Subject: Culinary Arts

• New dishes in season at Bloom

  August 28, 2007

• Schmooze with the chefs

  August 30, 2007

• Chef Robert McGrath hosts fellow celeb chefs at Taste America

  September 20, 2007

• Is cuisine an artform?

  September 25, 2007

• Get ready for a Food Fight

  October 17, 2007

• Wright's names a new chef de cuisine

  November 7, 2007

• SECOND HELPINGS

  March 30, 1994

• SECOND HELPINGS

  September 14, 1995

• Second Helpings

  June 12, 1997

• Second Helpings

  March 26, 1998

• Main Dish Antenna

  August 27, 1998

• Second Helpings

  February 18, 1999

• Shelf-Help Group

  March 2, 2000

• Whining and Dining

  Food fight at the Phoenician

  October 5, 2000

• Free Range Chefs

  Three top talents strike out on their own

  October 26, 2000

• Hangover and Out

  Tips for getting rid of the blahs

  December 28, 2000

• Chef's Surprise

  Local chefs wait eagerly for award announcements

  March 29, 2001

• Best Kitchen Gadgets

  Sur La Table

  September 20, 2001

• Cook Key

  A personal chef is just a click away

  November 22, 2001

• Bon Headed

  Valley foodies get a taste of the big time

  May 23, 2002

• Success Story

  Brothers dish up Baja-style seafood

  September 19, 2002

• Look Who's Cooking

  Symington develops a taste for restaurateuring

  November 21, 2002

• Next Week: Digestif Hosts Top Chef Stephanie Izard

  The torturous thing about watching Bravo's Top Chef is that it tends to leave viewers with insatiable cravings for food that only exists in TV land. You watch the chefs hustle to create a dish, you cheer them on... and then, you go to bed very, very hungry. So here's your chance to actually eat the fine creations of Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard -- a Scottsdale Culinary Institute grad -- instead of simply drooling at the thought of it. Apparently Izard hit it off with the folks at Digest

  December 12, 2008

• Cooking School Secrets: Con Fusion

  I'm a Food Network devotee. I love the Iron Chef challenges. The pressure is thrilling but mostly I'm blown away by the way chefs like Hiroyuki Sakai, Masaharu Morimoto and Bobby Flay combine traditions and ingredients. Fusion cuisine. It's innovative...and a big part of why I wanted to go to culinary school. Unfortunately, I learned recently that the war between the traditional and contemporary chefs is ongoing. Each school day, the baking class makes a different type of filled croissan

  February 24, 2009

• Stew or False?

  November 1, 2007

• How to Bake a 14-Layer Cake

  January 18, 2007

• You Say You Wanna Resolution . . .

  Well, you know, we all want to change careers

  January 20, 2005

• This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

  October 14, 2004

• Cooking School Secrets: Salt & Pepper

  It's a pair like no other. Salt and pepper are so essential to cooking that one of the chefs even joked that culinary school is about paying big money to learn how to use them. I've always been pretty liberal with my use of salt and pepper, but I've said my goodbye to Morton's and black pepper when it comes to cooking. I've switched to kosher salt and white pepper. I knew that was choice of most chefs but I needed to know why before I took action. Here's what I learned:

  April 14, 2009

• Spiked

  Local chef takes off, and political hopeful is just off

  July 10, 2003

• Creatures of the Night

  Zoo hosts party animals

  April 24, 2003

• A Restaurant Named Desire

  Deseo delights discerning diners

  March 20, 2003

• Holiday on Spice

  Resort restaurant setup is less than Sage

  February 13, 2003

• Inn Sync

  New resort restaurants set a tony table

  January 2, 2003

• High Tee

  Golfers go gourmet at Scottsdale invitational

  May 16, 2002

• Epicure-all

  April 13, 2000

• My Left Fete

  March 16, 2000

• Ego System

  March 9, 2000

• Girth of a Nation

  December 30, 1999

• Cooking School Secrets: Cooking for Vegetarians/Vegans

  I've lived with vegetarians. I even was one for a while. And I live with a vegan now. Cooking without meat doesn't faze me. But it elicits quite a negative response from many of my fellow students. I don't get it. So I'm getting on my soapbox. Chefs should be able to deal with all sorts of dietary requests. Too many vegetarians have been served baked potatoes and overcooked vegetable sides or plain pasta and marinara by chefs who wouldn't - or couldn't - take the time to prepare high-quality,

  April 23, 2009

• Scottsdale Culinary Fest Comprises 12 Events This Week

  The Scottsdale Culinary Festival sounds monolithic, but the granddaddy among the Valley's culinary festivals is surprisingly multifaceted -- a dozen different events at 16 different restaurants and venues around town, ranging from casual tastings to semi-formal sit-down occasions.

  April 14, 2009

• Food and Fights: Highlights of the 2009 Scottsdale Culinary Festival

  Everyone who's anyone in the Phoenix metro culinary scene, from local foodies to the stars of Hell's Kitchen and Bravo's Top Chef, turned out for this weekend's Scottsdale Culinary Festival. Libations flowed at the Southwest Festival of Beers and inside the Robert Mondavi wine garden. Restaurant chefs whipped up crowd-pleasing appetizers and small samples, while food vendors offered larger portions of barbecue ribs and enchiladas for those whose palates weren't satiated by dozens of tiny noshes.

  April 20, 2009

• Behind the Bar: Dave Johnson at Sol y Sombra

  Lauren Gilger Dave Johnson behind the bar at Sol y Sombra.In case you were wondering: Gin was the first flavored vodka; the word "sommelier" originally meant "keeper of pack animals;" and organic spirits will be the next big wave in designer drinks. Oh, and Grey Goose is not any better than any other vodka -- it's all marketing. That is the word, according to Dave Johnson. But the slow-talking, laid-back sommelier of Scottsdale's Sol y Sombra seems anything but a wine snob. A guy wh

  June 24, 2009

• Chef Talk: Jacques Qualin, J&G Steakhouse

  Lauren GilgerChef de Cuisine Jacques Qualin at J&G Steakhouse.In a world teeming with celebrity chefs, Jacques Qualin isn't particularly well-known. The J in J&G Steakhouse -- the newish, top-of-the-bill restaurant at The Phoenician -- stands not for Jacques, but for Jean-George, as in J&G's creator, namesake, head chef and owner - Jean-Georges Vongerichten. But if you're lucky enough to dine at this particular J&G -- Vongerichten's first venture in the Valley, but just one in a long line of

  June 30, 2009

• Coming in September: Phoenix Cooks!

  ​Yes, Phoenix -- this city will come back to life pretty soon. Things feel slow right now, but at least there's a big culinary event right around the corner, ushering a whole season of activities for food fanatics. Phoenix Cooks! is the shindig to put on your calendar. Scheduled for Saturday, September 5, it's one of this area's most well-rounded culinary events. As you'd expect, there will be tastings from more than 50 local restaurants at the "grand marketplace," along with

  August 4, 2009

• Chef Talk: Matt Taylor, Metro Brasserie

  Lauren Gilger Executive Chef Matt Taylor in Metro Brasserie in Old Town Scottsdale.​A traditionalist and an up-and-comer at once, 25-year-old Matt Taylor is probably the youngest executive chef around, and he's one of the most well known. Taylor is a curious combination of discipline and ease, both a risk-taker and a culinary purist. Maybe that's how he got to be the head honcho at one of Scottsdale's most promising young restaurants, Old Town's Metro Brasserie & Bar, after less th

  August 4, 2009

• Sunday: Dine Out With the Chefs at Scottsdale Center

  J&G Steakhouse​Start saving your appetite now.This Sunday will be a splurge worth blowing your diet for, courtesy of more than 20 high-profile chefs from across the Valley who'll be dishing up mouthwatering tastings at Scottsdale's fourth annual Dine Out With the Chefs event.The festivities, which run from 4 to 6:30 p.m., are a good excuse for the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts to show off its brand-new Dayton Fowler Grafman Atrium. Who will be there?

  October 2, 2009

• Dine Out with the Chefs Impresses Sophisticated Palates

  Last night at the 4th annual Dine Out with the Chefs event at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, some of the Valley's hottest local chefs came out of their respective restaurant kitchens to cook, serve and wander among us mere mortals. Chef James Porter, whose newly-opened Petite Maison bistro is stirring up some buzz, chatted with guests and mingled with other chefs after dishing up oxtail crepes. Nine05 Chef de Cuisine Jay Bogsinske did well with tuna tartare served a

  October 5, 2009

• Cafe: Nine 05

  ​If there's one thing missing from our monthly outing to First Friday it's blueberry mochi cake. Don't get us wrong. We like street-side brats and popcorn as much as the next guy, but even once in a while we want to class it up. Seems Matt Carter of Nine 05 feels the same way. Food Critic Michele Laudig on Nine 05: Chef-owner Matt Carter (of Scottsdale's Zinc Bistro and The Mission) and chef de cuisine Jay Bogsinske are the duo behind the concept. Initially, they'd taken over Fate in th

  October 8, 2009

• Chef Talk: Felicia Ruiz, Lola Tapas

  Heather Hoch Chef Felicia Ruiz on her newly opened outdoor patio.​Chef Felicia Ruiz is totally adorable. Okay, we don't mean to gush, but she's that special kind of person that makes you feel automatically welcome and at ease, especially in what she calls her second home, Lola Tapas.We guess her relaxed attitude might stem from her culinary education. Ruiz never went to culinary school... big freakin' deal. Instead of spending time learning technique from decaying professional chefs, sh

  October 13, 2009