This is part two of our interview with chef German Sega of Scottsdale’s Roka Akor. Today, he tells us what goes into creating an omakase dinner and shares his pretty peculiar culinary guilty pleasure. (Hint: It involves Spam.) If you missed the first part of the interview, in which Sega…
Introducing “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. I recently Googled “Is 40 considered middle-aged?” and was answered in the affirmative. It’s worth noting that Google was proud…
In honor of National Hot Dog day, which is today, Urbanspoon has rounded up a list of the country’s best places to get a top-notch dog. The list was complied based on the restaurants that received the most positive reviews from food critics, bloggers, and the Urbanspoon community and includes…
Beer: Duvel Brewery: Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale ABV: 8.5 percent The year is 1830, and the southern provinces of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands are sick of it. Sick of the tulips; sick of that sauce made with egg yolk and butter; sick of the…
Biting into a Mexican dish can occasionally cause a mouthful of herb and spice confusion. Taste the cumin? So much cumin. Is this Indian food? Middle Eastern? Italian oregano in my pozole? Oh, Lord. One oregano is clearly not like the other. Let’s try to clarify Mexican herbs and spices…
German Sega Roka Akor 7299 North Scottsdale Road www.rokaakor.com This is part one of our interview with German Sega, the newly appointed executive chef of Roka Akor in Scottsdale. Today, he dishes about the long road from culinary school to the restaurant’s charcoal robata grill, with pit stops along the…
Ready to pig out, Sunnyslope? Waldo’s BBQ, the 20-year-old company started by pig farmer and Snowflake resident Clay Caldwell, has opened its third location at 9706 North Seventh Street (Mountain View Road and Seventh Street), in the former home of Vaqueroscarne Asada. Called Pig-N-Out, the newest Waldo’s will have something…
What happens to cooking reality show contestants after the spotlight fades? If you’re David Martinez, who was on the third season of Fox’s MasterChef in 2012, and Tyler Burke, who competed on Food Network’s Iron Chef America in 2009 as a culinary school student, you team up for a pop-up…
Just because your weekend is over doesn’t mean you have to starve. Here’s what we have to look forward to this week. California Wine Dinner If, like us, you haven’t had a chance to get away this summer to sunny California to sip on a buttery Napa Valley Chardonnay or…
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Hanna Raskin, formerly the food critic for two of our sister papers, just published Yelp Help: How to Write Great Online Restaurant Reviews. The book’s a how-to guide for contributors to sites such as our own Voice Places, where you can weigh in with your opinions of local restaurants. We…
Liberty Market’s FAEMA E61 espresso machine is turning 46 years old today, and in honor of the occasion, the Gilbert restaurant will offer free classic Italian drinks from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. That means espresso, macchiato, or cappuccino, so long as you order them dine-in as opposed to to-go…
Chef Off! is hosting another chef competition at Sleepy Dog Pub & Bistro with two teams of chefs facing off to create six dishes for guests to try…
Every week, there’s a cornucopia of Phoenix food news, features, and reviews to report here at Chow Bella. If you’re like most people, you probably just don’t have the time to get to all of it. So, here’s a recap of some of the top stories from the week that…
One of my favorite parts of tending bar is clearing up misconceptions about alcohol. The biggest one has to be the old saw about beer before liquor or vice versa. (Answer: It doesn’t matter, except you tend to drink faster and, therefore, drink more when you start with beer.) Right…
“The tropical cocktail conjures exotic visions of swaying palm trees, white sandy beaches, gentle ocean breezes, and libations served from hollowed out pineapples,” writes James Beard-honored mixologist and author Kim Haasarud in her latest book, 101 Tropical Cocktails. And on August 22, Chow Bella and Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe…
Like a piece of shiny tin foil covering a piece of frozen store-bought ravioli, on-edge owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo of Amy’s Baking Company have managed to (negatively) capture the attention of just about the entire world over the past few months — and in ways that make us want…
The Spot: House of Rice, Open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m…
Looking for something to put in your mouth this weekend? Here’s what we have on our plate. Outta the Heat and Into the Eats: Miami Night Food and Cocktail Party If your hair’s been feeling a little larger than usual, it’s because monsoon season officially has begun. Now we can…
Beer enthusiasts who like their cold ones served up a side of boozy education might want to raise a glass: Two more World of Beer locations are headed to Arizona this fall. The six-year-old craft-beer-focused franchise — where servers go through 10 days of training to become beer experts –…
Dedicated Paula Deen supporters are popping up by the thousands to show support for their butter queen. Some 600,000 fans of the Facebook page “We Support Paula Deen,” led by a man named John Schmitt, launched a campaign to send empty butter wrappers to companies that dropped the Food Network…
There are hundreds of ways to prepare a burger. Some places will use a grill; others will place the meat in an oven. The Grind, now located in Grayhawk as well as Arcadia, does the latter, but its oven is no ordinary oven. At The Grind, burgers are cooked to…
