Introducing a new segment today on Chow Bella: Battle of the Dishes. We try the same meal, but at two different local restaurants. It’s an eater smackdown. Los Reyes de la Torta vs. America’s Taco ShopWhen a friend suggested “tortas” as the inaugural plate for Battle of the Dishes, we…
Wishes do come true. Talk to me long enough and I’ll start talking about all the interesting businesses I think Phoenix could use. A great independently owned cheese shop is always at the top of my list. Well, it’s finally happening. The fromage gods have listened. Cheese expert Lara Hardwick…
Sigh. It’s 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night and you’re the worst kind of hungry. Stomach growling, three-course meal hungry. Unfortunately, the only restaurants still open in your neighborhood are in the vein of Taco Bell/Burger King or IHOP/Denny’s — and fast food and pancakes aren’t exactly what you’re craving…
It must be the alignment of the planets or something. Seems like all kinds of restaurants are coming out of the woodwork to offer freebies right now. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, four Famous Dave’s Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que trucks will be cruising the streets of south Scottsdale, offering a…
If you understand the concept behind Posh — a first-of-its-kind, “improvisational” kitchen in Scottsdale — then you understand its chef and owner, Josh Hebert. “I can be a little frenetic sometimes, yeah,” he admits. Creative is more like it. A more traditional chef might call what Herbert does at his…
You don’t have to be French to celebrate le quatorze juillet in Phoenix — you only need a craving for French food. Cheuvront Restaurant & Wine Bar is hosting its annual Bastille Day Dinner tomorrow, with three courses that include a choice of coq au vin or boeuf bourgignon for…
It’s tough times for home-grown supermarket chain Bashas’, which is closing 10 of its 156 Arizona Bashas’ and Food City stores (seven located in the Valley) on July 21. The Chandler-based company filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, reports the Republic. Up to 1,000 employees may be laid off as a result of…
Harira is a traditional soup in Morocco, served to break the fast during Ramadan. Soupsong, where we got this particular recipe, says it’s one of the best soups in the world and we won’t pick a fight with them over it. Their recipe isn’t perfect, but it’s close enough to…
Anybody who’s ever been to La Grande Orange Grocery in Arcadia knows that parking is pretty tight at this super hip organic grocery/deli/coffee shop, as well as the surrounding high-end hipster restaurants like Il Postino and Radio Milano. There’s sometimes even less room inside La Grande Orange, where multiple lines…
We’re beginning to count the weeks in lagers instead of days. But worry not, fellow drinkers! We shall press on in our quest to find the tastiest of Summer brews. This week: Coney Island Lager. We met up with the folks at Shmaltz Brewing to try their line of freaky…
Today I write to you a changed man. No, I have not found a beer so good that I’ve felt the touch of God. Rather, I’ve found a beer-drinking mecca. I can only apologize that it’s taken me this long to discover Sun Devil Liquor in Mesa; though I have…
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: Digestif Moving; Kasperski Selling Restaurant Spaces Maynard James Keenan…
The incessant coverage of Michael Jackson’s death and memorial service has reached new heights — now even fast-food chains are cashing in on the action. Carl’s Jr. fast food stores in Arizona are giving out free soda to Michael Jackson impersonators through tomorrow. No joke. So if you’ve been itching…
It’s time to get out your dayplanners, people. Yelp.com is giving you seven whole days to splurge on special three-course prix fixe dinners being offered for just $25 at 15 Valley restaurants, thanks to its inaugural restaurant week, Yelp Eats! (That’s their exclamation point, not mine.) Even if you’ve never…
Hungry for some tasty tweets? The culinary community is sweeping the Twittersphere, and now you can keep up with some of the biggest names in the biz just by clicking the “follow” button on Twitter. Here are some faves: @RuthReichl The Gourmet editor, memoirist and legendary restaurant critic Ruth Reichl…
A Moscow Mule was one of the first cocktails in American history. It was vodka mixed with ginger beer, served in a copper mug. Complete with a culturally insensitive reference (to the Russian-imported liquor) and a convenient alliteration, the drink was a sensation. For the first time in this country,…
Chef Joseph Gutierrez, owner of Scottsdale’s Cin-Cin Bistro, is moving quickly to fill the SouthBridge space still occupied by Digestif with an Italian restaurant called Tutto. He’ll also bring a Spanish spot called Tapas Papa Fritas to the spot where restaurateur Peter Kasperski had planned to open Mexican Standoff. According to…
We hope you don’t mind if we get a bit English major on you for a moment. You see, this week’s cafe column has us thinking about Avalon. Yes, we mean the sacred island from the Arthurian legends. It is said to be the very location where Arthur’s Excalibur was…
Steve Douds remembers when his bar was a line of identical men in suits. Brick-sized cell phones and gin and tonics sat in front of them in a neat row. “Scottsdale used to be a town of conspicuous consumption,” he says. “It was big glasses of vodka and little old…
You can’t crank your A/C hard enough. The pool feels like a warm bath. Fido won’t walk on a sizzling sidewalk. And on top of all that, you’re having a month of bad hair days. Or is that just me? Nah. I think most people would agree that the Sonoran…
PHX Bux have been getting a lot of love lately (with occasional misinformed haters trailing behind, too) and it’s easy to see why. The discount art tokens have taken off as a viable experiment in citizen-based currency with a grand total of 2000 in circulation, and are accepted at over 25 local…
Change is a-comin’. On the heels of Monday’s news that restaurateur Peter Kasperski is giving up two of his SouthBridge restaurant spaces and moving Digestif into smaller digs, more specific details have emerged. For the remainder of this week, Digestif will only be open for dinner, starting at 5 p.m…
