Gross Out?: Right now, chef Christopher Gross, the acclaimed culinary heavyweight behind two of the Valley’s best, and best-known, restaurants, Christopher’s and Christopher’s Bistro, is cruising with his wife Paola off the coast of Latin America. I don’t know what kind of weather they’re currently experiencing. But they can expect…
Il Forno, 4225 East Camelback, Phoenix, 952-1522. Hours: Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Someone once said God must love poor people–after all, He made so many of them. Well, I’d say that God must love going out to Italian restaurants, at least when He visits the…
Apple of My Eye: Every once in a while, someone comes up with a business plan so staggering that the mere contemplation of it leaves you short of breath. That’s what happened to me when, after a recent trip to the north Phoenix Chompie’s, I peeked in on the new…
Phone Mail: When you dish out criticism on a weekly basis, as I do, you’ve also got to be able to take it. I have no problem with honest disagreement. But I was upset with a recent message left anonymously on my voice mail: Howard Seftel? Are you the one…
Man, the Bible says, cannot live by bread alone. But if you grew up in this town, or came here more than five years ago, you certainly haven’t needed to take Saint Matthew’s word for it. That’s because, until quite recently, you stood as much chance of finding a decent…
Arizona Burrito Company, Gateview Shopping Center, 6941 North Hayden, Scottsdale, 922-9466. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Saturday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Remember the “Me Decade”? The…
Hail to the Chefs: Interested in having Christopher Gross come over to your house and cook for you and your guests? Maybe you’d prefer Vincent Guerithault (Vincent’s), RoxSand Scocos (RoxSand), Eddie Matney (Eddie’s Grill), Fred Yamada (Sushi on Shea), Michael DeMaria (Michael’s), Razz Kamnitzer (Razz’s), Donna Nordin (Cafe Terra Cotta)…
Zen 32, Biltmore Plaza, 3160 East Camelback, Phoenix, 954-8700. Hours: Dinner, Tuesday through Sunday, 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, it…
The Western Front: This week’s review of Kiawe Grill (see Cafe, page 83) got me thinking about the slim dining pickings once you pass west of I-17. Sure, you can find lots of wonderful cheap ethnic spots: Vietnamese, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Thai. But there are darned few places to have…
Famous Door, 7419 Indian Plaza, Scottsdale, 970-1945. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 6 to 10 p.m. If you were born after 1950, you probably rebelled against your parents’ musical tastes. Baby boomers like me sneered when…
Restaurant News: You may think the Valley is saturated with restaurants. But obviously that’s not the way investors see it. Here’s what we can look forward to this season: Hiro Sushi, 9393 North 90th Street, Scottsdale. The area around Shea Boulevard and Scottsdale Road is starting to look like a…
Melting Pot, Mercado del Lago Plaza, 8320 North Hayden, Scottsdale, 607-1799. Hours: Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight. “Man is born free,” observed Jean-Jacques Rousseau, more than 200 years ago. “And everywhere he is in chains.” Especially in Scottsdale. The town’s…
Southwest Survey: The new Zagat guide to Southwestern restaurants is out, covering Arizona and New Mexico. The Valley section is reasonably thorough, but not always on target. Zagat doesn’t employ its own critics. Instead, the guides rely on the recommendations of locals who eat out frequently, and an editor who…
Ricky O’s, Ahwatukee Palms Plaza, 4855 East Warner, Phoenix, 893-6525. Hours: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Come football season, I’m a stranger in a strange land, a man without a country, a…
Face Off: Why don’t reputable restaurant critics announce themselves when they’re reviewing restaurants? Because they’d get treatment that “ordinary” folks never would. Anyone who thinks otherwise is directed to the June 16 New York Observer. “Bring Me the Head of Ruth Reichl” is a hilarious look at the lengths Big…
Nick’s Pasta & Pizza, 13910 North Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Scottsdale, 314-9445. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. Today’s Jeopardy! answer: another month of summer, Governor Joe Arpaio and two new…
Eat, Sleep and Be Merry: Several high-end Valley resorts offer summer specials to lure locals during the slow season. But once the well-heeled tourists start arriving in the fall, price breaks usually disappear. If you want dinner for two and a room at a fancy resort, you better have hit…
Bistro 24, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 2401 East Camelback, Phoenix, 468-0700. Hours: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Two of the Valley’s swankiest hotels have given their dining rooms a long-overdue makeover. Early this year, Ritz-Carlton management finally scrapped the stuffy, pretentious The Restaurant (what…
Mind Your Manners: Judith Martin, better known as Miss Manners, has put out a new etiquette manual. From what I see at restaurant dinner tables, I’d say Miss Manners’ Basic Training: Eating (Crown Publishers, $15) is long overdue. Anyone who needs proof that civilization is crumbling can gather more than…
Mental-health experts were asked what would happen to someone like Artie Martinez today under circumstances similar to his in 1955: He was taken to the Arizona State Hospital after he disrobed in public, and remained incarcerated there for most of the next 40 years. * Dave Coons, staff psychiatrist at…
Espana, 3923 East Thunderbird (next to Fry’s), Phoenix, 494-1236. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Monday (dinner only), 4 to 11 p.m. It’s been more than 400 years since the first Spanish conquistadors marched…
The British Are Coming: As part of this month’s UK/AZ Festival, our British cousins will be sending over some of the things they do best: royalty (Princess Anne), Shakespearean theater (Othello) and fashion design (Zandra Rhodes). But food? The notion of “British cuisine” is generally considered an oxymoron, or a…
