We love reading about ourselves, don’t we? How else to explain the Facebook “25 Random Things About Me” phenomenon? That’s why I thought you’d be intrigued by the results of a recent study of Phoenix and Scottsdale diners, conducted by Knoodle, a local marketing agency. Through surveys of 98 local…
You know the post-holiday lull is finally over when there are almost — almost — too many things going on. Not a bad thing, especially when you like a few eating options. Today through Sunday, celebrate the Year of the Ox at Phoenix Chinese Week’s Culture and Cuisine Festival. The…
Ben Hershberger, master baker at The Phoenician, has spent 25 years traveling, perfecting his craft, and picking up a trick or two, like his super-secret 200-year-old yeast culture. When he’s not enticing diners with exotic and artisinal bread at one of The Phoenician’s fancy pants eateries, he’s turning out an…
Are you watching Top Chef? (No spoiler in this blog, fyi…) I thought the latest challenge — the one where the chefs got to eat at Le Bernardin, then had to figure out how to recreate the dishes themselves — was the best one yet. I bet the contestants were…
Whether you love or hate Valentine’s Day, you can soothe your heart and soul at Downtown Phoenix Public Market and grab a couple of nifty presents while you’re at it. Many vendors also sell their goods at local stores, online, or at more than one Valley farmers’ market, so check the…
Please excuse our absence. Gross Out got food poisoning and was out of commission for a while. But we’re back! And this time with news of the “No Award” given last month by county restaurant inspectors to Urban Campfire, the Tempe restaurant in the spot that once housed Greasy Tony’s…
I’m coming face-to-face with things I never expected. My hands have morphed. They’ve got nicks, cuts, punctures and burns that make daily tasks like shampooing and squeezing a lemon borderline torture. I have pretty much forgotten what they look like without band-aids and finger condoms. Plus no amount of moisturizer…
I’m so sick of hearing about the recession. Aren’t you? There’s got to be a bright spot in the midst of dark economic times, and for me, it’s the way folks are starting to get in touch with their inner bargain-hunters, being pickier about how they spend their hard-earned dough…
Last year at this time, it seemed like Korean-style tangy frozen yogurt, in the vein of California’s popular Pinkberry chain, was destined to overtake gelato as the frozen trendy dessert du jour. But did it get too big for its britches? I just heard Ice Tango closed its north Scottsdale…
It seems like every product on the market nowadays has to make a nod toward either being “green” or being healthy, so it is that we get the new Cherry 7Up with antioxidants. Now, if you live in Arizona you probably don’t suffer from a shortage of vitamin E, the…
Every college student has one favorite restaurant where they go study in peace or hang out with friends — an ultra hip, ultra cheap joint with cool art on the walls and a staff that doesn’t mind you sitting and reading a book for hours. For ASU students of the past decade, noshing nirvana was usually found at Pita…
89! I hear this is the best score ever given to an Arizona wine (Callaghan’s 2001 Syrah scored the same). Not bad for a debut label, huh? Wine Spectator rated Arizona Stronghold’s Nachise in a recent Super Bowl feature where the editors rounded up 22 top wines (a la 22…
Riding on the wave of popularity that local farmers markets are having these days, two sister eateries in central Phoenix, Switch and Ticoz, just started hosting weekly parking lot farmers markets of their own last weekend. According to employees at both restaurants, the markets feature vegetables, flowers, jam and salsa, baked…
I don’t know what it was about this past Christmas, but for some reason, I found it a whole lot easier to get out my checkbook and send some dough to local non-profits than to slog through the list of presents I had to buy. And seriously, right after I read…
For years, a restaurateur named Luigi Lamentini performed in the Italian dining theater – lucky for us, right here in Phoenix, where he operated several restaurants. A Florentine by birth with a thick, nasal accent, he’d take flight on fluid rants in his native tongue; singing a sad song about…
One fish, two fish, red fish–yellow fish? With so many choices of sushi available it can be difficult picking out the perfect appetizer to start a course; but Sakana Sushi & Grill ( 20250 N. 59th Avenue, Glendale. 623-566-3595) makes it simple by offering Hamachi Kama, an all around crowd pleaser…
I’m settling into my new routine. No great surprise, but life in a kitchen is a world or two away from sitting in a cubical on the 4th floor of an office building downtown. Here’s my early take on culinary school: It’s fairly militaristic, at least to an old hippie…
Growing up in rural Arizona, certain events were anticipated because they were known to be accompanied by a homemade Navajo taco. From Christmas parades to corn festivals, eating a Navajo taco meant sampling Arizona street food at its best. But finding a Navajo taco in the Valley?…not always so easy. Sacred…
My mom and my Grandma Laudig get top credit for shaping my attitudes about food, but Brian Preston-Campbell probably deserves the bronze medal. I’ve known the guy since I was a high schooler and he was a C.I.A. student. He introduced me to pho, tasting menus, smoked mozzarella, and expensive…
You don’t have to be ultra-rich to pamper your puppies. Here’s a recipe for DIY dog biscuits that costs of next to nothing to make. Best of all, your mutt will go nuts because the treats are packed with garlic. In small quantities, garlic is good for dogs. Some folks even…
Sideways may have been a fictional tale, but the elusive and obsession-inducing qualities of Pinot Noir are completely true. Consider Siduri Wines, a winery that produces only Pinot Noir, all single-vineyard releases from its 20 vineyards in California and Oregon. Owners Adam and Diana Lee’s devotion to the grape has…
Now that Sens Asian Tapas & Sake Bar is up and running with its dinner service, chef-owner Johnny Chu has finally added lunch hours (11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday) and a new wok menu. (***Update: Lunch starts Monday, February 9.) By “new,” I actually mean new to Sens,…
