Happy hour at downtown Tempe’s Caffe Boa already has a reputation for being a great after-work destination, but there’s a weekly promo that sounds extra delicious: Tasting Tuesdays. From 5 to 7 p.m. every Tuesday, you can taste up to four different wines for five bucks. That’s totally a deal,…

In a thriving economy, we’d call Scottsdale restaurateur Peter Kasperski’s grand plans to expand one of his eateries (Sea Saw) and open three brand-new ones (Mexican Standoff, Shell Shock, Confection) “ambitious.” Reeeally ambitious. These days, as the SouthBridge spaces for his unopened businesses sit dark (oh god, the rent!), the…

Do you remember Beef Eaters? The old-school steak and seafood restaurant that closed several years ago and still sits vacant on Camelback Road? I drove by the other day on the way to Target, and noticed signs of life — looked like there was some kind of construction going on…

It’s been months in the making — surely more months than chef Wade Moises originally planned on when he and business partner/sous chef Nicholas Gentry left their gigs at Sassi, the swanky north Scottsdale fine dining spot, last June. But after finally getting the green light from the city last week,…

To be sure, every visit to Fine’s Cellar ends up an impromptu wine dinner, but every Wednesday this month, the Old Town Scottsdale restaurant is doing something extra special: Chef’s Table dinners. Executive chef Cullen Campbell creates four courses tailored to each week’s featured winery. This week, Bonaccorsi Pinot Noir is in the spotlight…

We love reading about ourselves, don’t we? How else to explain the Facebook “25 Random Things About Me” phenomenon? That’s why I thought you’d be intrigued by the results of a recent study of Phoenix and Scottsdale diners, conducted by Knoodle, a local marketing agency. Through surveys of 98 local…

You know the post-holiday lull is finally over when there are almost — almost — too many things going on. Not a bad thing, especially when you like a few eating options. Today through Sunday, celebrate the Year of the Ox at Phoenix Chinese Week’s Culture and Cuisine Festival. The…

Are you watching Top Chef? (No spoiler in this blog, fyi…) I thought the latest challenge — the one where the chefs got to eat at Le Bernardin, then had to figure out how to recreate the dishes themselves — was the best one yet. I bet the contestants were…

I’m so sick of hearing about the recession. Aren’t you? There’s got to be a bright spot in the midst of dark economic times, and for me, it’s the way folks are starting to get in touch with their inner bargain-hunters, being pickier about how they spend their hard-earned dough…

Last year at this time, it seemed like Korean-style tangy frozen yogurt, in the vein of California’s popular Pinkberry chain, was destined to overtake gelato as the frozen trendy dessert du jour. But did it get too big for its britches? I just heard Ice Tango closed its north Scottsdale…

89! I hear this is the best score ever given to an Arizona wine (Callaghan’s 2001 Syrah scored the same). Not bad for a debut label, huh? Wine Spectator rated Arizona Stronghold’s Nachise in a recent Super Bowl feature where the editors rounded up 22 top wines (a la 22…

Riding on the wave of popularity that local farmers markets are having these days, two sister eateries in central Phoenix, Switch and Ticoz, just started hosting weekly parking lot farmers markets of their own last weekend. According to employees at both restaurants, the markets feature vegetables, flowers, jam and salsa, baked…

I don’t know what it was about this past Christmas, but for some reason, I found it a whole lot easier to get out my checkbook and send some dough to local non-profits than to slog through the list of presents I had to buy. And seriously, right after I read…

My mom and my Grandma Laudig get top credit for shaping my attitudes about food, but Brian Preston-Campbell probably deserves the bronze medal. I’ve known the guy since I was a high schooler and he was a C.I.A. student. He introduced me to pho, tasting menus, smoked mozzarella, and expensive…

Sideways may have been a fictional tale, but the elusive and obsession-inducing qualities of Pinot Noir are completely true. Consider Siduri Wines, a winery that produces only Pinot Noir, all single-vineyard releases from its 20 vineyards in California and Oregon. Owners Adam and Diana Lee’s devotion to the grape has…

Now that Sens Asian Tapas & Sake Bar is up and running with its dinner service, chef-owner Johnny Chu has finally added lunch hours (11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday) and a new wok menu. (***Update: Lunch starts Monday, February 9.) By “new,” I actually mean new to Sens,…

A brand-new spot called Second Line Creole Caribbean Cuisine just opened on Monday, in the place where Irie Jamaican Restaurant used to be before it moved up the street. Owner Duma Shange, a native of uptown New Orleans, tells me he makes “the best waffles in town, from scratch.” The…

Farmers market regulars know they need to show up bright and early to get the best pick o’ the veg — especially if Seacat Gardens is going to be there. Carl Seacat’s lovely heirloom veggies are always in demand at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, but lately he’s been busy…

Try being a grump in the aisles of AJ’s when you come across a display for Bitch wine, an Australian grenache from the Barossa Valley. I spotted this last night, and got a laugh like I always do when I see some kind of cheeky wine label. (Seems like a lot…

Cookbook author Elizabeth Yarnell is a whiz with the dutch oven — to the point that she’s filled an entire cookbook with a globetrotting variety of healthful recipes that can be made in one pot. Even better, the dishes in Glorious One-Pot Meals take under half an hour to prep,…

The City of Glendale may grab attention for its big retail developments and the high-tech Cardinals stadium, but to me, the most appealing part doesn’t feel like a city at all. Instead, it’s got the close-knit charm of Main Street U.S.A. — a rare thing in this sprawling Valley of…

It seems like I’ve been hearing about it for months now: Noca’s mythical wagyu pastrami. Owner Eliot Wexler was busy tracking down wagyu brisket — definitely an unusual cut of the pricey, succulent Kobe beef — while chef Chris Curtiss was fine-tuning the ultimate recipe. Wexler was inspired by both the killer…