Not all happy hours are created equal. In this year’s Best of Phoenix® issue, we scoured the Valley to find the best places to grab a drink and a bite after a long day. Here’s a look at the seven best places to enjoy happy hour in Metro Phoenix…
Cornish Pasty Co. founder and Cornwall, England, native Dean Thomas is plotting to taking over the world — with pasties. Not really. But you might think so. After opening his first establishment of the hearty hand-held turnovers (pronounced PASS-tees) in Tempe in 2005 and then in Mesa in 2008, Thomas…
The Blind Pig in South Scottsdale is the new venture of restaurateurs Bob and Sally Ann Molinari (Uncle Sal’s Italian Eatery, the Side Door bar and restaurant) and Bret Pont, owner of Hobe Meats, a butcher shop in business for more than 50 years in Phoenix. Whether The Blind Pig’s…
Festival season continues this weekend with the fourth annual Arizona Taco Festival but if you’re looking for something a little more celebrity-driven, may we suggest catching some of the region’s best chefs as they tour the Valley on Saturday? And if you’re planning on heading to Tempe at all, we’ve…
The union of coffee and comic books makes perfect sense; both are synonymous with inspiring an energetic state of being. For the crew of downtown Mesa’s Gotham City Comics & Coffee, this information is no secret. Manager Jaime Ruiz, who has worked at the store nearly the entire three years…
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. It could be said that no meal makes us feel more sociable, cheery, and worry-free…
After a two-year break from hosting food truck fests, Roosevelt Row and the Phoenix Street Food Coalition are back with Taste of the Trucks, a two-day food truck fest. On Saturday, October 26, and Sunday, October 27, they’re bringing 50 trucks downtown for an event with live music and a…
Is The Blind Pig in Scottsdale a butcher shop with a restaurant or a restaurant with a butcher shop? In either instance, it’s all about the meat. Consider its centerpiece: a gleaming glass case stretching from one wall to the other and full of freshly butchered offerings. On one side,…
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. There are a lot of terms tossed around in the world of food that are overused and meaningless. Some…
Sure, the Arizona State Fair is full of fun rides, greasy food and some of the best people watching around. But, for a moment let’s return to a “Charlotte’s Web” sort of agricultural era, where the State Fair was about judging animals, food, and animals that make or become food…
On the heels of opening its first West Valley location in Glendale last week (6738 West Bell Road), Oregano’s Pizza Bistro, the local pizzeria chain headed up by CEO Mark Russell, has announced plans to open a new location in Cave Creek. “We’ve found a really cool, and truly old,…
When notable farm-to-table chef Greg LaPrad left Quiessence at the Farm at South Mountain to open his own restaurant, Overland Trout in Sonoita, owner Pat Christofolo (who also owns Morning Glory Cafe and The House at Secret Garden) filled the high-profile position with her chef-son, 32-year-old Dustin Christofolo of The…
On Monday, we chatted with Dustin Christofolo, the new executive chef at Quiessence, about how he’s prepared to take over the high-profile position at the end of the month. If you missed the first part of the interview you can read it here. Today, we’re back to talk about a…
Last week, the Valley food universe nearly cracked its cosmos when Valley pizza legend Chris Bianco was spotted in the kitchen at Pizzeria Bianco in the Town & Country Shopping Center. Turns out the James Beard Award winner and Arizona’s most famous pizzaiolo is indeed back and doing what he…
For the past 11 years, Heritage Foods USA has been selling Heritage Turkeys from farmer Frank Reese’s Good Shepherd Ranch. Unlike your typical store-bought birds, which are bred for their abundance of white breast meat rather than taste, these turkeys offer more flavorful dark meat. And just as important, they…
Dustin Christofolo Executive Chef Quiessence, The Farm at South Mountain 602-276-0601 www.quiessencerestaurant.com After years of running the show at The House at Secret Garden, chef Dustin Christofolo will take the reins at Quiessence when the restaurant reopens at the end of October. He’ll replace chefs Greg LaPrad and Tony Andiario,…
Recently, restaurants such as Postino East, So Cal Fish Taco Company, and Joyride Taco House have put down stakes in Gilbert, home to restaurateur Joe Johnston’s trio of dining spots (Joe’s Real BBQ, Liberty Market, and Joe’s Farm Grill) for around 15 years. Now, two more are doing the same…
Lovers of deep-fried foods, rejoice! The Arizona State Fair is now in full swing. Whatever food you can think of, the odds are good that someone has deep fried it, covered it in bacon, or both. We went out this weekend to indulge in some of the more unusual eats…
West Valley residents have a new spot for coffee as of last month, and this week they welcomed an adjoining urban bistro to the ‘hood. Courtesy of husband-and-wife team Steve and Karen Maynard, the new cafe, called Tempo Urban Bistro and Coffee, opened Wednesday, October 9, at 21067 West Main…
The things you find out about your barista. Shelby Moore of south Tempe’s hub for stuffed goodness, Crepe Bar, is a journalism student (full disclosure: he once interned for Chow Bella). When he isn’t busy hitting the books, he can be found in the restaurant whipping up tasty coffee drinks…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
A new brand of giardiniera, Kelsey D’s, has made its way to local store shelves, courtesy of Arizona State University alumna Kelsey Digman, who has turned her family recipe into a thriving business. Digman had grown up eating giardiniera, an Italian specialty condiment made of chopped garden-grown vegetables marinated in…
