There was already plenty of excitement about the opening of FnB, a collaboration between Pavle Milic, Peter Kasperski, and chef Charleen Badman, since it opened in Scottsdale a little over a month ago. Now, they’re keeping up the momentum with a revised menu and an attention-getting wine list featuring all Arizona…
How many times has Ty Largo made me smile or flat-out laugh my ass off? Too many times to count. Between food news-and-gossip-fueled email exchanges (he does marketing for local fave Quiessence, as well as various foodie events around town) and his ever-clever quips on Twitter (@juxtapalate), he’s been cracking…
Everyone around us seems to be sniffling, sneezing or coughing these days. Right before the holidays, we were standing on a long, seeming never-ending line at the post office behind a woman who kept hacking up a lung in our direction. “I’m not contagious,” she kept assuring. Uh-huh. Two days…
If you’re looking to score some free food and check out live music in the meantime, The Compound Grill is offering all its “Tweeps” free appetizers when they first start following the bar on Twitter. Follow @LiveAtCompound, and the north Scottsdale eatery, which features live music every night Tuesday through…
Fandom has its privileges, even if you’re a bandwagoneer. So just in time for the NFL playoffs, it’s smart to be an Arizona Cardinals fan if only for the free and cheap eats it’ll get you. The better the team does, the more of these deals we’ll likely see. At Rubio’s…
Originality and tuna sandwiches don’t always go together, but that hasn’t stopped me from keeping an eye out for new takes on a lunchtime favorite. Zinc Bistro does an interesting and tasty version, piling up smoked tuna salad on crisp toasts. Capers and dill keep the smokiness in check, and…
Bike to downtown Phoenix’s Royal Coffee Bar, and get a 50 percent discount on drinks through the month of January. The little shop’s selection’s grand, ranging from espresso to chai tea to Italian soda. We’d happily bust out our 15-year-old purple Huffy for a yummy Cafe Mocha–even though we live…
Lets be honest: we’ve all done the ‘ol “vodka in the water bottle” or “beer in the cargo pocket” routine from time to time (because the real crime is charging $10 for a watered down cocktail, or (gasp!) not allowing alcohol on the premises at all, right?). Turns out drinking…
It’s no secret that we’re fond of a good beer and even less hush-hush that we love a good local beer. If it were possible to equip our faucet with a direct tap line to a barrel of Four Peak’s Kiltlifter, we’d have stopped coming in to work a long…
Anyone who’s involved with the culinary industry knows what a mysterious, often cutthroat, world it can be. But it seems we patrons are finally being let in on some of the secrets. No, chefs aren’t going to start palling around with customers (at least, not most of them) or dishing industry gossip to anyone who’ll listen…
Finally! I’d been wanting to check out the new weekday lunch at Lola Tapas ever since it debuted a few months back, and it was worth my (unintentional) wait when I stopped by this week. The place is just close enough to downtown that I can justify repeat visits from…
Billy-Boy Wordsworth defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” Fitting then, we should apply this definition when we speak of fabulous fare. See if you can relate to this week’s victual verse and feel free to pen a few lines of your own, should you be so inspired…
ere’s something pretty novel for Phoenix. It’s True Food’s special prix fixe menu geared to keeping you healthy during cold and flu season, called “Andy’s Immune Power Menu.” Andy, of course, is the acclaimed wellness guru Dr. Andrew Weil, who’s been involved with the health-centric eatery since the beginning. Executive chef Michael Stebner created…
The thought of eating some good barbecue has me tempted to hop in my car and take a nice long lunch break. I just got the word on a new spot in Mesa called J. Ruggs Southern BBQ (6610 E. Baseline) where father-and-son team Ian and John Ruggles have been dishing up…
In Tempe, where people gravitate toward bright commercial clusters like Mill Avenue and Tempe Marketplace, it can be hard for off-the-beaten-path businesses to do well. The corner of Fifth Street and College Avenue is one of those places that’s had a revolving door in recent years — maybe it’s a…
After busy Friday and Saturday nights, many Valley restaurants take a break on Sundays. But it’s not a day of rest for everyone. It’s business as usual for some eateries, a few of whom are promoting special prix fixe menus as a way to get more people in the door…
Jennifer VanInwegen was the wife who couldn’t cook. Jennifer ordered the magazine anyway and challenged herself to recreate the gorgeous gourmet meals featured on its pages. Her life changed the day she roasted the perfect duck. Last year, the Phoenix resident and mother of two young children put her culinary…
Do you ever get a midday craving for a restaurant that’s only open evenings? Or a nighttime urge to eat at a favorite lunch spot? Two new-ish local restaurants have just expanded their hours. For the past four months, chef-owner Aaron Chamberlin has been sticking to dinner-only service at St…
Gelato master Moreno Spangaro, whom I profiled in a 2007 cover story, sold his business as of January 1 — something he once considered unthinkable. After years of being solicited for his recipes and potential business partnerships — and after someone even broke into the store to try to steal Spangaro’s secrets — the…
Who says you have to wait until the sun goes down to have a good time? After surviving another holiday visit with the family in Michigan, where a new rule was set each time the temperature dropped another five degrees (don’t knock the nativity set over when you’re fencing on…
We’ve been a little under the weather lately and craving comfort foods. Chicken and dumplings. Mashed potatoes. And meatloaf, which always manages to fill our hearts and our bellies with warm beefy joy whenever we’re laid up with a cold. This week, we got a double dose of our favorite comfort…
At first glance, Hanny’s looks expensive and classy, with a cool concrete decor, fresh flowers and candles on tables and a hip, young staff in pristine white uniforms.The former department store (the fitting rooms are now the bathrooms!) in the heart of downtown Phoenix has a menu full of items…
