Staffing a restaurant (and keeping it staffed) is one of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks owners and chefs face. And turnover? The industry’s nearly famous for it. Although the hiring of both back- and front-of-the-house positions has always been a challenge, is hiring restaurant staff today harder than it’s…
The Guilty Pleasure: Grilled Stuft Nacho Where To Get It: Taco Bell, locations everywhere Price: $1.29, are you out of your mind? What It Really Costs: You’re learning a new word today. I have to hand it to the R&D people at Taco Bell. It seems they have a nearly…
Is it possible to appreciate a restaurant not only for its food but also for the people behind it? In the case of Pho A.V. in North Phoenix, it is. On the surface, the tiny, six-month-old Vietnamese eatery looks like many of the no-frills spots throughout the Valley: fluorescent lights,…
Want to stay on top of trends? It seems 2012 was the year of the chicken and 2013 was the year of the greenhouse. So, what’s on the agenda this year? Here are some “trends” we predict will gain speed in 2014…
Okay, if you read my previous post on Jewel’s Bakery and Café, you already know I’m in love with this place. Jewel’s has so many beautiful gluten-free pastries that you could just drown yourself in sugar. But I also was excited to taste the bakery’s savory offerings. So my work…
This is part two of our interview with pastry chef Country Velador of Super Chunk Sweets and Treats in Scottsdale. In addition to opening her own sweet shop, Velador also crafts the dessert menu for Cowboy Ciao restaurant and helps supply bread for Counter Intuitive, the grab-and-go sandwich shop that…
The new year is already shaping up to be a busy one for Johnny Chu. The Hong Kong-born chef, along with wife, partner, and general manager Linda Q, are planning to open not one, but two Asian-themed restaurants in midtown Phoenix by the end of February. The couple currently operates…
Country Velador Chef, owner Super Chunk Sweets and Treats www.facebook.com/SuperChunkSweetsAndTreats Pastry Chef Cowboy Ciao This is part one of our interview with Country Velador, owner of Super Chunk Sweets and Treats in Scottsdale and pastry chef for Cowboy Ciao. Velador opened the sweet-minded shop with her husband, Sergio, last month…
Alexandra Maw has been thinking about juice bars before juice bars were a thing in the Valley. She came up with a business plan for one as a student as ASU and, thanks to a grant from the university, made her dream a reality in late 2012, founding Kaleidoscope Juice…
It’s hard to complain about the 70-degree Phoenix winters, especially while a good portion of the country digs out from piles of snow and exposes their flesh to frostbite. But you know what? I’m going to. I used to be a hot chocolate-loving member of society, guzzling cup after cup…
In 2011, my mother took us all to California Pizza Kitchen to celebrate Veterans Day. She spoke at a Scottsdale celebration, telling the audience about her service as a nurse in Desert Storm. Her unit’s mobile hospital set up on the Kuwait/Iraq border and treated more than 100 wounded people…
Arcadia’s Gaslight Square, at Indian School Road and 36th Street and home to restaurants like Nook and Cullen Campbell’s Crudo, will see the opening of its newest tenant at 11 a.m., this Saturday, January 11: The Market by Jennifer’s. Owned by chef Jennifer Russo-Fitzgerald of Jennifer’s Catering, The Market by…
By now you food truck fans should be gearing up for what’s become the biggest food truck festival to hit the Valley each year. The Street Eats Food Truck Festival, presented by New Times, will bring more than 50 trucks from around Arizona and the country to Salt River Fields…
After just over a year, Searsucker Scottsdale, the nightclub meets restaurant at Camelback Road and Goldwater Boulevard, has shuttered. Co-owned by chef Brian Malarkey, a finalist on Bravo’s Top Chef Miami in 2009, Searsucker Scottsdale, which opened in October 2012, was the second location of the San Diego-based gastropub (there…
Sumo Maya, the Mexican-Asian kitchen from Valley restaurateur German Osio (Local Bistro, Central Bistro) is bringing on a chef who’s no stranger to global cuisine — or reality television, for that matter. The stylish new North Scottsdale restaurant (at the intersection of Scottsdale and Lincoln roads) is set to open…
Nook is an improbably low-profile restaurant. It sits between chef-driven spots Beckett’s Table from Justin Beckett and Cullen Campbell’s Crudo in Arcadia’s Gaslight Square. It’s blocks away from establishments of Valley tastemakers Vincent Guerithault and Mark Tarbell (not to mention the new headquarters of Fox Restaurant Concepts). And, as the…
‘Flights of Fancy’ Beer Samping Party with Ska Brewing Saturday, January 11 Cruise on over to Mill Avenue’s bike-friendly brew spot Handlebar Tempe to enjoy a beer-sampling party with Ska Brewing from 2 to 4 p.m. For $10 in advance or $12 at the door, you’ll get a flight of…
In Chow Bella’s new comic, Wait or Die, we tell the stories of waiters and waitstaff from restaurants around the Valley. Submit your stories here: waitordie@newtimes.com — and be sure to let us know if you wish to remain anonymous…
Starting eating right this year. And by right, we mean “only the best local stuff.” There’s a wide variety of great farm-to-table products and menu items, what follows is just a smattering of local goodness. If there’s something on this list you haven’t had, it’s time to try or take…
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. Although several new restaurants are scheduled to meet up with thousands of existing ones in…
The good news is that for fans of Lola Coffee, the top-notch java shop on Roosevelt Row, there soon will be a Central Phoenix location in which to enjoy owner Daniel Wayne’s fresh-roasted coffee and housemade pastries. The even better news is that for those who remember Lola Tapas, the…
Between chef-driven spots Beckett’s Table from Justin Beckett and Cullen Campbell’s Crudo in Arcadia’s Gaslight Square, and blocks away from establishments of Valley tastemakers Vincent Guerithault and Mark Tarbell (not to mention the new headquarters of Fox Restaurant Concepts), Nook is an improbably low-profile restaurant. As the name suggests, it’s…
