Cue the hippies, peace signs, and sitars (mood-altering drugs optional), because restaurateur Sam Fox, CEO of Fox Restaurant Concepts, has announced the name of his newest restaurant concept: Flower Child. Nation’s Restaurant News reports that the healthy fast-casual concept and “second cousin” to True Food (Fox’s chain of healthful restaurants)…
What? Not done with your holiday shopping? Yeah, neither are we. But we’ve been making lists — and checking them twice — and we’ve got some suggestions for the nice people on your list. Today, Chow Bella’s Gift Guide for the Gluten-Free Eater. The holidays are a time of feasting:…
Chef Michael O’Dowd and partner Ed Leclere, founders of Vivid Lifestyle Concepts (VLC), the company they started this spring after O’Dowd left as executive chef at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, have called it quits. Under VLC, O’Dowd and Leclere, a former Harley-Davidson promotions director, opened North Scottsdale’s Renegade by MOD…
Barrio Queen already stays open until midnight Tuesday through Saturday. But the modern Mexican restaurant’s owner and chef, Silvana Salcido Esparza, is taking the late-night scene in Old Town Scottsdale one step further: by staying open until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. “Scottsdale has a weekend nightlife and not…
At first glance, you might think you could run Grassroots Kitchen & Tap yourself. You’d be wrong — and therein lies the genius of this North Scottsdale restaurant. What seems obvious about the place is really a kind of deceptive simplicity. Look closer and you’ll find the approachability of this…
Vegetable Literacy for Thanksgiving Saturday, November 23 Any good host or hostess knows that sides are no mere backup singers to the giant, golden turkey on the Thanksgiving table. They’re stars, too. But serving the perfect side dishes means dealing with vegetables, which can be a make-it-or-break-it situation with picky…
Heads up, Spinato’s fans: your pizzeria just got supersized. The family-owned local chain that’s been making old-school Chicago-style pies in the Valley just shy of 40 years has announced their newest location, a 10,000-square-foot space at 5509 North 7th Street in Central Phoenix (7th Street and Missouri), will officially open…
If you’re looking for a hearty, stick-to-the-ribs hangover cure, look no further than a nice, hot plate of poutine. The Canadian classic post-bar snack hasn’t quite taken roots in the Valley yet, but a few local spots like Petite Maison and Rose & Crown offer the dish for the culinarily…
Welcome to Chow Bella’s Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you’d like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. For people with celiac disease, ingesting just a little bit of gluten (a protein in…
In Chow Bella’s new comic, Wait or Die, we tell the stories of waiters and waitstaff from restaurants around the Valley. Submit your stories here: waitordie@newtimes.com — and be sure to let us know if you wish to remain anonymous…
At first glance, you might think you could run Grassroots Kitchen & Tap yourself. You’d be wrong — and therein lies the genius of this North Scottsdale restaurant. When you walk in, you’re not surprised to see that it’s a pleasant place, an open, welcoming room of muted tones, oversize…
After 13 years, Cartwright’s, the sophisticated Southwestern restaurant in Cave Creek, is getting an upgrade — cowboy style. Recently, partners Eric Flatt and John Malcolm, who also own Cave Creek’s Tonto Bar & Grill, completed a remodel of their restaurant, named after the historic Cartwright family of the late 1800s,…
Welcome to “Schaefer,” in which Eric Schaefer — a local guy with a big (but discerning) appetite and a sense of humor to match — takes on the Phoenix food scene. As much as I hate to admit it, U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann is right: The end times are upon…
Today we’re back for the second part of our interview with T. Cook’s executive chef Paul McCabe, who joined the restaurant at the beginning of summer to help with a three-month renovation of both the food and design. On Monday, we found out how McCabe came up with some of…
Brining. “It gets confused a lot with marinating,” Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails’ executive chef Stephen Jones says. “It’s a totally different beast.” Brine is a salt solution in which proteins or vegetables are submerged to give them flavor. Marinating uses an acid or oil base that desaturates. Brining saturates…
Note: This post has been edited from its original version. In addition to The Simple Farm, Arizona’s Fiore di Capra Inc. has also been nominated for a Good Food Award. We regret the mistake. If you didn’t already have a good enough reason to visit The Simple Farm, the farm…
Just months after celebrating its five-year anniversary in June, Sweet Republic, Scottsdale’s top-notch artisan ice cream shop from Jan Wichayanuparp and Helen Yung, is giving its fans another reason to celebrate: a second location in Phoenix…
Paul McCabe Executive Chef T. Cook’s at the Royal Palms www.tcooksdining.com This week, we’re talking with new T. Cook’s executive chef Paul McCabe, who comes to the Valley after a decade in Southern California kitchens, most recently at La Jolla’s La Valencia Hotel. It’s been about a month since the…
Coffee and craft beer fans looking for a new hangout in Old Town Scottsdale will get their wish next month. Located at 3617 North Goldwater Road, in the new Creative Center of Scottsdale (on the west side of Scottsdale Road just north of Osborn Road), Sip Coffee & Beer House,…
This month, Oregano’s Pizza Bistro is turning 20, and it is giving away one very sweet guilty pleasure to celebrate the occasion. All 12 locations will be giving away pizza cookies with every single lunch or dinner cookie on the big day. Mark your calendars for Monday, November 18, and…
We spent the past year putting together a list of the best breakfast spots in the Valley for the 2013 Best of Phoenix® edition. Print this off, bookmark it, pocket it, or make your own list for the next time you feel like rolling out of bed and having someone…
Another television crew is coming to Phoenix and surprisingly, they’re not headed for Amy’s Baking Company this time. The Cooking Channel show Eat St., “a lip-smacking celebration of North America’s tastiest, messiest, and most irresistible street food,” has a few Valley food trucks on their radar for the show’s fifth…
