Coming Soon: Dave’s Electric Brewpub

​There’s nothing like a cold, frosty beer on a warm day — especially when it’s brewed locally and served straight from the tap. Phoenix is about to get a new microbrewery in Dave’s Electric Brewpub, tentatively scheduled for a soft opening this weekend in a prime location on the corner of College Ave. and…

Behind the Bar: Justin Gurian at Pussycat Lounge/Dirty Pretty

[jump] Powering this drink-slinging dynamo is often a “shitload of caffeine” (natch) in either pill form or a couple of Red Bulls, which Gurian sometimes guzzles down before his shifts. “I have a really high tolerance for that kinda stuff and usually take pills on the days that I’m dragging,”…

BLT Steak, Roka Akor & Christopher’s Team Up for a Gourmet Safari

​ ​ ​When progressive dinner parties (called “safari suppers” by the Brits) fell out of favor in the mid-’80s, we admit we were a little dissapointed. Not that we’d ever been to one. But we grew up hearing about mom’s culinary adventures making canapes for the first course, and how…

Top Five Food Spreads in Cinema History

We’ve all experienced it: you’re sitting in a dark movie theater and the seats, walls and sounds of other peoples’ muffled farts melt away because you’re so enraptured with the story. And, inevitably, as you’re knee deep in this fictional film world, you’ll experience some savory scenes of sumptuous food…

Cafe: Hope Kee

There are some (namely just us) who would call us asian food enthusiasts. Dim sum? Yes, please. Udon? Slurped loudly with chop sticks. We know where fish sauce comes from and it makes us want to eat it even more. That’s why we’re salivating like bakas (idiots in Japanese) and…

An Introduction to Cheuvront at AZ Restaurant Week

​That’s why we loved the idea of sampling the cuisine at Cheuvront, a downtown staple that we hadn’t yet visited, during Arizona Restaurant Week. At $29 for three courses, you can afford to venture outside your tried-and-true culinary standbys. If you don’t like a dish, no worries; you’ve got two more. Or five more,…

Battle of the PB&Js

District American Kitchen and Wine Bar vs. Arcadia Farms at the Phoenix Art MuseumIt’s hard to find a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich in this town. Most restaurants that serve sandwiches don’t even bother with this most basic of lunch items. We set out to find a good PB&J…

Chef Chat: Edip San, Med Fresh Grill

Med Fresh Grill has been a Mill Avenue constant for four years, surviving the wave of desolation the downtown Tempe stretch has faced in recent times. Like many restaurants on Mill, Med Fresh serves quickly and on disposable plates, but one taste of the food shows what sets this spot…

Shopping for Kitchen Supplies: Smart & Final

Ask any chef or great cook and they’ll tell you – it’s all in the tools. Home cooks could spend the rest of their lives amassing their collection, and truth be told – they often do. But what if you’re just starting out, on a budget, or widening your culinary…

Hope Kee Saves You from Shopping on an Empty Stomach

Grocery shopping on an empty stomach has its pitfalls, especially when you make it to the register and find out how much you’ve spent on random, hunger-induced impulse buys. The experience can be even more intense at ethnic markets, where the shelves are stocked with unusual ingredients to inspire creative…

New in Phoenix: Tommy V’s

The field of gourmet pizza parlors in Phoenix is getting a little more crowded. Tommy V’s Pizzeria opens Thursday on Camelback — the little brother of nearby Tomaso’s Italian restaurant. Owner and chef Tomaso Maggiore says diners can expect classic pizza that’ll be “the best this side of the Atlantic.” Maggiore brags…

Meal Ticket: Canadian Chef Comes to Chandler

Now that Phoenix’s culinary scene is attracting attention through profiles of local chefs and eateries in magazines like Bon Appetit, and on the Food Network, even international chefs are heeding the call of the desert. Find out which brand new Chandler restaurant enticed a Canadian chef to head up their kitchen, and see what’s…

Shopping for Kitchen Supplies: Standard Restaurant Supply

Ask any chef or great cook and they’ll tell you – it’s all in the tools. Home cooks could spend the rest of their lives amassing their collection, and truth be told – they often do. But what if you’re just starting out, on a budget, or widening your culinary…

Thursday: Free Omelette Day

Eat an omelette, help the homeless. That’s the deal this Thursday, September 24, at all four Valley locations of First Watch. The bustling breakfast joint is hosting its annual Free Omelette Day, with (you guessed it) free omelettes to customers who make a charitable contribution to St. Vincent de Paul…

Dining at Roka Akor for AZ Restaurant Week

We’d heard all the hubbub about Scottsdale’s Roka Akor, the palindromically-named Japanese Robata Grill (like how Bon Appetit had recently named it one of the ten best new places for sushi) but we weren’t true believers until we tasted their Arizona Restaurant Week menu on Saturday night…

Farmers and Chefs Mingling at the Montelucia

Arizona farmers, ranchers, cheese makers and chefs will be hanging out at the InterContintenal Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale this afternoon for the Phoenix Farmer Chef Connection. The second annual conference is a networking bonanza for the 150 or so slow food types who will be there. “The whole idea is…

TV Chef Wants to Fix Your Love Life with Food

Courtesy of Producer Gay Gilbert Why spend countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars on professional couples counseling when you can just fix your relationship with a $15 pork loin, saffron-infused rice and an asparagus medley? Of course, if it really worked that way, 90% of marriage therapists would…

Monday Night Martha: Cumin-Scented Beef Kebabs

Today’s recipe, cumin-scented beef kebabs, is ripped from the pages of last month’s Gourmet Magazine. The trick to these kebabs is the selection of steak, either sirloin flap steak or flatiron steak. We found flatiron steak at our local Fry’s at a not outrageous price. Then it takes just five…