What better way to show your support for the Arizona Cardinals than to eat an edible version of their mascot? It’s sort of like how ingesting certain animals is believed to give you the power of that animal in Asian cultures. But instead of eating monkey brains to be smarter,…
Last night at dinner, discussion came up about whether it’s a good idea to go back to school during a recession. Of course it is! You’re going to be toughing it out on a student budget whether the economy’s good or bad, so you may as well bide your time,…
For the last three and a half years, Rhonda McDonald and Kathy VanDerworp have been working as coffee vendors at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, but they’ve recently taken the leap into full-time coffee shop ownership. Coffee & Tea Express (5835 W. Palmaire Ave., Ste. E, in Glendale) has been open since…
Things are starting to perk up downtown. Randall Denton, who managed the Willow House for three years, has a two-month-old coffee roasting business called Xanadu Coffee Co., located behind the former “new” Willow House space on Van Buren (call 480-220-8779 for info). His clients include the Hotel San Carlos, Paisley…
I’ve had it. This week I’ve read menus from three different fancy restaurants, all pimping their “kurobota” or “korubuta” or some other misspelling of kurobuta, a word you shouldn’t use unless you expect at least half of your diners to know what the hell it is in the first place…
After six months with the lights off, the freestanding building that formerly housed Dish — part of the Shops at Gainey Village, at the southeast corner of Scottsdale and Doubletree Ranch Roads — is about to get a second wind. A new company out of Sacramento plans to open The Kitchen By Good Eats…
Years ago, I loved to wander deep into New York’s Chinatown — as far as my feet would take me, until none of the signs were in English anymore — always knowing that I’d find some kind of satisfaction. If I was lonely, people-watching and random conversations with shopkeepers cheered…
From beauty parlor to pizza parlor — that’ll be the transformation of the old Salon de Venus building at 20th Street and Camelback into a stylish, affordable new eatery called The Parlor. Set to open in late February, it’s the vision of owner Aric Mei, whose parents own the Nello’s…
That old mantra about real estate — location, location, location! — is not lost on Luis Mata. The chef-owner of Plaza Grill, the fantastic Mexican restaurant in North Phoenix that I reviewed a few months back, blames an out-of-the-way location for the mid-December demise of his year-old eatery. It was…
It’s official, according to the just-released HealthSaver Caffeinated Cities Survey: Phoenix is the 10th most-caffeinated place in the country. Tampa ranks number one, followed by Seattle, Chicago, New York, L.A., Baltimore, Miami, Boston, and Houston. The same national survey found that Phoenix respondents are the second-most likely to eat chocolate…
One of my dear friends freaked out when she somehow misplaced a Christmas gift she’d gotten for me months ago. I knew she was really disappointed by the way she told me about it. But honestly, it was the thought that counted for me, so what a surprise to get a…
That Guy Fieri is one busy dude. It seems like he has a lot on his plate hosting Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives (a Chow Bella fave for all the local indie restaurants it’s featured), which takes him all around the country, and Guy’s Big Bite. But he’s also hosting Ultimate…
You thought the time for bubbly came and went with New Year’s Eve? Not at Vincent’s on Camelback. Chef Vincent Guerithault is kicking off his 2009 wine dinner series with the tenth annual “Extraordinary Champagne Affair” on Friday, January 23. For $55 a head, guests will nibble on Guerithault’s fabulous…
The just-released second edition of Jane Butel’s “passionate cookbook” Chili Madness features more than 130 new recipes from the New Mexico-based author and cooking school owner, and tonight, Butel herself will be at Changing Hands for a special tasting and booksigning at 7 p.m. Besides recipes for all kinds of chili, from…
There’s a new family-owned Italian restaurant, Jimmy’s of Chicago, that brings home cooking from the ‘burbs of Chicago to the ‘burbs of Phoenix. It opened at 3107 S. Gilbert Rd. (at Pecos) on December 19. Owner Kerry Kersting says his new eatery has the same menu and neighborhood vibe as Jimmy’s…
Things have been dark at Zest Spirited Dining lately. Recently, a sign posted on the door of the once-bustling Central Phoenix restaurant said, “Sorry! We are closed for renovations.” But that was pretty fishy. Closed for renovations during the holidays, the time of year when people might actually justify a nice…
Just found out that Kitchen Classics, the long-running store on Thomas Road (4041 E. Thomas), will be closing its doors for good, sometime next week. (They’re playing it by ear on the exact day, an employee told me.) Chalk this retail casualty up to the economy, like so many other…
What to do this Saturday? Well, if you want to hit up the very newest place in town, there’s Autostrada, a casual Italian spot at DC Ranch. Tonight’s their last night of “friends and family” service, and tomorrow is their first full day open to the general public. This is…
Chow Bella’s been running for more than two years now. Can you believe it? (Me neither — I should’ve at least put up a Chow Bella birthday post, huh?) What started as a ramshackle one-woman-show is now a sprawling empire of food bloggery, with a whole cast of assorted characters…
Was it the economy that did them in? Stephanie Case, a representative for Chandler’s Fulton Towne Center, confirmed that popular gelato shop Aunt Lena’s Creamery closed at the end of November, although she couldn’t comment on the cause. Co-owner Ray D’Ottavio, pictured above, appeared on TV with Food Network personality Guy Fieri this past August, for…
Move over, chick lit. According to a recent article in Publisher’s Weekly, the new trend is food-inspired fiction where cooking is part of the plot, and memoirs where there might even be recipes. They’ve dubbed it “quiche lit.” Entertaining Disasters, by Nancy Spiller, is one example (at left). In the way…
Here’s a great idea that I wish Slow Food Phoenix would steal from our sister city to the south: a Slow Food film festival! Tonight, Slow Food Tucson kicks off its fourth annual event with dinner and a movie — of course — followed by three more nights of festivities…
