Courtesy of the James Beard Foundation Cheers to the winner: Chef Nobuo Fukuda savors the sweet taste of victory. Yeah, Arizona messed with Texas — where all of this year’s other James Beard “Best Chef — Southwest” nominees are from — and came out ahead. At last night’s 2007 James…
Lonely Planet digs up a few hotel gems. There’s no rule that says I can’t make a New Year’s resolution in May, right? Well, from now on, I’m going to start giving away more free stuff to Chow Bella readers. I’ll make it as easy and painless as possible –…
This morning, my voicemail box was bursting with messages about The Big Chill, and a lot of the callers wanted to know the same thing: Where is Arlecchino? (Most people said they liked the piece, but one guy had the nerve to say that my omission of an address was…
I’ve always been amused by the way overachieving types tack together their job titles and hobbies with a bunch of slash marks. It’s never good enough to be one thing — you need to be at least two or three. Models want to be actors, actors want to be musicians,…
Just got this note from a hungry New Times reader (see below). I can think of a lot of great meat-free Mexican dishes out there, but honestly I haven’t paid much attention to who makes truly vegetarian rice and beans. Does anybody have any suggestions? If so, please comment so…
After wracking my brains to come up with a happy hour destination yesterday — I ended up at Durant’s, happily — I thought I’d blog ‘n bitch about how too many of my central Phoenix favorites are closed on Mondays. Drives me crazy. But I’ll save that one for another…
DIY Vietnamese noodle soup? Sign me up. The other day, I got a lovely email from Ken Brown, who read my recent review of Dragonfly Vietnamese Kitchen and decided to drop a line. “I’m the Will Rogers of VN (or SE Asian or Korean) restaurants,” he writes. “I’m so glad…
Finger lickin’ good: Ethiopian food by the handful at Blue Nile Yes, I’ve been a blog slacker the past few days. I’ve been an email slacker, too, and a flat-out voicemail ignorer (is that a word?). Next week, you’ll see why. Anyway, yeah, I’ve been a little sidetracked, but not…
It’s a total pain to get anywhere in Tempe, especially when you’re hungry. More and more over the past few months, I’ve found myself avoiding restaurants I’ve frequented for years, unless I could stop by at an off time, or think of a clever route around the mess caused by…
You never know what you’ll learn when you’re inconspicuously munching on fried ama-ebi heads and yellowtail sashimi. The other night, I felt lousy, like I was coming down with something. I’ve been blaming my occasional cough on allergies, but this felt like a real cold. At times like that, I…
There’s a reason they say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I don’t think it has anything to do with getting your metabolism revved up. To me, it’s because breakfast food is the only thing that’s appealing ’round the clock — morning, noon, or night…
You already know what a sucker I am for packaging, so this new discovery shouldn’t come as a surprise. Ciao Bella pinot grigio? Come on, that thing was screaming my name. Lately I’ve been thinking about buying a Vespa, too. I spotted the vino at Cooks & Corks on Sunday,…
So did you hit up any of the culinary fest events over the weekend? I stopped by the Great Arizona Picnic and Cooks & Corks for awhile yesterday, and if my photos look half decent, I’ll post a few later on. (Haven’t seen them except on my digital camera’s tiny…
Restaurant Mexico deserves a sweet trophy for marathon-worthy endurance. It was one of a handful of popular downtown Tempe restaurants that got the boot when developers decided to demolish their old digs at University and Forest. And while it wasn’t the first time the business has picked up and moved…
An artist’s rendering of SouthBridge, soon to be home to seven high-profile restaurants If you’ve attempted (in vain) to find street parking in Scottsdale lately — especially near Cowboy Ciao, Stingray, and the like — you might already be familiar with SouthBridge, the still-under-construction condo, shopping and dining complex brought…
The day that Publishers Clearing House shows up at my front door with a giant check for $10 million is the day I become a full-time globetrotter. Nothing gets me revved up like travel — navigating unexplored streets, chatting with strangers, discovering unusual things. I like to immerse myself in…
Brian Lewis: Soon heading to France to enhance his super-chef powers This week’s splashiest foodie news is the somewhat sudden departure of chef de cuisine Brian Lewis from his post at Vu – the fine dining destination at the Hyatt Scottsdale Gainey Ranch, which I reviewed in my New Times…
Courtesy of Scottsdale Culinary Festival Hail to the chef: Kevin Binkley gets gets props from the Culinary Hall of Fame Tomorrow marks the start of the 29th annual Scottsdale Culinary Festival, and it’s looking like one hell of a foodie marathon. What sounds like a six-day blowout is actually more…
Just in time for First Friday comes Bar Smith, a new restaurant/hangout/watering hole that’s taken over that spot on Washington that housed the short-lived Taste of N’Awlins, and before that, Oregano’s. The place has been open a few weeks now, but last night was the grand opening. I haven’t had…
Rarely do I feel like attacking another local writer’s work in public — usually I just share my criticisms with friends and fellow journalists, in private. But come on. How can a story that contains this sentence in the lede — “Does anyone hear Phoenix and think yum?” — make…
I’ve got neighborhood envy again. This time it’s an unassuming pocket of Mesa, on Dobson Road just north of Southern, where you’ll find one of my favorite strip malls in the Valley. Anchored by Asiana Market, a Korean grocery store that sells everything from kimchi to candy, the corner is…
Time will tell whether this fancy new blog software makes my life better (oh god I hope it’s spam-free!!), but so far, the only thing that’s changed is my URL: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bella/ The old one still works, though…
