Food & Drink

​ The Downtown dining scene gets a bump with a new upscale contemporary American eatery specializing in seasonal, farm-to-table cuisine: Province, the Phoenix outpost of chef Randy Zweiban’s popular Chicago restaurant. It opens today in the spanking-new Westin Phoenix Downtown hotel (333 N. Central). Zweiban opened the first Province in 2008 in…

It’s the final four five, yo, thanks to last week’s non-decision of whom to eliminate. Please pack your knives and flip-flops — it’s off to the Bahamas! After some flashbacks and “what I did during my time off” reports (yawn), the chefs walk into a fort and see the winners…

Tacos may very well be the perfect food, but let’s face it, the standard Meximerican fare can get a bit stale after a while. Taco the Town is here to highlight some of the more unusual Mexican finds in the Valley. This week: Capirotada, or Mexican bread pudding. ¿Como se…

Despite what the supermarket aisle may lead you to believe, there’s more to an animal than neatly wrapped styrofoam trays of meat. From tongue to tail, offal (pronounced awful) encompasses all those taboo edibles that don’t make the cut at your local grocer. Just Offal is here to explore these…

UNCORK THE ISSUE: What wine myths need to be dispelled?
SPILL THE JUICE: “In the number one place [of wine myths] is that price dictates quality,” says Katherine Conrad, a wine goddess at Arcadia Fine Wine. “It is by far the biggest misnomer about wine: You don’t have to pay a certain level of price to have a certain level of quality.”

Over the last few years, the Valley of the Sun has become the Valley of the Culinary Festivals. A handful of must-visit food- and wine-tasting events is now a sprawling season of eating, from East Valley to West. It’s a lot to choose from, actually, and can be a little overwhelming…

With Caramelpalooza only days away, all of us here at Chow Bella are feeling caramel crazy with excitement. So the question came up can you have a thrifty, tasty, quick caramel treat? Indeed — and in a simple sip-it-down liquid form. Learn how to make a creamy caramel tea after…

Chow Bella asked that I write a special post about composting since many of us (myself included) are hurriedly taking advantage of the spectacular weather we’ve had lately and starting backyard (or frontyard) vegetable gardens, including beginning to compost at home.  Even though I work at a farm, I haven’t…

​I met Blair River just one time in 2010. As I was sitting down to attempt my first-ever Quadruple Bypass Burger, he was just leaving Heart Attack Grill, his friend having finished two of the meaty monstrosities while he himself had just downed three of the regular Bypass Burgers he…

I had an out-of-body experience yesterday: I resigned from my job as restaurant critic. This is a job I’ve really loved, and have taken pride in. Nothing gives me a bigger charge than getting readers excited about what’s going on in our city. It’s a thrill to talk to creative people about what…

Enter Romanelli’s on the northwest side of Phoenix, and you’ll instantly feel as though you’ve been transported to Little Italy in New York City. Heck, you feel like you’re in Italy. Or at least like you’re from Italy, There are so many little Italian themed signs, shirts and other trinkets at this…

I hope you’re not hungry for a jerk chicken sandwich with seasoned mayo, hunks of meat, shredded cabbage, basil, and scallions. That’s the signature dish at Chaka Chaka, a tiny eatery on 7th Street, south of Chase Field, that just closed its doors. Owner Charlie Blonkenfeld says he simply ran out…

We really need to get some marketers to rebrand some of these veggies.  You know how prunes were sassed up as the new “dried plums?”  We need to rename rutabagas: purple flushed champagne-hued root, or something like that.  You may or may now know it, but you love rutabagas.  They’re…