When Tracy Dempsey asked me last week to be a last-minute judge at the inaugural Cupcake Love-In — held yesterday at the Valley Ho in Scottsdale — I replied without hesitation. Of course! I couldn’t wait to get my Gail Simmons on. By the time the sugar wore off late yesterday afternoon,…
It’s the end of an era at SouthBridge, where one of the Scottsdale retail and dining development’s flagship eateries, Estate House, is set to become a second location of a popular North Scottsdale casual dining spot, with an in-house gourmet market and catering business. Following the October 17 closure of the…
The business: Saffron Kitchen What they’re packin’: Meat and vegetable pies with a South African flair Where you can find them: More Valley farmers’ markets will be added soon. Find your fix on Thursdays at the Market at Hayden Station Plaza in Tempe, 5-8 p.m. and Saturdays at the North…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not that (sorry, Santa). It’s Pumpkin Season! The goods from Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin Patch are at their peak and ready for picking. So smart restaurants both local and corporate are adding pumpkin to their menus — for a limited time only, both savory and…
E. GrovesWe’re in love. Just when we thought we’d tried every caffeinated beverage imaginable and gotten sick of coffee, we stumbled upon Grinders Coffee Co in Sunnyslope, and their amazing Viennese Mocha.Grinders proprietor Dennis Miller is a coffee connoisseur, and the Viennese Mocha is a java experience. There are seven…
www.melskitchencafe.com Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Wine Spectator DinnerCelebrating winning their third consecutive “Best of Excellence” award from Wine Spectator magazine, Caffe Boa will be hosting a special wine dinner Wednesday, October 13th at 6 p.m. The exclusive 5-course dinner will feature…
What’s better than a Pie Social, you ask? A Pie Social with a coloring contest, of course. Print the attached PDF. Decorate it with crayons — or whatever you like. And send it to us by October 29, to be eligible to win prizes!…
Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week: Smashburger Goes Chicken With New Menu Items The Top…
Yesterday we met Boots Byrd, the awesomely-named Chatty Cathy who serves up drinks and manages the bar at St. Francis. Today he shares with us the recipe for one of his original creations that graces the restaurant’s menu: the Cucumber Cooler. The cocktail’s made with Hendricks gin, a liquor whose…
Calabria Italian Kitchen, the joint that closed its doors on Roosevelt and was replaced by Lola Coffee, has been resurrected in another CenPho location — the former Cafe LaBella spot at 7th Street and Virginia — and I’m happy to report that the sandwiches are just as good as ever,…
Looking for a place to eat on your way to (or from) Sky Harbor that won’t break the bank, that’ll won’t throw off your schedule, and that isn’t a fast-food joint?Join the crowd. I’ve gotten more requests for suggestions on this front than just about any other restaurant-related question, and…
An historic 1929 mansion in South Phoenix is about to get a new life as a restaurant. Pat Christofolo, owner of Santa Barbara Catering and The Farm Kitchen at The Farm at South Mountain, is teaming up with her chef son, Dustin, to open The House at Secret Garden, on October…
Goat cheese, endive lettuce, and (dare we say it?) raisins sandwiched between two thick slices of fresh baked bread. We couldn’t resist long enough to even take a photo, hence the two big bites outta the second half. Add on mixed spring greens and an iced green tea and you have our lunch. We probably should’ve bitten our tongues. You totally have us pegged, don’t you? Well then, go ahead and take a guess… Where am I eating?
It’s October and, happily for Fry Girl, everything’s comin’ up pumpkin. Right on schedule, Dairy Queen has returned with its seasonal favorite frozen treat, the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard which DQ bills as, “pumpkin pie blended with vanilla soft serve, crowned with whipped topping and nutmeg.” Yeah, it’s pumpkin-y good. We…
In honor of our upcoming Pie Social (it’s November 13 on Roosevelt Row — get all the sweet details here) we asked Chow Bella’s resident chef, Carol Blonder, for some instruction on making the perfect crust. Lucky us! Blonder teamed up with Spring Eselgroth (our fabulous summer intern) to create a…
jelly-shot-test-kitchen.blogspot.comHungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?When it Rains, it PoursWe have one busy weekend ahead of us folks! With no less then six events going on this weekend, we are going to have to manage out time wisely. Tonight, get your Greek…
Well, they said it would be off-centered. The first annual Beer for Brains Foundation Off-Centered Experience was held Saturday at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, and it was a weird, wild ride. The day began with the toots of horns and the bangs of drums courtesy of the Bad Cactus Brass…
When it comes to sushi, no distance is to great to travel for the real deal. That’s why we’re making a trip to Hiro Sushi. Food Critic Michele Laudig on Hiro Sushi: Hanging out here and observing the way the sushi chefs interact with their customers — and the way…
Steve Nash (not that Steve Nash) and Dennis Green (no, not that guy either) may share their names with notable sports dudes, but the only athletes these friends and co-owners of Rocket Burger, the Westside’s newest fast-food joint, are connected to are the football players of neighboring Moon Valley High…
Boots is a talkative guy. Ask him about any of the wines, cocktails or foods on the menu of the cozy uptown Phoenix café St. Francis (111 E. Camelback Road, 602-200-8111) and he’ll talk you ears off, going into great depth about the methods Trappist monks employ to create beer…
Award-winning chef Nobuo Fukuda is gearing up to start omakase dinners at his Heritage Square eatery, Nobuo at Teeter House, in two weeks. For the uninitiated, omakase is a chef’s choice tasting menu. At his now-defunct Old Town spot, Sea Saw, Fukuda made a name for himself with creative Japanese fusion…
Ch-ch-ch-CHIA… Everyone knows what I’m talking about: The Chia Pet is quite possibly the cheesiest gift you could be so lucky to receive, besides of course the lazy man’s light switch known as The Clapper (Interestingly enough, both are sold by the same company. Coincidence? I think not.) But apparently,…
