We Went Behind the Scenes of the New Season of Check Please! Arizona
The show is fairly simple: Random people from the community recommend a favorite restaurant and provide some information about themselves.
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The “World’s Largest Potluck Dinner” Is Going Down Next Weekend in Metro Phoenix
Jaime Lyn Gonzales wants to host a community dinner in downtown Verrado, Arizona. She wants every guest to bring some kind of food item. She wants participants to help celebrate neighborly living in this quaint Buckeye suburb. She also wants it to be the largest potluck dinner in human history…
Arizona Distilling Co. to Open Cocktail Bar in New Tempe Location
Making liquor is a lot of work. If you don’t believe it, just ask one of the owners of Arizona Distilling Co. From a distillery in Tempe, the company pumps out bottle after bottle of Commerce Gin, Park Rye Whiskey, and Mission Vodka, among other spirits. Hardest of all is…
State Rideshop Is Interactive New Addition to Tempe Bike Scene
Three days before State Rideshop opened to the public, Eric Ferguson met up with Timmy Ham. Ferguson is co-owner of State Bicycle Co., a bike manufacturer based in Tempe. Ham is a prolific street artist known as “Sloth.” Ferguson pointed to a pillar in the middle of the store. It…
Inside North Scottsdale’s Circus School of Arizona
On a recent Saturday, Zavier Pike picks up a pair of devil sticks. The teenager tosses the baton back and forth. He flings it behind his back, and then he passes it under his leg. Each time, he catches the baton with ease. Finally, he flips the tasseled stick forward,…
Storyline Founders Dan Hoen Hull and Rachel Egboro Plan to Branch Out in Downtown Phoenix
Every Wednesday night, a crowd of people gets together at the Lawn Gnome bookstore and tells stories. Yarnball Storytelling Mic is about as simple as it gets: There’s a basic stage, a speaker system, and an audience crowded into old chairs. The outdoor space is so open that you can…
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Phoenix Receives $10 Million Federal Grant to Renovate Canal Trail
On Tuesday, October 27, Phoenix Spokes People announced the news on Facebook. “HUGE NEWS! We are thrilled to report that the City of Phoenix has been awarded a $10.3 million federal grant to improve the Grand Canal,” read the post. “Our canals are such an asset to our bicycling community,…
Mandy Bublitz of St. Francis Talks About Baking, Brick Ovens, and the Virtues of Quality Bread
Being a professional baker, Mandy Bublitz has a white chef’s coat, but she doesn’t like to wear it. When we meet, the coat is unbuttoned, and she’s wearing a tie-dye T-shirt underneath. This is how she rolls: She’s easygoing, plainspoken, and good-humored. When she’s done with her overnight shift, she’s…
9 Reasons Every Cyclist Needs the Metro Phoenix Bike Ways Trail Map
Every once in a while, local government spits out something amazing – like a map of all the bike routes in the Valley of the Sun. The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) has all kinds of resources for prospective riders, most of them detailed on their Facebook page. You can…
5 Best Things We Ate at The 2015 Arizona State Fair
Carnival food is a class unto itself. It’s not just junk food — it’s crazy junk food. It’s junk food so bizarre and unhealthy that every advertisement reads like a dare. Just when you thought that X couldn’t be dipped in Y, someone decides to try it. There’s a reason…
“Masterworks of Spanish Colonial Art” at Phoenix Art Museum Is a Mysterious Key to Latin American Soul
St. Gregory is a bearded man with hazel eyes, and he raises a finger to his temple, as if lost in thought. He looks like a typical pope, with his gold miter and elaborate robes. The portrait is standard Vatican fare — except for the eyeball floating in the corner…
Carla Wade Logan of Carly’s Bistro Dishes on Belgian Beer, Roosevelt Row, and a Life in the Industry
With its funky artwork and well-stocked bar, Carly’s Bistro is one of the culinary pillars of downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row. The restaurant has been open almost every day since launching more than a decade ago, drawing artists, musicians, and a diehard base of regulars. At the heart of the business…
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7 Things We Learned at the Vaping Expo in Downtown Phoenix
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire – unless you’re talking about vaping, which produces no smoke, no flame, and only a subtle aroma. The industry for electronic cigarettes is so new, it’s hard to believe that vendors are already hosting an expo. But here it is: Vaping experts from across the country…
9 Things to See at the 2015 Arizona State Fair
Brace yourself: For the next three weeks, more than a million people will converge on the Arizona State Fair, lured by the promise of cotton candy, petting zoos, and the timeless ballads of Meat Loaf. For $10, that’s a lot of entertainment (and unparalleled people-watching). At more than 130 years,…
Arizona’s Black Canyon Trail Named Among Best Mountain Bike Trails in U.S.
The Bureau of Land Management has a big job: It has to oversee 245 million acres of public land, track herds of wild horses, deal with forest fires, and patrol the wilderness for smugglers. Last week, they added another checkbox to their task list: Map the sweetest mountain bike trails…
Is It Chile in Here? Judging the Roosevelt Row Chile Pepper Festival
I love chili, chile peppers, and anything “picante.” But my threshold for oral pain has never been high, and I have a history of sobbing in Thai restaurants. Coming from the Northeast, a bland palate is par for the course. You don’t have to brace yourself for maple syrup and…
DIG IT Urban Gardens Opens on 16th Street in Phoenix This Weekend
Just what does 22,000 square feet look like? This is about half an acre. A typical suburban lot. A cozy swathe. Of course it’s what you do with 22,000 square feet that matters, and DIG IT Urban Gardens has some fertile plans: From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday,…
Tour de Fat 2015 at Tempe Beach Park: A Field Guide
Nothing goes together quite like bikes and beer. For many a scruffy cyclist, a day of hard-core riding is only complete after guzzling a pint of frothy IPA. Gear-heads and craft brewers have a lot in common, after all: They like their toys, they savor their experiences, and they like…
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Josh Johnson of District American Kitchen Describes Rural Roots, Switching Kitchens, and the “Five-Five” Lifestyle
For eight years, Joshua Johnson was chef de cuisine of Kai Restaurant. It’s hard to overstate the prestige of this position: Part of the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort, Kai is the only eatery in the state that can claim both a Five Diamond rating from AAA and a Five…
How ASU’s Bike Co-Op Brought a Garage Bike Back from the Dead
For four years, I’ve owned a “garage bike,” a blue Schwinn mountain bike nicknamed “Bluey.” Since 2012, Bluey has leaned against a cement wall, collecting dust and cobwebs. Each time I noticed Bluey, my heart sank. Poor little guy, I’d think. One day, I’ll fix you up nice. Like a…
Michael Babcock of Welcome Diner Talks Food Trucks, Comfort Food, and Korean Fried Chicken
Among local restaurateurs, one of the sweetest success stories is that of Michael Babcock. During a fortuitous road-trip, the Phoenix native discovered Southern comfort food, fell in love, and decided to break into the industry with Old Dixie’s Food Truck. He cultivated the business with his wife Jenn Robinson, and…
9 Things Facebook Needs Now That We’re Getting a Dislike Button
Last week, Facebook genie Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social media site is working on a “dislike” button – that is, an icon that expresses remorse and polite disagreement. We’re pretty sure there is no way this could possibly go wrong. Feeling inspired by this impending cyclone of hatred — er, empathy…