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…
Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all you moms out there! I hope the kiddos take you somewhere nice to eat and shower you with presents (and if they still need a little help figuring where to take you, send them the link to our Mother’s Day Brunch/Dinner Roundup). My kids,…
We had so much fun chucking Chow Bella contributors Ando Muneno and Lauren Saria into the ring over Alton Brown and food trucks, we put them back at it again. This week’s topic: Dine-in movie theaters. Lauren: A few weeks ago, a friend invited me to a screening of a…
It’s been nearly a week since news broke that the Urban Grocery will be closing Saturday, May 12, at 5 p.m. Now that the dust has settled and tempers have cooled, it’s easier to see why. And why it’s highly unlikely — despite all petitions, protests, and the creation of…
This week, we brought you the story of La Fontanella, the Italian restaurant in Arcadia owned by Isabella Mannone-Bertuccio. For nearly three decades she’s been serving her authentic Italian cuisine to Valley diners looking for a taste of the Old World. Her story began with her parent’s restaurant in Chicago…
Recently on Pinterest I came across the idea that one could actually clean nasty old cookie sheets to the point where they looked new. Immediately I envisioned myself sharing my own image like the one below: Before I go on, I have to tell you that I know how to…
Like a Cuban cigar, a decent Cuban sandwich can be tough to find. A take on mixto sandwiches in Cuba and an invention of cigar workers in Tampa’s Ybor City in the early 1900s by Spanish, Italian, and Cuban immigrants fleeing poverty to seek new lives in America, the main…
Cilantro and its distinct flavor are to food (and food blogs) what abortion, immigration, and gun control are to a presidential election.
“Hello and welcome to India Grill. Light or dark?” “…?…” “Light or dark?” There’s a first time for everything. And if you happen to have the good fortune of coming upon Tempe’s India Grill, this curious question (not “table or booth”) will be asked of you at dusk, alluding to…
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…
For Mother’s Day, we wanted to give the doting partners a foolproof plan for what to prepare (with the help of the kids, of course) on Mother’s Day morning while you’re letting her sleep in. Just remember, it’s the thought that counts and if you remember only one thing: You…
Ah, the roads of life. Sometimes exciting, sometimes treacherous, and sometimes just plain boring — unless you happen upon a decent little Indian restaurant on your way along the exciting or treacherous ones. That’s usually a nice surprise. And so it is with India Grill. On West Elliot Road, the…
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…
Thanks to Philadelphia restaurateurs Pat and Harry Olivieri, hungry meat lovers have been enjoying what is now known as the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich since the 1930s. The original sandwich was lacking the crucial “cheese” component, but that was remedied later with the addition of mild provolone (Cheez Whiz didn’t make…
Since chef Robert McGrath called it quits last October, things have been rather quiet at Renegade Canteen, the upscale restaurant in North Scottsdale — until now. Owners John Rosso and Steven Goodhue have selected Donald Fawcett as the establishment’s new executive chef. Originally from the Midwest, Fawcett’s last two gigs,…
The Chef: Christopher Gross The Restaurant: Christopher’s Restaurant The Animal: Pig The Dish: Pied de cochon Chef Christopher Gross can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear — or a pig trotter for that matter. And he does it often, featuring pied de cochon (the pretty French word…
Welcome to Chow Bella’s Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you’d like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. Miss a question? Go here. Maybe they gave us some great recipes, showed us how…
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…
Sunday, June 17, may be the last day of the season for the Valley landmark known as the Wrigley Mansion (better hurry and schedule that Sunday brunch), but before it re-opens on Wednesday, September 12, a new executive chef will have completely changed its menu. “We’ve been wanting to change…
On Monday, we began our conversation with Isabella Mannone-Bertuccio of La Fontanella, the classic Italian restaurant in Arcadia, which opened its doors in 1982. This year the restaurant will be celebrating its 29th year in Phoenix. We headed over to get the full story behind the restaurant — a story…
At just 32, Stephen Jones, executive chef of Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, the “cozy, yet chic metropolitan gastro lounge” set to open this June in CityScape’s Hotel Palomar, is ready to take the Phoenix dining scene to a new level. “There used to be a stigma about young chefs,”…
Sorting out some of the menu descriptions on Chinese menus isn’t always easy — in fact, at times, in can be down right cryptic. “Green bean jelly with vegetables” may be one of those menu items that reads more Dr. Seuss than delicious, but this northeastern Chinese version of a…
