Yesterday, we spoke with Executive Chef and co-owner Brian Peterson of Cork in Chandler. Today, the chat continues… Peterson plans to open a second restaurant in Chandler called BLD (short for Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner) at the beginning of March. The focus will be on American comfort food made with healthful, organic ingredients. One of…
Things have changed at Hillside Spot, the Ahwatukee breakfast joint owned by Gallo Blanco chef Doug Robson. For one thing, it’s not just breakfast and lunch anymore. Hillside Spot now stays open until 9 p.m. on weeknights and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday for dinner. The airy little eatery is so popular…
Chef Brian Peterson moved to Arizona after graduating from college in Chicago — and instantly hated it. He expected to stay for six months. Instead, Peterson embarked on an eleven year culinary adventure that took him through Lon’s at the Hermosa, the Boulders Resort and Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club before…
A few years ago, I bought my husband a cute little antique cornbread pan on a whim. It was after he mentioned his granny used a cast iron pan like the one we spotted at the Scottsdale Antiques Market to cook something he called “corn pone.” Apparently that’s Southspeak for eggless…
Last week, we got a first look at Tanzy, the new upscale casual Mediterranean-inspired restaurant at Scottsdale Quarter. The eatery is run by the same folks behind the new iPic luxury movie theater and is located next door to the theater on the upper level of the complex. Tanzy makes good use…
Yesterday, co-owner Jerry Colangelo unveiled the first $7 million wave of renovations to the historic Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park. The resort’s main building is near unrecognizable unless you’re old enough to remember when Harry Truman was President. Many vintage details have been restored or reimagined. Tall ceilings have been replaced…
Yesterday, we talked to Chef Michael DeMaria of Heirloom and M Catering. Today, he shows us how to prepare a delicious duck entree and accompanying side dishes from Heirloom’s farm-to-table, seasonal menu. It will take a little practice to get the dish looking as pretty as the one above,…
Ramen has come a long way since the five-for-a-buck instant “noodle bricks” of our college dorm days. In Japan, ramen is a comfort food dish consisting of thin wheat noodles curled up in a rich broth. There are several types of ramen, and many regional variations, including the popular miso ramen, shōyu (soy…
Yesterday, we spoke with 51-year-old Chef Michael DeMaria of Heirloom and M Catering. Today, our chat continues… Even though he’s cooked for celebs and can afford to stay in style, DeMaria isn’t afraid to rough it in a tent. In his spare time, he’s an avid fisherman who practices the…
Seems it’s a good time to be homeless. Ok, not really, but thanks to a viral video from the Columbus Dispatch featuring a homeless man with a “golden” radio voice, the homeless are getting their due. Since the video went public, former announcer Ted Williams has been flooded with radio gigs and national…
I swear crepes are France’s best creation — next to the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. They can be sweet or savory and somehow always taste decadent while feeling light as air in your stomach. Of course, that can be dangerous for your waistline. It’s easy to down a crepe…
Though Chef Michael DeMaria moved from New York to Phoenix when he was a teenager, he retained that East Coast go-getter attitude — and a trace of the Long Island accent. He’s constantly multi-tasking, whether it’s juggling gigs at his DC Ranch restaurant Heirloom and M Catering or doing television appearances on Fox 10’s Arizona Morning and Food Network…
Wintertime in Phoenix is normally shorts and flip-flops weather, but not this year. Thanks to whatever crappy weather phenemenon is currently blanketing Texas in snow and dumping ice on Hotlanta, it’s a little bit chilly for us thin-blooded Arizonans. The good news is that it’s prime time for hot soup, something we’ll all be…
Apparently, 85 percent of women need some serious boob help. Before you go all Gloria Steinem and start screaming about how you don’t need beach balls that still float when you’re 90, we’re just talking about the boulder holders here — not the actual boulders. According to bra expert Susan Nethero, most women are uncomfortable wearing a bra…
No, that isn’t as lewd as it sounds — though you really never know with Warhol. Artist, singer and one-time punk supply store owner Robert Loughlin will make an appearance at his gallery show opening from 6-11 p.m. on Friday, January 7 at Perihelion Arts, 610 E. Roosevelt St. in Phoenix. In the heyday…
Yesterday we talked to Chef Becky Windels of The Herb Box in Scottsdale. Today, she shows us how to prepare one of the restaurants signature appetizers, Smoked Trout Beignets. A beignet is a fried pastry ball, often served as a dessert with powdered sugar or jam. Here, Windels puts a…
While trolling the net, we stumbled upon a creative little blog called Steampunk Cookery that got us thinking about potential culinary trends for 2011. The blog is run by a Steampunker slash culinary student from Detroit named “Mac” and features recipes that hearken back to the 19th century. If you’re not familiar with steampunk,…
A real pancake is a thing of beauty. Not Bisquick or the fast food version, but an honest-to-goodness made from scratch griddle cake filled with love and real buttermilk. Some people, like my earnest dining companion, grew up with these comfort food treats. Others of us were forced to eat the cheap boxed crap that…
Yesterday, we heard from Chef Becky Windels at The Herb Box. Today, the conversation continues… Windels is as much a savvy businesswoman as she is a chef. “We run our business like a business,” she says. “We have lot of amazing people, and we keep them on task.” Thanks to that attitude,…
Chef Becky Windels’ career is a culinary Cinderella story. Once upon a time when she was waiting tables, Windels was offered the opportunity to help start a catering business. When a chef friend backed out of the project, Windels began reading cookbooks cover to cover so that she could take his place. Now more than fifteen years later, Windels…
You know that random little eatery that you’ve driven past a zillion times but never ventured inside of? The one that’s right down the block? That’s Lo Cascio’s Italian Restaurant, a solid looking stucco building just south of Green Vegetarian Restaurant on Scottsdale Rd. in Tempe. The place has been around for decades, but…
When I met my in-laws, I tried to bake a pie for the first and only time. I had this ingenious idea that if regular pecan pie tasted good, a pie made using cans of salted mixed nuts would be even better! The thing tasted like a lemony salt lick and looked like…
