Impeccable taste comes naturally to David Sheflin. As owner of Vintage Fashion Inc., he’s built an elite clientele eager to snatch up his high-end designer finds — anything from pristine Pucci to vintage Von Furstenburg to the most desirable Gucci bag from 25 years ago. On the side, he’s curated…
From Magnolia Bakery in New York City to Sprinkles in Beverly Hills (and, soon, Scottsdale), gourmet cupcakes are the nation’s sweetest dessert fad. But until earlier this year, the Valley hadn’t caught on to the trend. So when sisters Stephanie and Lindsay Esparza, originally from Orange County, decided to open…
All over town, overgrown kids are whispering at the water cooler, “Hey, have you been to Red Hot Robot?” The central Phoenix shop offers specialty limited-edition toys usually found only in bigger cities and online. The toys became popular in Japan (where else?) and made their way stateside, with many…
Javier Gomez and Sixto Melendez met years ago as college students in Miami, where they shared a desk at a DVD distributor’s warehouse. Now they can finish each other’s sentences, which is helpful when you’re in the business of making movies together. And what movies they make. Their short film…
April Bojorquez is one of those rare Phoenicians who was born here and decided to stay. Good thing. She’s a veritable encyclopedia of interesting information, especially on the city’s ancient history — she used to work at the Pueblo Grande Museum. By day, Bojorquez is the educational events coordinator for…
If you are brown in this town, you’ve gotta meet Gerardo Higginson if you want to get any type of business done. People call him the Latino mayor of Phoenix but, in fact, he works for that other mayor guy, Phil Gordon, as an executive assistant and liaison to several…
Larry White has one of the best autograph collections in the Valley and it covers the walls of his landmark restaurant, Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles. Celebs such as rappers DMX and Too Short, Suns superstars Amaré Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, and actors like K-Ville star Anthony Anderson have all added…
Talk about the best of both worlds. As chef de cuisine at Kai, the fine-dining establishment at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, Jack Strong’s got a primo perch on the culinary career ladder. After all, he benefits from working with two big names — consulting chef Janos…
When it comes to women, Jay Grdina may be the luckiest man in the adult film industry. The director, producer, and performer (often under the screen name “Justin Sterling”) met porn star Jenna Jameson in the late ’90s, and the pair founded Club Jenna Inc., a multimedia adult entertainment juggernaut…
As the energy force behind the year-old gay bar Burn, Angela Zydek spends her days zipping around town in her white convertible Mercedes and her nights covered in body paint to promote the downtown Phoenix club, or serving bottles of champagne in Burn’s VIP cabanas. The perfect combo of party…
Max Cavalera is a heavy metal hero. As the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for influential thrash-metal band Sepultura, Cavalera’s deep-throated growls and philosophical/spiritual songwriting made a distinct mark on the metal world. Formed in 1984, Sepultura signed to Roadrunner Records and released four albums on the label (two certified gold)…
Brian Durkee is one of Phoenix’s premier party promoters, a swaggering sultan of style who hosts swanky club nights at some of the East Valley’s hottest nightspots, including Toxic Mondays at Zuma Grill in Tempe, and Foxy Bitch Thursdays at Dirty Pretty Rockbar and Twisted Tuesdays at Pink Taco, both…
When Dietrich Stephan says he wants to cure diseases and eliminate suffering before he dies, he’s not blowing sunshine. As director and senior investigator of the Neurogenomics Division of the Translational Genomics Research Institute, his job is, quite simply (ha!), to find out why we inherit the propensity for diseases…
Sabeur Rouin, a.k.a. Dr. Hummus, is a fixture at Valley farmers markets. He’s nearly as well known for his wicked sense of humor and constant smile as he is for his hummus, dolmas, and addictive pita chips. In the interest of our well-being, he’s reworked some of his favorite family…
Doug Franz and former Cardinals fullback Ron Wolfley — the ever-squabbling, Click-and-Clack hosts of the fun-tastic Doug & Wolf morning-drive sports-talk show on KTAR-AM 620 — belly up to the swimmin’ hole at the Hotel Valley Ho for the live-on-air Doug & Wolf Poolside Party. We’d say bring your trunks,…
The moon is sad, according to the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Orange, says Erykah Badu. Made of cheese, sings Rotary Connection. Kinda depressing, huh? Well, during Japan’s autumn Otsukimi celebration, the full moon signifies the end of summer and promotes positive vibes. On that note, the Japanese Friendship Garden/RoHoEn hosts…
Before you scoff at this year’s location for Edgefest 2007 — Schnepf Farms — let’s take you down memory lane, back to October 2006 . . . The scene: Tempe Town Lake. Concertgoers are dancing, relaxing, and (gasp!) drinking beer at a rock concert. The city’s Parks and Recreation department…
In a town whose definition of old is a two-year-old vomit-colored strip mall with a Starbucks that recently folded because the Albertson’s shopping plaza across the street just opened with a Starbucks, sustaining a bar that isn’t a chain ain’t easy. King’s Cocktails, Pete’s News Room, and Hamm’s are just…
Say your favorite band breaks up. Ouch. But you know the main man will land on his feet with a new project and a fresh babe on his arm. What happens to the unwashed horde of players who can say they once played in a famous band but have since…
F1-ChampBoat neophytes probably want to know what the hell an F1-ChampBoat is before heading to the F1-ChampBoat Grand Prix of Phoenix. Well, the sexy contraptions look like a cross between a Stealth fighter and a Batman batwing, and they zip across the water at about 135 mph. Anything else you…
Just because the Record Swap Meet takes place at the Arizona America Italian Club doesn’t mean you’ll be crate-battling for stale Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra vinyls. More than 30 vendors, including Valley mainstay Rock Zone Records and the hip new Revolver Records, will be on hand selling their vinyl…
What do you get when you cross Foghorn Leghorn with Milton Berle and a Gibson guitar? You get Big Cock, The Hardest Band in the Land, which promises all the microphone-jacking, air-humping, and torn underwear you could shake a baby’s arm holding an apple at. It figures the mortally sinful…
