Before You Go Out, Think About Making These Meals Yourself

Grabbing to-go food might not be the healthiest choice, but it’s often a heck of a lot easier than busting out cooking utensils, going shopping for ingredients and trying to make bean burritos and pad Thai ourselves. But with New Year’s resolutions of losing weight staring us down, we’re looking…

Happy Hour Cocktails at Spotted Donkey Cantina

​This winter season, the specialty cocktails offered on the happy hour menu of Spotted Donkey Cantina in north Scottsdale will have you feeling like it’s a lot warmer, as the chic southwest Mexican restaurant presents sweet, brightly colored drinks more suited for the beach than for cold months. Happy hour’s…

Cheap Lunch at Padre’s Modern Mexican

Used to be, you could easily find a weekday lunch for around five or six bucks. Nowadays, it’s tricky to get a bite for less than ten dollars, unless you stick to fast food joints or tacos. But Padre’s Modern Mexican just unveiled a new menu of lunch specials that…

Monday Night Martha: The Croquembouche Chronicles, Pt. 3

Two weeks ago we began reporting on an epic project, the creation of Martha Stewart’s holiday showstopper, the croquembouche.  Here’s Part One and here’s Part Two. This week we bring you the conclusion. We wake up grumpy and taciturn. While making coffee we start playing with the word croquembouche in…

New Chef, New Tastes at Chelsea’s Kitchen

It had been quite a while since I’d been to Chelsea’s Kitchen, and ages since I’d heard anyone talk about it. But I stopped by recently when I’d heard good things about new executive chef Bruce Kalman, who’s keeping some menu faves for the regulars but playing around with daily…

Food Network Star Guy Fieri Heats up Mesa Arts Center

This past Friday evening, hundreds of Food Network fans crammed into the Mesa Arts Center for an evening of fast paced, rockin’ fun at the Guy Fieri Road Show. This was the show’s second to last performance on the 24-city tour (the last being Vegas, baby), so Guy pulled out all of…

A First Look at Chef Beau MacMillan’s New Kitchen

Most locals know Chef Beau MacMillan as the guy who bested Iron Chef Bobby Flay. MacMillan’s headed back to Food Network in January for a new show called The Worst Cooks in America, where he and Chef Anne Burrell attempt to whip some of the most pitiful home cooks into shape via a cooking…

Caffiend: Fair Trade Cafe’s Eggnog Latte

‘Tis the season for holiday drinks, and while many people are running for seasonal ales, caffeine junkies need some holiday cheer, too. And the best seasonal caffeine drink we’ve found this year comes from Fair Trade Cafe, located on Central Avenue, off Roosevelt.The eggnog latte might sound bizarre at first,…

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: Dive Bar Dinner Club: Chino Bandido Takee Outee Sets…

Jell-O Showdown: Sparkling Grapefruit Pie

Not satisfied with competing in the art of making stuffing, the Chow Bella staff is at it again. This show down is all about Jell-O. Jell-O? The last time we consumed Jell-O sans alcohol was fifteen years ago at a cousin’s outdoor wedding reception when Great Aunt Betty, mistaking her…

Now Open: CORE Kitchen & Wine Bar at Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain

Upscale American cuisine with a Southwestern spin is the house specialty at CORE Kitchen & Wine Bar, which opens today at Tucson’s new Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain. Chef Joel Harrington, formerly of Fearing’s Restaurant in Dallas, incorporates plenty of regional ingredients in his dishes, such as barbecued quail and pulled rabbit…

10 for 2010: Food Trends for College Kids

For me, college was mostly a blur of all-day breakfast at Tom’s (the diner storefront always pictured in Seinfeld episodes), roast beef sandwiches from the student center, and bagels from anywhere I could get ’em. But college kids these days are eating a lot more sophisticated grub, it seems. Sodexo,…

Make This: Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

SavorySweetLife.com blogger Alice just posted an incredible-looking recipe for salted hot caramel hot chocolate, with a porn-worthy photo to boot. Wow, does it ever look delish . . . The genius thing about it is that created her own version of the drink after she got addicted to the Starbucks…

Top 5: Worst Gifts for Foodies

We love to cook. We love good food. So why do people claiming to understand our passion give us Chili’s gift cards, elf aprons and used chocolate body paint? It’s not their fault, really. They just need a little help. That’s why, this holiday season, we’ve done the dirty work…

Lola Coffee Opens For Third Friday

Coffee fanatics have been waiting for the opening of Lola Coffee on Roosevelt, the second location of Daniel Wayne’s popular java joint, and it’s finally here. Stop by the historic Gold Spot building at 1001 N. 3rd Ave. (the entrance is actually on Roosevelt) between 7 and 10 p.m. tonight. Wayne’s done…

The 12 Foods for Xmas I Wish My True Love Gave to Me (Part Deux)

To get you in the holiday spirit, we created a holiday tune based around local foods we’d love to get for Christmas — sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Could be some good gift ideas for food lovers, or places to treat your sweetie to a pre-holiday dinner. Last week, we…

Professional Gingerbread Houses at the Biltmore

Remember when you used to make gingerbread houses with your mom, and you’d get frosting smeared all over your hands, which then covered random bits of the house, and you stuck way too many gumdrops on the windows, and the chimney was pretty lopsided? Well, you won’t be seeing anything…

Cafe: Yen Sushi

We weren’t always into sushi, but we loved Japanese fried chicken. During a year-long stint in the land of the rising sun, we would often drive our Daihatsu Mira (think of it as a mini Mini) to this tiny sushi shop to order karaage, which this particular shop served with…

Carnivores and Vegans Unite at Posh on New Year’s Eve

Posh chef-owner Joshua Hebert has more than just New Year’s Eve to celebrate on December 31. It also happens to be his restaurant’s first anniversary.Situated on the ground level of the Optima Camelview condos, the fine-dining spot is known for its lack of a traditional menu. Instead of ordering a la…

Check it Out – Open Book Cafe at Burton Barr Central Library

Whoever said you can’t get something for nothing hasn’t been down to the Phoenix Public Library lately. We’ve been feeling little light on cash these days, so we’re browsing the books, perusing the DVDs, and catching up with a few favorite magazines, all free of charge with our handy library…