I’ll go well out of my way for good food — I’ll obsess about it, complicate my schedule, or drive too far for it, and maybe even eat ramen for a couple days to afford it. Whatever. The end justifies the means. When it comes to beverages, I’m more a…
Did anyone hear that chef Victor Casanova left Il Terrazzo at the Phoenician? It happened under the radar — Casanova’s now in Los Angeles, opening Culina at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. And in his wake, the restaurant’s undergone a transformation from haute Italian eatery to more of an…
Last summer, when Postino founder Craig DeMarco bought a vintage strip mall just north of Postino Central, he promised that a new concept was in the works. Now, after months of research, plans are finally rolling for not one but two new places he’ll be opening in the 1940 building at Central…
Chef-restaurateur Joseph Gutierrez told me this afternoon that as of yesterday, Tutto is no more. The SouthBridge restaurant barely lasted half a year. Not-so-coincidentally, I spoke with one of the potential new owners yesterday, and was told off-the-record about the deal. …
I know a lot of you were simultaneously happy and heartbroken when master baker Ben Hershberger moved to NYC to work for Thomas Keller and took his Old Town Farmers Market cult-fave chocolate cherry sourdough bread along with him. (And I know many of you still have a stash of…
Why am I so curious about new RnR, opening on March 11? Country-fried chicken and waffle sliders. Need I say more? Probably not, but there will also be Philly cheesesteak sliders, chicken and schnitzel, mini corndogs on a stick, gourmet burgers, and other sharable plates. For breakfast, I’m eyeing up…
Justin Beckett has lately become of the most social media-savvy chefs in the whole metro area, and he doesn’t even have a restaurant right now. Which is why his online musings are so clever. The former chef at the defunct Canal restaurant in Scottsdale is making good use of his free time…
It’s hard enough to come by restaurants in CenPho that are open on Mondays, let alone ones doing special events. Hula’s Modern Tiki was, until recently, one of those places that was usually dark at the start of the week, but now it’s back open on Mondays, from 11 a.m…
How long does it take for an international culinary trend to hit Arizona? I’m always curious about the trickle-down effect. In the case of gastropubs, the trend du jour, it’s about six years, if you consider the 2004 debut of The Spotted Pig in Manhattan’s West Village to be any major milestone…
Lunch for less than ten bucks inevitably gets attention from us bargain-minded Chow Bella writers, but the $7 pricetag isn’t the only thing Regions Bistro’s Express Lunch has going for it. They’ll give you lunch for free if your order isn’t out of the kitchen within ten minutes. And if…
Culinary Mischief, the roving secret supper club that debuted late last year, is returning on March 6 with another upscale dinner at an undisclosed location in Phoenix. This time, it’s a penthouse somewhere downtown. There are only 30 seats total for the event, which features six courses of Tuscan cuisine…
With weather this glorious, whose “fur kid” isn’t antsy to get out of the house and join you for a bite to eat? My pal Sarah and I spend a good deal of time talking about our dogs and their funny antics, and she’s even written a column about taking…
Once again, my yin and yang cravings have kicked in. To make up for a fattening food coma brought on by a cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate malt shake from Johnny Rockets (on a junkfood binge before I went to finally see Avatar at the Arizona Mills IMAX), I needed something…
Life just got a little sweeter for pastry chef Tracy DeWitt. The chef-instructor at Le Cordon Bleu College of the Culinary Arts (formerly known as Scottsdale Culinary Institute) just accepted her 2010 American Culinary Federation Western Region Pastry Chef of the Year award at the ACF regional gala on Monday. DeWitt beat out…
Home cooking gets all the credit for being comforting and soul-satisfying, but every so often, a restaurant comes along that’s as cozy as a warm blanket. Such a place transforms deceptively simple ingredients into something that lifts your spirit and makes you feel cared for — like you’re meant to…
Steamer’s Genuine Seafood and Sam’s Cafe, two longtime players in the Biltmore Fashion Park dining mix, will be closing on April 4. Even though Sam’s Cafe owners Doug Czufin and Bruce Lazarus recently bought Steamer’s and renovated it last year, they’re being forced to close both eateries as a result…
Thank heaven for food spies. Slow Foodie-about-town Valerie Paxton was at FnB last night for a special fundraising dinner for local Slow Food advocate Natalie Morris, who’s about to head to Italy to get her master’s in food culture and communications at the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Paxton took lots…
The beauty of the stealth dining trend is how it’s so free-form. Who’s running it? Where will it be held? How to do they organize their dinners? Each incarnation is unique. MF Tasty is the newest to emerge on the local scene, a “secret supper club” run by a local…
I bet you already have a favorite local French spot for your onion soup fix, or for a decent plate of steak frites. But what about crepes? Sadly, they’re not so easy to come by. I usually get mine at the Saturday market at Vincent’s on Camelback. That’s what’s so smart…
Could Thai food possibly get any more popular? The last few years have seen a boom in Thai food across the Valley, and still more new restaurants are opening their doors. The newest is Lao Thai, which opened last week in the former Kam’s Garden space on Scottsdale Road at…
Like flower buds almost ready to bloom, a new crop of local restaurants is gearing up to debut in March, and from the looks of it, this will be one busy season. The trend is toward accessible, affordable fare, even at a couple of upscale resorts. At the InterContinental Montelucia Resort…
In the hours since RED Development’s announcement that Oakville Grocery will be the new tenant filling the space originally planned as an AJ’s Fine Foods at CityScape, locals have already begun bitching via social media. Along with collective groans about yuppie retail from skeptical individuals on Twitter and Facebook, Downtown Voices Coalition’s Steve Weiss…
