Is it possible to be a chef and care about animals? My questions started to surface the day I turned around in the walk-in and looked directly into the blank stare of the pig chilling until roasting the following day. It took all my self-control to not take off my…
There’s something magical about the atmosphere at Prado, the Andalusian-inspired fine-dining spot at Paradise Valley’s brand-new InterContinental Montelucia. Indeed, the resort as a whole has a special luster — thanks to President Obama’s recent stay here — but the restaurant, in particular, deserves a nod as one of the prettiest…
Check out the latest post on one of my favorite local food blogs, Eric Eats Out, where you can get the lowdown on La Naranja Grande’s fabulous “heaux-heaux.” Boy, this guy can write, and he is funny as hell!…
A trip to Texas two weeks ago reawakened a long-held love of mine: Big Red. The creamy, bubble gumesque concoction is ubiquitous in the The Lone Star State, particularly in the hallowed halls of smokey barbecue joints. We didn’t have any brisket to pair with it, but I put the…
There’s nothing scarier for a die-hard meat eater than a vegan restaurant. Just mentioning the lack of animal by-product may cause him or her to sweat, or at least go into a lengthy rant about “those damned veg-heads” with hippie dreadlocks and unshaven pits. How they had a boyfriend/girlfriends they…
Skip happy hour and splurge on the latest swanky culinary event, Forks and Corks, on Thursday evening. Proceeds benefit scholarships for the Arizona Hotel and Restaurant Foundations. Chefs from the Arizona Biltmore, Lon’s at the Hermosa, Fairmont Scottsdale, Hyatt Regency, and many other resorts and restaurants will be on hand…
If cheap drinks and a lot of them is what you’re looking for, head to Sneakers Sports Grill. But don’t expect anything fancy. From 3 to 7 p.m. every day, a Coors Light draft will run you 75 cents. Alas, it’s served in a plastic cup. Appetizers are similarly pedestrian,…
Really, really late-night eats are hard to come by no matter what part of the Valley you’re in, but in Old Town Scottsdale, where there are plenty of places to go boozing, there definitely aren’t enough places to grab a bite and soak up a night’s worth of sake bombers. The folks behind…
A restaurant can only get so far on notoriety and vagina jokes. Pink Taco closed its three-year-old Scottsdale location today, with plans to expand its operations in Southern California. That’s okay, California can have ’em. I just took a look at a review I did of the Scottsdale Waterfront eatery…
Lyte Lounge, the Scottsdale eatery where executive chef Justin Chacon (known for his now-defunct Justin’s Ragin’ Cajun Cuisine in Cave Creek) cooked up health-conscious tapas for the hungry nightclubber set, has closed, according to restaurant co-founder Robert Burghart, president and CEO of JB Entertainment Group. Lyte opened its doors a little over…
Maybe you should call it Red, White & EEEEWWWW. The Chandler restaurant on Gilbert Road had some issues regarding old meat (and we’re not talking about aged in a good way) during its last (failing) county restaurant inspection. …
Gold rushes unearth human nature horror stories. Precious few mine wealth from such circumstances. Many more are left to the muck and mire of greed and want. In the hospitality trades, the high roller is the rich vein of our gratuity-grubbing existences. Tap into the right one, we think, and…
Go get seconds of Pierino Jermonti’s luscious caramel cheesecake creme brulee while you still can. T. Cook’s executive pastry chef, who’s been at the restaurant since 1996, is on his way out. Today marks his last day on the property. According to the Republic, Jermonti’s headed to Terranea, a Southern California…
To me, coming home, thrashed, at the end of a long day and finding a new mag in the mailbox is one of life’s simple pleasures. Better still is to flip it open and find something familiar in its shiny pages. This time, I expected there’d be some kind of Phoenix…
Ed Hardy might have tried to corner the rockabilly and hot rod market with his own designer energy drinks, but he’s got some tough competition in Sucker Punch, a new drink made by old school motorcycle and chopper company Sucker Punch Sally’s. Looks like: A vintage soda, with a retro…
There’s nothing quite like the taste of butter, but sautéing with it is virtually impossible. The milk solids just can’t take the heat; they burn at too low a temperature. For years, I adding a little oil to melted butter in an attempt to cook food at a higher temperature…
Arizona Capitol Times just announced the winners of its annual “Best of Capitol” survey a few days ago, and it’s interesting to see the restaurant picks of our local political movers and shakers. Not surprisingly, Cheuvront’s gets props (owner Ken Cheuvront is a state senator), while Durant’s seems to be…
For Mill Avenue, pretentious can be a good thing…. Enter Caffé Boa, a Mill spot that says “wine bar” where other area businesses say “smelly dive”. Caffé Boa’s Italian-inspired dinner menu might not be in your price range, but the happy hour deals are impressive. From 4 to 7 p.m…
A Februrary 23 inspection of the restaurant at the San Carlos Hotel in downtown Phoenix revealed, among other things, “white sauce containing cooked chicken and vegetables…date marked 2/11/09.” The manager discarded the mystery sauce. Good. We figure most things that are white have a much shorter shelf life. Speaking of…
This week’s dish is adapted from Mark Bittman’s Curried Chicken Salad recipe in his cooking bible, “How to Cook Everything.” We have deep respect for Bittman, who writes the Minimalist cooking column in the New York Times, and it feels quasi-sacrilegious to alter Bittman’s recipe in any way. But it’s…
Ultra-chic and tech-savvy hotel Aloft celebrated its grand opening last night with a packed house of trendy thirty-somethings lounging on the outdoor patio.Of course no opening is complete without some delicious eats and drinks. Aloft has no in house restaurant, but that didn’t stop it from catering the event with…
We remember when Hob Nobs, a coffee shop at McDowell Road and 3rd Avenue in Phoenix, used to be Willow House. Not a particularly clean joint. But we hear good things about the new place, which is why we were dismayed to see that Hob Nobs failed its recent county…
