Festival season continues this weekend with the fourth annual Arizona Taco Festival but if you’re looking for something a little more celebrity-driven, may we suggest catching some of the region’s best chefs as they tour the Valley on Saturday? And if you’re planning on heading to Tempe at all, we’ve…
As it does every so often, national food blog Eater has assembled a list of the 24 hottest pizzerias in the country right now. The pizza restaurants must have opened in the past year, and wouldn’t you know, two of Arizona’s own made the cut — including one longtime fave…
As Phoenix mixologists work through the somewhat overwhelming task of getting our fair Valley on the map of craft cocktailing, reinforcements from Portland, Oregon have arrived by way of Ryan Magarian. The decorated career bartender and brain behind Aviation Gin, a craft, small-batch spirit, was hired on to completely transform…
The union of coffee and comic books makes perfect sense; both are synonymous with inspiring an energetic state of being. For the crew of downtown Mesa’s Gotham City Comics & Coffee, this information is no secret. Manager Jaime Ruiz, who has worked at the store nearly the entire three years…
Welcome to Chow Bella’s Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you’d like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. It could be said that no meal makes us feel more sociable, cheery, and worry-free…
After a two-year break from hosting food truck fests, Roosevelt Row and the Phoenix Street Food Coalition are back with Taste of the Trucks, a two-day food truck fest. On Saturday, October 26, and Sunday, October 27, they’re bringing 50 trucks downtown for an event with live music and a…
Nope, this isn’t a joke. Wine made exclusively for cats officially is on sale in Japan. This important news comes by way of Japanese website Sankei Biz, which reports that the concoction is called “Nyan Nyan Nouveau.” “Nyan,” in Japanese means “meow.”…
Is The Blind Pig in Scottsdale a butcher shop with a restaurant or a restaurant with a butcher shop? In either instance, it’s all about the meat. Consider its centerpiece: a gleaming glass case stretching from one wall to the other and full of freshly butchered offerings. On one side,…
The Spot: Kitchen 56 3433 North 56th Street, Phoenix 480-994-5656 www.kitchen56.com…
Welcome to “Schaefer,” in which Eric Schaefer — a local guy with a big (but discerning) appetite and a sense of humor to match — takes on the Phoenix food scene. There are a lot of terms tossed around in the world of food that are overused and meaningless. Some…
Sure, the Arizona State Fair is full of fun rides, greasy food and some of the best people watching around. But, for a moment let’s return to a “Charlotte’s Web” sort of agricultural era, where the State Fair was about judging animals, food, and animals that make or become food…
On the heels of opening its first West Valley location in Glendale last week (6738 West Bell Road), Oregano’s Pizza Bistro, the local pizzeria chain headed up by CEO Mark Russell, has announced plans to open a new location in Cave Creek. “We’ve found a really cool, and truly old,…
When notable farm-to-table chef Greg LaPrad left Quiessence at the Farm at South Mountain to open his own restaurant, Overland Trout in Sonoita, owner Pat Christofolo (who also owns Morning Glory Cafe and The House at Secret Garden) filled the high-profile position with her chef-son, 32-year-old Dustin Christofolo of The…
On Monday, we chatted with Dustin Christofolo, the new executive chef at Quiessence, about how he’s prepared to take over the high-profile position at the end of the month. If you missed the first part of the interview you can read it here. Today, we’re back to talk about a…
What do the five best restaurants in Tempe look like at the moment? They’re a diverse lot, decidedly plain in appearance, c’mon-in casual, and just plain cozy, offering a variety of dishes that take inspiration from places across the globe. You might find ingredients such as ground turmeric, Moroccan honey,…
Denver is a sadder, quieter place this week. The vendors have broken down their booths; the brewers have packed up their jockey boxes; the drinkers have sobered up. The 2013 Great American Beer Festival is over and done. But all is not lost. Held every year since 1982 in the…
Since the first day of the government shutdown (October 1), the Food and Drug Administration has said that it would have to stop most of its routine food inspections. But now the agency has confirmed that all inspections will be stopped besides those “facilities that it has cause to believe…
Last week, the Valley food universe nearly cracked its cosmos when Valley pizza legend Chris Bianco was spotted in the kitchen at Pizzeria Bianco in the Town & Country Shopping Center. Turns out the James Beard Award winner and Arizona’s most famous pizzaiolo is indeed back and doing what he…
Beer: Oude Geuze Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen Style: Gueuze ABV: 6 percent Acidic. Funky. Skunky. Barnyard. Vinegar. Cat pee. Horse blanket. Usually, these are not words you want associated with your food. But beer, as we know, is a magical nectar in which even the most unexpected, obnoxious flavors can…
For the past 11 years, Heritage Foods USA has been selling Heritage Turkeys from farmer Frank Reese’s Good Shepherd Ranch. Unlike your typical store-bought birds, which are bred for their abundance of white breast meat rather than taste, these turkeys offer more flavorful dark meat. And just as important, they…
Dustin Christofolo Executive Chef Quiessence, The Farm at South Mountain 602-276-0601 www.quiessencerestaurant.com After years of running the show at The House at Secret Garden, chef Dustin Christofolo will take the reins at Quiessence when the restaurant reopens at the end of October. He’ll replace chefs Greg LaPrad and Tony Andiario,…
Recently, restaurants such as Postino East, So Cal Fish Taco Company, and Joyride Taco House have put down stakes in Gilbert, home to restaurateur Joe Johnston’s trio of dining spots (Joe’s Real BBQ, Liberty Market, and Joe’s Farm Grill) for around 15 years. Now, two more are doing the same…
