The Spot: Sapporo, 14344 N. Scottsdale Rd., North Scottsdale, 480-607-1114www.sapporoscottsdale.comThe Hours: 11 a.m. – close, Monday through Friday, and 3 p.m. – close, Saturday and Sunday, all summer long. The Details: The 10-year-old North Scottsdale destination for quality sushi, teppaniaki and young professional tail celebrates our sweaty butts by extending our…
The beer: Life & LimbThe brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co./Dogfish Head Craft BreweryStyle: American Strong AleABV: 10.2 percent Craft beer is a funny business, wherein traditional ideas about competition and market domination are thrown out with the spent grain. Rather than attempting to destroy one another, contending breweries often join…
Screw the pooch, happy-hour is man’s real best friend– or the real man’s best friend. Whether it’s a standard happy hour or a reverse, any time is a good time to eat, drink, and be merry at a discounted price. But a daytime happy hour– as in, all-day or before…
Yesterday we met Francisco Alcaraz, master distiller at Patron and the man who designed the process for making the high-class tequila. Today he shares with us the recipe for the Rose of Patron, a complicated yet beautiful and complex beverage…
The tender: Francisco Alcaraz The “bar”: Patrón Spirits Company The pedigree: Alcaraz may not be a bartender, but he certainly tends to the entire alcoholic beverage industry. The master distiller for Patrón, Alcaraz was born in the small town of Tamazula de Gordiano and educated at the University Guadalajara, where…
The Spot: The Garage Public House, 4855 East Warner Road, Ahwatukee, (480) 940-6455www.publichousegarage.comThe Hours: 3- 7 p.m., 7 days a week. A reverse HH is also offered from 10 p.m.- 12 a.m., Sunday through Thursday. The Details: @font-face { font-family: “ＭＳ 明朝”; }@font-face { font-family: “Cambria Math”; }@font-face { font-family:…
The beer: The VermonsterThe brewery: Rock Art BreweryStyle: American BarleywineABV: 10 percent Normally, I like to introduce you to new beers in this space. There’s been no shortage of choices in that regard — tons of great breweries have been entering Arizona lately. But while some grow and expand, others…
Yesterday we met Miles Buckles, who heads the bar at the downtown spot Hanny’s — they of the penis-shaped couches and confusing bathrooms. A bourbon man, today Buckles shares with us the recipe for the Pomegranate Julep, a simple yet delicious cocktail tinged with pomegranate sweetness and backed by manly…
The tender: Miles BucklesThe bar: Hanny’s (40 N. 1st St., 602-252-2285) The pedigree: Buckles has been in the restaurant industry for more than a decade. Once a manager at Oregano’s, he started as a server at Hanny’s two years ago, and when a bartender position opened up, he went after it…
The Spot: St. Francis, 111 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, (602) 200-8111www.stfrancisaz.comThe Hours: 3- 6 p.m., daily.The Details: When it comes to Phoenix dining destinations, St. Francis has always been a top contender, specializing in urban/ rustic style food and drink and an ambiance that guarantees to calculate our “big city”…
Last week we met Brian Ramsay, bartender at Murphy’s Law in Chandler. Today he shares with us the recipe for Pimp Juice, a drink with seemingly magical properties. “It was established for my buddy Brian — very shy guy,” Ramsay says. “He was working there, really shy, never talked to girls,…
The beer: Fretzy’s Unfiltered AleThe brewery: Phoenix Ale BreweryStyle: English Pale AleABV: 5 percent Imagine there’s a new restaurant in town. The owners and chefs are well-respected in the industry, so you’re excited to visit. You sit down at a table, open the menu, and find the only dish they…
The tender: Brian Ramsay The bar: Murphy’s Law (58 S. San Marcos Place, Chandler, 480-812-1588) The pedigree: Ramsay started young, barbacking at Native New Yorker at the tender age of 15. After a short stint in the military (dude did aviation ordinance during Desert Storm) he returned to Phoenix, where…
The beer: Stateside Saison The brewery: Stillwater Artisanal Ales Style: Saison ABV: 6.8 percent Phoenix may be many things, but a beer destination it is not. Compared to, say, Portland, Denver or Philadelphia — meccas for brewers and drinkers — we’re just not there yet. But it may be for…
The Spot: Kitchen 56, 3433 N. 56th St, Phoenix, (480) 994-5656www.kitchen56.comThe Hours: 3-6 p.m., daily. The Details: What’s not to love about $5 appetizers and specialty cocktails? Choose from 15 progresive and delicious cocktail inventions, including “Adult Lemonades,” and a wide ranging list of martinis and mixed drinks with clever…
Last week we met Trent Robertson, longtime bartender at the Vine Tavern, a Tempe institution. Today he shares with us the recipe for Blue Magic. “A couple years ago, a lot of people were asking for easy, tasty drinks, so I came up with this,” Robertson says. “It tastes kind of like a…
The tender: Trent RobertsonThe bar: The Vine Tavern (801 E. Apache Blvd., 480-894-2662)The pedigree: Robertson got his bartending start in Kansas, working mostly, he says, at “Applebee’s-type restaurants.” A fortuitous coin flip led him to Tempe and the Vine ten years ago, where he’s been serving drinks ever since. How’d…
The beer: Black Butte XXIII The brewery: Deschutes Brewery Style: Imperial Porter ABV: 10.8 percent Last year, as 22-year-olds are wont to do, Deschutes flaked. Black Butte XXII, their much-anticipated double porter brewed to celebrate the brewery’s 22nd anniversary, never made it into regular distribution. Dark chocolate in the recipe…
Grocery shopping sucks, but navigating crowds of mouth-breathers in narrow aisles can be made way more tolerable with the application of beer. It’s why we dig the Whole Foods Market in Chandler, which — despite its status as a fancypants, way-too-expensive grocery store — has one of the best beer bars…
Yesterday we met Trudy Thomas, former student of Wolfgang Puck and current bar manager at BLT Steak at Camelback Inn. Today she shares with us the recipe for Passionate Pisco Punch, a cocktail new for BLT’s summer 5@5 menu inspired by Thomas’ current infatuation with Pisco, a strong, clear grape…
We like beer, we like brains, and we like teamwork, so we’re loving this one. Louis Dolgoff, head of the Beer for Brains Foundation, told us yesterday a collaborative beer specially brewed for his organization is in the works and will eventually hit national distribution. Dolgoff says the brew will…
The tender: Trudy ThomasThe bar: BLT Steak at Camelback Inn, a JW Marriott Resort (5402 E. Lincoln Dr., 480-905-7979)The pedigree: Thomas’ bartending career began as a matter of convenience — she got her start in working in a bar attached to her apartment complex in Kentucky. In 1999, she moved…
