InsPIEration: Seven Super Special Pies

Pie Social is right around the corner — do you know what you’re baking?  Well, you’re in good company, friend, because neither do we.  We decided we couldn’t be the only ones drowning in a sea of pumpkin, searching for an escape form the ordinary. After all, this is the pie…

The Breakfast Club, The Strand, and a Chipotle Coming to Downtown’s CityScape

CityScape, downtown’s newest highrise (and ongoing restaurant scene saga) of residential, retail, office, and hotel components, has announced three new restaurants opening in the coming weeks: a second location of Scottsdale’s The Breakfast Club and Barrista Bar, The Strand, a fast-casual Italian restaurant, and the Mexican grill, Chipotle. The news…

Keeping Fair Food Safe (If Not Healthy) to Eat

Scorpions dipped in chocolate, anyone? Larvettes in a box for you, dear? And how would you like to sample the chef’s newest specialty, the Maggot Melt Sandwich? Only one event could bring us such fine fare: the Arizona State Fair. If you’ve tackled the exotic cuisine at this year’s festivities,…

Cupcake Love-In 2011: We are Officially Cupcake’d Out

​We came, we saw, we cupcake’d.  And we don’t want to see another cupcake till next year.  Holy cow, cupcakes really aren’t dead! This was apparent the moment we pulled into the chaotic parking lot of the Valley Ho around noon yesterday for the 2nd Annual Cupcake Love-In. The fund…

Time to Make the Doughnuts at Noca: The Movie

We’ll admit it, we went a little doughnut crazy in October. To round out the month, here’s one last bit of fried dough porn — as we document the doughnut making process at Elliot Wexler’s Noca in Phoenix. You’re welcome. Follow Chow Bella on Facebook and Twitter…

DIY Vegetable Candy: Is It a Trick or a Treat?

This year, we’re making our Halloween candy out of vegetables. Vegetables contain natural sugars, so if they make a great addition to the dinner table, why not eat them for dessert too? Mashed Potato Candy is an American classic that can easily be made vegan.

Chop PHX: Bicol Express

​Tired of the same old tired orange chicken and California rolls? Want to venture beyond the standard suburban-stale take-out? Here comes Chop PHX, with the Valley’s rarer Asian offerings. This Week: Bicol Express from Gingerroot (1076 W. Chandler Blvd. Chandler). The Basics: Bicol is a region in the Philippines famous…

Body Parts Made From Bread Make Us Turn Down Lunch Invitation

Fine artist Kittiwat Unarrom, who also helps run his family’s bakery in Ratchaburi, Thailand, has found an unsettling method of combining his two trades. Since 2006, Unarrom has used dough to create crazy-creepy and realistic renditions of heads, feet, hands, arms, and other body parts he calls, “Human Bread.” Created…

Cafe: El New Yorican

In my latest column, owner Alberto Rivera provides the hospitality, the food, and the explanation behind El New Yorican (pronounced Yor-ee-can), his west side restaurant of casual Puerto Rican cuisine. Prepared in the style of Créole cooking, or what the locals call cocina criolla, this family-run eatery serves up a…

Phoenix Coyotes Offering Food Allergy-Friendly Suite Rentals

And while I maintain a parking lot and decorating the back of an SUV doesn’t sound like much fun for anyone, I did come across something pretty cool in the family fun category — ice cold to be specific — and (bonus) it’s allergy-friendly, too. The Phoenix Coyotes, the pro…