Hungry for some pizza?Gasper’s Casual Italian Dining just opened last week in the 16th Street spot that used to be Zest. Since the building sat vacant for quite awhile, it’s refreshing to see signs of life there again. Owner Gasper Manno, co-founder of Sapori D’Italia in Fountain Hills, renovated the space…

In an ideal world, we’d all be able to splurge every time we go out. But sometimes, when funds are limited, you have to prioritize.So instead of skimping on your happy hour budget to put a little grub in your belly, you can have another cocktail at St. Francis.The stylish…

I’m all about eating for pleasure, but sometimes I also eat for sanity. Gallo Blanco Cafe rescued me from the depths of depression after a stressful day recently, and now I’m obsessed with the source of my salvation: The Pico Rico Burger. I’m telling you, this thing erased my crappy…

But on Sunday, August 1, I’m tempted to drag myself out of bed and hit the nearest bar at 6 a.m. for the first Bloody Mary of a whole new era…

If you’re hitting up the ballgame tonight, chances are, you’re already building up an appetite for some ballpark eats. But there’s good reason to eat ahead of time. I just got the word that the fabulous Mark Grace — announcer and former D-Back — will be in attendance at this…

Poutine in the middle of summer? That’s right, Caffe Boa Bistro in Mesa is serving up hot plates of Canadian comfort food — that is, fries embellished with mushroom gravy and cheese. Owner Christine Wisniewski is Canadian, so this is her brainchild. The notion struck me as sort of funny and seasonally inappropriate,…

America’s Taco Shop’s manifest destiny has turned the quaint carne asada joint into a three-location local mini-chain. Restaurant number three opened its doors yesterday in Tempe, in a former Papa John’s building at the southwest corner of Rural and University (735 E. University). Owner Terry Bortin tells me that the…

A friend just sent me the best question for right now: What’s the “coldest” meal/restaurant I can seek out in Phoenix this weekend? Everything’s coming up Asian when I think of delicious cold food, like bun (cold rice noodles) or goi cuon (rice paper rolls) at Da Vang or Pho…

A couple of my dear friends are heading to Los Angeles for a food-filled Fourth of July weekend, and I suspect that they’ll be joined on the highway by many more hungry Phoenicians in search of some fabulous meals. So here’s a really handy guide to some of that city’s…

I don’t care whether you actually need to go or not — just pop your head in the restroom the next time you’re at Joe’s Farm Grill in Gilbert. Yes, more people checking out the loo at this idyllic Agritopia retro burger spot will make the line longer for the…

It’s not much of a stretch to say that more local food personalities are going to start taking advantage of technology and our Food Network-obsessed culture to promote themselves on YouTube. I promise you, if I weren’t an anonymous critic, I’d probably have my own vlog (that’s a video blog)…