Esther Agaba can’t seem to decide what to call her popular African restaurant on West Camelback Road. The former Fu-Fu Cuisine, barely three years old, was renamed Esther Cuisine not long ago, and has recently been rechristened Love Cuisine. The one thing that each version has had in common is…
Downtown Phoenix watering hole The Turf Irish Restaurant & Pub is re-branding itself as food-focused Chambers on First. With the new name and restaurant-oriented direction comes a new menu, expanded patio, and refurbished interior — though the Irish influence is still present without. Turf went through a mini-identity crisis, changing…
Where: Vovomeena When: Tuesday-Friday 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dish: Blackstone Scramble Price: $11.87 (including tax and tip) The Setting: Nestled among a handful of other restaurants and stores in the plaza at 1515 N. 7th Avenue, Vovomeena is a comfortable urban breakfast…
This year the Great American Beer Festival in Denver marked its 34th anniversary as the largest beer competition in the world with more than 1,500 brewery entries. The festival, which took place over the weekend, awarded bronze, silver and gold medals in 92 categories. Of the 275 medals awarded, four…
According to a post on the restaurant’s Instagram account, Bragg’s Factory Diner in Phoenix will close at the end of business on Sunday, October 4. Co-owner Liam Murtagh, who owns the restaurant with his wife Emily Spetrino-Murtagh and baker Dana Stern, says the location contributed to the reasons the owners’ decision. “We…
We’ve put the palate to the test in Drinking Problems, a video series in which our tasters, ranging from a James Beard Award-winning chef to a comedian who simply appreciates a good drink, give us the good, the bad, and the ugly of what they’re drinking. In this episode, three…
For eight years, Joshua Johnson was chef de cuisine of Kai Restaurant. It’s hard to overstate the prestige of this position: Part of the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort, Kai is the only eatery in the state that can claim both a Five Diamond rating from AAA and a Five…
If you’re into Vietnamese food, then you’ve probably heard of Da Vang. The restaurant on the west side of 19th Avenue between Campbell and Highland has been a Valley staple for Vietnamese food for nearly two decades. The spacious but spare, family-friendly spot serves a variety of noodle and rice dishes,…
It’s 8 a.m. at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company in Gilbert and the day’s already started for brewmaster and co-founder Patrick Ware and head brewer Chris Rodgers. Today they’re brewing Rincon Red, an ode to founder Jonathan Buford’s neighbor Bob. As the story goes, Bob was part of what inspired Buford…
When a new spot opens in town, we can’t wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that…
Who is RoxSand Scocos? If you were around the Valley in the 90s, you probably know — and you’ll likely appreciate the significance of the fact that she’ll be preparing the dessert course at this Friday’s James Beard Foundation Taste America dinner. But for more recent arrivals and the young…
This year we’re marking the hundred-day countdown to Best of Phoenix 2015 by sharing some of our favorite dishes at restaurants all over the Valley. Have a suggestion for a dish you’d like us to try? Leave it in the comments section or email lauren.saria@newtimes.com. 1. The Rosa at Pizzeria Bianco…
There is no such thing as a straightforward interview with Chris Bianco. An hour in, what should have been a discussion about pizza has turned into a deeply emotional conversation about scorpions and ants but mostly about the world and Phoenix and what it means to be a citizen of…
A chef whose focus is plant-based nutrition that tastes good, Ruiz teaches cooking classes at the Desert Botanical Garden. As a chef and educator, I work very closely with the desert. It’s my medicine, both physically and spiritually. I’m forever learning, and the desert has been one of my greatest…
Arizona native Hashimoto brings sushi to the desert. I’m what you call a Sansei third-generation Japanese-American, born and raised in Arizona. My family started farming in Arizona in the early 1940s. My grandmother’s birth certificate says she was born nine miles north of Cave Creek Road a year before Arizona…
Rancho Pinot Grill owner Robertson is among the first Arizona restaurateurs to grow the herbs used in her restaurant’s cooking. I consider myself a native, but “real” natives get all up in your business if you claim to be one and you weren’t actually born here. I was born in…
While classic Phoenix restaurant La Pinata is almost ready to move to a new location on 7th Avenue, the owners say they won’t be able to bring the restaurant’s iconic sign to the new home. Roseann Schulz, one of the restaurant’s owners, says the city of Phoenix denied an…
Jonathan Buford, founder of Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company, says the Gilbert brewery will open what he refers to as a third location next summer in downtown Gilbert. (Buford counts the original Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company space as the first location, with the adjoining tasting room being the second.) Buford says the…
This year we’re marking the hundred-day countdown to Best of Phoenix 2015 by sharing some of our favorite dishes at restaurants all over the Valley. Have a suggestion for a dish you’d like us to try? Leave it in the comments section or email lauren.saria@newtimes.com. 2. Pork Belly Buns at…
“La Cruda” might be slang in Spanish for hangover, but the owners of newly-opened Clamatos La Cruda on 32nd Street and Thomas Road in Phoenix claim you can enjoy a clamato at their shop in any state of mind. And though you may think a clamato is simply clam broth…
I have fond memories of meeting colleagues for drinks at Nixon’s, the little red brick bar next to the escalator at the Esplanade. The red bricks are still there, but the erstwhile cocktail lounge has housed several spots and currently is inhabited by Ten, a sometimes-better-thanaverage restaurant and bar overseen by Ohio…
This year we’re marking the hundred-day countdown to Best of Phoenix 2015 by sharing some of our favorite dishes at restaurants all over the Valley. Have a suggestion for a dish you’d like us to try? Leave it in the comments section or email lauren.saria@newtimes.com. 3. Braised Leeks at FnB …
