Former Cowboy Ciao chef Bernie Kantak and his business partners have finalized a deal to open not one, not two, but five new restaurants downtown, reports the Republic today. The concepts will be Southwestern, Southern, steakhouse, Latin, and wine bar, and will be located at 1st Street and Jackson, at the heart…
Sure we prefer fresh pasta over the dried stuff, but we always imagined chefs slaving away for hours rolling dough and cutting semolina spirals with crazy thousand-dollar pasta makers. Little did we know that making noodles is literally easier than pie… In this week’s Meal Ticket dining newsletter, Chef Payton…
“Why doesn’t somebody open a _____ in Central Phoenix?” Fill in that blank for any kind of stylish indie business (especially anything food- and beverage-related), and I’ve wondered it aloud. For all the interesting things going on in CenPho these days, there’s still room for plenty more. Literally a day…
Last night, a dozen local bartenders gathered at Scottsdale’s fashion-forward CANAL restaurant for an Iron Chef style competition which tested their cocktail making prowess. A few of the culinary scene’s big names were also there, including chef James Porter and emcee Dave Johnson, head of the wine and spirits program at Sol y Sombra. When Johnson showed…
Fans of chef Nobuo Fukuda and his sophisticated contemporary Japanese cooking were treated to an all-you-can-eat splurge this past weekend, with a two-night cocktail party-style dinner at Sea Saw. It was the restaurant’s final hurrah before Fukuda goes indie (visit his website, www.nobuofukuda.com, to keep up with him while he’s…
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: Monday Night Martha: Dr Pepper Brownies Closed for Business:…
This part of Arizona’s growing season, though somewhat curtailed by heat, is a fun, quirky treasure hunt, too, because every local ag-head is harvesting a unique mix of produce. But colorful fresh peppers are a constant at the moment, just about everywhere you look. Carl Seacat enjoys introducing us to…
Tangy non-fat frozen yogurt, a trend spawned by food-savvy South Koreans, has flourished here for a couple of years, but I’ve always found it odd that some of the big-name fro-yo companies (Pinkberry, for example) haven’t entered the Arizona market. We have a five-month-long summer and they hesitate to bring us frozen desserts?…
Although the French Open preempted this morning’s episode of Live! with Regis and Kelly on the local TV affiliate, Joe Johnston’s Gilbert restaurant, Joe’s Real BBQ, still got national airtime for the TV show’s Ultimate Hometown Grill-Off. The good news? Joe’s made it to the next round in the Best Brisket category,…
You want to see a shitstorm? Get a look at the comments following a blog post I wrote about Regions back in April. For some reason, the thing is still getting tons of hits, as if it were a message board. I’ve written about plenty of restaurant closures over the…
So many delicious things are in season right now, and Voltaire French Restaurant is making the most of the fresh-from-the-farm produce it’s getting from McClendon Select. First off, they’re offering a special $35 prix fixe dinner this Friday and Saturday (reservations are required), featuring an heirloom tomato salad with sherry…
This week’s cafe column poses a serious question; a sushi question. Is Moira Sushi Bar & Kitchen, the first downtown sushi bar in many years, worth the wait? Personally, we’ve been driving out to Sushi Ken or Te Haru to satisfy our delicious sushi and gimmicky sushi cravings respectively. The thought…
Since I reported the upcoming closure of Sea Saw — this Sunday is its last night of service — the restaurant’s been deluged with people wanting to come in before it’s too late. So to give everyone a chance to say farewell (until chef Nobuo Fukuda’s next venture, that is),…
It’s not very often that I blog while cracking up out loud, but rest assured, I have a little tear in my eye right now. Just got a press release from Portland’s announcing the debut of their Metro burger, topped with Fontina, BBQ sauce, and sauteed onions, created “in honor”…
It’s no secret that Japanese food is my obsession. I’ve certainly written about it enough times, rapturously blogged about it, photographed it, and sought out ever more esoteric eats on my annual trips to Japan. My appetite for it is endless. I’ve also been an enthusiastic fan and follower of…
Is Andrew Knowlton stalking me? The Bon Appetit restaurant editor seems to be quite fond of my favorite restaurants these days, most recently writing up the fabulous Stacy’s Smokehouse in his Hot 10 “Best New Barbecue Restaurants” for the July issue (which isn’t online yet — mine just came in…
Craving pizza? In this week’s Meal Ticket dining newsletter, read what Chef Jerry Alday has in store for The Parlor, a new Ital-American joint in the old Salon de Venus spot on Camelback Rd. in Phoenix. We’ll also give you the scoop on a romantic East Valley restaurant where diners…
I guess I could’ve seen this coming. Regions Bistro & Bar in Tempe has closed, reports the Trib, and the Scottsdale location has likely closed as well (hard to confirm when the phone just rings and rings . . .). From the outset, folks were saying it was either ambitious…
There have already been too many vacancies on Mill Avenue lately — as a magazine junkie, I’m still mourning the departure of Borders — and now there’s one more. And it’s a big one: Coffee Plantation. It closed this past Saturday. According to the Republic, the landlord didn’t renew the…
The Valley’s lost some favorites lately. A few high-profile restaurants closed for business just within the last week or two — Tapino, Fine’s Cellar, and the historic El Chorro Lodge. Mesa’s Grill El Quetzal, a Guatemalan joint in the strip mall across from Mekong Plaza, is gone. And two established…
Happiness is discovering a shiny new Korean grocery store. Paldo Market opened up about two months ago at the southeast corner of Southern and Mill in Tempe (9 E. Southern), and it’s quite a find. Although it’s not supermarket-sized, Paldo’s got a really well-rounded selection of Korean edibles and ingredients,…
Matthew Ramirez stepped out on to a raised platform in the Arizona Mills Mall food court and struck the sort of body building pose that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger proud. Unfortunately, muscular definition would be all but useless to the task that awaited 22-year-old Ramirez. No, he would require jaw…
