Beer is a big deal in the Valley. From tastings and tappings to pairing dinners and more, there’s a different beer event to attend pretty much every night. Every week, we’ll curate upcoming brew-related goings-on and lay them out for you here. Your calendar will be as full of beer…
Beer: Wookey Jack Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Style: Black IPA ABV: 8.3 percent Beer names and the stories that inspired them fascinate me. Take Firestone Walker’s beers, for example. Was Sticky Monkey named after a pet Capuchin that got into the glue? Did they designate Good Foot as such…
For those of you lamenting downtown’s lack of exciting restaurant choices, please direct your attention for a moment to an arguably more disturbing development going on at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and McDowell Road — an intersection that touches the F.Q. Story, Willo, and Encanto-Palmcroft historic districts — and…
Lori Hashimoto Hana Japanese Eatery 5542 N. Seventh Avenue 602-973-1238 www.hanajapaneseeatery.com This is part one of my interview with Lori Hashimoto, co-owner and sushi chef of Hana Japanese Eatery. You can read part two of the interview with Lori Hashimoto of Hana Japanese Eatery here. To understand Lori Hashimoto, you…
From now ’til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers — Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you’ll know; for others, it’ll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you’re here, check…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
The origins of gelato — Italian ice cream made with less butterfat, a higher density, and served slightly warmer than its American counterpart — date back to frozen treats made from mountaintop snow and ice in ancient Rome and Egypt. Thankfully, for those of us in search of the frozen…
When news broke last week that Urban Grocery and Wine Bar was closing, it didn’t take long for the rumor to start circulating that an undisclosed chef had expressed interest in the space. Turns out, the rumor was true. Aaron Chamberlin, chef-owner of St. Francis, confirms for Chow Bella that…
The end of foie gras in California is rapidly approaching. On July 1, the full provisions of SB 1520 will go into effect and both foie gras production and sale will be prohibited. SB 1520 was signed into law by Arnold Schwarzenegger way back in 2004. The law gave a…
Every week, there’s a cornucopia of new Phoenix food news, features, and reviews to report here at Chow Bella. If you’re like most people, you probably just don’t have the time to get to all of it. It’s kind of like those burgers at Old Town Whiskey; it just won’t…
Earlier this spring, we launched Vine Geeks — in which AZ Wine Merchants’ Brian Reeder and Pavle Milic share advice, news and a little levity from the world of wine. Today, we bring you Romancing the Grape. In this occasional series, Milic will spill about his current mission to learn…
Latin American cuisine often gets grouped together in one big category, but since the region spreads across two continents, it should go without saying that the culinary traditions are incredibly diverse. Located on the Western coast of South America, Peru offers very different tastes than the Mexican cuisine that Arizonans…
A lot gets said about what liquors you need to start a good home bar. Our own Zachary Fowle got a good answer from an excellent local bartender. But there’s something else that’s often neglected: You need to have something to hold your drinks. Sure, you can use that motley…
Earlier this week, we announced the winners of Just Like Mom’s, Chow Bella’s first Mother’s Day essay contest. Today we present the winning essay by Kim Kunasek, about her mother, Emilie Charlotte Klaiber — and Klaiber’s recipe for “pancake soup.” My mother has always been a life force. As a…
From now ’til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers — Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you’ll know; for others, it’ll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you’re here, check…
Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all you moms out there! I hope the kiddos take you somewhere nice to eat and shower you with presents (and if they still need a little help figuring where to take you, send them the link to our Mother’s Day Brunch/Dinner Roundup). My kids,…
If you think that you have to live in Portland or Northern California to participate in the gratifying experience of picking your own fruit off a tree (or bush) then you are wrong. Arizona has all sorts of places to pick your own produce — apples, blackberries,artichokes, cucumber, peaches, and…
We know many of you fine folk went to see The Avengers last weekend. We know this because The Avengers has smashed its way through a bunch of records in its opening week. If you haven’t seen it, let us give you two bits of advice: 1. Stay through all…
We had so much fun chucking Chow Bella contributors Ando Muneno and Lauren Saria into the ring over Alton Brown and food trucks, we put them back at it again. This week’s topic: Dine-in movie theaters. Lauren: A few weeks ago, a friend invited me to a screening of a…
Somewhere between chef and restaurateur Aaron May opening Praying Monk in Scottsdale (and being locked out of his taco shop, Vitamin T, at CityScape after a landlord-tenant dispute) and restaurateur Sam Fox announcing the addition of a seafood concept to his second Arizona Culinary Dropout location in Phoenix, the two…
It’s been nearly a week since news broke that the Urban Grocery will be closing Saturday, May 12, at 5 p.m. Now that the dust has settled and tempers have cooled, it’s easier to see why. And why it’s highly unlikely — despite all petitions, protests, and the creation of…
This week, we brought you the story of La Fontanella, the Italian restaurant in Arcadia owned by Isabella Mannone-Bertuccio. For nearly three decades she’s been serving her authentic Italian cuisine to Valley diners looking for a taste of the Old World. Her story began with her parent’s restaurant in Chicago…
