Bink’s Scottsdale Wednesday, August 13 On Wednesday James Beard Award-nominated chef Kevin Binkley will team up with winemaker Sam Pillsbury for a four-course wine-paired dinner at Bink’s Scottsdale. The menu includes inventive summer dishes such as lobster with avocado, melon, extra virgin olive oil, purslane, and frozen passion fruit vinaigrette;…
For a while now Noca’s fast-casual lunch program, Nocawich, has been a go-to place for an affordable gourmet lunch. The selection of top-notch sandwiches features high-quality ingredients — like everything at owner Eliot Wexler’s restaurant — and will set you back just about $10. We’re talking about excellent creations like…
Arizona Restaurant Week will return this September and if you’ve lived in the Valley for any extended amount of time, then you’re probably thinking you know the drill. Restaurants will offer a prix-fixe menu at a discounted price for a week (or so) in order to encourage diners to try…
We love our Valley dining scene but it’s impossible to deny that there are certain parts of town with more to offer than others. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of great restaurants, bars, and breweries that lie outside of these five geographic areas, but these are the places…
Last year we marked the hundred day countdown to Best of Phoenix by sharing some of our favorite food folks’ “Personal Best” lists. This year we’re bringing back our list of 100 Favorite Dishes. Have a suggestion for a dish you’d like us to try? Leave it in the comments…
Talk & Tasting with Jon Bonné Saturday, August 9 Wine lovers will probably know the name Jon Bonné, the award-winning journalist is wine editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and authors the paper’s annual “Top 100 Wines” list. This weekend Bonné will come to Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix to…
When Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails opened in 2012, the gastro-pub restaurant brought life to downtown Phoenix’s CityScape. That was in no small part thanks to then 32-year-old chef Stephen Jones, who quickly won over diners with his contemporary American fare including dishes such as Kentucky fried quail. But after…
Last fall Eight, Arizona PBS hosted the first annual Eight’s Great GrillFest in Peoria, bringing national and local celebrity chefs to the Valley to celebrate the art of cooking with fire. This November the event will return to a new venue and will have a new focus on fine wines…
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…
For years Pizza a Metro on the city’s west side has been an out of the way but favorite spot for wood-fired pizzas and scratch-made Italian specialties. The restaurant, formerly owned by Maurizio Benforte, is known for its meter-long pizzas — in fact, that’s where the restaurant gets its name,…
Last year we marked the hundred day countdown to Best of Phoenix by sharing some of our favorite food folks’ “Personal Best” lists. This year we’re bringing back our list of 100 Favorite Dishes. Have a suggestion for a dish you’d like us to try? Leave it in the comments…
A new dining spot, Fogon, a Mexican Eatery, will open its doors today.The restaurant is located at 7001 N. Scottsdale Road, inside the Scottsdale Seville shopping complex. Fogon will offer new way of experiencing Mexican food to the table, one you might already associate with Japanese teppanyaki and onion ring…
If you’ve driven down Scottsdale Road recently, you may have noticed a new building going up just south of Drinkwater Bouldevard on the east side of the street. Well that new building is the home of Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles Scottsdale, as in the second location of the well-loved soul…
Quiessence at the Farm at South Mountain Tuesday, August 5 Starting this week and continuing through the month of August, Quiessence at the Farm at South Mountain will be offering A Taste of Quiessence summer dining experience. For the event chef Dustin Christofolo will be creating a three-course tasting menu…
I know summer is supposed to be the slow season for restaurants in this town but I can tell you I didn’t notice anything slow during last month’s dining excursions. A few of the items that make it on July’s list of the best things I ate and drank are…
Marisa Lown Pastry chef The Radical Cupcake theradicalcupcake.blogspot.com These days you won’t find pastry chef Marisa Lown in a restaurant kitchen, but that doesn’t mean she’s left the Valley pastry scene. Lown is still active both in her kitchen and on social media as The Radical Cupcake, which was once…
Last year we marked the hundred day countdown to Best of Phoenix by sharing some of our favorite food folks’ “Personal Best” lists. This year we’re bringing back our list of 100 Favorite Dishes. Have a suggestion for a dish you’d like us to try? Leave it in the comments…
After just over six months, Taco Haus in Scottsdale has closed its doors — or rather, the restaurant’s doors have been padlocked by the landlord, according to two sources. The highly-anticipated modern Mexican spot from owner Dave Andrea and chef Payton Curry opened in late January at 7318 E. Shea…
Burger Daze, Liberty Market’s annual celebration of all things burger kicks off today. So how does a Baked Bean Burger with candied bacon sound for dinner? The answer might be pretty boring when you consider The Billionaire Burger, made with a 4-ounce fillet, lobster tail, melted butter, and caviar, which…
The Guilty Pleasure: Lay’s Do Us a Flavor Contest Finalists Where to Get It: We found all four varieties at Target Price: Ranges from $3.79 to $3.79 per bag What It Really Costs: From what we can tell, no one will like all four flavors so you’re going to have…
Beer Dinner: Huss Brewing Company Saturday, August 2 We’re pretty excited that well-known Valley chef Matt Taylor has relocated to the kitchen at Gertrude’s at the Desert Botanical Garden. And if you’re looking for a good excuse to go check out what the chef has up his sleeve, then this…
If the first half of 2014 is an accurate indication of how the rest of this year’s going to go, then we’re in for quite a delicious ride. We’ve welcomed more than a few hot new dining spots to the scene, some of which didn’t quite make this list but…
