Done to a Turn: You’ve read through the menu and decided on your entree–maybe a steak, prime rib or lamb chops. The server asks how you’d like your meat cooked. Medium-rare, you answer, since that’s the way you’ve always ordered it. But when you cut into your animal protein, there’s…
Ve Haf Vays of Making You Eat: The staff at a casual eating spot in the tony Borgata could probably benefit from a couple of extra minutes of training, if you can believe one patron’s story. At lunch recently, she asked the young server what the soup of the day…
Che Bella Tuscan Grill & Bakery, Biltmore Fashion Park, 24th Street and Camelback, Phoenix, 956-5705. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight. What comes to mind when you think about improving the Valley’s quality of life? Reliable mass…
Striving for perfection isn’t supposed to be a restaurant customer’s job. The typical American diner is like royalty, to be treated with the respect due any divine creature. This is a service-oriented society, by God, and that means if the wait time is unreasonable, if the order isn’t just right,…
Spring Restaurant, 5850 North 43rd Avenue, Glendale, 937-2195. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Like the Loch Ness monster and Sasquatch, the cheap-ethnic-restaurant gem is a we’re always on the lookout for. You know the mythical…
Skewered Beef: If CNN ever wants to do a Crossfire episode about restaurants instead of politics, RoxSand Scocos and Paul Fleming would make a feisty pair of combatants. Back in June, RoxSand wrote a guest column. In it, she excoriated meat eaters in general and Morton’s steak house in particular…
Charlie’s Grill, Sheraton Crescent Hotel, 2620 West Dunlap, Phoenix, 371-2747. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, 5 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Once upon a time, the only people who ate in hotel dining rooms were weary travelers and on-the-road businesspeople. They weren’t…
Trendspotting: Labor Day traditionally marks the end of summer (although, unfortunately, not the end of the heat). As natives start emerging from their homes and snowbirds and tourists begin filling up the Valley, restaurants are busy getting ready for the season. Here are some trends to keep your eye on:…
Return of the Native: About a year ago I wrote a less-than-glowing review of Tarbell’s Restaurant, a glitzy, trendy, pricey bistro that boastfully styled itself a “great American restaurant” the moment it opened. I saw potential, but, at the time, Tarbell’s didn’t belong in the same league with competitors like…
Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant, 8946 North 19th Avenue, Phoenix, 870-4555. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. How can you tell if a city is booming? If you’re a developer, you count the…
Guest Columnist Last time Howard Seftel and his tortured taste buds took off, guest columnist/chef RoxSand Scocos wrote about eating less meat. Now Seftel’s done it again. What’s an editor to do? We invited Paul M. Fleming to continue the dialogue. Owner of Fleming Restaurants, he operates six establishments in…
Altos, 5029 North 44th Street, Phoenix, 808-0890. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 5:30 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5:30 to 11 p.m. According to experts, the four most stressful experiences people can go through are a death in the family,…
Restaurant Update: There is supposed to be a slow time for Valley restaurants, but business seems to be just as hot as the weather. Look for these new places: La Tache World Bistro & Wine Bar, at 4175 Goldwater Boulevard in Scottsdale, just south of Fashion Square. The proprietors call…
Chez Marc Bistro, 503 North Humphreys, Flagstaff, 1-520-774-1343. Hours: Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Dinner, 5:30 to 9 p.m., seven days a week. No matter how many years you’ve endured the July and August desert heat, you can’t really get used to it. In the Valley of the Perpetual…
On the Road: Thank goodness the weekend in northern Arizona (see this week’s Cafe column) wasn’t my only summer escape. I spent some time in Quebec, Canada, maybe the most charming town in North America. Sure, I got worked up over the tourist sites. But eating was just as much…
Crocodile Cafe, 525 South Mill, Tempe, 966-5883. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight. Even though summer vacation is now in full swing, within a few weeks 40,000 ASU students will be drifting into Tempe, gearing up for…
Binge and Splurge: In this casual town, where sometimes even shoes and socks are a form of overdressing, there aren’t too many opportunities to put on your best duds. But you’ll want to haul them out for dinner at Mary Elaine’s. These days, this austerely elegant room is at the…
Pasta Brioni, 4416 North Miller, Scottsdale, 994-0028. Hours: Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m. I spotted one of the giant new shopping centers that seem to be springing up these days in our sprawling Valley like mushrooms after a…
Up on the Woof: My friends know I’m not much of an animal lover. Or, to be more precise, a pet lover. Despite my feelings, we’ve had a creature sleeping on the premises for six years, a cat my wife took in when I made the mistake of leaving town…
Via DeLosantos, 9120 North Central, Phoenix, 997-6239. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. There are few experiences in life more satisfying than having your prejudices confirmed…
Share the Fantasy: When you eat out four or five times a week, like I do, it’s only natural to fantasize about how you’d operate a restaurant. Not that I’d ever consider such a move, not in a million years. It’s grueling work, as well as financially perilous. But it…
Brio, 7243 East Camelback, Scottsdale, 947-0795. Hours: Dinner, Monday through Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight; Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. Sometimes, there’s no substitute for experience. A couple of veteran Valley restaurateurs have recently opened new Scottsdale dining spots. Tycoon Paul Fleming is…
