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. Thanks to social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, it’s now easier than ever…
Bicycle-themed décor from local artists, an all-day happy hour for cyclists, and dishes like green chili chicken wraps, short rib poutine, and a cocktail called “The Drunk Biker” are just some of the offerings at Spoke & Wheel, the new cyclist-centric restaurant coming to Sunnyslope on Monday, February 25. See…
Behold The Last Barfighter beercade, a digital arena in which two beer lovers do battle for the only prize that really matters: Beer. The beercade arose from North Carolina based, Big Boss Brewing Company desire to make beer tastings a little more engaging and interesting. See Also: –Adorable Wallace and…
Thanks to Craig DeMarco’s neighborhood, there may not be a time more fortuitous in Valley history than the present to be a diner (or an old building) in north Central Phoenix. Over the past few years, the restaurateur and his Upward Projects team have gobbled up once-forgotten structures clustered along…
The Spot: 1130 the Restaurant, 455 North Third Street Phoenix, 602-368-3046, www.1130therestaurant.com. See Also: – Brick: Happy Hour Report Card – Dates of Arizona Beer Week and Arizona Cocktail Week Overlap Again — And Neither Group Is Budging – 6 Don’t-Miss Events During AZ Cocktail Week: Feb 16-22 The Hours:…
The James Beard Foundation Awards, also known as the Oscars of the culinary world, announced today its annual restaurant and chef semifinalists for 2013. As in years past, the list is gigantic, but come mid-March it will feature just a short selection of nominees. See also: Crudo Chef Cullen Campbell…
Cheese ‘N Stuff is pretty much the little deli that could. While every other neighboring business rose and fell with time, Cheese ‘N Stuff has lasted for decades in Phoenix, distinguishing it as the oldest deli in town. Walking in underneath the iconic large globe sign, we stumbled into a…
The Guilty Pleasure: Quiche Lorraine Where To Get It: Amuse Bouche, Bell Road and Cotton Lane, Surprise The Price: $9.99 What It Really Costs: Pick your favorite. A) This ain’t diet food. B) In case you missed it the first time (unless you live in Glendale or Peoria): Bell Road…
Chow Bella has a valentine for you. For the rest of February, we’re handing out Candy Hearts — stories of food and love from some of our favorite writers. Enjoy. In the 1940s, my father and his parents spent two long years imprisoned in concentration camps in Holland and Germany,…
For a few set times during the week, Hey Joe! and other mobile kitchens won’t be parking as much as they’ll be popping up. See also: – Paradise Melts Food Truck Is Back With New Owners and a New Menu – Luncha Libre Partnering with Downtown Phoenix’s Squash Blossom –…
Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled Maxwell Street-style Polish sausages, cake shakes — it can only be Portillo’s, the Illinois-based restaurant chain in business since 1963 and beloved by Chicago transplants throughout the Valley. See also: – Opening Weekend at Morning Squeeze in Old Town: – New Late-Night Salad…
Chef Salad takes a detour this week to interview some of the leading beverage industry experts in the country — all of whom have been participating in the second annual AZ Cocktail Week. Seminars were held at the Hotel Valley Ho. If you missed yesterday’s interviews with Tony Abou-Ganim and…
White Castle, clearly the classiest of classy dining establishments, have a standing policy of taking V-day to the next level at selected locations. While we’ve heard of this we’ve never actually seen inside a White Castle during their yearly metamorphosis in “Love Castle.” See Also: –In-N-Out Burger, McDonald’s Fries and…
Happy Arizona Beer Week, drinkers! Have you mapped out your schedule yet? There’s a lot to see, do and imbibe in the next few days — it’s a busy, beautiful time to be a beer lover. It’s also impossible to focus on just one beer during a time like this,…
Chef Salad takes a detour this week, interviewing three more of the country’s leading beverage industry experts, all of whom are participants in the second annual AZ Cocktail Week, which started this past weekend and runs through February 22. Seminars are held in the Sands Room at the Hotel Valley…
Chow Bella has a valentine for you. For the rest of February, we’re handing out Candy Hearts — stories of food and love from some of our favorite writers. Enjoy. I know a 12-year-old who eats nothing but peanut butter and chicken fingers. Three meals a day. No kidding. She…
With the current overabundance of boutique coffee shops in the Valley serving small-batch. single-source coffee — each high-end bag listing the name of the farmer, roaster, packager, graphic designer, delivery driver, etc. — poured steaming hot or cold in a variety of creative and highly decorated coffee drinks, it comes…
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…
With the Oscars right around the corner, it seems fitting that chef Cullen Campbell of Crudo, his home of expertly crafted modern Italian fare in Phoenix, would be called upon by a foundation whose awards are known as the Oscars of the food world. See also: – Best Move 2012…
Spring Training is almost upon us, which means winter is officially over and it’s time to break out the shorts. This right here is the weather we Phoenicians live for, the reason we endure five hellish months of summer and severe cases of cabin fever . . . just for…
Humanity might not have the technology or motivation to stop 10 ton meteorites from pelting our planet but by damn have we finally licked the problem of soggy cereal. The Eatmecrunchy bowl is an ingenious device that keeps milk and cereal separated into two distinct sections except for a spoon…
Ring the bell, it’s time for Last Call, where JK Grence, bartender at Shady’s, serves up booze advice and recipes. Got a burning question for your bartender? Leave it in the comments and it might be answered in a future column. With both Arizona Cocktail Week and Arizona Beer Week…
