Meal Ticket Reveals a Late Night Dining Secret

Sigh. It’s 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night and you’re the worst kind of hungry. Stomach growling, three-course meal hungry. Unfortunately, the only restaurants still open in your neighborhood are in the vein of Taco Bell/Burger King or IHOP/Denny’s — and fast food and pancakes aren’t exactly what you’re craving…

Today: Free BBQ, Chili Dogs, Tacos, and More

It must be the alignment of the planets or something. Seems like all kinds of restaurants are coming out of the woodwork to offer freebies right now. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, four Famous Dave’s Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que trucks will be cruising the streets of south Scottsdale, offering a…

Chef Chat: Josh Hebert, Posh

If you understand the concept behind Posh — a first-of-its-kind, “improvisational” kitchen in Scottsdale — then you understand its chef and owner, Josh Hebert. “I can be a little frenetic sometimes, yeah,” he admits. Creative is more like it. A more traditional chef might call what Herbert does at his…

Three Spots to Celebrate Bastille Day Tomorrow

You don’t have to be French to celebrate le quatorze juillet in Phoenix — you only need a craving for French food. Cheuvront Restaurant & Wine Bar is hosting its annual Bastille Day Dinner tomorrow, with three courses that include a choice of coq au vin or boeuf bourgignon for…

Bashas’ Closing 10 Grocery Stores

It’s tough times for home-grown supermarket chain Bashas’, which is closing 10 of its 156 Arizona Bashas’ and Food City stores (seven located in the Valley) on July 21. The Chandler-based company filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, reports the Republic. Up to 1,000 employees may be laid off as a result of…

This Week In Chow Bella

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: Digestif Moving; Kasperski Selling Restaurant Spaces Maynard James Keenan…

Get Ready for Yelp Eats, Coming Soon . . .

It’s time to get out your dayplanners, people. Yelp.com is giving you seven whole days to splurge on special three-course prix fixe dinners being offered for just $25 at 15 Valley restaurants, thanks to its inaugural restaurant week, Yelp Eats! (That’s their exclamation point, not mine.) Even if you’ve never…

9 Famous Foodies to Follow on Twitter

Hungry for some tasty tweets? The culinary community is sweeping the Twittersphere, and now you can keep up with some of the biggest names in the biz just by clicking the “follow” button on Twitter. Here are some faves: @RuthReichl The Gourmet editor, memoirist and legendary restaurant critic Ruth Reichl…

Cin-Cin Chef-Owner Takes Over Digestif Space — Soon!

Chef Joseph Gutierrez, owner of Scottsdale’s Cin-Cin Bistro, is moving quickly to fill the SouthBridge space still occupied by Digestif with an Italian restaurant called Tutto. He’ll also bring a Spanish spot called Tapas Papa Fritas to the spot where restaurateur Peter Kasperski had planned to open Mexican Standoff.     According to…

Cafe: Avalon in Scottsdale

We hope you don’t mind if we get a bit English major on you for a moment. You see, this week’s cafe column has us thinking about Avalon. Yes, we mean the sacred island from the Arthurian legends. It is said to be the very location where Arthur’s Excalibur was…

PHX Bux Take Off as Downtown Currency

PHX Bux have been getting a lot of love lately (with occasional misinformed haters trailing behind, too) and it’s easy to see why. The discount art tokens have taken off as a viable experiment in citizen-based currency with a grand total of 2000 in circulation, and are accepted at over 25 local…

Update on Digestif’s Upcoming Move

Change is a-comin’. On the heels of Monday’s news that restaurateur Peter Kasperski is giving up two of his SouthBridge restaurant spaces and moving Digestif into smaller digs, more specific details have emerged. For the remainder of this week, Digestif will only be open for dinner, starting at 5 p.m…

Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles Hits the Streets

Yesterday’s memorial ceremony for Michael Jackson brought a lot of the memories of the man and the myth to the forefront.  One of our favorites was Magic Johnson’s outing of The Gloved One’s love for KFC by the bucket load.While the dearly departed King of Pop relished The Colonel’s secret…

Recipe: Enchiladas del Mar from Barrio Cafe

Don’t go serving Silvana Salcido Esparza some over-worked, over-wrought, over-thought dish that sits in a nice little design in the very center of the plate. “I don’t like my food to be puréed, recongealed, molded and then sliced, and they only give me this much,” she says, holding her thumb…

La Taza de Oro Bistro Takes Over Asi Es La Vida

Asi Es La Vida, a longtime favorite for upscale central and southern Mexican cuisine on 24th Street, is under new ownership, and recently got a shiny sign out front bearing its new name as well: La Taza de Oro Bistro. The carpets in the entryway still say Asi Es La…

Your Meal Ticket to the Culinary Revolution

If you’re craving a little Hollywood glam, you don’t have to take a road trip to California. In this week’s Meal Ticket dining newsletter, we’ve got the scoop on a snazzy Peoria supper club that’s straight out of the Rat Pack era. Or, if your tastes run more towards European…

Chef Chat: Silvana Salcido Esparza, Barrio Cafe

When she was 19, Silvana Salcido Esparza left her family’s Mexican bakery in Merced, California, and moved to downtown Miami to work in international banking. “Columbians would come into my office with paper bags full of $100,000 in each bag,” she says. It was a far cry from the life…

Maynard James Keenan Opens Wine Tasting Room in Jerome

It’s 110 degrees here today. It’s 83 up in Jerome. Sounds like a good time for a road trip, no? Oh, if only there weren’t that four-letter word called WORK to deal with. Well, if you can play hooky — or hold out ’til the weekend — I already have something…

Lunch Box Mondays at Lisa G’s

Today marks the start of a new lunch deal at Lisa G Cafe Wine Bar: Lunch Box Mondays. Through the end of July, the casual CenPho eatery will offer a Monday-only special, with any lunch item (sandwiches and salads) plus an iced tea for $8. It’s a nice perk for…

Digestif Moving; Kasperski Selling Restaurant Spaces

Digestif is downsizing. Later this month, chef Payton Curry will be working the display kitchen at the former Sea Saw location on Stetson Drive, pending the sale of restaurateur Peter Kasperski’s two SouthBridge restaurant spaces, the current Digestif and the half-finished space that would have become Mexican Standoff. (Plans for…

This Week In Chow Bella

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: Caffiend: Jolta Java’s Mexican Joltachino Local Wine Wins at…