This was to be my birthday dinner to remember, a landmark event staged last week at one of the world’s best restaurants, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. Chez Panisse, of course, is the creation of legendary chef Alice Waters and, since it opened in 1971, it’s come to be known…
The sky is partly cloudy, the sun teasing me with its warmth on this chilly Sunday afternoon. There is a melodic murmur of vendors selling their goods, and buyers inspecting and haggling prices for future purchases. The feel of the hustle and bustle of a busy Mexican mercado, or marketplace,…
I just ate a $22 piece of smoked salmon. The deep-pink curl of cold fish was perhaps an ounce, maybe just a little more. It was slightly salty, fleshy firm, quite nice, really. Oh, and the water was excellent, too. The sparkling beverage came in an oversize glass tumbler, with…
I really should apologize to Cabo owner Chris Harter right now. I should be sharing with the dining public what a great restaurant he’s created (because he has given us a fun, creative, top-notch salute to Mexican seafood). But I can’t stop laughing. Because while Harter has successfully navigated the…
It was one of those beautiful Arizona nights. The sunset was doing its magical and colorful dance upon the Phoenix skyline, and the weather was perfectly inviting. Being indoors was unappealing to me. Like a comic-book hero, I hurriedly changed, leaving a trail of chef clothes on the floor for…
I’d been trying to write a cookbook. One day, just as I was on a roll, my fingers dancing on the keyboard, thoughts pouring from my head, I heard a thumping at the door. “Not now,” I muttered as I walked toward the demanding knock and opened the door. Sweat…
I know I’m opening a brand-new can of worms here — raw worms — by even broaching this topic, but I can’t help myself. Given the absurd number of passionate letters I got after writing about Tempe’s Rawsome! Cafe, I imagine now I’ll be hearing from equally frenzied pet owners…
My mom, as always, is thinking. And, as always, she’s come up with a great idea. “A laminated plastic sheet,” she muses, peering over the 13 little dishes of pickles with which our server has blanketed the table. “With pictures. Like they do for sushi, so we know what we’re…
Chris Bianco, legendary chef-owner of Pizzeria Bianco and its next-door Bar Bianco, is opening a bakery, snack and hangout spot in central Phoenix named Pane Bianco. Located in a converted 1940s pawnshop at Central and Indian School, the spot (it’s not a cafe, insists Bianco) will serve what the chef…
Her eyes are glowing brightly, the way they always do after that third glass of Merlot. It’s a brilliant, giddy look of edges erased, a realization that the craziness of another workweek will be survived. I drink in her expression as deeply and gladly as the Sauvignon Blanc I’m sipping…
You think you know Mexican food? Think again. As diverse as its land and people, Mexico’s food is an endless tapestry of variety. You could spend a lifetime in one state alone and never completely know its entire cuisine. Chimichangas and fajitas are cute names for dishes invented on this…
When I was a kid, summer camp in Prescott meant meals of bland cafeteria food. Candy — even gum — was strictly forbidden. It was some stupid thing about shaping our young bodies for health and discipline. All packages from home were inspected for contraband goodies. Good behavior was rewarded…
I was just trying to make some rice. It’s only about 10,000 degrees outside right now. So who wants to cook and heat up the house even more? Or even eat, really. I’m pretty sure I’m slowly melting, and it doesn’t do much for my appetite. Rice sounded great, cooked…
The challenge was on. Aged by wear and the daily illumination of the hot Oaxacan sun, the poor 2-by-6 board sat precariously over two upside-down five-gallon buckets. “My butt is getting too big for this,” I thought. I could almost hear the decrepit board cry in pain and feel the…
The San Carlos Hotel at Central and Monroe in downtown Phoenix was once a Valley hot spot. Developed in 1928, the 133-room property was a favorite of celebrities like Clark Gable and Mae West. But over the years, the San Carlos has fallen out of fashion. Beyond the outdated rooms…
The note tacked on the wall at the Peppersauce Cafe offers it up in a friendly drawl. “If you’re a handyman who will work for food . . . and don’t have a sign . . . we have work, and we have food.” The sign’s something straight out of…
Life’s a fish, and then you die. At least if you’re a fish destined for the sushi eating contest being held at Sushiko, 92nd Street and Shea in Scottsdale. There’s no savoring the salmon or yellowtail on August 18, when iron stomachs are challenged to consume as much of the…
Q.I like to watch TV while I eat. It drives my wife crazy, but I think I can get away with it if I can find a nice, upper-scale place that doesn’t focus on bar food. She gets her fancy dinner, and I get my sports, is my thought. A.You’re…
While I’m bored with the pretension that so often accompanies wines, a little knowledge is never a bad thing. For starters, I appreciate it when my server can tell the difference between the red and white varieties. Also, I like a server who doesn’t yell at me when she brings…
My good friend Roy had made it his personal mission to teach me about wine. I’d met him, appropriately enough, at a wine tasting. But at a careless 24, I was less interested in frou-frou terminology and varietal descriptions than I was in following culinary author M.F.K. Fisher’s adage: “It…
Someone stop me before I have a cow. I don’t want to churn out my own milk. I’m certainly not in it for the slaughter. I’ve just decided I want a pet cow: all deep, velvet brown eyes framed with thick ebony lashes, gentle rubbery lips that feather against my…
