By Wynter Holden Reading an ethic restaurant menu can be like trying to decode a mysterious ancient parchment; at least, if you don’t speak the language. It can also get you into a lot of trouble if you’re remotely picky about food, or allergic to any ingredients. Does pesche mean…
Notice the short cropped hair, the year-round uniform of board shorts and comfortable sandals. The perfectly tanned skin. The lack of sweat on his brow, even in 100-degree temperatures. Yes, you guessed it. Copper Star Coffee owner and master barista Bill Sandweg is one of those elusive creatures we rarely…
I admit it. I’m in love. It’s what I like to call a “culinary crush”; when you find a new local restaurant that you become completely obsessed with. Every time you’re hungry and don’t have plans, you turn to your crush, where you always know you’ll enjoy the experience. My…
Some pretentious art critics think digital photography’s a con — that with the right software, you can turn a blurry snapshot of your ugly Aunt Sally into a computerized equivalent of the Mona Lisa. Yeah, the equipment matters, but as women all know, it’s talent, instruction, and a lot of…
By Wynter Holden I’ve always wondered what happens to imperfect foods. You know, like the accidental square Cheerio. I mean, we live in such a perfectionist society. Studies show that attractive people get more attention and earn more than average-looking people. So it’s only natural that better-looking foods end up…
By Wynter Holden Unlike the infamous “mouse shit chili” incident I blogged about in the inaugural What the Fork, sometimes I just get plain lucky when ordering an unidentifiable item at a restaurant. One case is Kataifi, an item I discovered on the menu at Razz’s Restaurant in North Scottsdale…
By Wynter Holden 38-year-old bar manager Amy Ziegler is a tall, slender, no-nonsense blonde who looks like she could do some serious damage to any boozehound who treats her like a Coyote Ugly babe. As a kid she dreamed of being a ballet dancer, but as she cockily points out…
By Wynter Holden In my notebook of odd dieting theories, I have one that’s completely ridiculous. Not that the idea is bad, mind you. Just that executing this particular plan requires that I look like a complete fool in front of dozens of strangers. I knew I was going to…
There are plenty of words to describe Phoenix. Dusty. Sunlit. Sprawling. Somehow, “green” doesn’t make the list. Artists Lindsay Palmer and Rebekeh Brems might disagree. Their joint exhibit “The G R E E N B E L T: a photographic collaboration” features large-scale images of natural forests, deforested areas, and…
We’re all for hybrid cars and green cleaners, but if we have to look at one more painting exploring the dangers of deforestation, we’re gonna blow chunks. What’s next — artists go PETA on our asses, hurling red tree sap at anyone not using recycled paper? At first glance, Marcus…
By Wynter Holden I’ve seen canned aloe vera at the Phoenix Ranch Market, but I can’t imagine how that’s appetizing. In college, I had an aloe plant named Fanny. If I burned myself on a candle (which I did often, since I was totally goth and had a candelabra in…
By Wynter Holden When I was a kid, my mom would sauté liver with onions and unconvincingly try to pass it off as steak. The funny part is, she tried to fake my dad out, too. He bought it. I didn’t. Maybe it was my keen sense of smell, or…
By Wynter Holden Who is Fair Trade Café barista Xoë McAleece? Go back a few years and there’s no record of her existing at all. No birth certificate. No high school records. No trace of her before she turned eighteen. We caught up with the mysterious Xoë (pronounced zoh-ee) and…
By Wynter Holden I’ve never had the experience of simultaneously finding it incredibly easy and agonizingly difficult to stick to my diet. That is, until now. I hadn’t been to the little cafe that opened up just south of MacAlpine’s on 7th Street, so I scheduled an interview there last…
When you’re 6 years old and have an imaginary friend, you get a roll of the eyes and a pat on the head. If you’re 30, you get a rubber room and a dose of anti-psychotics. Luckily for Neil Gillingham, artists get a free pass when it comes to having…
By Wynter Holden Don’t get me wrong, I love seafood. Feed me a chilled shrimp cocktail or crisp crab cakes with orange remoulade and I’ll purr with delight. But I did a double-take when I saw this odd pair of snack foods at my local Asian market. My first shock…
By Wynter Holden Occasionally I stumble across what I playfully call “sniper” ingredients – foods so deceptively named that it’s like a shot through the heart when you discover what they really are. Case in point: sweetbreads. Sounds like a no-brainer. S-W-E-E-T bread. Duh! I knew that sweetbreads are often…
In yesterday’s Meal Ticket newsletter, we spoke to Chef/owner Robert Gonzalez about his new restaurant Babaloo’s Cuban Cafe in Ahwatukee. We incorrectly identified the location as the corner of 44th St. and Chandler Blvd. The correct address for Babaloo’s is 1241 E. Chandler Blvd., at Chandler Blvd. and the Desert…
By Wynter Holden Bartender Scott Pierce (a.k.a Pandora) is a quirky, outspoken and totally flaming queen who isn’t afraid to let it all hang out. He loves to wear tight leather corsets, although he switches to muumuus in the hot summer. He digs beehive hairdos. And he wants to open…
By Wynter Holden The rule in my house is that the person with the crappiest day gets to make the decision about what to do that evening. My roommate “A” finalized a bad breakup last Thursday, so dinner was definitely her call. My fingers were crossed for something healthy, and…
Last April, former Phoenix cop George Contreras resigned from the force and opened a guitar shop in South Phoenix. Why give up a cushy city gig? “It’s cooler in here and I’m not getting shot at. At least, not yet,” he quips. These days, Contreras sports a cool Corvette, a…
Modern celebs are always milking the goodwill angle, whether they’re adopting African babies, playing charity concerts for tsunami relief, or making documentary videos about Darfur. But it wasn’t always about good press. In the late ’60s, WWII hero and International Rescue Committee rep Varian Fry assembled a collection of flight-themed…
