Scottsdale’s Thaifoon restaurant prides itself on what it is: a glamorous, trendy eatery with pleasant Thai-style food. Thaifoon also celebrates what it isn’t: an authentic Thai experience. Rather than intimidating clientele with lots of fierce chiles, exotic galangal, lemongrass, lime leaf, hot chile, and nam pla (fish sauce), Thaifoon concentrates…
Chef Vincent Guerithault is a hero among Valley foodies. The charming French fellow is considered the restaurateur who put Arizona on the culinary map when, back in the ’80s, he opened his eponymous bistro at 40th Street and Camelback. Thanks to Guerithault, the Phoenix food scene entered the big leagues,…
El Camino Café has opened in Scottsdale with a menu that, while not inspiring sparks for me, is sure to put fire in the bellies of local diners. The tiny spot in the former Mag’s Ham Bun location at Scottsdale and Shea serves cuisine called “Western ranch cooking,” and it…
There are several important things to keep in mind when dining at Peter’s Budapest Café, a new Hungarian restaurant in Scottsdale. Prepare to eat heartily, and heavily. One of the hallmarks of Hungarian food is its bulk. This means enormous platters of tender, juicy beef piled atop plump noodles; breaded,…
The enormous sign plastered on the front window of Altos Spanish Bistro says a lot, proudly proclaiming the upscale restaurant’s many gushing accolades from local and national media. The smaller signs taped to the inside of the doors early last week say even more: Altos has been padlocked by its…
For a cuisine that’s been around some 5,000 years, Indian food is remarkably in keeping with contemporary tastes. It’s low-fat, chock-full of vegetables, and meats usually are limited to small portions. And during a recession that has people pinching pennies, it’s also economical. Most local Indian restaurants keep entree prices…
Singles with healthy wallets can join a new meet-and-eat group in the Valley called Dinner for Six. For a 13-month membership costing a whopping $595 per person, three men and three women are matched as dining partners at local restaurants. No cheap date, this: There is an additional $15 event…
It’s not too difficult to figure out what the specialties are at I Love Sushi & Steak. The name’s as straightforward as they come — not like Callaloo in Scottsdale (after a Caribbean taro green), El Tlacayo in Tempe and north Phoenix (in honor of a Mexican dish of masa,…
Max & Myrl’s Chill Pad, a funky little Caribbean gem at Central and Thomas, has closed because of the death of its chef-owner, Bert Sylvester. Sylvester, 51, suffered a ruptured aortic aneurysm New Year’s Eve. It’s been a rough few months for the Valley’s Caribbean chefs — in November, Myron…
I don’t know why, but I find near-disasters thrilling. I’ll never forget one dinner at Beef Eaters in Phoenix — not because of the mediocre prime rib, but because of a candle that exploded on my table. It had burned down into the foil-wrapped holder and I discovered the stuff…
It wasn’t turning out to be a very good day for Wilbur. That morning, he’d been happily snuffling in the dirt, his pale pink skin caked with mud, just the way he liked it. By that evening, he was being lowered into a deep pit, his skin the next day…
So now it looks like the government may require warning labels on pretzels: “May cause choking and/or fainting.” Thanks, President Bush.If pretzels do require warnings, then one of the safest places in town to consume them is at Walker’s Cafe in downtown Phoenix. Some of the restaurant’s most loyal fans…
Mag’s Ham Bun, one of the Valley’s original restaurants and the namesake for a group of Scottsdale movers and shakers, has closed. El Camino Mexican restaurant has taken over the small shop in the Windmill Plaza on the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Shea Boulevard.Mag’s became well-known in the…
In Italian, grazie means thank you. In Valley of the Sun-speak, it means an exciting new cafe. Grazie Pizzeria and Wine Bar is the latest addition to an ever-impressive collection of interesting new restaurants calling metro Phoenix home. Most people probably haven’t heard of it yet. Many people, upon discovering…
My dining companion is joking that the new Sapporo reminds her so much of P.F. Chang’s that if someone were to put that eatery’s trademark entry monument horses on wheels and roll them in front of the place, diners might never know the difference. It’s true that the two enterprises…
The uproar continues at DG’s Metropolitan Deli & Grille, the forever-unfinished cafe in the former Munch-a-Bagel spot on Seventh Street near Camelback. After tinkering with the place for many months, revamping menus, renovating space and expanding, the owners finally introduced their concept in October. By December, the restaurant was closed…
The story of Rancho de Tia Rosa, a handout compiled by owners Dennis and Lizabeth Sirrine, spans six pages, single-spaced. While the restaurant just opened last spring, its lore supposedly goes all the way back to the turn of the 20th century, when Pancho Villa rode into colonial Juárez, Mexico,…
The year 2001 was a significant one for several of our Valley restaurateurs — in some cases leaving memories they’d likely rather forget.March: Legendary restaurateur Norman Fierros closed his highly popular Norman’s Arizona, after it was seized by the Arizona Department of Revenue for non-payment of back taxes. With more…
There’s a naked man hammering nails just outside the door of the restaurant. I can see him through the glass pane, working in happy rhythm as he repairs a damaged windowsill. Up, down, up, down, his hammer rises and strikes; tick-tock, tick-tock, his penis rocks, keeping the beat like a…
My tablemates can’t get over dessert. It’s been the topic of conversation for the past 45 minutes, the oohing, the aahing, the veritable drooling over the chocolate cake, the cream pie, the fruit bars. Any moment now, I’m sure the group will spasm, collapsing under the table with arms and…
Look out, Lalibela. For the first time since it opened almost five years ago, the little restaurant should be peering over its shoulder at competition for the Ethiopian dining market. About two months back, Blue Nile Cafe debuted just a few blocks away at Rural Road and University Drive.Cafe Lalibela…
Chocofin Chocolatier has been providing its handmade chocolates to the Valley’s top resorts for the past three years. Now, the purveyor of artisan European confections has opened a retail shop in Fountain Hills.These aren’t just any candies, but masterpieces of all-natural ingredients so special that they’re sold by the piece…
