It’s been the kind of week I’d rather just forget. Nothing’s been going as smoothly as it should. Now I’m camped out at Iguana Mack’s, a new Chandler food hall that describes itself as a “hip dining experience” celebrating the “early Arizona desert oasis: the Roadhouse.” Groovy concept, I’m thinking…
After traveling through the villages, towns and cities of Mexico and eating everything in sight for almost a year, the first thing I wanted to eat upon my return to the United States was Mexican food. Ironic. The Mexican food that I longed for is what I like to refer…
James Beard Award-winning chef Janos Wilder has finally departed Tucson for the big city. Sort of. The big city is the Gila River Indian Reservation and its new Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa. And while Wilder helped plan the concept and menu for the property’s glamorous Kai restaurant,…
He’s here. He’s gone. He’s here again. Two years ago, chef-owner Razz Kamnitzer moved his Razz’s Restaurant across the parking lot to a new, improved space on the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Shea (his previous location, in the way back of the same complex, was virtually impossible to…
Michael Lewis shakes his head politely as I boast where I’m heading for dinner. Owner of Drinkwater’s Liquor and Cheese in north Scottsdale, he’s wrapping up my purchase of a bottle of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, and hasn’t heard of BYO Bistro, a new restaurant in Phoenix that capitalizes, appropriately…
Too cold and sleepy to care, I would watch as my grandmother gently pulled on the teats. Steam rose as the warm, creamy-colored milk hit the cold bucket. “Come on, try it,” my grandmother would coach as I awkwardly pulled. The cow would give me an indignant look. For my…
Restaurateurs Lizabeth and Dennis Sirrine are requesting that New Times make a correction to our recent Best of Phoenix supplement (September 26). The Sirrines, owners of Rancho de Tia Rosa in Mesa, are “really upset” that their restaurant did not receive an award, and contend we “really made a mistake…
I hate Qwest. This is not a random pronouncement, but an unwavering truth. If Qwest could be whittled to one person, I’d hunt him down, strap this horrid excuse for a human being into shackles, toss him in a dark shed and subject him to the same torture he’s giving…
On a night so cold I could feel my bones rattle, I followed the smell of burning wood to a distant hue of gold. The only sounds were my every breath and step. I came to a tall wrought-iron gate, its handle icy cold, and it wailed an eerie cry…
Pity the humble chicken. Few edible creatures are so vastly consumed, yet so socially snubbed. We may roast a chicken for our relaxed family table and enjoy it greatly, but in nicer restaurants, we skip it. Real foodies, I hear again and again from my snootier friends, scorn the simple…
More than 3,000 miles away, deep in southern Mexico, Elena asked me, “Do you know Juan?” I just smiled and shook my head. But she was right to wonder. Outside the beautiful city of Oaxaca is the tiny Zapotec village of Etla San Lorenzo de Cacaotepec. Most of the men…
Not just one, but two restaurant servers last week refused to send my dessert up in flames. I ordered dishes traditionally prepared au flambé, but management wouldn’t allow the servers to handle tableside infernos; they said it was something about fire codes. I smelled a rat. The Terrace Dining Room…
Yes, that was us (the New Times group) crashing the 944 party last week at Christopher’s Fermier and Brasserie. 944 is a new magazine that, as far as I can figure, celebrates breast implants. It’s a glossy four-color thing plush with photos of drunken women hanging out (literally) in the…
Some things are just so male. There are events that fascinate guys in ways I’ll never understand. Like last week, after a squirrel crawled into my car engine, I considered it a bad thing. After driving with me a few blocks, the poor creature didn’t fare well at all. My…
One minute you are on top of the world; the next you are not. Resigning from the New York Stock Exchange is not the answer (or maybe it is), but perhaps a little working vacation in Phoenix would help ease your stress. Come on, Martha Stewart, get away to my…
New baby smell. If a manufacturer could package that, I’d buy it by the bucket. And I don’t even like kids all that much. But the owner of Manila Café in Chandler is jostling a teeny child on her arm and stops by our table to show the infant off…
Recently, a seemingly innocent question about Southwestern cuisine has made me think more closely about the differences between Southwestern and Mexican food. I am sure there are many chefs and foodies who have different opinions. This is only my opinion based on my experience, studies and travels. Besides, I am…
We need another upscale steak house. Not. So many of these fancy meat markets have opened up in the Valley over the past year, I’ve got to wonder about the potential of a cow shortage. Not only are there so many beef-oriented restaurants around suddenly, but the portions they serve…
Elisabeth has given me an IV bag, and while she had suspected I would like it, she’s surprised at how very much. It’s a thing we do, my sister and I, bestowing upon each other questionable gifts. (The IV — the intravenous kind, not the Roman numeral — is in…
Excuse my drool. Richardson Browne, owner of Richardson’s and Dick’s Hideaway in Phoenix, is opening a new restaurant. And it sounds so good that, after printing out the e-mail information I begged out of him, I’m tempted to eat it. He’s been highly secretive about his plans for the longest…
If I judged most of the Mexican and Latino eating establishments in the Phoenix area based on their outer appearance, I would hardly ever eat out. The expression “Never judge a book by its cover” is true at Restaurante Centro Americano in Phoenix. Turnoff Number One: Located just south of…
My guest for dinner at the Four Seasons Resort’s flagship restaurant, Acacia, is finally relaxing. He’s settled back into his oversize, high-backed armchair and is fingering the stem of his wineglass thoughtfully. A lazy grin appears on his face. “You know,” he says cheerfully, “this is all right.” And it…
