A daily dose of food news, with no preservatives or additives. Score one for P.E.T.A and zero for traditional cultures.Cats and Dogs soon to be off the menu in China. Last Wednesday marked the day that the highly anticipated Fox Restaurant Concepts’ new endeavor, Culinary Dropout, opened in Scottsdale. Aside from…
In this week’s Forking column, C.M. Redding described the virtues and pitfalls of making and consuming that illustrious of narcotic desserts: the pot brownie. Follow the recipe below to make your own…you know…if you’re permitted to have it for medical reasons. Ingredients: – One package of any store brand or…
Some people wander through their lives, wondering why they’re here and what to do with themselves. Others are so clear about their purpose on this Earth it’s almost frightening. Marcus Ridgeway knows why he’s here, and it’s to make ice cream. Not just any ice cream, but frozen custard, which…
When I was 16, I met a handsome guy with a perfect shiny black pompadour who told me his name was Alan Conti. Three weeks later he confessed that his real name was Alan Waldman. He was Jewish, not Italian, and had been afraid I wouldn’t go out with him…
Cooking has taken Scottsdale-based chef Zipora Einav everywhere — just about. After stints serving as in-home chef for celebrities like Pierce Brosnan, Cybill Shepherd and Seal in Los Angeles, she was ready to take her show on the road. She became Mariah Carey’s personal chef on the Rainbow Tour in…
Picture this: Director Sam Pillsbury is shooting a Western-style movie in New Zealand and, as the gunslinger crashes through the saloon doors, he’s not shootin’ blanks. The weapons he draws from his holsters make loud pops as he uncorks them — a coupla bottles of Dos Cabezas 1998 Sauvignon Blanc…
On a recent trip to Europe, I was replenishing my depleted stocks of the familiar by, I’m sorry to say, visiting an American fast-food restaurant, when it suddenly occurred to me that something was not quite right. It is true that they serve a selection of beers in most European…
A friend of mine recently told me that while he and his wife were visiting a coffee shop during their Italian vacation last year, his wife ordered a “grande latte” and was promptly presented with a large glass of milk. This kind of thing happens all the time because, over…
When I first moved to Arizona a decade ago, I’d been crying for two months. I didn’t want to leave home but my husband’s job called. Back in Philly, we had a life filled with family, friends and food. And since we worked in the arts, we were always meeting…
Hoping to make enough money to keep working on a book project, I reluctantly accepted a job in the redwood forests of California last summer, knowing only that it would pay well and it meant working at a private club. I traveled 14 hours to Guerneville, California, in Sonoma County,…
Among the things that have changed since September 11 — television programming, color schemes — the phenomenon most widely suffered has been seen in our nation’s airports: namely, an increased reliance on airport food.Not long ago, you could get by on a bag of peanuts. Barring peanuts, you would get…
I have lived here in the Valley of the Sun for just a few weeks now, having moved here from Texas, where I grew up and spent most of my life.As soon as I got here, I picked up the New Times and immediately turned to the Cafe section since…
It doesn’t have a sexy name going for it, or fine, polished looks.But there is something about bread pudding, a wholesome innocence that has made it the current darling of Valley chefs. When my parents were visiting in October, we ate at the types of places one goes to with…
Jim Fiolek is a genial man with longish hair in a braid who does a very amusing pidgin English impression. He is the vice president of Zaca Mesa Winery in California, and he is also something of a guru. He is a guru not so much among wine snobs –…
In France, the only way to leave a restaurant with a doggy bag and the waiter’s respect is if the food you’re taking home is truly for your spoiled poodle. The protectors of French cuisine, and indeed waiters at snotty restaurants the world over, just do not appreciate leftovers. I…
The day was eerie. A slow drizzle of rain fell to earth like tears of those from above. The sky was a gray that made everything else look like a black-and-white photograph. Night was falling. I was anxious and leery about where I was heading.I could feel my heart racing…
Say your mother made casseroles. In particular, she made one with a funny name — “Mom’s Mish-Mash,” you called it — with condensed cream of mushroom soup. She was famous for it; she took it to church potlucks, she took it to PTA dinners, and all of the other mothers…
In Sunny’s world, his favorite customers wait for their barbecued ribs, beef and chicken the longest. Tonight, it’s his sister Clara’s birthday and she’s been patient for over an hour.”I’m a lonely rascal,” explains Walter “Sunny” Gaines. This is hard to believe. As proprietor of Sunny’s Sunshine Bar-B-Que each Friday…
There are two reasons to frequent Chez Bubba’s, the wonderful Caribbean and Creole restaurant on First Street downtown. One of them is Bubba. Myron “Bubba” Stephenson is such a remarkable personality that his presence alone could carry the restaurant, quite independently of the food — which, of course, is the…
Picture this: a honeymooning couple on a tour of Egypt. They are the youngest ones in the tour group by at least 20 years. But that’s not what’s bothering them on this trip of a lifetime, which has taken them to Cairo’s famed Egyptian Museum, King Tut’s tomb and the…
Blinded by the sweat pouring into my eyes, I caught myself wondering if it was really worth it.I struggled to keep a firm grip on the splintered handle of an archaic pick as I thought of the gorgeous turquoise beach just a few feet away. With hands blistered and slicked…
What was once a city morgue, a popular hamburger place, a bookie joint, a pool hall and a political hangout? If you’re stumped, I’ll give you another clue. It’s the name of a restaurant, located downtown, that continues to be frequented by politicos, legal eagles and wizards of finance. If…
