You can go vegan for a day or for a lifetime, and there are compelling reasons to do so. Perhaps it’s for ethical and environmental reasons, or maybe it’s just to keep your waistline in check. But for me, it all boils down to one simple thing: Is it delicious?…
Yesterday we heard from Sous Chef Nick Sheley of Boa Bistro. Today the conversation continues. Sous Chef Nick Sheley’s no stranger to working with local farmers — he used to be one. Sheley grew up on a farm in Iowa, which he says was a big influence in his love for…
Scarfing down a sausage muffin before work? You’re one of the lucky ones. Thanks to the high unemployment rate and crap-ass economy, millions of people are no longer making the sunrise sojourn for fast-food breakfast fare. Instead, they’re sleeping in — opting for a bowl of bran flakes at home…
Happy Cinco, everyone! In honor of the Mexican holiday that most Mexicans don’t actually celebrate, we’re battling the most gringo-friendly item on any Mexican restaurant menu: fajitas. You can’t help but love a dish that arrives on your table sizzling. For this week’s battle, we pitted one margarita-inspired restaurant against another. After…
Our sister paper, Westword, has a tasty interview today with Mark Tarbell. His Phoenix restaurant, Tarbell’s, has long been a Valley favorite, and he also runs two organic pizza joints in the Denver area. The always-entertaining Tarbell — one of his claims to fame is beating Cat Cora on Iron…
Executive Chef Payton Curry of The Original Caffe Boa on MillAve. and Caffe Boa Bistro is best known for championing the farm-to-tabledining philosophy in Arizona. What is the best dish your mother ever made? My mother makes the world’s greatest chicken noodle soup. It’s something that I crave when I…
photo by Claire Lawton Nick Sheley’s boss, Chef Payton Curry is hard to catch. Between his two restaurants, Caffe Boa in Tempe and the newly opened Boa Bistro in Mesa, Curry clocks in around 90 hours per week. Luckily, we were able to nab his sous chef for a quick rundown on…
A quick run down of our new food friends the month of April introduced us to. Echo Coffee Chez Vous Creperie & Gelato Lush Burger Calico Jack’s Big Daddy’s BBQ Thai Café in Chandler Tara Thai Zoyo Frozen Yogurt (red velvet frozen yogurt — Thank you!) Bogey’s Steak and Seafood…
. What is the best dish your mother ever made? Sweet and sour meatballs from scratch. No frozen store-bought meatballs. We didn’t have that when I was a kid…
How well do you know your favorite cookhouse contraptions? See if you can guess today’s gadget and check back next week for the answer, and to see if you’ve won a most-awesome prize. Here are a few shots at this week’s trickster, add yours to the comment box below: -…
Our calendar is chock-full of pointless holidays: Sweetest Day, Arbor Day, National Boss Day, there’s even a National Children’s Day (yeah, like they need another one). So when a holiday in May comes along called National Burger Month, I don’t ask questions. What’s the history of it? Who knows? Where…
Painter Suzanne Falk, who is part of the Seventh Avenue Streetscape in Phoenix, has a show at Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale through the end of May. What’d you eat for dinner last night? Yellow curry with tofu and veggies. Favorite food: Fruits and veggies or Odwalla Sweet and Salty…
A few months ago, owners Marcellino and Sima Verzino of Marcellino Ristorante announced that they were leaving their longtime home on Northern Ave. in Phoenix for classier digs in Scottsdale’s SouthBridge plaza. Regulars — and believe us, there were plenty of em’! — worried that a Scottsdale Marcellino’s would lose…
Salsa fundamentals=tomatoes, peppers (hot or not), onion, garlic, salt and lime juice. We love it to drape, drizzle or dip. The mood and the accompanying food encourage enhancements to salsa fundamentals. This time it was a little sweet (the mango), and a little heat (chipotle and adobo). The avocado snuck…
In honor of Mother’s Day — and stove-slaving moms everywhere — this week we will present What Mom Made, Q&As with some Valley sons and daughters, who dish about their home-cooked favorites (as well as some flops). First up, Ty Largo, a 20-something marketing/PR firm owner in Tempe who writes…
Napoleon Dynamite: This is pretty much the worst video ever made. Kip: Napoleon, like anyone can even know that. Kip’s right. How can anyone know what’s the worst (or the best) of anything? TLC’s hoping we’ll trust their judgment with its new show, Best Food Ever, narrated by Treme star John…
Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week: Green Pork Chili – Monday Night Martha Local Breeze:…
There is a fairy godmother at work in Phoenix, and like all fairy godmothers she often works behind the scenes and outside of the spotlight. Yet her presence can be felt by the sparkle she adds to the places she goes, or in this case, by the bundt cakes she…
Spring is one of the best times of the year for the culinary arts. Veggies are ripening, farmers’ markets are stocked and it’s perfect patio weather. It’s also a great time for local restaurants to change up their seasonal menus and prepare for summer. On May 1, J&G Steakhouse at the Phoenician is rolling…
Real cooks can’t stay out of the kitchen. That’s why four of Chow Bella’s regular contributors have concocted four different types of salsa just in time for Cinco de Mayo. Check in next week to see who won the showdown. Now, someone pass the chips. Today’s salsa: Pretty Simple Pico…
An Italian farm boy leaves his home and family behind for the hot sun and his heart’s true love in Phoenix, Arizona, where he opens a prosperous pizza joint and lives the American dream. A Lifetime original movie? Hardly, but a delicious story like this one needs to be told…
Real cooks can’t stay out of the kitchen. That’s why four of Chow Bella’s regular contributors have concocted four different types of salsa just in time for Cinco de Mayo. Check in next week to see who won the showdown. Now, someone pass the chips. Today’s Salsa: Mom’s Extra Hot…
