Within the space of a few seconds on September 11, the world changed. For one restaurant and its hundreds of staffers, the world came to a horrific end. Windows on the World, the internationally renowned restaurant capping the World Trade Center, was reduced from its perch 107 stories over the…
Like the art style for which it’s named, Mosaic restaurant is a complicated creation, composed of many tiny details to form an elaborate whole. The result is a visual dazzler, from the restaurant’s sleek interior design to its menu reading like a voyage around the world. Yet just like a…
The Valley’s restaurants felt ripples from the aftermath of last week’s terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. During the days following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, many restaurants closed, either for dinner or completely. Out of respect for the victims or because…
My Florist Cafe Man does not live by bread alone. He also needs some sugar. At least that seems to be the thinking behind the folks at My Florist Cafe, the new adjunct to downtown Phoenix’s wildly popular Willo Bread store. Yet we’re not talking dessert here: This new restaurant…
Think there’s nothing new to do when it comes to finding food under the Arizona sun? You would be wrong. Pack up the kids and ship them far away. Then load up the car and head to the outskirts for a taste of the wilder side of the state’s bounty…
Gecko Grill doesn’t simply do good old-fashioned Mexican food. Oh no. The restaurant offers a full American barbecue menu, too, serving baby back ribs alongside its burritos. If this seems like an ambitious pairing, it is. Real barbecue lovers won’t stand for so-so smoked meats and sauces, and with quality…
They’re not chains. They’re family owned and operated. Their culinary charms have won the affection of the dining public.So how does a popular independent restaurant begin to lose its thrill as a special destination? Perhaps it’s when its owners start hearing cash registers ringing and decide to they want to…
When Gregory’s Grill opened in early 1997, it generated great excitement because of its bold approach to a new dining experience known as global cuisine. While foodies unanimously raved over its eclectic menu (the Valley hadn’t yet seen such things as black pepper-crusted mahi mahi over crawfish spoon bread with…
Browsing through the Restaurant Brokers’ Web site is a bit like taking a peek into a crystal ball. The number of Valley restaurants offered for sale is an education in how volatile the business is, particularly right now with a glut of new eateries opening at the same time would-be…
In a world bloated with slickly marketed restaurants, it’s refreshing to find a guy who’s completely honest about his eats. Kohnie’s cafe owner Robert Kohn charges a lot for his casual fare — perhaps too much — and he admits it. He doesn’t pamper his customers, offering a brusque “What…
Willo Baking Company is credited by many for bringing world-class bread to the Valley. Since it opened in early 2000, Willo has become the baker of choice for most of our area’s fine restaurants, charming connoisseurs with its commitment to from-scratch loaves baked daily without preservatives. Now, owner David Lacy…
Mariscos Playa Hermosa Phoenix’s sister city in Mexico is Hermosillo, in the Sonoran region that’s home to a variety of distinctive caldos (soups), carne de marinada (marinated meats), zesty chiles and, most of all, fresh seafood. Hermosillo, though, is hundreds of miles away from us — much too far to…
Professional chefs aren’t like regular people. While most people may be happy to putter around the kitchen now and again, many chefs find it almost impossible to tear themselves away from their grill and saucepans. Leaving their home on the range is an almost painful experience.Some call a chef’s fierce…
Niko’s is an upbeat, upscale entree into the Valley’s Greek dining scene. Expect glitz. Expect glamour. Expect high prices, high quality and high fun. Just don’t expect stunning Greek cuisine. This restaurant is more about atmosphere than authenticity, and its patrons don’t seem to care. The place is packed.Niko’s opened…
August has brought angst for lovers of Scottsdale’s Café Terra Cotta. The classy, casual Southwestern restaurant closed last week. After almost a decade of wowing Phoenicians with chef Donna Nordin’s creations (the best garlic custard in the universe), the eatery fell victim to increased competition.Guess we’ll just have to make…
When Rustico first opened in 1998, the restaurant was under the direction of Maria Ranieri, chef-owner of the always excellent Maria’s When in Naples. Unfortunately, this meatball fell far from the spaghetti tree. Rustico was panned by critics as boring, then ignored by diners. The eatery never took off. Last…
After more than a decade of serving authentic Cajun cuisine to the Valley, Baby Kay’s closed its Scottsdale location this week. It’s business as usual at the Phoenix location, however, in the Town & Country Shopping Center at 20th Street and Camelback.The Scottsdale shop was an outdated building, says Baby…
All dressed up with no place to eat. That’s the lament of so many would-be diners in the far west Valley. The rest of the Valley is hardly sympathetic. If residents want creative dining in their neighborhoods, they should live in the right place. At least that’s what local restaurant…
The cartoon mice in Steven Spielberg’s Pinky and the Brain want to take over the world. Valley restaurateur Deborah Knight wants to bring the world to us, in her restaurant Mosaic, opened this week in north Scottsdale’s Troon neighborhood.Knight, chef and owner, has crafted a menu that emphasizes “global delicacies”…
Now this is the way to do dinner and a movie. No standing in line. No $7.50 ticket. No $3.75 soft drink. No $5 sack of stale popcorn. No $20 for steak after the show. And no struggling to carve out four or more hours to fit it all in…
Legend goes that once upon a time, parents set the rules of dining-out etiquette for their children. No elbows on the table. Sit up straight. Be clean. These were the days when a restaurant meal was a special experience, an event to be savored maybe just a few times a…
It’s hot. And sticky. It’s the time of year where the only appealing recreation is to curl up in a ball in a dark corner and mutter about how Mother Nature is tormenting us with her radiance set at full blast. This is the time of year that makes dining…
