Chef Chat: America Corrales of America’s Taco Shop (part two)

Yesterday we heard from chef America Corrales of America’s Taco Shop. Today the conversation continues. Sometimes, mom really does know best. Growing up in Mexico, America Corrales learned how to cook most of the items on her menu from her mother. Because of these memories in the kitchen, Corrales says she makes…

The Worst Matzoh Ball I Ever Ate

It took me 43 years to get over my fear of matzoh balls. Making them, that is, not eating them. I’ve eaten my fair share of the Jewish dumplings over the years — in many homes, in many delis. And one thing that my collective experience (both making and eating) has taught…

Chef Chat: America Corrales of America’s Taco Shop

America Corrales wasn’t exactly playing hooky; she was checking up on her restaurant. The full-time teacher and owner of America’s Taco Shop decided it was time to pack up her first grade classroom last year and focus on her Downtown taco shop. The buzz that used to be in her…

Ryan Avery, What Are You Eating?

Ryan Avery The performance artist will be featured with Father’s Day at The Real Coachella Saturday, April 24 at The Trunk Space at 8 p.m. What’d you eat for dinner last night? I went to Olive Garden to visit some of my family. I ate the cheese ravioli with alfredo…

KFC’s Buckets for the Cure: Charity, Hypocrisy, or Both?

After the launch of one of the worst jokes sandwiches in fast food history, the KFC Double Down, it seems a lot of folks have their feathers ruffled over the Colonel’s latest cause-marketing effort, Buckets for the Cure — a program in conjunction with Susan G. Komen for the Cure…

This Week In Chow Bella

Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week: Arizona Barbecue Festival: Lessons Learned from Competing in a…

Winemaking 101: A Crash Course at Studio Vino

There’s something magical about making food or drink with your own two hands. Not that I haven’t passed a few store-bought cakes off as my own at dinner parties, but it just doesn’t feel the same when your contribution to the meal comes out of a bottle, box or KFC bucket. But what…

The Humane Society and Big Agriculture Slug It Out Over Animal Rights

This week’s feature story, “Down on the Farm,” chronicles an increasingly heated national battle over “factory-farmed” food. On one side: a phalanx of corporation- and family-owned farms across the country. On the other: the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States.Caught in the middle: independent farmers and voters.Voters? Indeed…

Cafe: Ocean Prime

It can be hard to find good sea food in the desert. Unfortunately, the restaurant featured in this week’s cafe column won’t exactly help your search. Food Critic Michele Laudig on Ocean Prime: Given his background working for Christopher Gross and Eddie Matney, and the sophisticated food he cooked at…

Takeshi Hosoda’s Sweet Potato Roll

This week, Takeshi Hosoda of Radio Cafe has dished on shokunin, sexy sushi and sharp knives. Today, he shares a new addition to the Radio Cafe menu, his sweet potato sushi roll. Here’s how it’s done…..

Ocean Prime Is All Washed Up

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Grandma Laudig’s wisdom has always held up well, except when it comes to reviewing restaurants. I’m talking about those places I really don’t care to set foot in again, but still I go back in the name of…

Chef Chat: Takeshi Hosoda of Radio Cafe (part two)

Yesterday we heard from Chef Takeshi Hosoda of Radio Cafe. Today the conversation continues. One of Chef Hosoda’s passions is cooking rice, which may sound simple (there are appliances that do that with a press of a button!), but the chef insists there’s a better method. “To me, rice is…

Fred Harvey Book Signings and a Recipe for “Alligator Pear Salad”

​ Visionary businessman Fred Harvey has been credited with many things — from the invention of chain restaurants, to romanticizing train travel, to providing opportunity for the first significant female workforce in the United States.  You can hear all about it tomorrow when Stephen Fried visits the Heard Museum (2301 N. Central…

Battle of the Big-Ass Apple Pies: Take Note, Man v. Food!

Ah… apple pie. It’s as American as mom and baseball, Botox and Internet porn. When I spotted a gargantuan version of this classic dessert in one local restaurant’s refrigerated case, I knew it was fodder for a brutal Battle of the Dishes. Will my original find nab top honors in this…

Fry Girl Breaking News: KFC’s No-Bone Zone

Greetings fast-food fans. With the introduction of KFC’s new Double Down Sandwich this weekend in addition to their boneless filet, yours truly did some diggin’ to find out what all this no-bone brew-ha-ha was all about. As a breaking news bonus, I’m posting this week’s story early so you can…

Thin Mint Showdown: Thin Mint Pudding Cup

One can never have enough Thin Mints. At least that’s what we thought until Managing Editor Amy Silverman brought in a dozen unsold boxes to a recent Chow Bella meeting. If one must make lemonade when life hands one lemons, we theorized one must make dessert when life hands one…

Embracing Tea and Tradition at the Japanese Friendship Garden

When’s the last time you were intentional about your food — noticing every bite, exploring the flavors of an appetizer with your tongue or resting in-between sips of a good cocktail? Blaming our lack of time, most of us end up scarfing down even the most gourmet meal in mere minutes. Either that or we’re…