ZooFari is billed as one of the most important black-tie culinary events in the Valley. It’s always been an exciting opportunity to sample some of the best savories in town, at booths manned by the Valley’s top chefs. But this year, the food display at ZooFari looked like any intersection…
Pleasures of the Palettes, one of the Valley’s most exclusive culinary fund raisers being held later this month at the Phoenician, has been leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of some local chefs.Some chefs are unhappy that they’ve been asked to serve hors d’oeuvres at a reception instead of…
Tomaso’s — the elegant Italian restaurant that’s charmed Valley diners for almost two decades in its original 32nd Street and Camelback location — has set up a sister shop in the East Valley. That brings to three the number of Tomaso’s in the metro-Phoenix area, all sporting the exact same…
Imagine what the horrible result would be if Denny’s switched its all-American concept to contemporary Mexican cuisine. Just try to visualize the culinary disaster assured if Furr’s doctored its menu to include $15 plates of prickly pear barbecue cactus shrimp. And what, God forbid, would diners be in for if…
New Times’ annual Best of Phoenix just came out and, true to form, someone’s not happy about being named the best. Like, for instance, the clothing boutique that was incensed at being singled out as “best place for drag queens to go shopping.” This year, it’s the folks from Chez…
Al Gore invented the Internet. That we accept. But who would have thought that Richardson Browne, feisty owner of Richardson’s Cuisine of Phoenix, has a patent on New Mexican food? What else would explain his bizarre attacks on the owners of Carlsbad Tavern in Scottsdale and Blue Adobe Grille in…
The complaint I hear is all too frequent: There are no good, family-owned American restaurants in the West Valley. Mexican food, maybe, and national chains of all types, for sure. But where can a hungry diner find a delicious meat-and-potatoes meal, cooked with real love, after crossing into the Avenues?The…
Dinner and a movie will take on new meaning this February when Farrelli’s Cinema Supper Club opens on Scottsdale Road north of Thunderbird. Set in an old-fashioned-style moviehouse, the restaurant will partner big-screen movies with upscale dining.Stale popcorn and a box of Goobers? No way. Moviegoers at Farrelli’s will feast…
Eating healthful food lets us live longer. That’s something everybody agrees on. But what exactly is healthful? Scientists can’t agree on which kind of fat will kill us. We hear that alcohol is bad for us, and then nutritionists tell us to drink one or two glasses of wine each…
Bistro 24 executive chef John Johnstone has been one busy fellow lately. Over the past several months, he’s packed up his pots and pans, relocated from New York’s Tavern on the Green, dismantled and rebuilt the Phoenix Ritz-Carlton’s kitchen, brought in a new staff and introduced new lunch and dinner…
Lately it seems like there’s a Chinese restaurant on every street corner in the Valley. Even a recent National Restaurant Association study concludes that Chinese cuisine is so prevalent “it’s no longer considered ethnic.”Every neighborhood seems to have its own favorite Chinese gathering spot, pleasing its regulars with sweet-and-sour this…
There’s a new trend being tested in the Valley, inspired by the bellwether restaurant scene of New York and Los Angeles. It’s called communal dining, and it seeks to bring together people who are “passionate about food.” By the end of October, Michael DeMaria, chef-owner of Michael’s at the Citadel…
I’m glad I brought my press materials on Ice Restaurant and Bar to dinner tonight. Otherwise, I might wonder why in the world I had decided this would be a nice place for a sophisticated meal. What made me think that Ice — a loud, obnoxious nightclub serving food one…
One of the Valley’s premier suppliers of organic produce, Blue Sky Farms in Litchfield Park, has called it quits. The upscale operation was simply too expensive to handle, with rising transportation and labor costs, says owner David Vose. The final straw came when a hailstorm flattened the farm’s last lettuce…
Could it be that Phoenix is finally becoming a town where restaurants can not only survive the summer, but also thrive? A recent rash of hot-weather expansions and grand openings suggests this might be the case. Now, let’s all get out there and eat, to support these brave restaurateurs and…
Ever since visiting Aloha Kitchen, the Valley’s only Hawaiian-theme restaurant, something has been puzzling me. Who in the world invented Kalua pig? And how much free time did he have? Consider this: A recipe from the Maui tourism board gives me no fewer than 36 steps to prepare this popular…
For most businesses, as the adage goes, location is everything. If a shop isn’t easy to find, customers won’t bother to track it down. Unless the business is a restaurant, with really wonderful food. In that case, having a location that’s off the beaten path can actually be a plus…
We’re all used to finding superfluous charges at car dealerships. We even pay ridiculous hotel room-service fees without blinking — “Operator charge of $2 per person,” reads the in-room menu of Las Vegas’ Bellagio. Plus mandatory gratuity, plus an additional tip to our room attendant.But we don’t expect to find…
ZakeE’s chef-owner Sal Alqardahji is pleased that I’m making a complete pig of myself at lunch. I suppose there aren’t that many customers who order two appetizers, three or four entrees, salads and dessert for a noon repast, but my dining companion and I are really hungry, I tell him,…
Do you consider yourself a daredevil diner? Do you think you live on the edge with ethnic food, counting Asian, Middle Eastern, Caribbean and Third World foods among your ruminative repertoire? If so, you’re not alone. Ethnic cuisines are the hottest segment of today’s dining-out market, says the National Restaurant…
It’s taken a while, but the Slow Food organization has finally come to metro Phoenix.Chrysa Kaufman, chef-owner of Scottsdale’s Rancho Pinot Grill, has formed a convivium (an Italian word meaning chapter) to promote the international group’s philosophy here in the Valley. What is Slow Food? The Italian-based organization’s manifesto reads…
Imagine you and a few of your friends — say, 3,000 of them — are looking for a good place to grab dinner out. Where would you go? If you live in Anthem, the decision is simple: Persimmon Bar & Grille at Anthem Golf and Country Club. There’s practically no…
