Restaurants

You might think Valley diners are all about greasy Mexican food or gigantic chain restaurant-style portions, but a new study by Dole Fresh Vegetables claims Phoenicians are among the top salad eaters in the nation…

Early this morning, a small kitchen fire broke out at Durant’s, the legendary lounge that hosted the likes of Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne in its heyday. The blaze was quickly contained by firefighters, but there was some minor damage to the building’s roof and ventilation system. No one was…

Thanks to Payton Curry, the 30-year-old executive chef at Caffe Boa, the Valley’s dining scene is becoming more local-oriented due to his “locavore” approach. And to think that he almost didn’t make the move to the Valley. “I was scared shitless,” Curry says about moving here from San Francisco. “One of…

Ed Mabrey The CEO/founder of Black Pearl Productions LCC, which is the parent company for Black Pearl Poetry Tempe Thursdays and Black Pearl Poetry Phoenix Fridays, as well as the home of the ASU Sun Devil Poetry Slam Team, the Phoenix Brave New Voices Youth Poetry Team, and the Phoenix…

Word has come in from family in Denver that the temperature’s in the single digits. We’d swear it’s that cold here. We even have the long johns out, and we’re taking a vow to stay indoors til spring. Looking to curl up with good blog? Let us recommend one of our…

Baking for vegans may seem like a task, but ever since we made a gaggle of vegan buddies, it’s become a necessary evil. Really, it isn’t that difficult to do, with the help of some simple tricks like using Earth Balance in the place of butter and replacing eggs with…

​Jan D’Atri and The Spatuloons might sound like an all-girl fifties band, but the phrase actually refers a trio of wooden kitchen utensils, the latest product offering from local cookbook author and television personality, Jan D’Atri. D’Atri will be hosting a cooking show and signing copies of her books this…

Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week: Soup’s On!: Pho from Khai Hoan Fresh Baked Gifts:…

It’s been two months and change since the adventurous Crudo Cafe opened inside Scottsdale’s Steven Paul Salon at 7035 E. 3rd Ave. in Old Town Scottsdale. The tiny eatery has been serving breakfast and lunch, and now chefs Cullen Campbell of the now defunct Fine’s Cellar and Brandon Crouser, formerly of Atlas…

Just one day before this weekend’s First Friday celebration, Welcome Diner was hit and partially destroyed by a car and truck that rocketed toward the local eatery after colliding with each other at the corner of 10th Street and Roosevelt in downtown Phoenix…

Truth be told, we don’t spend a lot of time hobnobbin’ it at resort restaurants. We’re more of the beer-drinkin’, hole-in-the-wall eatery types. But after reading this week’s cafe column, that may have to change. Food Critic Michele Laudig on Frankd & Albert’s at Arizona Biltmore: People are already talking…

You’d be forgiven for never having visited the Biltmore Grill. As you might guess from the name, it was the main casual restaurant at the luxurious Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, geared toward hotel guests craving breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just a few drinks at the bar. It wasn’t really…

Every so often we come across a little gem for foodies while wading through the muck of Facebook. This week, we spotted something on bestselling author and former Phoencian  Laurie Notaro’s FB page we just had to share. And it involves C-A-K-E…..

​We’ve been wondering what James Beard Award-winning chef Nubuo Fukuda has been up to since Sea Saw closed earlier this year. Yesterday, AZ Republic restaurant critic Howard Seftel reported that Fukuda is in talks to open a Japanese restaurant in Downtown Phoenix’s Heritage Square…

Because not everyone wants to be surrounded by laptops when they’re enjoying their coffee, the newly-opened Toast in central Phoenix has a strict no-computers policy. The “breakfast boutique,” owned by Gina Madrid and Vine Saccento, is right next door to the recently closed Drip Coffee Lounge at 2327 N. 7th…

Oh, how the Greek gods must die a little inside every time they hear some American order a “jy-ro” at an ethnic restaurant. Despite the constantly butchered name, the gyros (roughly pronounced “yee-ros”) remains one of our favorite meat dishes. For this week’s Battle of the Dishes, we visited two local mom-and-pop shops…

Desserts can be tricky, but Joe Aiello (whom we profiled in yesterday’s Chef Chat) of Aiello’s in Phoenix insists this Chilled Zabaglione is simple to attempt at home. Besides the scrumptious ingredients, this dessert is an ultra-classy serving, especially if you put it in a pretty wine glass. And, if you like wine,…

When Valley diners want New York Italian food but don’t want to leave Phoenix, Aiello’s provides a slice of Manhattan here in town. Brooklyn-born Joe Aiello owns the 2-year-old restaurant, where he whips up East Coast Italian-style food, just like he grew up with in his Italian family. “We weren’t…

When we asked Lucinda Scala Quinn what recipes she absolutely loves in her book, Mad Hungry, the crunchy sesame chicken wings were at the top of the list. She described the recipe as “super simple” and the results “dynamite.”According to Scala Quinn, the wing recipe came from the constant dinner…

Local First Arizona’s current Buy Local Week promo got us thinking more about keeping our hard-earned dollars and cents in the local economy. Farmers markets are great, but they don’t stock all the sundries most folks need — so that means at least two grocery shopping trips every week. Ugh. That’s where CSAs come in handy. If…

Steph Carrico The co-owner of The Trunk Space hosts artist Jon Sumner Borrette this First Friday, December 4. What’d you eat for dinner last night? I went to Green last night for dinner and had their Ranchero Salad but substituted the spicy buffalo wings for the barbecue wings. It was delish!…

After 8 years of being one of Old Town Scottsdale’s hippest Italian restaurants, Furio is closing its doors Thursday night. The space, which featured live music and manicure nights, has suffered financially over the past 18 months. Business this past summer was only half of what it was last year, says general manager…