There’s an urban myth that 90 percent of restaurants close within the first year. Turns out, it’s more like 26 percent, but still, it’s a daunting figure, especially in this economy. But there’s one new restaurant whose success I’m betting on, if only for the local food brain trust behind…
By Michele Laudig In tomorrow’s dining newsletter, New Times catches up with Fate chef-owner Johnny Chu, who gives the lowdown on his soon-to-open downtown tapas and sake bar, Sens. Sign up for the weekly dish right here…
By Wynter Holden Don’t get me wrong, I love seafood. Feed me a chilled shrimp cocktail or crisp crab cakes with orange remoulade and I’ll purr with delight. But I did a double-take when I saw this odd pair of snack foods at my local Asian market. My first shock…
By Megan Irwin It’s hard to see it underneath everything, but this is one of In Season Deli’s famous tamales. Somehow I managed to live in Tempe for seven years — right down the street from In Season Deli for two of them — and never know this place existed…
by Amy Silverman Ice, ice baby. Well, maybe not. I know ice is all any of us want, right about now, but beware. After my gross discovery last week, I decided to focus on ice and drinks (and the stuff that they come out of) as a theme this week…
By Wynter Holden Occasionally I stumble across what I playfully call “sniper” ingredients – foods so deceptively named that it’s like a shot through the heart when you discover what they really are. Case in point: sweetbreads. Sounds like a no-brainer. S-W-E-E-T bread. Duh! I knew that sweetbreads are often…
By Michele Laudig Since so many restaurants are closed on Mondays, I keep a mental shortlist of my dining options for that tricky day of the week. And for that reason alone, Humble Pie’s already got solid status as an evergreen dining option. But now there’s another incentive to stop…
by Robrt L. Pela If the house caught on fire, I’d grab my French press and run. Oh, and the cats. I’d grab the cats, too. Except that in my horror fantasies, the cats are waiting patiently by the door (even though they’ve never gone outside in their lives) to…
By Steve Jansen Il Posto – the Sunnyslope-located Italian restaurant that used to be called Our Gang Cafe – got it right. What does “it” refer to? Well, first of the all, the ambiance, from the sharp looking inside dining area to the New York City-esque patio complete with misters…
By Niki D’Andrea This is “Senor Agwa.” At parties acoss Europe and the U.K., he’s the face of Agwa De Bolivia Coca Leaf Liqueur, an imported alcoholic beverage made from coca leaves. You can read about Agwa’s arrival and buzz in the Valley in this week’s cover story, Liquid Blow?…
By Michele Laudig Remember Damon Brasch, the chef I profiled a few months ago? Well, I ran into him yesterday at That’s A Wrap, his CenPho restaurant, and got the latest update on The Center Bistro, the in-house organic eatery at Tempe’s I Am The Center yoga studio. Turns out,…
In yesterday’s Meal Ticket newsletter, we spoke to Chef/owner Robert Gonzalez about his new restaurant Babaloo’s Cuban Cafe in Ahwatukee. We incorrectly identified the location as the corner of 44th St. and Chandler Blvd. The correct address for Babaloo’s is 1241 E. Chandler Blvd., at Chandler Blvd. and the Desert…
by Robrt L. Pela I’m glad this one still has its (tattered) dust jacket, otherwise I’d have no idea why Ruth Ellen Church is the author of Mary Meade’s Magic Recipes for the Electric Blender. Turns out, according to this book’s flap copy, that Church is Meade, although there’s no…
By Michele Laudig The last couple of weeks have been pretty brutal — I can only hope that the monsoon season will bring us a break from the extreme heat. In the meantime, there’s at least a little relief, in the form of two new gelato shops that have recently…
By Wynter Holden Bartender Scott Pierce (a.k.a Pandora) is a quirky, outspoken and totally flaming queen who isn’t afraid to let it all hang out. He loves to wear tight leather corsets, although he switches to muumuus in the hot summer. He digs beehive hairdos. And he wants to open…
By Michele Laudig If you’ve ever seen the kooky headlines I come up with for my restaurant reviews, you know I appreciate a little wordplay once in awhile. So I’m loving the name of Local First Arizona’s annual celebration of groovy local businesses: Independents Week, which runs June 30 through…
By Jay Bennett Is there a restaurant you love so much that you’d go there four times a week? Me neither. I live four blocks from La Grande Orange and love its pizzas and salads like nobody’s business, but still, I eat them, like, twice a month, tops. The other…
Photo credit: TracyKreck.com By Michele Laudig Friday night’s supposed to be the big night out at the end of the work week, but half the time I feel so frazzled I’d rather be a couch potato, snarf down a pizza, and crack open a bottle of Three Buck Chuck. Chef…
By Jonathan McNamara Even the great Hindu sage Valmiki surely could not have predicted that when he penned life into Hanuman, the monkey god in the Hindu epic The Ramayana, the character would end up on a bottle of beer. Yet that’s exactly what seems to have happened as an…
By Wynter Holden The rule in my house is that the person with the crappiest day gets to make the decision about what to do that evening. My roommate “A” finalized a bad breakup last Thursday, so dinner was definitely her call. My fingers were crossed for something healthy, and…
Call me a shopaholic. I didn’t realize I had a thing for grocery stores until I sat down to write this column, reflecting on how strolling the aisles of brightly lit supermarkets has been such a relaxing pastime over the years. As a kid, I had fun shopping with my…
Fuzzy photo; yummy shrimp by Sarah Fenske It’d been miserably hot and I felt like my brain was fried. I needed a pick-me-up. So of course I chose Zest. This stand-alone restaurant, at 16th Street and Indian School, is practically my favorite place in all of Phoenix. I love those…
