Can cooking a hot meal help an average guy bed smokin’ chicks? According to a new book hitting store shelves in May, absofrickinlutely! This amazing piece of culinary literature, Cook to Bang: The Lay Cook’s Guide to Getting Laid, is based on a website that features sexy recipes the average Joe can prepare at…
While a friend was knee deep in a Japanese conversation lesson from the owner (he says “you’re welcome” in Japanese sounds a lot like “don’t touch my mustache”) a chorus of edamame, yakitori, tonkatsu and gyoza demanded my undivided attention. The tiny place has been serving Japanese comfort food since…
This is only just the beginning for Matt Kolacz, who’s the sous chef at The Vig in Arcadia. His new tat is a work in progress, but he graciously shared a shot of the first five hours of ink work.Are you a chef with a tattoos you think Chow Bella…
An early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives. Get ready for a busy weekend, folks. With so much going on around the Valley it’s going to be hard to choose what to miss! First up is the Arizona Barbecue Festival, happening Saturday, April 10th at the…
Gastropub has the word “pub” in it and frankly that should be enough to grab your attention. Of course a little professional direction as to where one may experience the best gastropubs Phoenix has to offer couldn’t hurt either. Food Critic Michele Laudig on Culinary Dropout, Mabel’s on Main, and…
One can never have enough Thin Mints. At least that’s what we thought until Managing Editor Amy Silverman brought in a dozen unsold boxes to a recent Chow Bella meeting. If one must make lemonade when life hands one lemons, we theorized one must make desert when life hands one…
Josh Warner knows how to throw a party. The 30-year-old bartender at Wildfish Seafood Grille at the Scottsdale Waterfront might have a taste for light and simple cocktails, but he’s not light on entertaining skills. After learning about what brought him to bartending, it’s no wonder Warner is well-versed on…
Flancer’s is offering an all-you-can-eat pizza deal Sunday – with a catch. The special only is available from 11 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. That’s general manager Jimmy Tucker’s clever way of promoting the Gilbert restaurant’s 10th annual charity pizza-eating contest. Only 16 contestants have signed up for this year’s event,…
Have you been to Coronado Cafe lately? I’m loving how the new owners have made gradual improvements to the restaurant’s already-charming decor and menus, and I especially like their outdoor patios. There’s a small one in the front, and a larger one on the side. Both are a great place…
With its conservative politics, large Mormon temple and dearth of nightlife, downtown Mesa is just about the last place in the Valley you’d expect to find people parading around in scanty genitalia coverings and drinking hemp ale. But that’s what’s planned Saturday at Il Vinaio, a restaurant and wine bistro…
Mmmm…Tasty. Gooey. Delicious. From our headline, you might think Valley favorites Sprinkles and Tammie Coe are getting some stiffly whipped competition. Those who hail from Boston or keep up with fashion trends know better. Entrepreneur Johnny Earle, aka Johnny Cupcakes, has three boutiques — two in Massachusetts and one in California –…
Another local restaurant has fallen by the wayside.Just got word that contemporary American spot Central Grille officially notified friends and associates by email that its last day in business was Easter Sunday. Unofficial word is that the closing had less to do with the business itself and more to do with the…
Stupid TV. I bask in your glow for hours, hang on your every image, and break commitments with friends so I can stare into your one, giant, flickering eye, and you repay me with a commercial about a fast-food chain’s burger hawked by a D-list reality TV star eating it…
In this week’s Chef Chat, we heard from Chef Kelly Fletcher of House of Tricks. Fletcher says another one of his most valuable tools is his iPhone, which stores hundreds of his recipes. We were lucky enough to grab one. Introducing his Fromage D’Affinois with Homemade Strawberry Preserves. Here’s how it’s done…..
There is a point at which night turns to day. It’s barely visible to the naked eye, but in that smallest of moments while the moon is still full and the sun casts its first fires across the sky, a transition happens. I know because last Sunday at 5:30 a.m…
An early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives. If you’re an architecture buff and a foodie then you won’t want to miss the free panel discussion tonight at 8 at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. David Tyda will be interviewing the architects behind Uptown…
Damn you, TV. First, you convinced us we should buy insurance pimped by lizards and a blanket with armholes. Now you’ve paired a fast-food chain with a D-list reality TV star to hawk an exotic, expensive burger to Americans and our suppressed sexuality and insatiable desire to exceed the monthly…
Oh, Phoenix. When will you ever get your shit together? I’m feeling ornery at the moment, thinking about how national culinary trends don’t always play out successfully here, if they ever get off the ground at all. Take gastropubs. What’s a gastropub, you wonder? Last year, the Washington Post wrote,…
One of my favorite Japanese dishes has been far too elusive in Phoenix. It’s a savory pancake called okonomiyaki, and it literally means “cooked as you like.” In Japan, there are entire restaurants devoted to it in the same way that there are ramen shops, sushi bars, or shabu-shabu restaurants. Often,…
Standing on a hand paved brick patio, vines climbing a wrought iron trellis, a moonlight sky, inhaling the scent from the wood fired oven, it was hard to believe we were in north Phoenix rather than northern Italy. It was Backyard Pizza Night at Jason Raducha’s. Professionally, Jason wears a…
Yesterday we heard from Chef Kelly Fletcher of House of Tricks. Today the conversation continues. While House of Tricks’ staple dishes are sticking around, Fletcher says he would like to see a few new ingredients on the menu. “I always want to see more offal, more sweetbreads, more tongue and…
A decade ago, just before I moved to Phoenix, I considered heading to New Orleans instead. My then-boyfriend and I called around checking on graduate schools and apartments but practically needed a Creole-to-English translator to figure out what the heck everyone was saying. Needless to say, it was Phoenix or bust. Ya tink? …
