After not quite a year at Top Chef Brian Malarkey’s Searsucker in Scottsdale, Steven “Chops” Smith has left as its executive chef. Smith — whose résumé also includes gigs at Kelly’s at SouthBridge (consulting), Different Pointe of View, Noca, St. Francis, Olive & Ivy, and the defunct Furio and Luc’s…
Oenophiles and casual wine enthusiasts alike looking for an exquisite bottle or a new spot to sit back and sip vino by the glass can now add Wine Warehouse of Scottsdale to the list. Offering an extensive selection of wine and beer as well as a bar, the locally owned…
When Lindsey Magee, a baker for three years at Lux on Central Avenue, was working on ideas for her first restaurant, inspiration came by way of New York City, through memories of a sandwich shop called Cafe Clementine in Tribeca. “I was working in the film industry then,” says Magee,…
If the dwindling wait times for a Cronut at Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York are a sign that the half-doughnut, half-croissant pastry trend is waning, then Safeway is making sure it picks up whatever crumbs are left. Recently, the grocery store chain has been selling its own version of…
Mesa-ites eating a vegetarian or vegan diet now have one more option for healthy breakfast and lunch dishes that go easy on the wallet: The Cutting Board Bakery & Café Opened last week and located at 2235 South Power Road, just south of Baseline Road, The Cutting Board will feature…
Sol Diablo Cantina Kitchen, the newest restaurant from the folks that brought the Valley the Humble Pie chain of pizzerias, may have soft opened for the ASU game against Wisconsin last Saturday (go Sun Devils!), but this weekend, its fiesta grande time. Promising a “mouth-watering menu of tacos, salsa, and…
Heads up, hot dog hounds: a new food truck loaded with gourmet franks and scratch-made sides will be hitting the Valley’s streets in October. Courtesy of Adam Allison, executive chef at North Scottsdale’s Skeptical Chymist, the hot dog truck, aptly called Frank. (for obvious ties to the tubular meat as…
The empanada is a food that means many things to people all over the globe. The filled turnover could be the savory-sweet and hearty Bolivian variety known as a salteña, the Chilean sort typically stuffed with seafood, or, as in Argentina, the country with which most Americans associate the empanada,…
For those who enjoy the portable perfection of a delicious wrapped snack, there may not be a more satisfying invention than the empanada. A food that means many things to people all over the globe, the filled turnover could be the savory-sweet and hearty Bolivian variety known as a salteña,…
After a summer-long renovation, a new chef, and a menu re-vamp, the transformation of T. Cook’s, the longstanding restaurant inside the Royal Palms Resort, is complete. And (bonus) there’s a new bar concept, too. Officially unveiled last Monday, T. Cook’s newly remodeled interior emphasizes a more vibrant color scheme as…
What do chefs do when they’re ready to leave the world of country club cuisine behind? Make pizza, of course. At least that’s the path chefs Marshall Reichert (Cottonwood Country Club) and Tyler Anderson (Palo Verde Country Club) decided to take. The duo plans to open H&H City Pizza (the…
The Breakfast Joynt, the locally owned breakfast and lunch spot that closed its North Scottsdale location in April after five years, is ready to (sun)rise again. Over the summer, owners David Phelps and Becky Mazzocco found a new home for The Breakfast Joynt’s tagline “Everyone Likes It in the Morning!”…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
Scottsdale’s Hilton Village, the 97,000 square-foot shopping center of more than 25 specialty shops, restaurants, and services, is getting some new neighbors of the culinary kind this fall. In addition to current restaurant tenants like Houston’s and Humble Pie, plus coming-in-November Slanted Rice Vietnamese Bistro, the newest restaurant from Hue…
Soon, fans of La Condesa Taco Shop, the contemporary Mexican cafe in Central Phoenix, will need to get used to calling the restaurant by its new name: La Santisima. Felipe Guzman, who owns La Condesa with wife Christina, tells me having to change the name of his three-year-old restaurant was…
How big of a deal is bladesmith Murray Carter to knife enthusiasts? In addition to possibly being the only Caucasian to take the position of number seventeen in the Sakemoto family tradition of Yoshimoto bladesmithing (this after 18 years of training in rural Japan), Carter’s also been awarded the rating…
As if we needed more reasons to spend time (and money) at Whole Foods, the Valley’s newest location is giving us a few more. Set to open at 9 a.m., next Wednesday, September 18, the Whole Foods Market Camelback store (20th Street and Camelback in the Biltmore area) will feature…
Mesa residents now have one fewer option for pulled pork, brisket, and racks of ribs — 5 Star BBQ & Grill has shuttered. The ‘cue joint, owned by Jim and Joanne Hauer, who started 5 Star as a barbecue-focused catering company in 2009, opened in a former Taco Bell on…
This year, two very good Mediterranean-style spots — Hummus Xpress and Tzikii Pita Grill — opened in Tempe, luring diners with healthful, homemade creations packed into pitas, bowls, and plates, served Subway-style, and priced to please. Their appearance couldn’t be more timely. All over the country, healthy eating is on…
Since it closed temporarily two weeks ago, Astor House, the charming, small plate spot from DJ Fernandes (Tuck Shop, Vovomeena) that opened last spring, has been going through a transformation — of the ‘cue kind. Featuring smoked meats done in a barbecue style Fernandes refers to as “Coronado Cue,” the…
For those who fantasize about real-deal ramen and Asian teas, T.Spot, the new space inside Tien Wong, the casual hot pot restaurant in Chandler, might be the place of your dreams. Courtesy of chef Johnny Chu and wife, partner, and general manager Linda Q (the couple also owns SoChu House…
Steak ‘n Shake, the diner-style restaurant chain located primarily in the Midwest and South and known for its Original Steakburger and hand-dipped milkshakes, is making its first foray into Arizona — by way of Tempe’s Mill Avenue…
