Sonoita

Kelly Fletcher of House of Tricks on Lori Hashimoto, the Boys at Citizen, and the Next Big Thing

Kelly Fletcher House of Tricks 114 E. Seventh Street, Tempe 480-968-1114, houseoftricks.com See also: -- House of Tricks: Happy Hour Report Card -- Quiessence Chef Greg LaPrad Leaving the Farm at South Mountain for Sonoita This is part one of my interview with Kelly Fletcher, executive chef at Ho ... More >>

Quiessence Chef Greg LaPrad Leaving the Farm at South Mountain for Sonoita

It's the end of an era. Chef Greg LaPrad -- the talented farm-to-table chef who made Quiessence a destination restaurant and kept it in the media spotlight for eight years -- plans to wrap up his eighth and last season at the restaurant on Saturday, June 15. Sister restaurant Morning Glory Cafe clos ... More >>

Sam Pillsbury Answers the Question: Why Arizona Wine?

Why Arizona wine? In 2000 -- the year I planted my first vineyard at the end of a lonely, dusty road in Cochise County, 12 miles south of Willcox -- one of the 10 Best 'How to Lose Money' jokes on Saturday Night Live was: Plant a Vineyard In Arizona. Arizona is all Sonoran Desert, obviously suicid ... More >>

Chris Bianco's Italian Restaurant Gets a Facelift (And We've Got the Photos)

Since it opened early last year, James Beard Award winner Chris Bianco's Italian Restaurant in Central Phoenix has had its fair share of troubles. There were complaints about portion sizes, uppity staff, uncomfortable seating -- and then, as if things couldn't get any worse, Bianco parted ways last ... More >>

Chris Bianco Finds New Chef (Who Shares His Philosophy) for Italian Restaurant

Word on the street was that Chris Bianco had installed somebody new in the kitchen at Italian Restaurant, but nobody was quite sure who. So I called the pizza maestro and soon-to-be cookbook author (No, it won't be entitled The Life of Pie), who confirms that he's brought in some new talent -- namel ... More >>

Top Five Phoenix Food Stories of the Week

Every week, there's a cornucopia of Phoenix food news, features, and reviews to report here at Chow Bella. If you're like most people, you probably just don't have the time to get to all of it. It's kind of like those burgers at Old Town Whiskey; it just won't all fit in your mouth ... or in this ca ... More >>

AZ Hops & Vines in Sonoita Grows Arizona's First Commercial Hops Crop

See also: Ten Favorite Arizona Summer Festivals and Adventures for Food, Wine and Beer Lovers Nowadays, the rolling grasslands of Sonoita and Elgin are better known for wineries than big cattle ranches. But apparently, grapes aren't destined to be the only gold in them thar hills. Shannon Austin ... More >>

Pavle Prunes the Vines -- and Keeps an Eye out for Rattlesnakes

In this occasional series, Pavle Milic will spill about his current mission to learn how wine is made -- literally from the Southern Arizona ground up. Today: pruning and weeding. The alarm goes off at 4:30 am. I jounce out of bed in fear of pressing snooze to enjoy the proverbial "five more minutes ... More >>

Wine Regions 101: Sonoita/Elgin

Welcome to Vine Geeks, where Brian Reeder and Pavle Milic of AZ Wine Merchants take the drinking game quite seriously. Pay attention -- you might just learn something. One of the consistent columns I'll be writing as the resident 'vine geek' will be about different wine regions around the state, n ... More >>

Meet the Vine Geek (Part Two)

On Tuesday, you met Brian Reeder, co-owner of AZ Wine Merchants and one of our new wine columnists. Today, his story continues. When we left off, Pavle Milic (in the photo above, from left, it's Reeder and Milic) had opened a little restaurant in Scottsdale and Brian had decided resort life at the M ... More >>

Wine & Chocolate Gift Boxes from Dos Cabezas WineWorks and Tracy Dempsey Originals

Here at Chow Bella, we understand how important it is to give (and receive) the perfect foodie gift. So this season, we're helping out by offering 21 food- and drink-focused gift suggestions, one each work day until Christmas, from a local business or provider. You get scads of rock-star ideas, the ... More >>

Mexican Smugglers Exploit the Corrupt Reputation of U.S. Border Officers

The Festival at The Farm and Kettle Chip Chicken in Today's Eater's Digest

www.mylifeasamrs.com​ Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Weekend Wine Hey Arizona wine lovers -- are you ready for the wine event of the season? This Saturday, November 19th join The Farm at South Mountain for the 3rd Annual Festival at the ... More >>

Tracy Dempsey's Perfect Food Day

​Tracy Dempsey is known for her thoughtful sweet creations and perhaps most known for her Original Bacon Pecan Brittle. She is smart, kind and completely dedicated to mastering the art of satisfying your sweet tooth. Dempsey (headshot here was taken by Sophia Flocken) showed an early interest ... More >>

Joe Johnston's Perfect Food Day

​ If you've ever seen the Joe's Real BBQ logo, you'll find a picture of a man fully decked out in a fedora, button up shirt and tie, wire rimmed glasses and the apron representing his ability to get his hands dirty -- that's Joe Johnston. He originally went to school for engineering (U.S. Naval A ... More >>

Cultivate Santa Cruz: The Little Food County that Could

http://azgenweb.org/santacruz/map.html​Have you seen little bits and blurbs about a project called Cultivate Santa Cruz? Ya, we have too. Here's what it's all about. The little food county that could at the dead center bottom of the state is working its way up the mountain, with a litt ... More >>

Beckett's Table Rosé Wine List Out to Break Stereotypes

Nicole Whittington​Rosé gives a perception of sweetness, but its cotton candy color can be deceiving. Beckett's Table just added an additional section to their wine list featuring all rosé wines, most of which are Provençal in style. This dryer style, characteristic of the Southern Franc ... More >>

Rhonni Moffitt's Perfect Food Day

Rhonni Moffitt​Rhonni Moffitt describes her food philosophy in three words: It's all about fresh, local and creativity. She publishes Arizona Vines & Wines Magazine, an online and print mag about wine in Arizona with a special emphasis on the Arizona wine industry. She sits on Northern A ... More >>

Why Arizona Wine Isn't a Non Sequitur

Growing grapes and making wine in Arizona? Is that even possible? Better question: Is that even drinkable? If you've been around the block to Sonoita, Willcox and the Verde Valley, you know that the answer to both of those questions is an overwhelming affirmative... but if you're like us, we're stil ... More >>

Imbibe: Ariz. Wine Tasting at My Wine Cellar & Tempe Festival of the Arts

Arizona wines will be jumping off the racks at My Wine Cellar in Ahwatukee tonight as My Wine Helper founder Jim Wiskerchen hosts a $10 tasting of four homegrown wines today from 6 to 7:30 p.m. for $10 - $5 of which can be applied to the purchase of a bottle to take home with you.

Pavle Milic Pours His Heart Out at Ignite Phoenix 9

Photo courtesy of virtualwayfarer via FlickrIgnite Phoenix 9 happened a week ago, and we at Chow Bella are still aflame about the food-related topics discussed.  As food writers and lovers of fermented liquids, we were most excited about the presentations of Maureen Basenberg, founder of the A ... More >>

Can Maynard James Keenan Put Arizona Wine on the Map?