I love gaining insight into someone else’s life, particularly when I get a chance to understand the nuances of their jobs or relationships (5+ decades old and I’m still trying to make sense of the world.) Working as a restaurant host and server for a few weeks offered up a…
The Valley’s lost some favorites lately. A few high-profile restaurants closed for business just within the last week or two — Tapino, Fine’s Cellar, and the historic El Chorro Lodge. Mesa’s Grill El Quetzal, a Guatemalan joint in the strip mall across from Mekong Plaza, is gone. And two established…
Happiness is discovering a shiny new Korean grocery store. Paldo Market opened up about two months ago at the southeast corner of Southern and Mill in Tempe (9 E. Southern), and it’s quite a find. Although it’s not supermarket-sized, Paldo’s got a really well-rounded selection of Korean edibles and ingredients,…
Matthew Ramirez stepped out on to a raised platform in the Arizona Mills Mall food court and struck the sort of body building pose that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger proud. Unfortunately, muscular definition would be all but useless to the task that awaited 22-year-old Ramirez. No, he would require jaw…
We must be craving sweets these days because we just realized we’ve cooked two chocolate dishes back to back. Ah well. What can you do. It’s fun to cook with soda pop because you feel like you’re breaking some unspoken rule of the kitchen. There are actually dozens of recipes…
James Beard Award-winning chef Nobuo Fukuda is closing Sea Saw, his seven-year-old Stetson Drive eatery, to focus on a new project. Sunday, June 7, will be the last night of service. It’s truly the end of an era in the Valley culinary scene, but also the beginning of a new…
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: Now Open: The Parlor Fine’s Cellar Closes Over the…
Sea Saw chef Nobuo Fukuda’s cutting-edge sashimi creations and luxurious omakase dinners have earned him not only legions of devotees, but a prestigious James Beard “Best Chef: Southwest” award. And since the opening of NOCA last August, chef Chris Curtiss has gained a cult following for his stunning crudo dishes and…
When you’re looking for a new beer to try it seems like everyone under the sun has a bottle they’d like to uncap and shove in your mouth. Answers to the question “what beer should I drink,” are endless. That’s why we prefer recommendations secure in their justification. Take Sierra…
We talked with farmer Sri about what’s in this week’s harvest, and she waxed eloquent about summer fruits: “The figs are awesome! And we have a whole big apple box of lemons for ten bucks. Lemons are almost gone — they’re dropping,” probably from those storms just before Memorial Day…
Hayes McNeil has hidden powers. If he’s not at Royal Coffee Bar (www.royalcoffeebar.com, 209 W. Jackson, 602-374-8044), the modernist java joint in downtown Phoenix he co-owns with brother-in-law Vincent Huizar, he can be found on a job site, rocking the blueprints as a registered architect and partner in Plus Minus…
How many hot dogs can you eat? Ten? Twenty? Sorry, pal. You don’t cut the mustard, but I’m betting a mustard-belt or two that there are a few Phoenicians who do and will be down at Arizona Mills Mall on Saturday for the Famous Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier…
“A quest,” you ask? That’s right. We’re on the lookout for the ten best Summer beers and we’re putting our feet to the pavement to ask local brew masters and bartenders what they drink during the hottest of seasons. The Plan: For the next two months, we’ll be updating our Summer Beer…
I love that they’re calling it Lobster Madness. Chef Eddie Matney is cooking up the quintessential summer beach dinner tonight at Eddie’s House, and the price sounds pretty tasty, too. It’s Maine lobster, sweet corn on the cob, and buttered potatoes for $19.95; the twin lobster dinner is $29.95. To…
When it comes to Mexican food the amount of arm-twisting required to get us to go is minimal. Perhaps if we could utilize margaritas and burritos as motivational devices we’d get more work done. That’s why we’re excited about Gallo Blanco Cafe. Food Critic Michele Laudig on Gallo Blanco Cafe:…
Seems like NOCA has something different going on every night it’s open — soft shell crab suppers on Tuesdays, lobster rolls on Wednesdays, Simple Suppers on Sundays — and now there’s one more thing to add to your dining schedule: Bar Bites on Thursdays. It’s an affordable menu of creative dishes that will…
This morning, celebrated pastry chef Tracy Dempsey officially announced that as of June 8, she’ll be leaving her gig overseeing desserts for Cowboy Ciao, Digestif, and Kazimierz, a position she’s held for the last five years. “It’s not an easy decision,” she says. Dempsey is busy working on opening Galette Dessert…
It’s everything I was afraid it might be. Hot. Sweaty. Loud. Stressful. With the only redeeming value being the rush you get – that is, if you are the type of person that thrives on frenzy and survival. Better than sex, said one of my classmates. Don’t believe it. You…
When I called Doug Robson, chef-owner of the fantastic new Gallo Blanco Café at the Clarendon Hotel, I almost expected him to ask me not to write about his restaurant. “I wanna be just kind of quiet about it,” he said, pausing to take a deep breath before talking to…
This afternoon, I finally got some time to catch up with chef Cullen Campbell in the wake of Fine’s Cellar’s recent closing, and he says he’s really upset about it. “It was pretty much the economy, and with the way things have going, the investors didn’t want to put more…
It’s about this time of year that Phoenicians — even some of the natives — start looking to get out. It’s not that we don’t love our warm, sunny spot on the map. It’s just that our hotter than hell summers are the equivalent of snowy northern winters; the time…
Just got the word tonight from chef Cullen Campbell that Fine’s Cellar is no more. To some, who’d seen the Old Town Scottsdale eatery not nearly busy enough in recent months, that might not come as a surprise, but to the many who’d become fans of wine guru Mike Fine’s…
