I Love This: Skillet Doux

If you haven’t checked out Skillet Doux yet, you’re really missing out on some good stuff. Food blogger Dominic Armato, a Chicago native, moved to the Valley with his family five months ago, and turned his attention to local food culture. No stranger to exquisite hole-in-the-wall places, he seeks out…

Now Open: Secreto

Ahwatukee’s Secreto is a secret no longer. Word of mouth is spreading about this New Mexican restaurant which quietly opened last Thursday in the former Havana Cafe spot in SE Phoenix (4232 E. Chandler Blvd., 480-706-2200). Secreto is named after a group of Franciscan monks who smuggled Spanish grapevines into New Mexico…

Aaron Chamberlin of St. Francis: Chef Chat

Aaron Chamberlin’s central Phoenix restaurant St. Francis may only be seven months old, but he’s not new to the restaurant business. Coming from three generations of a food industry family made an impact on the chef. You can see it from his grandparents’ tasting spoons embedded into the restaurant’s entranceway,…

89: Chicken & Waffles from Lo-Lo’s

​Hungry yet?We’re working up our appetites for our huge Best of Phoenix issue, out September 30, with daily servings of Chow Bella’s 100 Favorite Dishes from across the Valley — in no particular orderLeave your suggestions for upcoming favorites in the comments section.Visit our sister blog, Jackalope Ranch, for a companion series on 100 Creatives who make…

Scott Pierce, aka Pandora DeStrange, What Are You Eating?

Scott Pierce, aka Pandora DeStrange The actor and drag queen, who is one of the founders of Soul Invictus Gallery and Cabaret, performs in The Follies drag show every Saturday at 10 p.m. at Ice Pics Video Bar What’d you eat for dinner last night? Green corn tamales, chicken taquitos…

Cat Cora Contest: Another Chance to Win

We have more aprons, front-row seats and “A” spots in the signing line to give away, but this time we’re making it a little trickier. We won’t be drawing from a hat. Instead, the Chow Bella team will judge your prowess on some culinary turf familiar to Cat Cora and other…

Bomberos to Open at 4 a.m. Daily for World Cup

Planning on getting up dark and early to watch the World Cup? So is Bomberos owner and native Uruguayan Oscar Mastrantuono, who will be opening the restaurant at 4 a.m. daily so that futbol fans can join him in watching all the action. Of course, you already know who Mastrantuono will…

Sunday Brunch at St. Francis

During the week, I’m lucky if I eat breakfast at all. Today I had half a bag of Snyder’s mini pretzels and called it my a.m. meal. The weekend is a different story. I love a good brunch, and I’m happy I finally got a chance to try the new-ish…

Cat Cora Contest Winners Announced

More than 50 readers entered our Cat Cora contest, and we’ve held a drawing to choose three winners, who will each receive the following: *One Chow Bella apron. *Two front-row spots for Cora’s reading/cooking demonstration June 23 at Changing Hands. *Two spots in the “A” group to get Cora’s book…

Arizona’s Raw Foodies Celebrate the Salad Days

The 2nd Annual Combined Raw Mega Potluck was held at South Mountain Park last night, bringing together food adventurers from as far away as Yuma, Flagstaff and Tucson. More than 100 Raw Foodies were in attendance; all of the food was of the vegan/raw variety, meaning nothing heated above 115 degrees (the…

Tie Dye Pops, a Cool Summer Treat

Making raspberry and yogurt Tie Dye Pops is so easy there’s no reason not to try it. The best part – no oven or stovetop required. All you do is take 3 pints of fresh raspberries and puree them in a blender for about a minute. Then pour the puree through…

90: Burrata at Humble Pie

Hungry yet? We’re working up our appetites for our huge Best of Phoenix issue, out September 30, with daily servings of Chow Bella’s 100 Favorite Dishes from across the Valley — in no particular order Leave your suggestions for upcoming favorites in the comments section. Visit our sister blog, Jackalope…

Free Shakes From Sonic for “Real Ice Cream” Promotion

Summer’s just started and already this Fry Girl feels more “fry” than “girl.”Big thanks to Sonic for bringing on some chill. The 3,500-unit drive-in chain is promoting its “Real Ice Cream” with “buy one, get one free” shakes and 99 cent one-topping sundaes. What’s Real Ice Cream? A richer, creamier…

Caffiend: Crudo’s Red Eye

Crudo serves a ton of tasty delights to the crowds that come in off Marshall Way in Old Town Scottsdale, from flat bread pizzas to a local farm salad bar. And since the place is located inside the Steven Paul Salon, patrons can even get their hair done after eating…

This Week In Chow Bella

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 Damon Brasch, What Are You Eating? New Summer Foodie…

DeepChocolate VitaTops Hit Costco

I’ll be the first person to admit, I’ve never heard of VitaTops. But a friend just sent me an excited message telling me, “Trust me, this is fucking breaking news! Usually you have to mail order these.”Well alright, then. Turns out, these things are edible muffin tops. (I say edible, I…

New Food Truck at First Friday Tonight?

This is just a quick tip from one of my favorite food spies.The word on the street is that there’s a new food truck that’ll debut at First Friday, a grilled cheese vendor called Paradise Melt. Considering that The Republic just published a feature on the food truck phenomenon (with a…