Spring is one of the best times of the year for the culinary arts. Veggies are ripening, farmers’ markets are stocked and it’s perfect patio weather. It’s also a great time for local restaurants to change up their seasonal menus and prepare for summer. On May 1, J&G Steakhouse at the Phoenician is rolling…
Ken Rotcop is a Hollywood legend. If you haven’t heard of him before, that’s because most of his 40+ years in the movie and television industries have been spent behind the scenes, writing for game shows and television series’ and heading up four film studios including Embassy Pictures and Hanna-Barbera. He also supervised production…
Being a mom is one tough job — some say it’s the toughest job there is — and Mother’s Day is the one day a year most moms truly feel appreciated. It’s also the busiest restaurant holiday of the year, so now’s not the time to prove mom right about your procrastination habit. We’ve got the…
In recent years, Phoenix residents have fallen in love with all things retro. Historic home tours draw tons of visitors and clothing stores like Hollywood Regency and Mint have capitalized on the vintage/pinup/rockabilly trend. Now Roosevelt Row’s getting in on the retro action with two new stores featuring clothes, trinkets…
Courtesy of Modern Steak Modern Steak’s new sommelier is a real winner. A few years ago at a food festival, I overheard a so-called wine expert ranting about how women were lousy sommeliers. “It’s not their fault of course,” he drawled. “It’s all of those hormones! A woman’s ability to gauge the taste…
In Grandpa’s day, only criminals and sailors had ink while pierced ears were strictly for ladies. Now it’s hard to find a teenager who isn’t tatted up or studded with more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese. Those kids will blend right in at the Arizona Tattoo Expo. The…
When it comes to talent, the apple usually doesn’t fall far from the tree. Will Smith’s son is a budding movie star, Muhammad Ali’s daughter kicks ass in the ring, and Miley Cyrus’s songs are as crappy as the tunes by her country crooner daddy. Local artist Spencer Mahaffey-Maat didn’t…
Music editor Martin Cizmar’s recent blog on his exploits at the Arizona Barbecue Festival left me craving some rib stickin’, finger lickin’ good food. Whether you prefer your ‘cue dry-rubbed Texas style or coated in sticky sweet sauce like they do it in Kansas City, somewhere in Phoenix they’ve got your fave. My…
It’s nice to see Arizona in the news for good reasons these days. Alice Cooper’stown, the downtown rock n’ roll restaurant slash sports bar owned by legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper, has been named one of the Top 10 Celebrity-Owned restaurants by TripAdvisor.com. Cooper’stown comes in at #8 on the list, which also…
Who doesn’t love soul food? Fried chicken, with or without waffles. Collard Greens. Sweet Potato pie. Trouble is, it’s not the most healthful grub around. Enter Bryant Terry, the self-proclaimed eco-chef (“that’s ECHO-chef, not EEKO-chef,” he says) and author of Vegan Soul Kitchen, a recipe book of healthy meat-free African-American cuisine. Terry shared his…
This past Friday night, fashionistas (and fashionistos?) from across the Valley packed into the pool area at Scottsdale’s retro-chic Hotel Valley Ho for the 4th Annual Spring into Summer fashion show featuring Beach Bunny Swimwear and up-and-coming L.A. designer Katharine Story. If the show was any indication, this summer’s fashion trends will highlight…
That’s the crazy scheme nationally recognized poet and former LA Weekly writer S.A. Griffin is planning. Griffin purchased a defunct U.S. military practice bomb for $100 from some dude on Craigslist in November of last year and set about drilling, grinding and refurbishing it into a sleek pinstriped capsule filled with poetry…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amber-rae/ / CC BY 2.0 Get your tootsies down to the Urban Wine Walk. There are so many fabulous restaurants along the light rail route in Metro Phoenix that it’s hard to pick just one. So don’t! Visit them all at the first-ever Phoenix Urban Wine Walk from 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, April…
Have you noticed all of the food-related charity events that have been cruising into town lately? Sugar and Champagne: The SAVORlife Soiree, Forks and Corks, Dining Out For Life… we could go on and on. Well, add one more to that list: the upcoming Bake For Hope from May 2-8. The…
Sometimes, horrible controversy begats great art. Such is the case with spray paint artist Ernesto Yerena Montejano, aka Hecho Con Ganas, who cited Phoenix as his “third home” after stopping by in January for a Sheriff Joe protest. His work is killer: clean, bright and graphic, with powerful messages and iconic images like this…
While everyone else is hanging on to The-Dream’s latest release and copying Erykah Badu’s new ‘do, you can’t let go of your Kool and The Gang vinyl or your dated afro. Seize the golden opportunity to relive the glory days of ’70s soul and R&B at Golden Again. Special guests…
In spite of Jennifer Aniston’s pitiful performance in The Bounty Hunter and James Cameron’s inexplicable Best Director Oscar loss for Avatar, we still have hope for the movie industry. Arizona State University’s rising film stars will compete for cash and prizes at the 5th Annual Student Film Festival. The event…
Vegetarians, beware! We’re getting down and dirty with all kinds of meat products this week, from glorious bacon to Italian beef to pepperoni. So stop reading now if you consider tofu “the other white meat.” Pizza’s really the perfect food. Everyone loves it, even picky kids who’d rather eat a…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/exfordy/ / CC BY 2.0 Your puppy will be one pleased pooch after this month’s Get Your PHX. Was your pooch jealous of the doggie diva gourmet dinner featured on last week’s Private Chefs of Beverly Hills? Scratching at the screen? Giving you those puppy dog eyes? Console Fido with a trip…
This year’s Picnic was all about drowning your sorrows in a stiff one. The proof was in the pudding — or rather, the Blo-Safe breathalyzer station and “don’t drive drunk” ads posted at each gate. The Absolut tent and beer garden were packed to capacity and the wine was flowing profusely over at Cooks &…
“You’re going to hear a lot of interesting language today,” announced Chef James Porter, host of today’s Challenge to the Chefs at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival and owner of Petite Maison. The question is, was he referring to the cool culinary terms everyone was throwing around or the fact the event would’ve had TV…
There’s something magical about making food or drink with your own two hands. Not that I haven’t passed a few store-bought cakes off as my own at dinner parties, but it just doesn’t feel the same when your contribution to the meal comes out of a bottle, box or KFC bucket. But what…
