The Restaurant, 2401 East Camelback (the Ritz-Carlton), Phoenix, 468-0700. Hours: Sunday Brunch, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. As I strolled into the Restaurant, the Ritz-Carlton’s tony Sunday brunch spot, I had to fight the desire to make sure that my shoes were tied, my zipper zipped and my wallet secure…
Players Bar & Grill, 455 North Third Street (Arizona Center), Phoenix, 252-6222. Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. There are plenty of places in the Valley where you can get some eats and watch a football game in comfort…
Chopandaz Afghani Cuisine, 1849 North Scottsdale Road, Tempe, 947-4396. Hours: Lunch, Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Dinner, Tuesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. Some years ago, I happened to be riding a bus in northern Iran headed toward the Afghanistan border. It was winter. The weather…
Scenic Mirage, 1290 North Scottsdale Road, Tempe, 894-0460. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. My mother-in-law taught me everything I know about Hawaii. But I’m caught in a time warp, since her knowledge comes from childhood memories as an Army brat who left…
C-Fu Gourmet, 6438 South McClintock, Tempe, 831-8899. Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. The car needs a $500 engine repair. It’s September and still beastly hot. I’ve just received the 20-month payment schedule from my kid’s orthodontist. Six months…
Dos Flamingos, 10155 East Via Linda, Scottsdale, 391-0460. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Sunday, 4 to 10 p.m. What makes America’s great cities great? Museums? Sure. Nightlife? Absolutely. Cosmopolitan bustle? Of course. But most of all, great cities are identified with distinctive…
Nick’s Cuisine of Southern Europe, 3717 East Indian School, 955-5225. Hours: 7 a.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week. Back in ninth grade, Mr. Brodsky assigned our English class Charles Dickens’ mammoth novel David Copperfield. Although we had three weeks’ notice, I didn’t bother picking up the book until…
8700, 8700 East Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale, 994-8700. Hours: Dinner, Monday through Sunday, 6 to 10 p.m. Isaac Newton proved mathematically what people know instinctively: Bodies at rest tend to remain at rest. That’s why most people prefer to live near work, make friends close to home and marry the…
Chompie’s, 10858 North 32nd Street, Phoenix, 971-8010. Hours: Sunday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Monday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Without rituals, anthropologists tell…
La Fontanella, 4231 East Indian School, Phoenix, 955-1213. Hours: Lunch, Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, 4:30 to 10 p.m. For two years, my wife and I lived in a remote Peace Corps outpost on the fringes of the Sahara Desert. During that time,…
Handlebar-J, 7116 East Becker, Scottsdale, 948-0110. Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Sunday, 4 to 11 p.m. My mama didn’t let her baby grow up to be a cowboy. The only headgear I ever sported was a navy-and-white New…
Ayako of Tokyo, 2564 East Camelback (Biltmore Fashion Park), 955-7007. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 5:30 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 5 to 9:30 p.m. For 23 years, I’ve had a grudge against Japanese restaurants…
Minga’s, 4323 West Cactus, Phoenix, 978-5167. Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Deep-thinking book reviewers don’t delve into the latest Harlequin romance to keep up with fiction’s cutting edge. Music critics don’t analyze the latest…
Delhi Palace, 5050 East McDowell, Phoenix, 244-8181. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Remember the old commercial, “Is it true blondes have more fun”? And the woman who beseeched…
The Swiss and Dutch have a centuries-old reputation for precision work, sharp business sense and a passion for order. The burghers’ stolid, middle-class virtues of frugality, sobriety and diligence have brought them international leadership in banking and commerce. Their governments run as smoothly as handcrafted Swiss watches. Much of the…
She’s back. The scourge of restaurants is making her annual visit to the Valley. Eateries around the country know my mother as the Will Rogers of dining–she never met a meal she didn’t like to send back. And the place had better be clean. To my mother, Chanel #5 is…
You have to leave the beach sometime. Here are other recommendations for when you do. BREAKFAST: For an early-morning breakfast, with ocean breeze and view, pop over to Kirby’s in Del Mar, 215 15th Street, 1-619-481-1001. Sit up on the new deck, grab a newspaper and inhale the sea air…
You want dramatic scenery? Arizona’s got it. You want an azure sky? Arizona’s got it. You want a cool ocean breeze? Arizona doesn’t got it. That’s why a half-million summer-baked Zonies trek across mountain and desert to reach San Diego and exclaim, “This is the place!” But vacationing Zonies don’t…
Most Americans’ ideas about Greece, like their ideas about almost everything else, have been shaped by the movies. In Never on Sunday and Zorba the Greek, zesty, fun-loving Greeks seem to do little except dance, make love and toss endless amounts of dinnerware against cafe walls. After visiting a couple…
The grazer’s edge: China Doll’s dim sum adds up to total My less-adventurous friends have always suspected that “dim sum” is Chinese for “duck feet in a steamed bun.” Steamed buns are indeed a staple on the dim sum menu. And an occasional dish does contain a suspiciously webbed piece…
“Give me the luxuries,” said Oscar Wilde, “and I will dispense with the necessities.” We recently put Wilde’s theory to the test at two of the Valley’s poshest eateries. Each features an entrepreneurial young chef with a national reputation. And both will inflict a king-size beating on your wallet. At…
What do you call a neighborhood Italian joint featuring friendly service, good value and solid, occasionally outstanding food? These days I’d call it a miracle. The old-fashioned family Italian restaurant seems to be going the way of the family farm. Now, recipes get their first tests in the accounting department,…
