Viet Nom Nom Nom Dinner Lab Friday, April 10 This Friday the dining event company known as Dinner Lab will debut in Phoenix with Viet Nom Nom Nom, a pop-up dinner featuring chef Nini Nguyen. The company hosts pop-up events in cities from coast to coast with diners paying an…
Ladders, blue prints, and layers of dust covered almost every surface within DeSoto Central Market on Monday, but manager Shawn Connelly says he is confident the space will be ready by the grand opening this weekend. Regardless of the tidying up still needed, the preserved historic beauty of the building…
Arizona Distilling Company took yet another leap in legitimacy this past weekend when they came up big at the San Francisco Spirits Competition, winning a distinguished Double Gold medal for their Desert Dry Gin. The Double Gold billing is second only to spirits which, from the Double Gold group, go…
The Guilty Pleasure: Oreo Biscuits Where to Get It: Church’s Chicken Price: 99 cents for 5 What it Really Costs: A sugar crash, as well as the time and thought to redefine what you consider a biscuit…
Last month more than a dozen local restaurants — everything from supermarkets to small, independent spots to restaurants that are part of giant, national chains — failed to pass county health department inspections. And if we had to pick out a trend among the offending spots, it would be a…
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…
John Culver Executive Chef Blasted Barley Beer Co. 404 S. Mill Ave., Tempe www.BlastedBarley.com Walk into Tempe’s new Mill Avenue brewery, Blasted Barley, and you’ll notice the large patio, the kegs of beer sitting on a loft above the bar, and a selection of games — including cornhole and skee-ball…
Okay, so maybe old timey Coca Cola kitsch isn’t your thing. We get it, but when a good dessert comes along, it must be talked about so all can enjoy. Phil’s Filling Station in Fountain Hills is making homemade pan cookies that will meet any warm cookie need you might…
Some people rely on Pinterest, others just have an eye for style. Jill Anderson is the latter. The Pasadena native who got her interior design certification through Scottsdale Community College has made a career out of curating other peoples’ homes through Scottsdale Wiseman and Gale Interiors. When she’s not busy…
Travel writer Roger Naylor has infused two of his passions — burgers and hiking — to create the premise for his third book, Boots & Burgers: An Arizona Handbook for Hungry Hikers. The book is aimed at hikers and non-hikers and matches 37 hiking trails with nearby burger joints. The…
March was a busy month in the restaurant scene with more than a dozen new restaurants opening all over town. Some of the newest restaurants in the Valley include second and third locations of already popular spots, while others represent the sophomore efforts of well-loved local chefs. On the downside,…
East Valley residents looking for a quick place to pick up dinner have a new option in Nanay’s, a cafeteria-style Filipino restaurant that opened in January. The new spot comes courtesy of Aurea Gonzales and her two daughters, Alicia Ferrer and Aida Sembrano, who were born and raised in Pampanga,…
With temperatures heating up and spring pushing its way into the Valley, we pinned two chocolate peanut butter banana smoothies against each other to answer the ultimate question: which smoothie has what it takes to satisfy our sweet tooth and cool us off?…
Wingstock Saturday, March 4 This weekend the 5th annual Wingstock event will go down at from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday at Mesa Amphitheatre. The event combines music and chicken by pitting local Valley restaurants against each other in a competition for the title of “Wingstock King of…
We’ve got three words for you, Phoenicians: Tennessee Hot Chicken. That’s right, chef Cullen Campbell and the team behind Crudo and Bar Crudo plan to open a second restaurant this summer that will blend Southern cuisine with a hint of the Italian-influenced fare for which the chef’s become known. Called…
On Tuesday, Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law S.B. 1030, the Arizona Beer Bill proposed late last year that will allow brewers to produce more beer while retaining their retail locations.
You know you probably have entered a good place for authentic Eastern European fare when the cashier greets you with words steeped in a heavy Ukranian accent. You’re further reassured when a peek into the partially exposed kitchen shows three unmistakably European women, one of whom belongs in an idyllic…
The Uptown Farmers Market has a convenient new vendor: the Veggie Valet. The Valet is a project of the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP, for short), which provides high school students with job training in the culinary industry…
According to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page on Monday, chef Johnny Chu’s Central Phoenix restaurant Sochu House has closed. The restaurant served neo-Asian cuisine, including many dishes originally made popular at the chef’s previous downtown Phoenix restaurant, Sens. Chu, who was born in Hong Kong and has opened…
Deliverance came at the end of dinner at Steak 44, by way of a memorable and tasty dessert. Nearly everything else up until then, during my initial visit, had been a disappointment. Located in the former Cork ‘n’ Cleaver site at 44th Street and Camelback Road, Steak 44 is the…
San Francisco has Ferry Building Marketplace. New York’s got Chelsea Market. Until now, Phoenix hasn’t had a central dining hub and grocery to call its own. Shawn Connelly intends to change that on April 11, when the DeSoto Central Market opens its doors to the public. Located on Roosevelt and…
Last night at Livewire in Scottsdale, the Scottsdale League for the Arts recognized some of the state’s top culinary talent at the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame awards ceremony. The award categories included Chef of the Year, Restaurateur of the Year, and Beverage Master of the Year, among others, with…
