Restaurateur Karen Firestone may be new to the business, but she isn’t afraid to make a statement. First, there’s the name of her place — Cafe ah Pwah. She once took exception when I wrote that it sounds kind of Hawaiian. It also sounds kind of silly, here in the…
It seems diners are tired of being taken to the cleaners when they order takeout. In an increasing trend across the Valley, tip jars are showing up on the counters of fast-food places, take-away pizza stores and self-service restaurants. And if the letters I’ve received lately are any indication, the…
Deli lovers have had their noses pressed against the glass at Times Square Deli since late spring, awaiting its planned August opening. Inevitable delays resulted in a November 1 debut, and an even greater anticipation for what was described as a restaurant ambiance straight out of New York City.The ambiance…
Well, whack me over the head with a lamb chop. Just when I think I’ve seen everything possible on a restaurant menu, something new sneaks up and surprises me. And not because a dish is simply bizarre — those are unfortunately too frequent — but because even though something sounds…
There must be an international siren song calling from the building next to the Circle K at 16th Street and Campbell. This unassuming little box lures in ethnic restaurants one after the other — most recently it was home to a spectacularly flawed Russian eatery, followed by a short-lived Chinese…
The menu at Scottsdale’s Cowboy Ciao features this actual guest quote: “That mushroom dish is so good, I want to take off my clothes and roll in it!” While Cowboy Ciao’s management doesn’t encourage that kind of behavior, guests so inclined might soon be able to give it a try…
From sports to the creative arts to big business, it’s the ability to perform under pressure that separates the professionals from the amateurs. Yet it’s also been proven that without pressure, performance can often flag. If that theory holds true in the restaurant business, Caffe Portobello offers an excellent case…
The holidays mean warm family gatherings highlighted by good food. That is, for those who know their way around a stove. But for all the busy people who have helped Arizona’s restaurant industry become the nation’s second-fastest growing, a stove is simply a place to store pizza boxes.Yet there’s no…
The Valley’s restaurant industry suffered a significant loss November 4. Myron “Bubba” Stephenson, chef-owner of downtown Phoenix’s popular Caribbean and Creole restaurant Chez Bubba’s, passed away in his sleep that morning.Stephenson’s death resulted from coronary complications after he underwent a kidney transplant early last month. The surgery hoped to resolve…
Twisted Vine Ah, the chilly nip of the holiday season. This is the time of year when the covers of Gourmet and Bon Appetit tempt with mouth-watering photos of succulent turkeys, hearty soups and stews, and steaming mugs of cocoa to warm our souls as well as our mitts. But…
Chef Mahmmud Jaafari has got a gem on his hands with Green Leaf Cafe, a casual little shop on 19th Avenue and Campbell in Phoenix. The place has been around for more than a decade, serving an ambitious menu of Persian cuisine accented by Mediterranean, Italian, American, Mexican, Cajun, vegetarian…
The challenges of converting a former 42,000-square-foot supermarket into a 500-seat professional dinner theater in Mesa presented greater challenges than the Prather family had anticipated. Construction delays played havoc, but it looks like the soup is finally on at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre-West, located at Brown and Higley. Gershwin’s Crazy…
It’s musical chairs of a most interesting kind between two restaurants with completely different concepts. Hapa Sushi Lounge’s star chef, Nobu Fukuda, is departing his award-winning adjunct of Restaurant Hapa to open an addition to Cowboy Ciao.This means that Restaurant Hapa, lavishly celebrated by local and national media for its…
The kitchen is having some difficulty securing one of its specialties this week. My guess is that the chapulines are particularly feisty in cooler weather, making them harder to catch. Chapuline means grasshopper, and on some days the critters are available at Restaurant Oaxaca in north central Phoenix.It takes a…
For the first time in 25 years, the Arizona Department of Health Services has updated its requirements for food safety in restaurants. While it took the agency three years to develop the new rules, the need for a few of the changes seems pretty obvious.At least one person on a…
Manhattan has Drew Nieporent and the Myriad Group, an enterprise that began in 1985 with a single restaurant, Montrachet. Today, Nieporent operates a virtual empire of some of New York’s best-loved eateries: Tribeca Grill, Rubicon, Nobu, Layla, TriBakery, HeartBeat, Icon and Pulse.The Valley has Tom and Chrysa Kaufman. While operating…
Here’s a recipe for weirdness: Put about 100 food writers from across the country in a convention center at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Load them up with jellybeans, Q-Tips soaked in tannic acid, bottles of chopped crayons and coffee, plus a healthy dose of androsterone (the chemical found in…
Done right, beef bourguignon should be a classic dish that cravings are made of, with economical beef chuck made glamorous from a roll in flour, a lusty browning in oil, and a deep pond of Burgundy, the wine deglazed and scraped up with good beef bits from the pan. Cooking…
When the James Beard Foundation hosts an event, it’s upper crust all the way. Gourmets treat the dinners very seriously, displaying etiquette that would please Miss Manners, and the talk is deep, thoughtful stuff. Sure.Last week’s Friends of James Beard event at the Royal Palms showcased the skills of several…
Fresh fish cut daily, reads the menu at The Cracked Crab. Note the word choice: cut, not caught, daily, although our gracious server assures us that the bounty of lobster, shrimp, salmon, scallops, mussels and more arrives bright and shiny every morning.Putting too fine a point on semantics? Hardly. When…
Talk is swirling that the massive Mondo’s restaurant may be closing, barely a year after opening at The Promenade on Scottsdale Road south of Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard. While restaurant staffers say it’s “just a dirty rumor,” court documents suggest otherwise.A lawsuit filed September 5 shows that Mondo’s of Scottsdale…
Back Porch Cafe President Bush is encouraging Americans to band together and support our country, and we’re doing it. In this time of flags rippling from the rooftops and fluttering behind vehicles on the road, we’re celebrating everything patriotic and proud. So it makes sense that something suddenly appeals so…
