The implied meaning of a signature menu item is that it doesn’t change. And for restaurants who offer them, the message to customers is simple: If you come here, you can have this special item. But what if the customer wants a signature dish with alterations? I asked Valley chefs…
Kevin Binkley Binkley’s Restaurant 6920 E. Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek 480-437-1072 www.binkleysrestaurant.com Cafe Bink 36889 N. Tom Darlington Drive, Carefree 480-488-9796 www.cafebink.com This is part two of my interview with Kevin Binkley, chef-owner of Binkley’s Restaurant and Café Bink. Read part one of the interview with chef Kevin Binkley…
From now ’til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers — Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you’ll know; for others, it’ll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you’re here, check…
In the wake of the recent shuttering of the Downtown Phoenix Public Market Urban Grocery & Wine Bar comes Bodega 420, a new market and convenience store in the Roosevelt Arts District. The two aren’t the same concept — Bodega 420 balances local items with non-local ones to keep prices…
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…
From time to time, Zach Fowle will provide a visual guide to every day and extraordinary situations … and (because he has bad handwriting) Claire Lawton will illustrate them. Welcome to Charted Territory: The world of a food snob is an often-confusing world of trends, vocabulary and kitchen appliances. Here…
Kevin Binkley Binkley’s Restaurant 6920 E. Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek 480-437-1072 www.binkleysrestaurant.com Cafe Bink 36889 N. Tom Darlington Drive, Carefree 480-488-9796 www.cafebink.com This is part one of my interview with Kevin Binkley, chef-owner of Binkley’s Restaurant and Café Bink. You can read part two of the interview with Kevin…
From now ’til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers — Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you’ll know; for others, it’ll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you’re here, check…
Love it or hate it — AZ Restaurant Week (Spring Edition) is officially over Sunday night. According to Bernie Kantak, chef and co-owner of Citizen Public House, this calls for a celebration. But then, with Kantak, what doesn’t? He and his partners Richie Moe and Andrew Fritz are hosting a…
Note: This post has been edited since its original version. A new reality TV show called Mystery Diners airs on Food Network tonight at 10 pm, and the “stars” — for the next five or six weeks anyway — are Phoenix area restaurant owners and their employees…
Every week, there’s a cornucopia of new Phoenix food news, features, and reviews to report here at Chow Bella. If you’re like most people, you probably just don’t have the time to get to all of it. It’s kind of like those burgers at Old Town Whiskey; it just won’t…
A 30-foot ficus tree, a patio lined by French Quarter gas lamps and an eight-foot ivy wall, and, as their Facebook page states, a “man cave” and “one hell of a martini,” will be a few of the focal points at Kelly’s at Southbridge, the new American pub and grill…
In what appears to be a start in filling the restaurant void at the Camelback Esplanade, the mixed-use development on the southeast corner of Camelback Road and 24th Street, Del Frisco’s Grille will be opening in the former Houston’s location on Saturday, June 9. From the Dallas-based Del Frisco’s Restaurant…
Chow Bella has confirmed that the chef at one of the most popular restaurants in town is suddenly gone for good — and during Restaurant Week. Awkward. Late Wednesday afternoon, the rumor leaked that chef Matt Taylor was no longer at Noca. I called Taylor on his cell and left…
It’s that time of year: time to enjoy the Valley’s great restaurant patios before the summer heat gets totally unbearable. One of the best places in town to sneak away for a quick retreat is The House at Secret Garden, featuring a lush garden seating area surrounded with trees. There’s…
When it comes to tripe, we Americans have it exactly backwards. We don’t have a problem reading tripe, viewing tripe, or listening to tripe. We even spout a good bit of it ourselves on Facebook and Twitter. As a culture, we pretty much swim in the stuff. But the other…
From now ’til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers — Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you’ll know; for others, it’ll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you’re here, check…
If you love cooking shows that focus on teaching — not drama — you’re in for a real treat at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 4. That’s when Eight, Arizona PBS premieres Jacques Pépin Cooks for Eight, a two-hour cooking special starring world-famous French chef Jacques Pépin and Arizona’s own…
Happy Memorial Day weekend! Time for barbecues! And pool parties! And drinking beer out of cans! All in honor of the fallen souls who protected our country. We’re pretty sure most of you will be hit the road to escape the heat this weekend, but if you’re planning on sticking…
Coke is misused as a mixer. While we often employ it as a cheap, sweet vehicle for carrying bottom-shelf rum or whiskey, cola is better-suited for pairing with less powerful alcohols. In a Diesel, it can bring life to a dull lager; in the Calimocho, it covers up the inadequacies…
I’m convinced there’s not many things in life a well-made torta can’t cure. Bad day? Torta. Un-friended on Facebook? Torta. Walking around with a piece of torta in your teeth? Torta. Monster-size and cheap, these popular Mexican sandwiches — stuffed with meat, thick slices of ripe avocado, pickled jalapeños, lettuce,…
Some of my favorite recipe pins on Pinterest are those that list the ingredients right in the description. It’s nice to know up front what’s required. This gummy fruit snack recipe was one of those pins, see. Given the simplicity of the ingredients, and the fact that I’ve deprived my…
