By Michele Laudig Alrighty: It’s been confirmed that Aunt Lena’s Creamery, the Chandler gelato shop, will be featured in the “Brain Freeze” episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, set to air on the Food Network on Monday, August 11, at 7 and 9 p.m. Aunt Lena’s features 32 flavors of…
If you decided to quit your job and leap into a whole new career, what would it be? The question has always fascinated me. One of my friends is a fitness club manager who dreams of going into interior design. Another is an IT whiz who’d love to start a…
By Michele Laudig Seeing that the sold-out round three of Locavore, Tapino’s successful AZ-centric wine dinner, takes place tonight and tomorrow (with 120 people each night), it’s probably a good time to announce the details of Locavore 4: Cultivation, which takes place October 7 and 8. Obviously reservations are essential…
By Michele Laudig Huh. So Tony Bourdain finally comes to Phoenix, and the only thing that merits attention to this city — or hell, this state — is a two-foot chili dog from Cooperstown? I still don’t know if the brief AZ segment pissed me off, made me sad, or…
By Michele Laudig I’m starting to think it’s a bad idea to drink Diet Coke while reading emails, because I never know when I might get something so funny that I risk said soda spurting from my nostrils. !!! The latest unassuming correspondence to take me off guard? A simple…
By Michele Laudig A month ago, I reported on the imminent opening of Noca, the new “modern American” restaurant from Phoenix’s most obsessed gourmet, Eliot Wexler, and chef Chris Curtiss. To the best of his knowledge, Eliot had predicted July 8 as the opening date, but his crystal ball was…
By Michele Laudig Konnichiwa, Phoenix! Ohisashiburi! (It’s been a long time!) I’m writing to you through the haze of jetlag after spending the last couple of weeks in Tokyo — just got home about 24 hours ago, and I’m trying to convince my body that it’s Thursday afternoon instead of…
For this week’s Cafe column New Times visited Eddie’s House in Old Town Scottsdale and Christopher’s Restaurant and Crush Lounge situated next to Saks at Biltmore Fashion Park to photograph the atmosphere of the two restaurants. From the stacks of plates waiting for their destinies in Eddie’s House’s dining room…
Let’s hear it for the home team. Eddie Matney and Christopher Gross are two of the area’s best-known celebrity chefs, and each opened his own namesake restaurant — Eddie’s House and Christopher’s — in May. Each has had a namesake place before, but because other cities’ celebrity chefs are breaking…
He’s monstrously large and covered in hops. Luckily for you, he only exists on a label…or so we hope. Hopsquatch, a frighteningly powerful Barleywine from Four Peaks, is currently available for those lucky enough to make it to the Four Peaks brewery before the keg runs out. The stuff is…
By Amy Silverman This one makes me sad. I love Cyclo, the innovative, funky Vietnamese restaurant in Chandler. Apparently the Maricopa County restaurant inspectors didn’t love it so much, during their most recent inspection, July 17. (It should be noted that this was the only “no award” inspection online for…
A salad’s a salad, right? Leafy bits with some sliced veggies or fruits thrown in to the mix. Perhaps you like to add a handful of nuts for texture or even crumbles of cheese for a sour contrast of taste. What about caramel corn? Anyone add that? I thought not…
There are a lot of good restaurants in the southeast part of town, but besides Kai, at Wild Horse Pass, the options aren’t very exotic. But now there’s a new spot that just might give foodies an excuse to head to south Chandler. It’s called Cork, and although it hasn’t…
By Jonathan McNamara Ah! A steaming hot cup of joe is the backbone to any productive day. Liquid speed with a drop or two of milk and two sugars please! Coffee Cartel is my current supplier of the brown stuff. Find out how owners Jason and Amy Silberschlag keep customers…
by Amy Silverman I scream, you scream, we all scream… When we see live cockroaches. Particularly in an establishment that serves food. So imagine the dismay of Maricopa County restaurant inspectors, when on not one but two consecutive visits, they found cockroaches in a cabinet at the Haagen Dazs at…
New York. Chicago. Phoenix. All great pizza cities. Don’t laugh — you know it’s true. Here in the Valley of the Sun, we may not specialize in a certain style of pie, but an enterprising population of Big Apple and Windy City transplants means we can enjoy the best of…
The thought of eating at Matt’s Big Breakfast is motivation not to sleep in, but The Roosevelt gives us plenty of reasons to stay up late. And just think — the mastermind behind it Matt Pool, burns the candle at both ends every day. How does downtown’s breakfast and bar…
By Michele Laudig Light rail construction has been a real asskicker for restaurants in the Central corridor, particularly those situated right along the future train route. Every time I drive past Fez and Durant’s and Pane Bianco, I cringe at the thought of how many potential customers may have been…
by Amy Silverman The other day, I got upset with my mother because I found a can of diet Dr. Pepper in her fridge that had expired in 2005. “Look,” she said. “Your father and I grew up in the bomb shelter era — you know, back in the day…
By Michele Laudig Do you remember what you were doing 15 years ago? Or, more precisely, do you remember what you were eating? Buca di Beppo, the Italian restaurant chain, is hoping to use nostalgia — for cheap prices, anyway — to spark customers’ interest in its 15th anniversary. The…
By Michele Laudig burrata , that super creamy cheese that’s been cropping up all across town: Fine’s Cellar. It’s featured in a “burrata and tuna carpaccio caprese salad,” part of the “apertivo menu” (a.k.a. bar menu). The menu’s only available from 4 to 7 p.m., but it looks like it’ll…
Somebody at Roka Akor really did their homework. When I heard that this spin-off of Roka, a London-based Japanese restaurant, was coming to Scottsdale, I felt ambivalent. On one hand, the menu looked mouthwatering. But I wondered whether we really needed one more trendy Japanese joint — especially one imported…
