Chef Justin Beckett to Speak at TEDxPhoenix

At an event where speakers “share their life’s work, passions, and concepts,” selecting Justin Beckett, owner and chef of Beckett’s Table, one of the first restaurants to bring seasonal American cooking to the Valley, to participate at this year’s TEDxPhoenix event seems like a no-brainer. TEDxPhoenix, an offshoot of the…

In Season: IQF Bell Peppers and Okra at Home

Jennifer Woods IQF chopped green bell peppers ​Lately, in this In Season series, we’re taking a look at what I take home from Crooked Sky Farms each week and see what I’ve done with my CSA share, or part share. This week I’m doing a home IQF project using green…

Chef Christopher Gross Cooks for Martha Stewart (It’s a Good Thing)

Last night, while the rest of us were watching Modern Family and putting the finishing touches on our Transformers costume for Halloween, Christopher Gross, the James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of Christopher’s and Crush Lounge in Central Phoenix, was busy with his own evening activity: making dinner for none…

Chop PHX: Loat Cha

Tired of the same old tired orange chicken and California rolls? Want to venture beyond the standard suburban-stale take-out? Here comes Chop PHX, with the Valley’s rarer Asian offerings. This Week: Loat Cha from Sekong By Night The Basics: Cambodian food is the mind-blowingly delicious love child of Thai, Laotian,…

Six New Trucks to Try at Tomorrow’s Food Truck Festival

Oh my gosh, it’s FINALLY here. Phoenix’s first food truck festival is tomorrow! The most talked about event of the season is happening tomorrow evening on Roosevelt Row and we can’t wait. We’re super excited to see what kind of samples our favorite food trucks will be serving up but we’re…

The Hole Story on Gourmet Doughnuts

Eliot Wexler, owner of the award-winning restaurant Noca in Central Phoenix, has a theory about why we’re obsessed with doughnuts. “The great thing about doughnuts, in general, is that whatever culture you’re from, across the world, there is a doughnut. A variation, a permutation. Whatever culture you were in growing…

Junk Food Makes Young Dudes Infertile

Burgers as a passive form of birth control? It’s true. The Sun reports fertility doctors from Harvard University and the University of Murcia, Spain, have discovered that healthy young men between the ages of 18 and 22 who ate a high proportion of junk food had poorer quality sperm than…

The Five Most Disgusting Foods in the World

From bugs to dirt to rotten animal parts, there sure are plenty of disgusting things to eat out there. You may think you’ve seen it all but we’ve complied a list of what we believe to be the five most disgusting, truly gut-wrenching, make-you-throw-up-in-your-mouth-a-little foods from all over the world…

Robert McGrath Joins Spotted Donkey Cantina as Executive Chef

After leaving Renegade Canteen earlier this month, it looks like ​James Beard award-winning chef and former owner of Roaring Fork Robert McGrath has already landed a new gig: as executive chef of the Spotted Donkey Cantina, the upscale restaurant of Southwestern and Mexican cuisine at Hayden Village in Scottsdale. The…

Four Peaks to Open Third Location in Summer 2012

But don’t get too excited. The popular Tempe brewery and restaurant has plans in the works for a third location but it will mostly be used for the production of the Four Peaks favorite, Kiltlifter. We have known this for sometime, the big question has just been where’s it going to go?Unfortunately,…

Beef Stew Review: Tilted Kilt vs. Seamus McCaffrey’s

Open since 1992, Seamus McCaffrey’s Irish Pub and Restaurant has become a downtown Phoenix landmark serving cold brews and traditional eats for years. They’ve got an impressive selection of drinks and serve food early and late. So when “Irish pub” chain Tilted Kilt opened up in the new CityScape development,…

Chef Lefty’s Chilled Seafood Martini

We’ve been chatting with the executive chef of the Limelight Dipping Bar and Grill, Chef Lefty Karropoulos. Today he’s giving us his recipe for a Chilled Seafood Martini. Chef Lefty also shared a recipe for Orange Sesame Ginger dipping sauce that he plans to add to the Limelight menu on…

Great Cajun Cook-Off Canceled for November, with Big Plans for Spring

Late last week, Phoenix fans of Cajun food were likely crushed to hear about the cancellation of this year’s Great Cajun Cook-Off and Foodfest, originally planned for November 6 at Heritage Square. The annual charity event is meant to showcase the Valley’s best amateur and professional Cajun and Southern cooking…