I sort of understand why today would be a good day for restaurants to promote themselves. After you’ve done your time under a pile of paperwork — and perhaps coughed up some dough to Uncle Sam — you could use a free taco from Taco del Mar (print out a…
A general drinking guideline: Any drink with a name suffixed by the term ‘bomb’ is sure to get you bombed. Here’s a deal you can take advantage of long after Happy Hour’s come and gone. From 8 to close, Sunday through Thursday at Kabuki, you can knock yourself out with…
When it comes to restaurant decor, good art is definitely the key to success. Sure, exotic hardwood tables and funky exposed brick walls go a long way, but if a cool place is decked in dime-a-dozen IKEA prints or fuzzy amateurish photos it can ruin the ambiance. And let’s be honest, unless you’re…
Just got the word from chef Matt Taylor at Metro Brasserie that the SouthBridge eatery has changed up its menu. A salad of green asparagus, morel cream, cured lemon, and fried corn; a pork pate banh mi (traditional Vietnamese sandwich on baguette); lardo-wrapped halibut; and duck breast with rhubarb, beluga…
Ever thought of pairing your spicy tuna roll with prickly pear ponzu, or creating a ceviche roll? If so, we’re impressed with your culinary adventurousness — and happy to introduce you to the new Banzai Cowboy Sushi Restaurant & Martini Bar at Scottsdale’s DC Ranch Market Street. This isn’t your…
The Scottsdale Culinary Festival sounds monolithic, but the granddaddy among the Valley’s culinary festivals is surprisingly multifaceted — a dozen different events at 16 different restaurants and venues around town, ranging from casual tastings to semi-formal sit-down occasions…
Got a craving for Pizzeria Bianco lately? Better get yourself down there asap — like, probably tonight — before too many people start cracking open their brand-new copies of Martha Stewart Living. The place is notorious for its wait, but I’m betting it will soon be even longer. Phoenix’s celebrated pizza…
It’s a pair like no other. Salt and pepper are so essential to cooking that one of the chefs even joked that culinary school is about paying big money to learn how to use them. I’ve always been pretty liberal with my use of salt and pepper, but I’ve said…
We’re pulling back the curtain today on Dutch Baby Pancakes. You may have had them before if you’ve ever gone to the Original Pancake House in Scottsdale. Dutch babies are towering, eggy creations served with lemons and powdered sugar. Truth be told, they’re easy to make and require few ingredients…
You know a coffee company’s out to serve up ass-whooping drinks when their menu includes beverages named things like the “Annihilator” and “Double Torture.” Dutch Bros. — an upstart company with drive-thru locations in Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, and other southwestern states — seems to have made it the company’s mission…
Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week: LocavoreAZ Dinner at Superstition Farm is an a-moozing experience…
Blue Agave is an atypical Mexican restaurant that offers authentic south of the border cuisine as well as experimental dishes. Order the traditional tamale or the crab-stuffed shrimp off the dinner menu, but also come early for the relaxing atmosphere and, from 4 to 7 every day, enjoy $3 Coronas,…
Last night I removed the chains shackling me to my New Times desk long enough to venture out to Four Peaks with a few friends (one of whom is as interested in home brewing as I am in downing draughts). Hold on! Yes, I’m reviewing a Four Peaks beer, but…
Big changes are happening on Stetson Drive. According to Mari Markogianis of Spaghetti Western Productions — the umbrella for Old Town Scottsdale faves Cowboy Ciao, Sea Saw, Kazimierz, and Digestif — Cowboy Ciao chef Bernie Kantak is leaving the restaurant sometime in the next two or three months to “spearhead a new…
As we move into the season of relentless, broiling sunlight, several of our local farmers’ markets very sensibly take a break until people start wanting to hang around outdoors again. (It’s also a challenge to keep human beings — let alone produce, dairy, or meat — fresh in a little…
Chef Jared Porter tells me that he traded his apron for a tool belt in recent weeks, but now he’s finalizing his menu for The Parlor, the new pizza joint set to open later this month (tentatively April 27) in the old Salon de Venus on Camelback at 20th Street…
New Times writer Ray Stern has more to say about the arrest of Citrus Cafe owner Andrew Paparella Jr. on the Valley Fever blog today — check it out…
The concept of “rustic French cuisine” with a New Orleans edge has us salivating. In her latest Cafe column, Michele Laudig shares our gluttonous desires, though she points out Metro Brasserie & Bar still has a long way to go to live up to her expectations. Food Critic Michele Laudig…
During stressful times, what’s more comforting than home-style cooking? Not much, if you ask me. When I lived in the same town as my parents, I loved heading over to their house after work or the weekends to eat some of my mom’s cooking. I’m sure many of you feel the…
In this week’s Spooning column, culinary Don Juan Colin Redding explores the virtues of perhaps the tastiest thing to ever come out of a pig: bacon. When this turf meets surf, you get bacon-wrapped jewels of deliciousness we call scallops. Check out the recipe after the jump…
There’s no shortage of movies about food and restaurant life. I’ve seen almost all of them, and I relished the chance for a glimpse into a world I longed to join. Being a seasoned woman, I thought I had a pretty good handle of what was real and what was…
“I’m crazy for tryin’. I’m crazy for cryin’. I’m crazy for loving you.” La la la. I’m not a country music kind of guy, but living in the Southwest, it’s a necessary evil. Now, not all country music is bad — for example, those lyrics were sung by the enchanting…
