Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Fat Tuesday = Hungover WednesdayHappy Fat Tuesday! Ready to head out on the town tonight for a little Cajun style eatin’ and drinkin’? If you are still looking for your Hurricane headquarters, we found a couple spots…
We can’t believe how fast February flew by. The short month left us with several new places to grab a bite and took with it two local faves, including the abrupt closing of Simply Bread — and not to mention the impending closure of Mary Coyle’s, which technically belongs on the March…
Illegal restaurant workers, beware: Sheriff Joe Arpaio is after you. Why go after human traffickers or drug dealers or any other kind of bad guys when the Valley’s hospitality industry is apparently such a ripe, easy target for tracking down undocumented workers? That’s the surefire strategy the Sheriff is taking. According to Stephen Lemons…
Hey Smarty Pants. Yes, you. Have you made your nominations yet for our Big Brain Awards? You’ve only got another week to go online and tell us who should win $1000 in one of six categories: performing arts, visual arts, film/video, literary, design and food. Yes, food. We have a…
Sugar can be an amazing sculptural medium, but rumor has it that it’s a bitch to work with. Whenever Food Network Challenge tackles sugar sculptures, there’s inevitably some heartbreak as a four-foot-tall masterpiece topples over and shatters like glass on its way to the judging table. Why would anyone willingly work with such a…
For a while now, we’ve been able to get our Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie fix out of season by heading to the supermarket and picking up Keebler Fudge Shoppe Grasshoppers. In fact, we’ve found similar cookies or knock-offs for all the other Girl Scout cookies, except the popular caramelly, coconutty Samoas. Those…
Silvana Salcido Esparza is taking Barrio Cafe to the ‘burbs. One of the most highly acclaimed chefs in Arizona is about to open a second restaurant — and the location is the burbs, not the barrio. Silvana Salcido Esparza — chef-owner of Barrio Cafe and current nominee-in-the-running for a James…
Chef Matt Carter built his reputation with French cuisine at Scottsdale’s Zinc Bistro, and he’s expanded his repertoire to contemporary Mexican food at The Mission. For awhile, he even had his own Asian fusion spot, the now-defunct Nine 05, in Downtown Phoenix. Obviously the guy has a knack for foreign flavors,…
Last week we featured quinoa in a cabbage roll. You found out about the ancient seed treasured by the Incas and called “the mother grain”. Quinoa has a higher percentage of protein per serving than wheat, oats, buckwheat or barley and is gluten free. We had a request for a…
The caramel sampling continues today with last year’s Caramelpalooza winner in both the blind judging and peoples’ choice award categories, Slade Grove. Grove is the Executive Pastry Chef for Wicked Kitchen Gourmet and Cookies From Home in Tempe. I ended up in the kitchen because I decided it was time…
Sola is a hip little coffee bar in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale, and it offers a nice reprieve from daytime window shopping. Outside, retirees ogle eagle and horse sculptures while BMWs jockey for parking spaces with Mustangs. But inside Sola, people inhale the scent of fresh-brewed java and…
Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Winemaker DinnerGet naked with Caffe Boa and winemakers Tony Coturri from Coturri wines and Olivier Cousin from France for a special evening of naked food and wine Saturday March 12. The Naked Winemakers Dinner will focus on…
Senior is an artist who quite often uses food as her medium. I ended up in the kitchen because creating is what I do best, and it doesn’t matter if the medium is food, art, architecture, it’s the creative process I love, plus you get to eat it when you’re…
Our candy-coated conversation continues today with Brianne Day from The Herb Box. Day has been overseeing baked goods at The Herb Box for more than four years. I ended up in the kitchen because I’ve always had a passion for baking. When I was young I would spend every Sunday…
Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week. Pantry Raid: The Virgin Takes a No-Recipe Challenge Bomberos…
It’s the moment you all (well, the 17 of you who entered, anyway) have been waiting for. The announcement of the 2011 Caramelpalooza reader judges. We asked our readers to leave a comment explaining why they’d make good judges for our caramel tasting next Friday, March 11, at Smeeks candy…
Last week, we were able to squeak in a quick lunch at this breakfast/lunch/bakery’s new and improved “bigger” location. Loaded with turkey we swear was just sliced off a freshly roasted bird, crispy bacon, ripe tomato and field greens made up this especially lovely sandwich. We enjoyed every tasty morsel…
If you’ve looked over the vendor list for the beer festival set to be held Saturday at Tempe Beach Park, you might have noticed something odd. At an event that bills itself as the Great Arizona Beer Festival, several of Arizona’s greatest breweries — Papago, Barrio, Nimbus, and this little…
Staying in? We’ve got you covered — both on the culinary and entertainment fronts. Now presenting Dinner and a Movie — a guide to a do it yourself evening of food and film. Film: I Am Love (2009) Popcorn Alternative: Popcorn with Rosemary Butter, Parmesan, Tart Cherries, and Black Pepper Entrée: Sage Brown…
The best ethnic food is often the most difficult to find. So each week we’ll spin the globe and search for a new other-worldly spot to expand our eating horizons around the Valley. This week we go to Korea at Chuhgajib Korean Restaurant. So many things about Korean dining make…
The day after CenPho’s new Cambodian restaurant, Sekong By Night, opened, a couple of friends and I couldn’t wait to try it. What we found was a surprisingly cute little spot done up with burgundy walls, Buddha art, and brocade tablecloths, with a dirt-cheap menu of tasty Cambodian dishes. To the…
