I’ve been making restaurant recommendations for many, many years, since long before I became the New Times food critic. But these days, I’ve become somewhat of a personal food concierge for my friends. I get text message requests all the time.The latest was from a friend looking for a decent…
Arrowhead Grill’s Charles Schwerd has another restaurant in the works, set to open in December in Peoria: Blu Agave Arizona Kitchen. Look’s like he’s hiring, too.Located near the Vistancia development (28615 N. El Mirage Rd., Ste. 102), this will be a welcome new independent restaurant in the chain-saturated West Valley, and…
Downtown will be a vortex of desserts on Saturday!I wish I could say this is part of some grand scheme, but it’s really just serendipity.Tomorrow afternoon happens to be CupcakeCamp, a very sweet-sounding event taking place just a few blocks from Chow Bella’s Pie Social. According to the flyer and Facebook…
The newest battleground for the fast-food giants is breakfast. McDonald’s, Burger King, and Starbucks have turned up the griddle on joints like Dunkin Donuts, forcing them to fight back. Said Dunkin Donuts to the breakfast bullies, “Suck on our Sausage Pancake Bites!” Last week, for a limited time only, Dunkin…
How much is that doggy in the window? First you need to find the window. Dog Town Chili Dogs, the new fast-food joint that opened up a few weeks ago in Tempe, seems to be doing everything it can to make sure you don’t. If you do happen to stumble…
Take a good look at the picture above. Yep, that’s what you are going to be stuffing your face full of, come Thanksgiving. When you buy your turkey frozen from the closest grocery store for pennies a pound it’s hard to remember that the beast thawing in your fridge was…
Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Thanksgiving Out Part 3Today is the last day of our three day Thanksgiving dinner round up. We know we left out a gravy boat load of restaurants, and we apologize to anyone we might have left out…
Yesterday Chef Charleen Badman at FnB told us about her “research and development” trips, i.e. travel eating marathons. Today she shares her recipe for the New York eatery-inspired “Green” Salad.
In the name of good health and a good read, each week we’ll be bringing you a health product, complete with review. We’re calling this feature Crunchy Granola — even though we doubt much of this stuff tastes that good. This week: Tempeh Tempeh, pronounced tem-pay, is basically fermented slabs…
Sample foods from local restaurants, drink local beer and wine for five bucks a cup, browse booths from local retailers, and listen to live local music. Notice anything here? Yep, it’s all about Arizona at this Saturday’s Certified Local Fall Festival, the sixth annual shindig hosted by Local First Arizona…
Casey Petty of Metro Brasserie (7114 E. Stetson Dr., 480-994-3663) says that 99 percent of the people who come to the French eatery in Scottsdale once end up coming back again. We’re willing to bet he has more than a little influence on those numbers. The young, outgoing guy has been…
If you haven’t tried a pupusa yet, you’re missing out on one of the tastiest ethnic snacks in town. Last year, I sought out so many pupusas around the Valley that I even wrote a column about them.These savory Salvadoran treats are similar to a corn tortilla, only thicker, doughier, and…
The thought of brunch with a Southwestern spin makes me wish it were Sunday already. This weekend, Roaring Fork gets its own weekly Sunday brunch rolling with a sprawling buffet by executive chef Bryan Hulihee.Along with stick-to-your-ribs morning classics like sticky buns (pictured above — I’m drooling!), waffles, eggs Benedict,…
Why do I need a Dutch oven?Dutch ovens are prized cooking vessels by chefs, home cooks and camping enthusiasts. Traditionally they are made by casting iron in sand molds. Some manufacturers produce heavy-duty aluminum cookware with a flat bottom, tight fitting lid and deep sides and call them Dutch Ovens…
Last night’s episode of Top Chef Just Desserts determined who was going on to the final challenge. And while it sucks to be the first to go home, it sucks even harder to be eliminated just before the finale. True dat. We start the episode watching Yigit shaving, which is…
The original headline said, “Coming Soon to CityScape,” but it turns out that the opening of Aaron May’s new Mexican joint, Vitamin T, isn’t happening quite soon enough.Originally scheduled for tomorrow — with much anticipation by Downtowners hungry for things like carne asada tacos with avocado-tomatillo salsa — the latest…
It started when our sister-in-law, Ryan, said she was making jar pies. Jar Pies! What’s that? “Oh you make pie in canning jars, then you can either freeze them or bake them”. Holy cow, why didn’t we know about this? Individual servings of pie in a jar? This is…
On 7th Street north of Glendale Ave there is a sign hanging on a freshly painted building for Kitchen Switchin’, a consignment boutique. This consignment boutique has a dedicated niche, gently used high end kitchen goods. A red Kitchen Aid professional series mixer sits on the floor waiting to be tagged,…
Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Thanksgiving Out Part 2With so many places offering you a seat at their thanksgiving table, we needed to devote three days of ED to dining out for Thanksgiving just to cover half of it. Read on for…
There’s trouble in Dog Town. Big trouble. The chili dog joint that opened a few weeks ago in Tempe seems to be doing everything it can to secure a place in the land of fast-food fails. For starters, there’s the location: positioned off Mill Avenue, in a back-of-a-building storefront, with…
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Four years ago — when the economy was booming, the housing market was white-hot, and the dining public was insatiable for things like upscale steakhouses and stylish sushi joints — there was a major new player in the CenPho restaurant scene, a big, bustling…
Our call for a final judge for Saturday’s Pie Social drew some wonderful responses, including my personal favorite: Pie-Ku Haiku Crisp, light, flaky crustFilled with fruit, nuts, or meringueMakes my heart rejoice. Alas, the haiku-er did not leave an email address, a requirement that disqualified several entrants. But we have tasting tickets…
