In North Scottsdale, in an area most known for its luxury condos, well-tended golf courses, and boutique shops, Lamp’s pizza oven may be the neighborhood’s most primitive attraction. Covered in an armor of shiny red tiles, it transforms bolts of wood into flickering flames and blistering heat, fervently churning out…
Polish off that sweet tooth, Phoenix, because Caramelpalooza 2013’s just a little more than a week away. Smeeks and Chow Bella’s fourth annual caramel tasting will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, April 5, at UNION — a new location but the same sugar rush (more, in fact) you’ve enjoyed…
Last week, we scrambled eggs inside eggshells, but this week we take it up a notch. Yolks and whites, scrambled or not, are simply not as exciting as chocolate cake. Imagine hunting for these instead? I can’t really think of anything better — other than solid gold, that is. See…
Heavy Southern comfort food? Not in Bobby Deen’s kitchen. See also: – Second Location of Essence Bakery Coming to Phoenix This Summer – 13 Best/Worst Jesus Cakes for Easter The son of Paula Deen, America’s favorite butter enthusiast, Bobby Deen has a new show on the Cooking Channel called Not…
As the chefs competing in Smeeks and Chow Bella’s fourth annual Caramelpalooza — coming 7 p.m. Friday, April 5, at UNION — get out the candy thermometers, we’ve got our pens ready to introduce you to the faces behind the caramel. Amanda Crick and Erin Glassburn are bona fide Southern…
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…
Spotting the words “service included,” “servizio incluso,” and “service compris” on restaurant checks in most European countries means tipping isn’t necessary (instead, a V.A.T. tax of 20 percent is added). But more and more restaurants in America are adopting this policy, causing the often distressful subject of tipping to become…
Eddie Basha, chairman of the Bashas’ Family of Stores who regularly made appearances in the company’s TV and newspaper ads for years, has died at age 75. Basha passed away Tuesday afternoon. The Chandler-born Basha took over his family’s business, founded in 1910, in 1968, when he was 31 years…
This is part two of my interview with Jacques Qualin, chef de cuisine at J&G Steakhouse at The Phoenician Resort. If you missed part one, where Qualin talked about head cheese, being an apprentice, and working for Daniel Boulud, read it here. See also: — Hana’s Lori Hashimoto Dishes on…
If you loved Matt Taylor’s memorable Southern cooking at Metro Brasserie and Noca, here’s a bit of good news: His new lunch and dinner menus — loaded with Southern-inspired dishes he’s given a decidedly eclectic spin — roll out Wednesday at Market Street Kitchen. See also: — Matt Taylor Joins…
As the chefs competing in Smeeks and Chow Bella’s fourth annual Caramelpalooza — coming 7 p.m. Friday, April 5, at UNION — get out the candy thermometers, we’ve got our pens ready to introduce you to the faces behind the caramel. Minerva Orduño Rincón is a chef who knows how…
The Guilty Pleasure: Chocolate Cake Shake Where To Get It: Portillo’s, Shea just east of Loop 101 The Price:$3.19 small, $3.99 large (and they mean large) What It Really Costs: Hopeless addiction. When Portillo’s opened in Scottsdale, I had quite the reminder that a) There are a lot of expatriate…
When I was in junior high, my family moved to Hawaii, and I was enrolled in a school where I was often the only white student in my classes. At lunch, I would play cards — Hearts mostly — with a group of Japanese girls who took pity on the…
Last Wednesday, the folks over at Forbes put together a 48-hour itinerary of places to eat, stay, and play in Phoenix. (Hey, suits need vacations, too!) See also: – Chou’s Kitchen in Chandler Makes Travel + Leisure’s List of Best Chinese Restaurants in the U.S. – Chef Kevin Binkley a…
Jacques Qualin J&G Steakhouse The Phoenician Resort 6000 East Camelback Road, Scottsdale 480-214-8000, jgsteakhousescottsdale.com See also: — Matt Pool on Chris Bianco, Andreoli Italian Grocer, and Phoenix as a Food Town — Chef Kevin Binkley a Finalist for James Beard Award This is part one of my interview with Jacques…
For over 20 years, the Scottsdale Culinary Festival and the Scottsdale League for the Arts have been presenting the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame awards, where the best chefs, restaurateurs, and beverage masters in the state have secured a place in culinary history. See also: – Chef Kevin Binkley a…
As the chefs competing in Smeeks and Chow Bella’s fourth annual Caramelpalooza — coming 7 p.m. Friday, April 5, at UNION — get out the candy thermometers, we’ve got our pens ready to introduce you to the faces behind the caramel. If you’ve ever taken a cooking class with Denise…
Bartender Kenta Usuzawa, who has pushed beverage of various sorts as bartender, sommelier, and/or bar manager at Tapino, Petite Maison, and Tottie’s Asian Fusion (both locations), took the entrepreneurial plunge last week, quietly opening his own restaurant — Barrelhouse American Kitchen & Cocktails — at the northwest corner of Warner…
Good-bye Coal Burger, hello Chloe. See also: – Pallets, a Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese Restaurant, Opens on Roosevelt Row – Squid Ink Sushi Opening Second Location at Downtown’s CityScape As of December, Coal Burger, the “burgeria with a conscience” from the folks at Grimaldi’s Pizza, is no more. The restaurant,…
Growing up in Hermosillo, in northern Mexico, in the 1980s, my school lunchbox was filled with healthy and delicious snacks of juicy orange wedges, crunchy cucumber spears, jicama slices drizzled with lime juice and sprinkled with salt and chile powder, and a cold can of Jumex brand mango nectar. I…
Chef Chris Curtiss, who has spent the past 19 months implementing a house-made pasta program for Sam Fox’s NoRTH Fattoria Italiana, is leaving Fox’s organization to work for James Beard Award-winner Michael Mina at Bourbon Steak in the Scottsdale Fairmont Princess. See also: — Chris Curtiss Dishes On His First…
Just because you need to eat gluten-free, doesn’t mean you have to skip Passover at your Bubbe’s. Manischewitz, the world’s largest matzo manufacturer, has a new line of gluten-free products just in time for the holiday. Manischewitz was founded by Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz in 1888 in a small Cincinnati,…
