There is a fairy godmother at work in Phoenix, and like all fairy godmothers she often works behind the scenes and outside of the spotlight. Yet her presence can be felt by the sparkle she adds to the places she goes, or in this case, by the bundt cakes she…
Spring is one of the best times of the year for the culinary arts. Veggies are ripening, farmers’ markets are stocked and it’s perfect patio weather. It’s also a great time for local restaurants to change up their seasonal menus and prepare for summer. On May 1, J&G Steakhouse at the Phoenician is rolling…
Real cooks can’t stay out of the kitchen. That’s why four of Chow Bella’s regular contributors have concocted four different types of salsa just in time for Cinco de Mayo. Check in next week to see who won the showdown. Now, someone pass the chips. Today’s salsa: Pretty Simple Pico…
The Valley has many beer festivals, but the second annual Eight Craft Beer Festival will be the first to focus solely on beers made in Arizona. Dubbed “Made in Arizona,” the event will take place 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Lath House Pavilion in downtown Phoenix’s Heritage Square…
Charles Kane really gets around! The local herbal medicine expert will be lecturing at four Whole Foods Markets tomorrow, Saturday, May 1st. His book is called Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest and Herbal Medicine: Trends and Traditions. …
Tyler Christensen, the 31-year-old bar manager at Malee’s Thai Bistro, thinks of bartending as alchemy. In Christensen’s modern-day apothecary, he likes to create a new cocktail list each season. Christensen never used to like margaritas, so he decided to come up with a new recipe that kept the traditional aspect of…
Beauty Lab: Cookin’ up good looks in nature’s pharmacy. I’m hilarious. How do I know? Because I’ve got lines around my eyes from laughing so hard at my own jokes. What to do? Consult The Beauty Cookbook by authors and beauty experts Kym Douglas and Cindy Pearlman. In the chapter…
Different cultures, different languages, different tastes. Somewhere along the line, things are going to go wrong when it comes to packaging our foodstuffs for the rest of the world to see. We’ve captured the top five most unfortunate in today’s post. 5.) Shitto Hotly Spiced Pepper Sauce: Ghana What’s the…
An early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives. Saturday El Pedregal will be hosting the 4th annual Salsa Festival from noon to 3 p.m. More the a dozen chefs and restaurants will be handing out free samples of their best salsas. The festival will also feature…
An Italian farm boy leaves his home and family behind for the hot sun and his heart’s true love in Phoenix, Arizona, where he opens a prosperous pizza joint and lives the American dream. A Lifetime original movie? Hardly, but a delicious story like this one needs to be told…
Real cooks can’t stay out of the kitchen. That’s why four of Chow Bella’s regular contributors have concocted four different types of salsa just in time for Cinco de Mayo. Check in next week to see who won the showdown. Now, someone pass the chips. Today’s Salsa: Mom’s Extra Hot…
Burgers? Yes, have some. It’s pretty much that simple when it comes to pleasing a pedestrian palette. Yet having a professional food critic recommend a particular burger joint doesn’t hurt either. Food Critic Michele Laudig on The Grind: Truly, from my experience, the best cure for burger fatigue happens to…
Being a mom is one tough job — some say it’s the toughest job there is — and Mother’s Day is the one day a year most moms truly feel appreciated. It’s also the busiest restaurant holiday of the year, so now’s not the time to prove mom right about your procrastination habit. We’ve got the…
Courtesy of Modern Steak Modern Steak’s new sommelier is a real winner. A few years ago at a food festival, I overheard a so-called wine expert ranting about how women were lousy sommeliers. “It’s not their fault of course,” he drawled. “It’s all of those hormones! A woman’s ability to gauge the taste…
We just got word that Verde — contrary to what we said earlier this week — will be opening for breakfast this Saturday morning, May 1st…
One of Christensen’s other passions is meeting new people, so when guests visit the restaurant, he makes sure their experience is as unique as the life he leads…
Continuing our weekly Kitchen Ink follow-up on local tattooed kitchen peeps, here’s some more skin art from the culinary world. It’s 23-year-old Tara Luscombe, a line cook who always has her large chef’s knife close by — permanently. Luscombe currently works at both House of Tricks in Tempe and Lola Tapas in…
It’s sad when independent shops close and leave, but not when they move next door and become something more. Such is the case with the old Drip, now the new Toast on 7th Street. Snuggled into a third the space of Drip, Toast has actually expanded its menu by two thirds…
An early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives. Hey westsiders: Check out your newest dining spot, Calico Jack’s. The addition to the Westgate center in Glendale boasts two patios, 15 televisions, 10 different beers on tap and a massive selection of hot sauces. Join them for…
Waiting an hour and a half at Pizzeria Bianco for a pie (albeit phenomenal) doesn’t make the cut for the Fry Girl All-Star Pizza-On-the-Go team. And with Phoenix’s car culture making walk-up slice sellers non-existent, the question of where to find a piece of scrumptious ‘za between forever and immediately…
Thousand-degree coal-fired ovens — supposedly the only ones of their kind in the U.S. — are a unique kitchen feature at The Grind, a new gourmet burger spot/watering hole at 40th Street and Camelback. But you know what would really set this place apart from the pack? Consistency. These days,…
