Occasionally, I feel like the Ted Bundy of food critics, trawling sundry restaurant rows here in Phoenix, looking for my next victim. It has something to do with exorcising my inner Jack the Ripper, albeit with the written word as my butcher knife. Unlike Bundy, et al., my “victims” are…
Last week, I was perusing this book Bizarrism, a compilation of “Strange Lives, Cults and Celebrated Lunacy” by Aussie author Chris Mikul, when I was overcome by an irresistible yearning to taste the treasures of the briny deep. Or, to state it more plainly, I was bloody hungry for seafood…
I have been very, very spoiled in the past when it comes to churrascaria, or Brazilian barbecue. I didn’t realize how spoiled until I visited the new Brazeiro Steakhouse in Scottsdale’s Fashion Square. But more on that place in a moment. You see, fortune has heretofore led my belly to…
Los Angeles may have the ocean, a temperate climate, Hollywood starlets and the Lakers, but the Valley cleans La-La Land’s proverbial clock when it comes to pizza. Perhaps Angelenos are too busy eating tofu and primping for their close-ups, but for whatever reason, in El Lay, it’s either Wolfgang Puck…
Don’t read this if you’re hungry — or trying to do the low carb thing. The Flores Bakery — a small, sweet-smelling shop on Avenida del Yaqui, the main drag in Guadalupe — is the place to go for authentic Mexican baked goods, anything from a pumpkin empanada to a…
I’d been sitting on the fence for the past week about Rokerij, Richardson Browne’s classy new chop shop, when I happened to take a look at the fine print on the menu of this stone-and-wood surf-and-turf joint, which reads: “Sorry, we do not provide highchairs or booster seats.” In other…
One of the bonuses of dwelling in a real metropolis is having a reputable Indian eatery within reasonable distance of one’s digs. When I resided in New York, I was the luckiest I’ve ever been in this regard. My building was near 23rd Street and Lexington Avenue, and just a…
Death and taxes. The two unavoidables of human existence had me knee-deep in the dumps. It happened after I visited my local H&R Block on Camelback to see how much I didn’t get back from the supposedly massive Bush tax cut. Okay, I admit, I did qualify for a piddling…
Ecuador is perhaps best known for its Galápagos Islands, but the food’s not bad, either. Chef Rosa Rosas prepares some of the best in the Valley at Mi Cocina, Mi Pais, a restaurant tucked away in a northwest Phoenix strip mall. Tapestries on the mango-colored walls are decorated with flamingos,…
Let me share a little secret with you: Journalists love to eat and eat well, but we’re also notoriously cheap. In part, this has to do with the fact that almost no one gets rich off scribbling for a living. And probably, deservedly so, if you judge by what’s sometimes…
Allow me to address a theme that runs through a number of missives I’ve received from my detractors, most of whom have this ass-backwards notion that restaurant reviews should be as chipper as the banter of those coifed nimrods over at Good Morning Arizona. That is, when somebody deigns to…
The good news first: I’ve recently had the pleasure of eating at the hippest new sushi joint in the Valley, with maki rolls so innovative, and yet professionally prepared, that I’d almost be willing to move upstairs from the place so that I could get my daily fix. Now the…
It’s Friday and most of the lunch crowd at Pitic Restaurant is feasting on delicious Mexican dishes — without meat, of course. It’s Lent. Lent is a time of self-denial, but there’s one treat unique to this time of year. At Pitic and at other Mexican eateries in town, the…
Though I have yet to visit Siam, I have lived in the next best place for Thai cuisine: Los Angeles. In La-La Land, there are nearly as many Thai restaurants as there are taquerias in Phoenix, and I became so accustomed to that country’s unique mélange of spicy, sweet-and-sour flavors…
Pardon my language, but all of these low-carb-South Beach-Atkins fanatics can take a giant bite out of my billowy boxers. Why, I’m as dyspeptic as John Ashcroft with a grapefruit-size gallstone, and all because of this asinine Atkins drivel that would have us forgo one of the most satisfying gustatory…
Bill O’Brien is all Irish Catholic, but that doesn’t mean the rancher doesn’t appreciate mariachi music — even on St. Patrick’s Day. The red bandera-ed 81-year-old helped to found Los San Patricios de Arizona, a group that brings two Catholic cultures — Irish and Mexican — together. This Saturday, members…
Oh, the things I do for my beloved public! I was at home the other day, enjoying a bottle of Shiraz, nibbling on a hunk of Kerrygold Dubliner cheese, and exploring sites about numismatics on the Internet, when I checked my e-mail to discover an impassioned missive from an employee…
Drift Polynesian Restaurant and Tiki Lounge, ,
Buildings may crumble, relationships may fall apart. But tacos, they’re supposed to stay together. The sad fact is that it’s practically impossible to find a hard-shell taco that doesn’t fall apart at first bite. Try Tacos Pepe. This Scottsdale taco shop offers a taco with juicy shredded beef housed in…
My personal mantra in all things culinary and cultural mimics that wry, clock-wearing philosopher of yore, Public Enemy’s Flava Flav, who was fond of advising listeners, “Don’t believe the hype!” That ageless, pithy axiom can apply equally to Jay-Z’s announced intention to resign from rap (not again!), as well as…
As you might surmise from my pork-lovin’ Tar Heel roots, there’s nothing I adore more than a mass of shredded swine. But here in the desert, so far from the slaughterhouses of my native North Carolina, I’ve rarely come across restaurateurs who can prepare pig so that the meat is…
Roses and chocolates are fine. Hallmark is dandy. But if you want to spice things up — literally — for your Valentine, then head to San Francisco. Luckily, this San Francisco is located in the heart of Phoenix. Yerberia means “herb store,” and Yerberia San Francisco offers a wide variety…
