Every week, there's a cornucopia of Phoenix food news, features, and reviews to report here at Chow Bella. If you're like most people, you probably just don't have the time to get to all of it. So, here's a recap of some of the top stories from the week that you may have missed.
Scratch Pastries and Scratch French Cafe Closed; Owners Duc and Noelle Liao To Declare Bankruptcy
Life got a little sweeter when Duc and Noelle Liao opened Scratch Pastries in a Scottsdale strip mall in 2008, bringing French café food and elegant, inspired pastries to an otherwise dreary corner in central Scottsdale.
And it got sweeter still when the couple opened a second location called Scratch French Cafe in the former Canvas space on Roosevelt Row just a few months ago. But it's all come to an abrupt end. The Liaos have closed both locations and Noelle told Chow Bella recently that they intend to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy once they sell their family home.
Read the full story on the closing of Scratch here.
--Nikki Buchahan
French-Inspired New Orleans Grocery Cafe and Market Coming Soon to Central Phoenix
In the next few weeks Phoenicians will say bonjour to a new Central Phoenix spot serving French-inspired New Orleans cuisine.
French Grocery, located at 7th Ave and Missouri, will soft-open to the public on Tuesday, June 18th and will offer made-from-scratch French and creole specialties including croissants, beignets, jambalaya and shrimp étouffée.
Here are the complete details on French Grocery.
--Lauren Saria.
JK Grence's 5 Best Places to Eat After Midnight in Metro Phoenix
The countdown to Best of Phoenix is on. Mark your calendar: This year's issue will be on newsstands September 26. What better way to warm up than by asking some local "experts" to list their own personal bests? This week JK Grence, who pens Chow Bella's Last Call column, shares his five favorite spots to eat after midnight.
For practically as long as I can remember, I've been a creature of the night. I prefer to work evenings, stay up all night, and then jump into bed moments before daybreak brings its compelling case to stay awake. Whether I'm just getting done waiting tables or tending bar, or I've enjoyed a night of wild revelry, I often find myself in want of great food when I have zero desire to cook.
So, these are my five favorite places to go when the midnight oil has burned off.
--JK Grence
18 Favorite Indie Restaurants in Metro Phoenix with Summer Schedules
Phoenix has always been a tough restaurant town: too many square miles, too many chains and too many white-bread diners with prosaic palates. And then there's summer -- 100+ days of 100+ temperatures -- enough to fill the pluckiest of restaurateurs with dread.
But at least indie restaurant owners have the luxury of deciding whether it's worth staying open through the torturous dog days or whether it might make sense to take a break and close up shop for a few days, a few weeks or maybe even a month to relax, re-think, re-tool and re-energize.
--Nikki Buchanan
The 10 Best Things To Eat and Drink at Chase Field
With the crack of a bat and the crunch of a roasted peanut, baseball season has returned and in Phoenix that means thousands of fans packing into Chase Field in Downtown Phoenix, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Besides being a great stadium to catch a game, Chase has plenty to offer Valley's baseball fans. It was the first major league stadium to include both a pool and hot tub and has nearly a quarter-mile of concession stand area. That's quite a lot of ground to cover, but if you know where you're going, you can make a successful food run in less time than it takes for the crowd to take its seventh inning stretch.
Here are our top 10 picks for the best things to eat and drink at Chase.
--Lauren Saria
