What’s New: Sometimes it seems like no one has had an original restaurant idea in the Valley since the Hohokam fished ahi tuna out of the Salt River and brushed on a teriyaki glaze. I don’t know what to think of Edward’s, but no one can accuse this new place…
The sun was coming up when I finished reading Thomas Harris’ Hannibal, the sequel to The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon. The third leg of his trilogy of wildly popular psycho-thrillers featuring the supergenius, psychologist and cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a crazy and maddeningly uneven…
Mastro’s Steakhouse, 8852 East Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale, 480-585-9500. Hours: Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Once upon a time, one of the country’s largest stockyards flourished in the heart of Phoenix. Huge herds of cattle roamed in lots just a few miles from today’s downtown. Nobody…
Out and About: This is the time of year when it seems as if I am personally keeping the Valley’s restaurants in business. That’s because I’m in the midst of my annual Best of Phoenix odyssey, which keeps me out six nights a week. Here are some random observations on…
Whole Foods Market, 5120 South Rural, Tempe, 480-456-1400. Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Now is the summer of our discontent. It’s the time of year that APS and water-park operators live for, and everyone else dies from. Despite the strenuous efforts of the chamber of…
Summer in the City: This is the time of year when tourists disappear and locals stay home and plant themselves in front of their air-conditioning vents. That makes it tough for restaurants to put fannies in their seats. So several are offering summer specials to lure us out. * The…
Buca di Beppoed: Readers may recall the food fight in New Times’ letters section several weeks ago over my review of Buca di Beppo. Some correspondents bashed me; others sided with me. Let’s give the final word to Lane Schmiesing, Buca di Beppo’s vice president of marketing, whom I invited…
Barmouche, 3131 East Camelback, Phoenix, 602-956-6900. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Dinner, Saturday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. Mark Tarbell’s eponymous restaurant, Tarbell’s, has been an “in” spot ever since it opened almost five years ago. Despite the…
Billy and Clyde’s, 5035 West McDowell (Crossroads Chevron), Phoenix, 602-272-5852. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Some day, after digging up a prehistoric site, trained archaeologists will scratch their heads,…
Don’t Read This: Today’s Jeopardy! answer: Benedict Arnold, Alger Hiss, Anthony Bourdain. The correct question: Name three people who betrayed important secrets. Everyone knows about Arnold and Hiss. And in the restaurant world, everyone is finding out about Bourdain. A longtime New York chef, Bourdain recently did the unthinkable in…
Eat Beat: You don’t need much incentive to eat at Restaurant Hapa (6204 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, 480-998-8220), one of this town’s very best restaurants. I recently revisited and had a marvelous dinner: fiery squid salad, gilded with papaya and litchi nuts in a chile lemongrass sauce; superb, miso-marinated Chilean…
Milton’s, 3159 East Lincoln, Phoenix, 602-667-7644. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. I’ve had a letter on my desk for about a week now from a very unhappy diner. She’s fed up with the restaurant scene in…
Attention, gourmets! I’ve discovered an oasis of fine dining in the American desert Southwest. Unfortunately, it’s not in Phoenix. It’s in Las Vegas. Las Vegas? Isn’t that the place where culinary sophistication means simultaneously balancing two heavily loaded plates at the $3.99 all-you-can-eat buffet? Isn’t that the place where gastronomy…
Buffeted: What if you can’t afford dinner at Picasso or Le Cirque? (See this week’s Cafe “review.) You can still eat well at the Bellagio, if not as elegantly, for just a fraction of the cost. The Bellagio’s dinner buffet, like almost everything else at this hotel, is so over-the-top…
Sampan, 668 North 44th Street (COFCO Chinese Cultural Center), Phoenix, 602-286-9888. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, dim sum buffet, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Life would be a lot easier if we didn’t…
What’s New: The Valley’s restaurant boom shows no sign of slowing down. Here’s a run-down of some of the places that have opened over the past few months: * Tequila Grill (4363 North 75th Street, Scottsdale, 480-941-1800). Run by veterans of Sam’s Cafe, this place features Southwestern fare. Look for…
Wright’s and Wrongs: The Arizona Biltmore has been a resort gem ever since the Hoover administration. A recent multimillion-dollar renovation has polished up this jewel even more. But management has never put much effort into its signature restaurant, Wright’s. Yes, the prices are just as high as they are at…
Zipangu, 1006 East Warner, Tempe, 480-839-3924. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. “Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” wrote Rudyard Kipling. Obviously, the…
Michael Monti’s of Scottsdale, 7500 East Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale, 480-585-3000. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Who says this isn’t a cow town? Outside of India, no place in the world venerates cattle the way…
Cheese Wiz: Readers with long memories may recall a column I did in this space about a year ago about one of the world’s great cheeses, mozzarella di bufala. Italians have been making mozzarella from water buffalo for 2,000 years. Good as the fresh, cow’s-milk mozzarella we’re used to in…
T. Cook’s, Royal Palms, 5200 East Camelback, Phoenix, 602-808-0766. Sunday Brunch: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. She carried us for nine months, then brought us into the world. She fed us, clothed us, sheltered us, comforted us, raised us. She packed our school lunches, took care of us when we…
Mommy Dearest: If you haven’t already made reservations for a Mother’s Day meal, chances are you’ll be feeding Mom in the back seat of your car, after a stop at a drive-through window. Moms are genetically programmed to love you no matter what. But even she may reach her limit…
