Restaurants

This week we headed to Ticoz Resto-Bar to see what yummy Latin fusion desserts they have to offer. Their Tortilla Pudding – a gooey, cinnamony cake – definitely did not disappoint our taste buds.

James Beard award-winning chef and former owner of Roaring Fork Robert McGrath has left Renegade Canteen, the upscale North Scottsdale restaurant where he served up his American West-influenced creations. According to the Arizona Republic, McGrath’s leaving resulted as a dispute with owners John Rosso and Steven Goodhue. McGrath tells the…

​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: Banh Xeo The Basics: Authentic Vietnamese restaurants tend to have menus that can best be described as intimidating. Pho…

If hunger strikes while you’re out at First Friday this evening, Jobot’s John Sagasta will be serving up something to satisfy your cravings (and we ain’t talking about those tasty crepes). He’s launching his new venture Nachobot tonight a few doors down from Jobot, offering chips covered with gooey cheese and…

There’s a new Saturday morning farmers’ market perfect for the North Central Phoenix post-soccer family crowd. It’s called the Central Farmers’ Market and it’s weekly on Saturday mornings (9 a.m. – 2 p.m.) at the CrossRoads United Methodist Church on the SE corner of Central and Northern…

Well, that does it for local restaurant chain, Camarones Mexican Grill.  According to their Facebook page, Twitter, and website, the Mexican restaurant, previous know as Gardunos, has shut the doors for good on their final location at Glendale’s Westgate Center. The Chandler and Scottsdale locations had closed down back in…

Mohair-upholstered ceilings, a 3,000-bottle wine cellar, two pianos — with the opening of Dominick’s Steakhouse today in the Scottsdale Quarter, it’s like the slumping economy ISN’T EVEN HAPPENING! Courtesy of the Mastro group, the 10,500 square foot, 350-seat, two-level luxury dining destination, hopes to “fill a void in the market…

Welcome to AndyTalk — where Scottsdale-based chef and cooking instructor Andy Broder will share kitchen tips, recipes and musings on food and life. This week: “sugar plumps cellulose.”   Sugar   plumps cellulose. (FYI this is a cellulose molecule)I say the words “sugar plumps cellulose” with the same rhythm as “rocks…

Not to be outdone by “The Undead” and “Brain Dead,” two Halloween hooches offered up by Hula’s Modern Tiki in Central Phoenix, the Spotted Donkey Cantina at el Pedregal, the North Scottsdale spot of Southwest-Mexican cuisine, has created a scary cocktail of their own, and they’re calling it, “The Cauldron.”…

The business: Shine Coffee  What you need to know: Coffee, espresso, tea and kid-friendly flavored milks served out of a stylishly retro 1957 “Flying Cloud” Airstream retrofitted into a mobile java machine. Shine gathers their coffee grounds from local favorites such as Lux and Cartel. Chef Allan Schanbacher of Posh…

Dishes are pretty at Poblano. So pretty that even as you are deciding from the menu, your server may direct your attention to the wall, where photographs feature larger-than life images of poblano chiles dripping with cheese, and just-so arrangements of parrillada meats. “They will look like that,” your server…

Because it is what we in the business call a slow news day, I dropped by the “Gratitude Tour,” a one-day expo of new food and drink vending machines in Glendale, and, boy, folks were crabby with a capital C-R-A-B. “How much does this machine cost?” I asked the representative…

This week we’ve been shooting the breeze with Phoenix’s queen of down-home country cooking: Mrs. Elizabeth White of Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe. Since Mrs. White doesn’t use recipes in the kitchen, for the last part of this Chef Chat we’re bringing you the kind of advice you can only…

ooks like you are going to have to get your Thai fix from somewhere else — and if you have been to the competition, then this isn’t good news. Thai Elephant, located in a prime downtown spot off Central and Adams will be shutting its doors as of October 25th. This…

In some countries brioche, an enriched French pastry bread, is eaten as a dessert or served with tea. But this is America — and we want sugar for breakfast. In fact, we want it dipped in milk and eggs, fried, then smothered in butter, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Yes, we’re…

This week here at Chef Chat we’re spending some time at Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Café in downtown Phoenix. When we stopped in, we weren’t the only ones hoping to chat with the woman who started it all. Fans of Mrs. White’s southern style cooking from as close as up the street…

On Sunday, local food blogger Seth Chadwick, who started Feasting in Phoenix, the blog he labeled as, “When Zagat meets Sex and the City. . .,” posted his last entry. Started in 2005, Feasting in Phoenix featured Chadwick’s reviews from eateries around the Valley and, occasionally, the country, treating readers…

 Goodbye September, hello October! We didn’t have a whole lot of action on the restaurant front this past month, but we did have a couple of places open — and a few places bailed. Restaurants (and other Food-Related Establishments) That Opened in September 2011 Limelight Dipping Bar & Grill, ScottsdaleAMC Esplanade 14…

In what’s sure to be torpedo-sized news in the world of submarine sandwich chains, Jersey Mike’s, a franchise with more than 500 stores nationwide, will continue its quest for world domination (and the freshest baked bread, meats and cheeses) by opening ten more locations in Arizona. (Currently, there are seven…

For many in Phoenix, “soul food” is synonymous with Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Café. Since 1964, the landmark has been serving southern classics like catfish, smothered chicken, and a mean peach cobber. At the heart of it all is one woman: Mrs. Elizabeth White. This week we sat down with Mrs…

You can’t tie down this toffee. So says Donna Gabrilson and Stacey Barnes, the mother-daughter team behind GoodyTwos Toffee Company, the sweet shop of small batch toffee creations like the Sweet and Salty and the Cinnfully Hazelicious. Today, the two made the announcement that GoodyTwos has outgrown its current space…

As part of the ongoing parade of new food trucks driving their way into the Valley, last week, the folks at Superstition Farm & Udder Delights announced their food truck had officially become part of the Phoenix Street Food Coalition. Called the SuperFarm SuperTruck and most frequently seen at the…