Marcellino and Sima Verzino want to feed you more than just pasta. Now pizza’s on the menu. Just a month after Marcellino Ristorante Italiano started offering lunch service — and with it, chef Marcellino Verzino’s wood-fired pizzas — the high-style SouthBridge spot is expanding its offerings to include an all-day…
After having been on Heidi Lee’s radio show Into the Soup (2 to 3 p.m., Saturdays, on 1100 AM) a bunch of times in the last few months, I can tell you with total confidence that she knows how to have a good time.Bruschetta and wine in the middle of the…
Today was a beautiful day for a latte, so I stopped by two-week-old Jobot Coffee Shop (918 N. 5th St.), which took over the old HoodRide space next to Made Boutique on Roosevelt Row. The coffee, a custom roast by local fave Cartel, was delicious, and the breeze blowing through…
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After flirting with the idea for a few years, Sens chef-owner Johnny Chu is finally opening an authentic Asian hot pot/shabu-shabu restaurant, called Tien Wong. Never had this cuisine before? Imagine platters of raw ingredients that you dunk into a bubbling pot of broth until they’re cooked to your liking (in Japanese, “shabu-shabu”…
Chef Aaron May is finally expanding his empire to Downtown Phoenix, adding Mexican food to his roster of half a dozen other restaurant concepts that run the gamut from upscale tapas to casual American breakfast fare.Vitamin T is the name of his new spot set to open November 12 at…
I hope they’re having fun down at Phoenix Public Market’s Urban Grocery & Wine Bar, because time sure flies.It’s already been a year since the brick-and-mortar market and restaurant — sibling to the outdoor farmers market — first opened its doors to serve the Downtown community. And to celebrate, tonight’s…
After recently celebrating its 80th anniversary, the Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa is undergoing a $7 million rejuvenation that includes a new signature restaurant to replace Red’s Steakhouse. Brian Cooper (former exec sous chef at Lon’s and sous chef at T. Cook’s) returns to the Valley from his current gig at…
I’m psyched about a new restaurant called Chaka Chaka, and not just because it’s five minutes away from my office. The place also happens to make a delicious jerk chicken sandwich that chef-owner Charlie Blonkenfeld says is the signature dish at his week-old eatery, located just south of Chase Field, next…
Look who’s back on the boob tube! Well, not the boob tube, really, just YouTube. If you haven’t had a chance to check out FnB Television, the series of food-and-wine-centric episodes starring telegenic Scottsdale restaurateur Pavle Milic, then get caught up with this one, the fourth installment. Here, he heads…
Was the Pumpkin Showdown our best cook-off yet? I think so, hands down.Our enthusiasm for this seasonal ingredient started early. Well over a month ago, contributor Cyndi Coon started drumming up excitement for all things pumpkin at local restaurants, and before long, the whole Chow Bella staff was dreamily anticipating…
When the Phoenix Public Market opened its long-awaited Urban Grocery & Wine Bar a year ago — my, how time flies! — downtowners rejoiced at having a brick-and-mortar home for local farm products and other foodstuffs to complement the twice-a-week outdoor market. Here, they could finally stock their fridges with…
A stylish friend alerted me to something I can’t stop thinking about, even when it’s well past breakfast time: Jim’s Pancakes, a series of whimsical and wildly creative pancakes that a blogger-dad lovingly creates for his three-year-old blonde cherub of a daughter. From pancake eyeglasses and jewelry, to a zoo-ful of pancake critters,…
Ever since La Condesa Gourmet Taco Shop first opened earlier this year, I’ve been a big fan of the CenPho restaurant’s jaw-dropping salsa bar. Cochinita tacos and chicken mole burros are great, but the dining experience is even better thanks to the impressive selection of fresh, homemade toppings to customize…
Social media-savvy chef Justin Beckett has had his work cut out for him in the renovation of Arcadia’s old That’s Italiano building, whose progress over the past several months he’s frequently photographed, Tweeted, and posted on Facebook. Just from the pictures alone, it’s apparent that opening his own restaurant, Beckett’s Table, has been…
If you’re not a regular at the swanky Arizona Biltmore Golf Club, Adobe Restaurant probably isn’t on your radar. And even if you are, you might think of the restaurant as just a pitstop on your way to the championship courses. But that might change now that Wade Moises is in…
What’s next for chef Bernie Kantak, who left his longtime executive chef gig at Cowboy Ciao and Kazimierz last year?Well, Next is next. He and partner Andrew Fritz (formerly of Cowboy Ciao and Sea Saw) recently signed a lease and have begun gutting the shuttered nightclub (which was once the…
The tiny little former Taco Bell next to The Vig made a great first home for chef Aaron May’s retro breakfast joint, Over Easy, but now the restaurant is ready for more hungry diners in its expanded, newer spot.Located at 4730 E. Indian School, #123, the new Over Easy has…
James Beard Award-winning chef Robert McGrath of North Scottsdale’s Renegade Canteen has just been named the host of a new television show on Eight, Arizona’s PBS channel. Check, Please! will be a half-hour restaurant review program featuring three different regular Arizonans’ takes on a different local restaurant. “All we ask is…
Andrea Volpi, the Milan-born chef who impressed the Valley with his Italian cuisine at La Locanda in the ’90s, and later succeeded Claudio Urciuoli at Taggia, will be heading up the kitchen at Local Bistro, a new European eatery set to open in early November. Restaurant owner German Osio, who…
Buffalo Wings & Rings owners Jim and Carol Lolli rebranded their Chandler restaurant into a craft-brew-friendly eatery and taproom called The Hungry Monk, and quietly opened last month at Chandler and Dobson (1760 W. Chandler Blvd., 480-963-8000).But now they’re up and running, ready to rally the public and host an…
