By Jonathan McNamara Ah! Smell that crisp, autumn air! It’s the time of the year that we put our hefeweizens and dust off our appetites for fall seasonal brew. To help you decide which tasty seasonal to push down your gob, we at New Times carried out a complex experiment…
By Jonathan McNamara If you find yourself down in the dumps about the dwindling economy, I have an instant panacea. Find a whole-roasted then smoked pig and eat it. Trust me on this. I found myself in a position to do just that during BLT Steak’s media invite only dinner…
By Amy Silverman A late September inspection at Coach & Willie’s — a bar/restaurant not far from the ballpark in downtown Phoenix — revealed a litany of concerns. The report is pretty straightforward: The cooled chicken wings weren’t cool enough; the bar sink was out of paper towels; the sweet…
By Jay Bennett Times are tough, indeed, but I was surprised to find a really good and relatively inexpensive Thai spot in Tempe to be dead on a recent Saturday night. What gives? Has it gotten to the point where folks can’t drop $10 for an entree anymore? Here’s hoping…
Considering that Arcadia isn’t a mecca for any kind of Asian food, it seemed a shame when Sushi Mishima, a casual Japanese joint, closed its doors last year. No, the place wasn’t destination sushi by anyone’s definition, but it was an affordable and friendly neighborhood spot. But you know what?…
By Michele Laudig If you’re out in the East Valley and hungry for some pizza or a salad, stop by the place that’s getting all the buzz: Liberty Market. It just opened its doors yesterday on the city’s main drag (230 N. Gilbert Rd.), and it promises to be the…
By Michele Laudig Move over Lee Lee’s and Ranch 99 — there’s a gargantuan new Asian supermarket in town. It’s called Mekong Plaza, and it opens this Saturday. The 100,000 square foot market, located at the southwest corner of Main Street and Dobson in Mesa (across from Asian Cafe Express,…
By Michele Laudig For a while, the sign in the window of FOODBAR, at SouthBridge, indicated that it was closed for renovations this summer. But when it finally reopens on Monday, October 20, it’ll be a whole new restaurant: Metro Brasserie, a traditional French brasserie open daily for breakfast, lunch,…
By Amy Silverman I’ll be honest: Raw fish does not pass these lips. But I know enough to know that if you’re going to eat it, you want it to come from a very, very clean place. The Maricopa County restaurant inspectors apparently understand that, too, because they seem to…
The “Kung To-Fuey.” “Vegans are punk as fuck!” My late friend Sean Pettibone was kind of a caustic guy, as you’d probably reckon by the above quote. More opinionated than Henry Rollins (and twice as mouthy), Sean was a funny and whip-smart spitfire of punk ideology who was rock solid…
By Michele Laudig As they say, better late than never — especially in this bizarre economic climate. Fate chef-owner Johnny Chu’s new Asian tapas and sake bar, Sens, was supposed to have opened by now, but like many new restaurants around town, the launch was postponed by a couple of…
By Wynter Holden Could there have been a better weekend to have lunch outdoors in the beautiful, serene park-like oasis that is The Farm at South Mountain? I think not. The temperature was perfect, the setting lovely and the food amazingly fresh and tasty, as always. If you’re on a…
By Michele Laudig It’s still pretty toasty outside, but all it takes is the mere suggestion of fall for me to start craving certain foods that have been on the backburner during the sizzling summer. Like soup. Specifically, tonkotsu ramen at Cherry Blossom. Yes, I’m a bit of a broken…
By Eddie Matney Chef Eddie Matney is the owner of Eddie’s House in Scottsdale…
By Michele Laudig David Tanis must lead a charmed life. That’s the impression I have of this Renaissance man after reading his lovely new cookbook, A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes. I mean, the Chez Panisse chef got a cover blurb from none other than Michael Pollan (who, btw,…
By Michele Laudig Here’s an exciting upcoming event to put on your calendar (although you should get tickets a.s.a.p.). It’s the October 19th booksigning and tasting held in honor of the new cookbook, Cooking with Les Dames D’Escoffier: At Home with the Women Who Shape the Way We Eat and…
By Michele Laudig Three sister restaurants in Chandler — 56 East Bar & Kitchen, 98 South Wine Bar & Kitchen, and KiZake Sushi & Martinis — closed abruptly on Tuesday. Any one of those places shutting its doors would’ve been a loss to the East Valley dining scene, but losing…
By Michele Laudig Lydia Ruiz didn’t expect to be back in business at In Season Deli, but now that she’s in the swing of things, she’s happy to be in her old digs. Ruiz owned the Mill Avenue eatery for 27 years, but sold it a year ago after she…
By Wynter Holden We’ve always seen Mac’s Broiler and Tap, the popular little bar with the awesome patio tucked between Tempe’s beloved Changing Hands Bookstore and the newly-opened Hoodlums music shop, but we never popped in for a drink. Lucky for us we did, because there we met 24-year-old Torey…
By Eddie Matney www.meritagewine.org. Yum. Chef Eddie Matney is the owner of Eddie’s House in Scottsdale…
By Michele Laudig When I heard that The Art of Soup was expanding its hours to include breakfast service, I had to stop myself from shaking my head in bewilderment. Of course soup for breakfast makes sense. The Vietnamese already have that figured out (pho), and so do the Japanese…
By Jonathan McNamara What makes a rogue? I couldn’t help wondering as I stumbled over to the Rogue Web site after sampling their Dead Guy Ale. The qualifications are numerous (ten to be exact) and include such gems as “rogues pursue the long shot” and “rogues ignore the accepted patterns…
