By Michele Laudig Do you remember what you were doing 15 years ago? Or, more precisely, do you remember what you were eating? Buca di Beppo, the Italian restaurant chain, is hoping to use nostalgia — for cheap prices, anyway — to spark customers’ interest in its 15th anniversary. The…
by Robrt L. Pela Do people use cookie cutters anymore? I have a big round box of them in my kitchen cupboard, but I never use the fucking things. I like to bake, but I don’t know that I’ve ever read a cookie recipe that included the direction, “Using a…
By Steve Jansen I risked my life for this. There was a point during yesterday’s monsoon that I thought my four-door sedan and I were about to be splattered on the median wall of the U.S. 60. During that moment, I wondered what would be written in my obit…
There’s so much wrong about this recipe, I hardly know where to begin. It’s from The Mike Douglas Cookbook, which in itself is enough to give one pause. I have a lot of peculiar celebrity cookbooks in my collection (my favorite: Candy Hits by ZaSu Pitts, which includes cookie recipes…
By Wynter Holden 38-year-old bar manager Amy Ziegler is a tall, slender, no-nonsense blonde who looks like she could do some serious damage to any boozehound who treats her like a Coyote Ugly babe. As a kid she dreamed of being a ballet dancer, but as she cockily points out…
By Jonathan McNamara I’ve been betrayed. Past experience and a few bumper stickers have lead me to believe that beer is liquid proof that the gods want us to be happy. Oh, how I have been living in naivety! I took a chance on a beer labeled with a chili…
By Michele Laudig burrata , that super creamy cheese that’s been cropping up all across town: Fine’s Cellar. It’s featured in a “burrata and tuna carpaccio caprese salad,” part of the “apertivo menu” (a.k.a. bar menu). The menu’s only available from 4 to 7 p.m., but it looks like it’ll…
By Jay Bennett On Saturday mornings, I like to head downtown to what is casually referred to as the farmers market, at Second and McKinley streets. It’s really called the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, a more suitable name than “farmers market” because, in my opinion, it’s way short on farmers…
By Wynter Holden In my notebook of odd dieting theories, I have one that’s completely ridiculous. Not that the idea is bad, mind you. Just that executing this particular plan requires that I look like a complete fool in front of dozens of strangers. I knew I was going to…
Somebody at Roka Akor really did their homework. When I heard that this spin-off of Roka, a London-based Japanese restaurant, was coming to Scottsdale, I felt ambivalent. On one hand, the menu looked mouthwatering. But I wondered whether we really needed one more trendy Japanese joint — especially one imported…
By Michele Laudig You have to hand it to the Spaniards — they’ve come up with one of the world’s most, uh, unique ways to work up an appetite: running their asses off as ornery bulls chase them down the street. That’s their idea of a party. Sol y Sombra’s…
Mmm … good! by Sarah Fenske I’m starting to think I’ve got a problem. I was on a ship for seven days eating some of the best food known to man: wild Alaskan salmon, pecan-crusted trout in beurre blanc sauce, prime rib and giant prawns stuffed with crab. Every meal…
By Michele Laudig In a small pond like Phoenix, there are only so many places for the big fish to swim. The news of former Phoenix Magazine restaurant reviewer Nikki Buchanan landing at the Arizona Republic is an interesting study in the feng shui of local food critics. As you…
By Wynter Holden I’ve seen canned aloe vera at the Phoenix Ranch Market, but I can’t imagine how that’s appetizing. In college, I had an aloe plant named Fanny. If I burned myself on a candle (which I did often, since I was totally goth and had a candelabra in…
By Megan Irwin I was particularly amused by the tiny pickle used as garnish for my sandwich at Lisa G’s. Ahh the “Veggie Sandwich.” The staple of cafe/bistro menus that cater mostly to meat eaters, but don’t want to exclude us veggies. Veggie sandwiches all share key characteristics: fancy bread…
By Michele Laudig I’m an extremely intuitive person, but sometimes I still second-guess myself. On a recent visit to Roka Akor — the high-style robatayaki joint in Scottsdale — I saw somebody from behind who immediately reminded me of Republic critic Howard Seftel. Keep in mind, I’ve never met Howard…
by Amy Silverman Look, I know times are tough. Money’s tight. I’m happy to shop the clearance racks at Target, buy my kids’ shoes at Last Chance and fork over my Safeway card to save a few pennies, even though it means some creepy marketing types will know my family…
By Wynter Holden When I was a kid, my mom would sauté liver with onions and unconvincingly try to pass it off as steak. The funny part is, she tried to fake my dad out, too. He bought it. I didn’t. Maybe it was my keen sense of smell, or…
By Michele Laudig Independence Day last Friday just gave us a sweet three-day weekend, but zut alors, the French have to celebrate Bastille Day on a Monday this year. But there’s still plenty of reason to party. (Isn’t French food and French wine worth celebrating all the time?) Check out…
by Robrt L. Pela My spouse claims that I manage to work into every conversation the fact that we are not allowed by law to marry one another. He’s exaggerating, of course, but I am pretty bitter about this. His accusation came to mind when I sat down to write…
By Steve Jansen The one and only I’ve never understood the standing-in-line-to-buy-stuff phenomenon. Call me a selfish snob, but I absolutely relish my leisure time, plus I’m an extremely impatient person when it comes to queuing with other people. So why would I waste my time smelling some dude’s B.O…
by Robrt L. Pela Not only is there no rabbit in this Rabbit Omelet, but it tastes like shit, besides. There isn’t enough cheese, and there’s too much beer, which might not have mattered if I’d made it with something other than Old Milwaukee, which was the only beer I…
