If you’re a devout cocktail devotee, you’ve surely heard of Fernet Branca, the in-your-face Italian liqueur that makes its cousin Campari look like a cherry lollipop by comparison. There’s bitter, and then there’s Big Boy bitter. That’s Fernet Branca, an acquired taste that aficionados like to say you’ll have to…
It takes a steady hand and a little nerve to hack into the armor-like skin on a butternut squash. Luckily, the skin is the only thing hard about butternut squash.
Nobody really knows who invented the Reuben sandwich (but we’d put flowers on his grave if we did). Some say it was Reuben Kulakofsky of Omaha, Nebraska, who served it at late-night poker games at the Blackstone Hotel. Others swear it was invented by a cook at Reuben’s Restaurant in…
“I was desperate for the food I was accustomed to,” Walter Bergamaschi says on why he and wife Marti decided to open Dolce Vita Italian Grocer in east Mesa. “Ninety-nine percent of what we sell and use here is imported from Italy. The other 1 percent,” he jokes, “is the…
Another busy month for the Phoenix restaurant scene. We bid farewell to some excellent Peruvian joint but said hello to a new Ethiopian restaurant. See Also: – –September Openings and Closings We’re also excited to see the soda fountain making a comeback even if we’re also losing one of our…
Dolce Vita Italian Grocer is what happens when gelato makers turn their attention to Italy’s more savory food. Where pastas are equally as luscious, cheeses and cured meats just as intensely flavorful, and sandwiches as deserving of slow and thoughtful roll-over-the-tongue tastes as the Italian sweet treat — minus the…
The construction is finally finished in the former home of Zen32, at 32nd Street and Camelback Road, in the Biltmore Neighborhood. And at 5 p.m., Sunday, November 4, Central Bistro, the modern restaurant featuring flavors from Italy, France, and Spain, opens its doors after nearly nine months of remodeling and…
We’ve spent the last year in the laboratory putting Phoenix under the microscope to reveal hundreds of specimens of the best culture, outdoor adventures, shopping, dining, and nightlife the city has to offer. And we’re finally ready to publish our results. Nerd alert! Now presenting Scientific Phoenix. It’s officially farmers…
What do you call long tubes of bread baked in special cylindrical pans, sliced open to add fillings, then covered back up and cooked? Edgy, yo. And if you’re Carole Meyer, one-of-a-kind. Meyer is the owner of Zookz, the just-opened sandwich shop in front of the Landmark Residential Tower on…
Pie Social’s just around the corner and if you’re wondering about the savory options to counteract the inevitable excess of sweet, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Let us present Old Dixie’s Southern Kitchen. From Northern California to Nashville, New Orleans and Phoenix, Michael Babcock has been around the block…
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. Screams. Blood. Gore. No, it’s not your favorite spooky movie…
By tomorrow Halloween will be but a pile of candy wrappers and a pumpkin rotting on the porch — but the next holiday is right around the corner, and we’re not talking about Thanksgiving. Dia de los Meurtos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday celebrated on November…
The Spot: Milagro Grill 4280 E. Indian School Road, #101, Phoenix 602-773-5844 www.milagrogrillaz.com See also: – Macayo’s Family Makes Good at Arcadia’s Milagro Grill – Chimi Challenge: Macayo’s vs. El Molino Hours: Happy Hour is offered 3:30-6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday…
Think you can’t grow your own fruit? Think again. Urban orcharding is gaining ground (pun intended). Bryan White of the Green House Farm often teaches about urban orcharding and soil building for the Valley Permaculture Alliance and he let us in some secrets for a fruitful harvest. See also: -Autumn…
For those of you who have passed the shuttered Miriam’s Designer Clothes building on North Seventh Street and wondered, “Why can’t that just be a restaurant already?” (yours truly included) here’s some news: It’s going to be a restaurant already. More specifically, one called Gadzooks specializing in enchiladas and soup…
Edward Farrow, the executive chef at the Café at MIM, loves Halloween. In fact, it’s his favorite holiday. And while he can’t dress up in an outlandish costume during work hours (too much risk of fire), he gets in the ghoulish spirit by giving his constantly changing, locally sourced menu…
Sharing my favorite eats of the month from new restaurants, reviewed restaurants, and places I’ve popped into just because. It’s not a countdown, it’s a collection. And I hope it inspires. Enjoy. Pork Stomach and Black Pepper Clay Pot at New Hong Kong “I can’t believe I’m on my second…
This is part two of my interview with Michael Rusconi, chef-owner of the new Rusconi’s American Kitchen. If you missed part one, where Rusconi dishes about his guilty pleasure and what he metaphorically eats for breakfast, read it here. See also: Two New Brunches Hit the Valley in October: Mastro’s…
“I’m terrified as shit, but in a locker-room-before-the-game kind of way.” That’s what Keenan Bosworth says about opening Pig & Pickle, his first restaurant, slated to open at the end of November in Scottsdale serving comfort food with a gourmet twist. The Wisconsin-born chef, who moved to the Valley in…
Since opening two months ago, Angels Trumpet Ale House has gotten rave reviews from beer geeks all over town. With over 30 beers on tap, that’s no surprise. On the other hand, the bierhaus has received very mixed feedback for its food. Conceptually, the menu sounds great, although fairly safe…
Mamma Mia, the family owned pizza joint with two locations on Indian School Road, has shuttered one of them. The location at 806 East Indian School Road (8th Street and Indian School Road in Central Phoenix) closed a few weeks ago. Opened shortly after the pizzeria’s original restaurant was established…
The Halloween season may be drawing to a close on Wednesday, but there’s still one excuse to leave those decorative skeletons out on display. Dia de Los Muertos, the traditional Mexican holiday honoring the dead, happens once Halloween comes to a close. To help you celebrate this weekend, here are…
