Surely you’ve seen the rainbow cake. It’s pretty darn popular. As my fellow Chow Bella-ite Amy Silvemran puts it, the rainbow cake is nothing less than “the holy grail of Pinterest.” Pin Up Girl would be a farce if we didn’t conquer this thing. So this week we spent three…
I’m not impressed by sleek for sleek’s sake. But this is a James Bond kind of toaster. It’s sleek and functional – like a Beretta.
Oh, my, this is exciting. For those who thought Bomberos Winebar, the hip little neighborhood hangout in Sunnyslope that shuttered last March after failed lease renewal discussions with the landlord (the space is now occupied by Timo), was ancient history, it’s time to write a new chapter. Just over a…
Since opening at the end of last year, Distrito and Old Town Whiskey, the two restaurants in Scottsdale’s The Saguaro, have been causing quite a buzz in the Valley. Much of that is due to Chef Jose Garces, the man behind the menus, who is best known for winning the…
A less than scientific survey from CouponCabin says that nearly 1/3 of respondents refuse to leave a tip if they receive below average service. The survey further claims that 20% of respondents only tip out of a sense of obligation. There were a few other juicy tidbits in the press…
Imagine mashed potatoes. Then imagine a pile of mashed potatoes — smooth and sticky — shaped into a starchy dome. You pull a piece and mold it into an indented marble-size ball, a flat disc, or perhaps a thumb-pressed oval to scoop up a richly flavored soup or stew. The…
A friend recently handed me the February 2012 issue of Esquire magazine. Sticking out the side was a Post-It with three huge question marks and an arrow pointing inside. The arrow pointed to the cover story, “Agree: Bill Clinton and 78 Other Things We Can All Agree On”. Specifically, it…
Warsan, a new African restaurant and coffee shop first-time owner Loyan Hassan Abdi tells me means good news in the Somali language, has opened in the strip mall at 2935 East McDowell Road (McDowell and 29th Street.) The casual, bare-bones restaurant, opened for about a week, is still sparse on…
This week in Chef Chat we’ve been talking with Chef Mensur Duzic of Phoenix Children’s Hospital. A tenured veteran of fine dining spots from across the Valley to across the pond, Duzic has enjoyed his position at the hospital for nearly ten years. But does he miss his more high-class…
Good news for fans of New York-style pizza from Myrah and Joe Aiello, owners of Aiello’s, the East Coast Italian restaurant in Phoenix. The couple has announced their new pizza shop, Isa’s Pizza, will open this Thursday next to their second restaurant, Aiello’s Salumeria, a “mini Aiello’s,” at 777 East…
Spice blends can be magical. With just the right amount of this and that, a well-crafted blend is greater than the sum of its parts. However, with up to 20 spices working in tandem, the individual pieces inevitably get lost and are impossible to distinguish. A blend definitely has its…
Last August, a large wooden crate arrived at the sandwich shop Pane Bianco. In the crate — bearing an Austrian return address — was a 1600 pound stone mill and sifter: the sole piece of machinery that would revive Tempe’s century and a half-old Hayden Flour Mills brand for which…
Welcome to Chow Bella’s Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you’d like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. Miss a question? Go here. Inspiration, information, mouth-watering photography — our favorite cookbooks are like…
Huevos Rancheros, the traditional Mexican breakfast dish, is a menu staple at almost every drive-thru taco shop and Mexican eatery in the Valley. It’s the perfect cure for a hangover and includes all five important elements of a hearty breakfast — eggs, tortillas, beans, rice, and cheese. Instead of pitting…
There’s a new business-to-business food program here in town using the good old fashioned bartering system to feed small business owners and provide valuable services to food producers. It’s called The Edible Exchange and it’s an offshoot of the The Barter Group, a longtime local company that facilitates bartering. In…
Editor’s Note: The truffiere that was afflicted by disease was incorrectly identified as being in Oregon. The truffiere was actually located in North Carolina. Local entrepreneurs Aaron and Liz Eckburg of Go Lbs Salt announced plans recently to found the southwest’s first commercial truffiere, an orchard for truffles. Due to…
The Spot: Sushi Roku, 7277 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. (480) 970-2121. www.sushiroku.com The Hours: 4 to 6:30 p.m. Daily The Details: Sushi Roku’s new happy hour menu features eleven “Bites” – like the Sautéed Garlic Green Beans, Crispy Chicken, and Popcorn Rock Shrimp – arranged into categories from…
How can you add pizza to a gelato spot and still call it The Gelato Spot? That question was surely on the minds of the owners of this Old Town Scottsdale creamery (with three other locations in the Valley) when they installed a wood-fired pizza oven on the premises last…
Yesterday we started the conversation with Chef Mensur Duzic of the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Today, we continue. Duzic, a classically trained chef who worked for more than a decade in fine dining, is putting the “hospital” in hospitality by bringing his cuisine to an unexpected arena: a hospital cafeteria…
Since it opened a year and a half ago, the Downtown location of Cartel Coffee, the popular local roaster with four locations in Arizona, has not only been supplying the java to the likes of suits and students, but breakfast and lunch bites as well. “We’ve had a good run…
Good Fellas Grill in North Phoenix has the real estate luck of being located next door to our favorite Mexican/Chinese fusion dive, Chino Bandido, which we like for the fun dish combinations — like jerk chicken and refried beans — at a decent price. For wandering souls looking for somewhere…
Chef Nobuo Fukuda, the James Beard winning proprietor of Nobuo at Teeter House, is poised to serve what will probably be the classiest bento boxes the Valley has ever seen. An email sent last week promises a $50 Sunday brunch, starting April 15, featuring “Omakase-style bento boxes” and a complimentary…
