When I was 16, I met a handsome guy with a perfect shiny black pompadour who told me his name was Alan Conti. Three weeks later he confessed that his real name was Alan Waldman. He was Jewish, not Italian, and had been afraid I wouldn’t go out with him…
It’s finally happened. After almost 15 years of living in Scottsdale, I’ve become one of them. Not a yuppie, not yet, though I’ve decided that conspicuous consumption isn’t necessarily a filthy term, but a pretty cool way of life. Here I sit in a fabulous bistro at north Scottsdale yuppie-haven…
I’ve heard of a disturbing movement toward making soul food healthful. There are recipes circulating from a group of Phoenix cooks who are adapting traditional recipes to make them lower in fat and less sweet. These people are crafting mustard greens and black-eyed peas with smoked turkey instead of salt…
Have we had our last nibble of Sir Charles’ excellent Texas-style ribs? The award-winning shop has closed, barely a year into its latest location at 23rd Street and Bell. I thought something was up when I read a notice of owner Charles Taylor’s filing for bankruptcy about a month ago…
Cooking has taken Scottsdale-based chef Zipora Einav everywhere — just about. After stints serving as in-home chef for celebrities like Pierce Brosnan, Cybill Shepherd and Seal in Los Angeles, she was ready to take her show on the road. She became Mariah Carey’s personal chef on the Rainbow Tour in…
Here’s how I feel about fast food: if I wanted to eat something prepared more for speed than taste, I’d eat my own lousy cooking. I admit it, when I’m home and excessively lazy, I can justify a meal of microwave popcorn (one buttery kernel for me, two for the…
Picture this: Director Sam Pillsbury is shooting a Western-style movie in New Zealand and, as the gunslinger crashes through the saloon doors, he’s not shootin’ blanks. The weapons he draws from his holsters make loud pops as he uncorks them — a coupla bottles of Dos Cabezas 1998 Sauvignon Blanc…
If I were ruler of our local restaurant industry, these would be my proclamations: What We Need: A creative, attractive, fresh and substantial Sunday brunch buffet, served in quietly elegant surroundings for less than $25 per person, anywhere in the Valley. What We Don’t Need: Another boring, bargain Sunday brunch…
A person could have starved to death living at Scottsdale’s Desert Ridge since it opened in 1995. Sure, developers built gajillions of gorgeous homes in the upscale master-planned community, but nary a decent restaurant. It only took seven years for a good place to move in. In December, Desert Ridge…
On a recent trip to Europe, I was replenishing my depleted stocks of the familiar by, I’m sorry to say, visiting an American fast-food restaurant, when it suddenly occurred to me that something was not quite right. It is true that they serve a selection of beers in most European…
After being closed for a month, The Phoenician’s Windows on the Green has reopened with a new decor and a new menu. In a surprising — and entirely refreshing — promotion, the new menu is being introduced with reduced prices through April 1. Savings average 10 percent, which adds up,…
A friend of mine recently told me that while he and his wife were visiting a coffee shop during their Italian vacation last year, his wife ordered a “grande latte” and was promptly presented with a large glass of milk. This kind of thing happens all the time because, over…
Chef Vincent Guerithault is a hero among Valley foodies. The charming French fellow is considered the restaurateur who put Arizona on the culinary map when, back in the ’80s, he opened his eponymous bistro at 40th Street and Camelback. Thanks to Guerithault, the Phoenix food scene entered the big leagues,…
Scottsdale’s Thaifoon restaurant prides itself on what it is: a glamorous, trendy eatery with pleasant Thai-style food. Thaifoon also celebrates what it isn’t: an authentic Thai experience. Rather than intimidating clientele with lots of fierce chiles, exotic galangal, lemongrass, lime leaf, hot chile, and nam pla (fish sauce), Thaifoon concentrates…
There are several important things to keep in mind when dining at Peter’s Budapest Café, a new Hungarian restaurant in Scottsdale. Prepare to eat heartily, and heavily. One of the hallmarks of Hungarian food is its bulk. This means enormous platters of tender, juicy beef piled atop plump noodles; breaded,…
El Camino Café has opened in Scottsdale with a menu that, while not inspiring sparks for me, is sure to put fire in the bellies of local diners. The tiny spot in the former Mag’s Ham Bun location at Scottsdale and Shea serves cuisine called “Western ranch cooking,” and it…
For a cuisine that’s been around some 5,000 years, Indian food is remarkably in keeping with contemporary tastes. It’s low-fat, chock-full of vegetables, and meats usually are limited to small portions. And during a recession that has people pinching pennies, it’s also economical. Most local Indian restaurants keep entree prices…
On my way to lunch at the Authors’ Café with Denise Hampton and Christina Skye, two of the Valley’s own nationally acclaimed romance novelists, I made a mental list of words reminiscent of this style of literature. Words like forbidden, raven-haired and fondle. I wanted to be able to talk…
The enormous sign plastered on the front window of Altos Spanish Bistro says a lot, proudly proclaiming the upscale restaurant’s many gushing accolades from local and national media. The smaller signs taped to the inside of the doors early last week say even more: Altos has been padlocked by its…
It’s not too difficult to figure out what the specialties are at I Love Sushi & Steak. The name’s as straightforward as they come — not like Callaloo in Scottsdale (after a Caribbean taro green), El Tlacayo in Tempe and north Phoenix (in honor of a Mexican dish of masa,…
It’s 11 in the morning, and I’m thinking about hot fudge. Surrounded by people who are eating banana splits and brownies à la mode, I’ve reverted to my own more childish appetites. Here at the Sugar Bowl, nutrition seems like a rotten idea, and — despite the hour — something…
Singles with healthy wallets can join a new meet-and-eat group in the Valley called Dinner for Six. For a 13-month membership costing a whopping $595 per person, three men and three women are matched as dining partners at local restaurants. No cheap date, this: There is an additional $15 event…
