This is the story of the time I brought my boyfriend to a dance play about vampires during post-season baseball. More specifically, this is a story about the time I peeled the aforementioned man off the couch and dragged him to Scorpius Dance Theatre’s A Vampire Tale during longest playoff…
In the mushy-yet-magical coulee that is my imagination, Pumpkin Spice exists as a rejected sixth Spice Girl. Yoga-pantsed, Ugg-booted, and sexy-baby-voiced, poor P.S. just literally can’t even function as a flavor. Pumpkins are a thing. Pumpkin Pie Spice is a thing. But “Pumpkin Spice” is a myth that we seem…
A lot can change in a decade. Tilt Gallery, a Phoenix photography favorite, will celebrate its 10-year anniversary this fall by letting go of one old space and saying hello to a brand new one…
I never thought I’d say this, but — there’s something kinda cool happening in Mesa. Seemingly ceaseless light rail construction has provided Mesa shop owners with a creative challenge: How do small businesses stay competitive in an area dominated by road closures, jackhammering, and snorting digging machines?…
A Chemex is a way of brewing coffee that is one part art, one part science, two parts swank. The hand-blown glass brewer was invented in the early 1940s by a chemist who wanted to create a method for making coffee that was both sleek and effective. At first glance,…
Don’t worry: No actual ghosts are harmed in the process of “ghost roasting.” The term refers to Nom de Plume Roasters’ low-overhead business model. Rather than making the (cough, cough, crazy expensive) choice to open their own roasting operation, NdP rents roasting time from other local facilities. Most recently, they’ve…
I remember, distinctly, the first coffee I ever tasted. At that point, I’d probably drunk a thousand cups of coffee and made about a million more than that for other people. But the first one I ever really tasted was from Ethiopia. It was reminiscent of warm blueberry syrup, delectably…
I believe that you should eat whatever makes you feel good and stay away from whatever doesn’t. When I heard about 24 Carrots, a Tempe restaurant and juice bar specializing in vegan cuisine, I was excited, because meat-free food has come a long, long way since the advent of the…
I worked in the specialty coffee world for almost a decade before retiring to the blogosphere. If there’s one thing I learned during that time, it’s that there is a massive language barrier between cafes and coffee drinkers. As with any other industry, coffee comes with its own vocabulary of…
For this week’s Grind column, I decided to walk into a coffee shop I had never been to, ask for a recommendation, and review it. This was clearly the best decision I have ever made, because it led me to discover the Dank-Dank (pronounced Daynk-Uh-Daynk). This secret off-menu gem is…
Espresso may very well be the tequila of the coffee world. To some, the word alone evokes memories of late nights in college spent guzzling bitter, amber liquid, not for the flavor, but certainly for its desired effects. To others, appreciating the drink is a mark of sophistication. Despite the…
Anyone who has dined in a restaurant has some notion of what good service is, and many of us have horror stories that illustrate what it definitely isn’t. Whether you’re having drinks at your favorite dive bar or dining at a five-star restaurant, here are ten easy ways to tell…
