Blinded by the sweat pouring into my eyes, I caught myself wondering if it was really worth it.I struggled to keep a firm grip on the splintered handle of an archaic pick as I thought of the gorgeous turquoise beach just a few feet away. With hands blistered and slicked…
Gecko Grill doesn’t simply do good old-fashioned Mexican food. Oh no. The restaurant offers a full American barbecue menu, too, serving baby back ribs alongside its burritos. If this seems like an ambitious pairing, it is. Real barbecue lovers won’t stand for so-so smoked meats and sauces, and with quality…
What was once a city morgue, a popular hamburger place, a bookie joint, a pool hall and a political hangout? If you’re stumped, I’ll give you another clue. It’s the name of a restaurant, located downtown, that continues to be frequented by politicos, legal eagles and wizards of finance. If…
Think there’s nothing new to do when it comes to finding food under the Arizona sun? You would be wrong. Pack up the kids and ship them far away. Then load up the car and head to the outskirts for a taste of the wilder side of the state’s bounty…
When Gregory’s Grill opened in early 1997, it generated great excitement because of its bold approach to a new dining experience known as global cuisine. While foodies unanimously raved over its eclectic menu (the Valley hadn’t yet seen such things as black pepper-crusted mahi mahi over crawfish spoon bread with…
Ceramic artist Ida May Bradbury loves to eat.”I’m a fat lady,” she warned me when I called to set up an interview. She’s not. She’s robust, however, with a gap between her front teeth like Geoffrey Chaucer’s legendary Easter pilgrim heading for Canterbury in 1385, the life-affirming Wife of Bath…
They’re not chains. They’re family owned and operated. Their culinary charms have won the affection of the dining public.So how does a popular independent restaurant begin to lose its thrill as a special destination? Perhaps it’s when its owners start hearing cash registers ringing and decide to they want to…
In 1921, the boys working on a promotion in the marketing department of General Mills put their heads together. Their mission: to create the perfect woman, an icon for housewives everywhere to trust and emulate.They labored intensively to make sure each detail was flawless. They stepped back to behold their…
In a world bloated with slickly marketed restaurants, it’s refreshing to find a guy who’s completely honest about his eats. Kohnie’s cafe owner Robert Kohn charges a lot for his casual fare — perhaps too much — and he admits it. He doesn’t pamper his customers, offering a brusque “What…
Browsing through the Restaurant Brokers’ Web site is a bit like taking a peek into a crystal ball. The number of Valley restaurants offered for sale is an education in how volatile the business is, particularly right now with a glut of new eateries opening at the same time would-be…
Mariscos Playa Hermosa Phoenix’s sister city in Mexico is Hermosillo, in the Sonoran region that’s home to a variety of distinctive caldos (soups), carne de marinada (marinated meats), zesty chiles and, most of all, fresh seafood. Hermosillo, though, is hundreds of miles away from us — much too far to…
John Dunbar, a sous chef, cooks in the restaurant kitchen of a storied hotel where he also teaches classes. In some ways, this is not unusual for him, because he has worked in many high-end restaurants here: Vincent Guerithault on Camelback, Lon’s at the Hermosa. But his new job is…
Willo Baking Company is credited by many for bringing world-class bread to the Valley. Since it opened in early 2000, Willo has become the baker of choice for most of our area’s fine restaurants, charming connoisseurs with its commitment to from-scratch loaves baked daily without preservatives. Now, owner David Lacy…
Niko’s is an upbeat, upscale entree into the Valley’s Greek dining scene. Expect glitz. Expect glamour. Expect high prices, high quality and high fun. Just don’t expect stunning Greek cuisine. This restaurant is more about atmosphere than authenticity, and its patrons don’t seem to care. The place is packed.Niko’s opened…
Sometimes finding great Mexican food turns out to be an adventure.One of the most amusing versions I’ve ever had was in Krakow, Poland, last year. In a spiffy new restaurant on the fashionable Rynek (Market Square), I ordered a beef taco: gloppy ground meat on a floppy corn tortilla smothered…
Professional chefs aren’t like regular people. While most people may be happy to putter around the kitchen now and again, many chefs find it almost impossible to tear themselves away from their grill and saucepans. Leaving their home on the range is an almost painful experience.Some call a chef’s fierce…
Drive the route to Cave Creek at dusk, when the sky fills with glowing stars and the coyotes howl in the distance, and you’ll find Cave Creek’s own French restaurant, Le Sans Souci, and its diminutive owner, Louis Germain.The place is so tucked away that it’s easy to miss. The…
When Rustico first opened in 1998, the restaurant was under the direction of Maria Ranieri, chef-owner of the always excellent Maria’s When in Naples. Unfortunately, this meatball fell far from the spaghetti tree. Rustico was panned by critics as boring, then ignored by diners. The eatery never took off. Last…
August has brought angst for lovers of Scottsdale’s Café Terra Cotta. The classy, casual Southwestern restaurant closed last week. After almost a decade of wowing Phoenicians with chef Donna Nordin’s creations (the best garlic custard in the universe), the eatery fell victim to increased competition.Guess we’ll just have to make…
All dressed up with no place to eat. That’s the lament of so many would-be diners in the far west Valley. The rest of the Valley is hardly sympathetic. If residents want creative dining in their neighborhoods, they should live in the right place. At least that’s what local restaurant…
A few years back, falafel had as much of a chance of making it in Phoenix as finding a lasting peace in the Middle East. The crispy fried vegetable balls are foreign, meatless and roll off a bun like marbles off a table. Not your usual cowboy fare.But while there’s…
After more than a decade of serving authentic Cajun cuisine to the Valley, Baby Kay’s closed its Scottsdale location this week. It’s business as usual at the Phoenix location, however, in the Town & Country Shopping Center at 20th Street and Camelback.The Scottsdale shop was an outdated building, says Baby…
