Not everyone can be Julia Child. Some are destined to be hopeless in the kitchen, broiling when they should be braising, sautéing when they should be simmering.Cooking classes aren’t always the answer. Many seminars now are taught by celebrity chefs who want students to whip together such intimidating delicacies as…
There’s something in the water, people say — that special fluid that flows from New York City’s municipal taps. The crystal liquid is so revered that it’s been marketed on a retail level. Tim Zagat, publisher of the Zagat Surveys, says he’d rather have New York City water than the…
War. What is it good for? For Americans, at least, strife in other countries can lead to greater dining variety. As immigrants land on our shores, escaping the constant upheaval of their homelands, they bring with them intriguing new foods, exotic recipes and a taste of the globe many of…
Franco Fazzuoli has had enough. After 45 years in the restaurant business, the chef-owner of Franco’s Trattoria in Scottsdale is calling it quits. The last day of service at the 14-year-old, award-winning Italian restaurant is Saturday, April 14.Shortly thereafter, the location will reopen as Gregory’s Grill. Fazzuoli finally decided that…
Answering to a higher power shouldn’t lead to lower profits. But for one Valley kosher bakery, observing Orthodox Jewish rules has proved too costly.After a six-month “experiment,” Karsh’s Bakery has reopened for business on Saturdays. Karsh’s, a 40-year-old Valley fixture for kosher foods, decided last September to close on the…
Au Petit Four It was her diet that did it. Not many people would dare consume such a steady stream of ultra-rich foods like chicken pâté, roast duck and Yule log, plus several glasses of wine every day. Really, ingesting that much fat and alcohol, how could French citizen Jeanne…
And the winners are . . .We don’t know yet. The 2001 James Beard Award nominees have been released, but victors won’t be announced until April 30. That leaves a couple of local chefs waiting eagerly, since a food pro receiving a James Beard Award is akin to an aspiring…
Michael Hoobler has to be thrilled. The star chef, now running the kitchen of Phoenix’s new Restaurant Arcadia, has successfully escaped the confines of corporate America. Last fall, Tom and Chrysa Kaufman, owners of Scottsdale’s highly popular Rancho Pinot Grill, presented Hoobler with the opportunity to open his own restaurant…
There are only three certain things in this world: death, taxes and Nick Ligidakis’ ability to open another restaurant. Since he debuted his first store in 1984, Ligidakis has opened and closed five eateries, all with great drama and remarkable trails of debt. His most recent operation, Cafe Nikos, sank…
Last May, the National Restaurant Association asked Americans which ethnic cuisines they preferred. Not surprisingly, Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Thai and Middle Eastern were the most popular. Unexpectedly, however, Caribbean rounded out the list of winners. Pretty interesting for a food that traditionally has barely made a blip on most diners’…
Mobil three-star-rated chef Michael DeMaria has taken over food management for Rawhide, including the Golden Belle Steakhouse and Saloon, catering and cookouts. But don’t look for anything radical from the owner of north Scottsdale’s upscale Michael’s at The Citadel, at least not yet.”Rawhide is what it is,” says DeMaria. “The…
It’s a drizzly winter evening, the kind that often brings on melancholy. But not for us. Tonight, we’re lounging like emperors at Café Blue, reigning over booths of sleek platinum cloth as we exchange witty repartee on politics, fashion and friends we don’t like so well. The rain spits and…
Norman Fierros is in trouble. Again. The bad boy chef’s eatery — Norman’s Arizona — was seized last week by the Arizona Department of Revenue for non-payment of taxes. Its windows are shrouded with white paper, and a message on the answering service apologizes for the inconvenience, promising to reopen…
Miracle Mile Deli When Jack Grodzinsky died in September 1998 at the age of 78, more than 650 people attended his funeral. It was a touching tribute to a respected businessman, an active participant in many Valley charities and a cornerstone of Phoenix’s Jewish community. While the sentiment was sincere,…
Your family’s favorite restaurant serves Blue Bunny ice cream, a fact the owners proudly promote on their menu, and on clever tabletop tents. It gives you warm fuzzies to think that the proprietor is so concerned with delivering quality that he’s offering you the name brand.Perhaps he is, but as…
I’m going to go out on a limb and say this: Cheating is good for us. When it comes to primal urges, human beings aren’t designed to be monogamous. Even Charles Darwin, after discovering female barnacles that kept a tiny male partner in each of two little pockets inside their…
Local businessman Danny Hendon found his success in soapsuds, as owner of the 13 Danny’s Family Carousel Carwashes across the Valley. Now, the entrepreneur has trained his sights on a spiffy new upscale supper club in the East Valley. If it sounds like an odd pairing, it is. The resulting…
SYSCO Food Services of Arizona’s annual food service exhibition came off without a hitch the other week — great for SYSCO and its vendors, but a bit disappointing for the industry folks hoping to stock their pantries for free as they’ve done in years past. Instead of being allowed to…
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, a restaurant customer comes up with a new complaint that’s beyond bizarre. Apparently, some folks think Origami’s, a pleasant little Asian fast-food place at Scottsdale and Shea, serves too much food, and they’re not going to take it anymore.Really. Stopping in for…
The Valley is home to a wide range of exotic cuisines, with everything from Ethiopian to Afghan and Pakistani restaurants at the ready to feed wanna-be global gourmets. For a city our size, though, we’ve traditionally been pretty short on French food. We can recite the big players without breaking…
What would a casino experience be without that must-have, the all-you-can-eat buffet? This isn’t typical food in trough, however — Casino Arizona caters to higher tastes with Eagle’s Nest. Put this place on your list of where to eat well, eat a lot, and eat cheap. There’s no mistaking we’re…
It’s what we all look for when choosing a pizza parlor: whether the chef holds a Guinness World Record. The folks at the New Wise Guys in Scottsdale must think so, given the way they emblazon the honor bestowed on chef Robert Tripi in their ads and on the back…
