Central Phoenix residents watch out because Rancho Pinot and FnB’s Sacha Levine is invading your ‘hood for a series of pop-up dinner events this fall. Levine, who works full-time at Rancho Pinot in addition to working at FnB, is partnering with Colleen Frisbie, who works the front of the house…
On Saturday, September 28, Carefree Station, the nine-year-old Southwestern restaurant located in Carefree’s Spanish Village, closed for the weekend citing “unforeseen circumstances beyond our control” via their Facebook page. By last Wednesday, Carefree Station still had not opened its doors. A representative for the restaurant, owned by Robert and Linda…
All-Day Happy Hour at Cafe Bink Today Today, Cafe Bink in Carefree is celebrating the new season with all-day happy hour specials. Chef Kevin Binkley and his crew also will host a BBQ Pig Roast on the patio. The drink specials will include half-off all beer, wine, and well drinks,…
Thank Safeway for the official demise of the Cronut trend, which took all of five seconds to be replaced by the burger trend (see: ramen burger, Umami Burger), which is slowly but surely being replaced by an obsession with doughnuts. And now, we can thank Southern California’s Umami Burger for…
What’s happening at Noca these days? The better question may be what isn’t. Eliot Wexler, owner of the venerated restaurant in the Biltmore area, tells me that, in March, executive chef Claudio Urciuoli went to San Francisco to further his baking skills at the San Francisco Baking Institute. That decision,…
These days, a sure sign of autumn’s arrival (or at least what passes for it in these parts) is the reintroduction of pumpkin spice-flavored everything on store shelves. I have a better idea. Let’s break out the Chartreuse. What is Chartreuse, you ask? For starters, it’s a yellow-green color. It’s…
This Saturday, October 5 we’re hosting a blow out party to celebrate our Best of Phoenix issue. And if you don’t already have your tickets, unfortunately you’re out of luck. As of yesterday the 14th annual Best of Phoenix A’fare is officially sold out. For those who got your tickets…
When the Jade Bar at Santuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa reopens next week the bar is poised to become yet another power player in the Valley cocktail scene. In addition to a pretty extensive — ok, a complete physical make over, the new Jade Bar will offer impressive craft…
Wok Box, the quick-service Asian eatery that invites its customers to “Take a walk down the delicious side of Asia!” (spoiler alert: not a real geographical location) opened its first Arizona store in Scottsdale in January of this year. But the eight-year-old Canadian-founded company with 70 franchises worldwide is hungry…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
You might be able to get a passport, but you definitely won’t be audited by the IRS during the government shutdown. And, at least for now, women and children who receive federally funded nutrition assistance through the Arizona Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program will continue to be able to…
The first time I ate shrimp, I was with my father. It was 1972; I was 10, and Dad’s youngest brother, my Uncle John, was visiting from New Orleans. Dad wanted to take John out to dinner at someplace fancy, and so we drove all the way downtown, from the…
We’re all about spreading our love for the bean among the several independent coffee shops that have made it a mission to deliver a bold, and aesthetically delightful, cup. Bringing some coffee cool to Central Phoenix’s Coronado ‘hood is Mud Dauber Coffee — part of an insectual group of businesses…
Chef Ken Arneson of Rico’s American Grill at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak created a garden and started composting green waste via Singh Farms upon his arrive three years ago. The restaurant’s patio has a large garden and it serves as inspiration and educational backdrop for the Garden Lunch Series…
Oktoberfest celebrations continue this weekend with beer-fueled parties going down in Chandler and Phoenix. If you’re looking for something more charitable to fill your time, you may want to check out Food Fight, a culinary tasting event to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix and the Arizona…
You can hardly help joining the hustle and bustle at downtown’s Phoenix Public Market Cafe, and that’s kind of the point. You may move from the outdoor herb garden at the restaurant’s entrance to shelves of for-sale local products until arriving at a pastry case of homemade baked goods (think…
The Smoothie: It’s a simple and satisfying combination. Fruit, juice, maybe some yogurt, a scoop of protein powder — blend and drink. Easy to make, but hard to perfect. Instead of slaving over a loud blender trying to balance the flavors just right, sometimes we want to leave the dirty…
It’s not just about which of your favorite national parks is shuttered. Should the government shutdown continue, dozens of U.S. food facilities will go uninspected. Because while the FDA will continue manning all meat- production facilities with full-time inspectors, the administration will be unable to continue the majority of its…
If the farmers market at downtown’s Phoenix Public Market is one of the Valley’s most notable spots for finding fresh locally grown and locally produced food, then the adjacent Phoenix Public Market Café may be the hippest place to partake of its bounty. The restaurant certainly is vintage-chic enough in…
Since the August departure of Jeremy Pacheco (who moved to Las Vegas to become the executive chef of Society Cafe at the Wynn), Lon’s at the Hermosa, the luxury boutique resort in Paradise Valley, has been on the hunt for a new culinary leader. And given its track record of…
Editor’s Note: We first ran this piece two Octobers ago. When we received a press kit from a national chain touting their Breast Cancer Awareness cupcake, we were reminded that it’s as pertinent today; Tania Katan gave us her permission to run it again. Every October, we gather with friends…
You’d think a place billed as “healthy,” a place that serves quinoa as a side dish, would be a gluten-friendly place. At the Original ChopShop Co. in Tempe, you’d be right — and you’d be wrong…
