You submitted nominations for awards given to the Valley’s emerging creatives and the results are in. Introducing our Big Brain 2011 Finalists. Leading up to the Big Brain Award awards announcement (on April 9), Chow Bella and Jackalope Ranch will introduce the finalists along with a sneak peek at their…
Yesterday we wrapped up our conversation with Chef Christopher Gross of Christopher’s and Crush Lounge about his time spent in Japan during the Tohoku earthquake. Today he will show us how to make a scallop dish inspired by the Orient. Just as you might expect of Japan, the flavors here…
PhoenixBites.com The new loaded dogs at Chase Field A round-up of tasty morsels from Valley food blogs. Nikki Buchanan blogged on The Wild Lavender that she has left her spot at Up Agency for a job as Aaron May’s new in-house publicist…
Eating at Pane Bianco, superstar chef Chris Bianco’s sister restaurant to Pizzeria Bianco, is a lot like the scene in L.A. Confidential where Veronica Lake look-alike prostitute Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) shows Bud White (Russell Crowe) to her real bedroom and not the grand boudoir where her main business is…
If you don’t read the Phoenix Business Journal, friends, you should. Seems just about every day that little paper shares an extra-tasty morsel or two — and today they’ve got some bad news on the bacon front, in the form of a report from the Arizona Farm Bureau. Read…
The Arrogant Butcher publicity machine is at it again. When the Sam Fox eatery first opened at downtown’s CityScape in mid-February of this year, the place was flooded with VIP parties that made it look like the most popular joint in town — before it even opened to the public…
Ah, the Scotch Egg. While the origin of this British picnic or pub staple has been contested, it was often served as a portable snack to Coach travelers in the 1700’s. Whether cold in a picnic basket or warm in a pub, a Scotch Egg is a hardboiled egg with…
Yesterday we started our conversation with Christopher Gross of Christopher’s and Crush Lounge about his recent time spent in Japan. Today we continue. Drinking tea may never be the same for Gross. The Tohoku earthquake struck while he was disrobing to be dressed in his kimono for a tea service in…
Did you think it couldn’t get more creative than a pop-up? Think outside the box. Literally. Outstanding in the Field is like the original pop-up restaurant but outdoors. Founder Jim Denevan grew up surfing in Santa Cruz and while he started in the kitchen as a dishwasher, he didn’t get…
Chrysa Robertson, Eugenia Theodosopoulos and Vincent Guerithault were honored last night with induction into the 2011 Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame, mouthbysouthwest reports. Want to learn more about the winners? Chow Bella knows all three…
We credit everything from Food Network to the national attention drawn by celeb chefs Beau Mac Millan and Chris Bianco to new restaurant concepts such as Cycle for the upswing in local culinary interest. Still, we were surprised when a new Penzeys Spices location popped up at the still-trendy Tempe…
The Scottsdale Culinary Festival kicks off tonight not just with a kick-off party, but also with the announcement of the winners of this year’s spots in the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame. The nominees make for quite a power meeting, don’t you think? Stay tuned throughout the week for Chow Bella’s festival…
Christopher Gross of Christopher’s and Crush Lounge just happened to be vacationing in Japan during the Tohoku earthquake this past March. He was in Kamakura, south of where the quake and tsunami struck. While Tohoku devastated some regions of Japan, Gross said that where he was staying, you might have not…
Whether you’re a CSA devotee, a farmers’ market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we’ll bring you fresh inspiration for how to prepare our local produce. This week’s harvest: Endive You’ll find these huge heads of “lettuce” on the market tables taking up lots of space or cut from the…
Thanks to Chef Payton Curry, life has returned to the beloved Welcome Diner, which sat sad and empty on the corner of 10th street and Roosevelt for far too long. The infamous chef kicked off the first night of his three-month pop-up project to a packed house — and a packed…
An April Fool’s Day prank by Scottsdale’s Papago Brewing backfired Friday. In fact, the situation is bad enough that the brewpub — one of the best beer bars in the country, according to several beer mags — scrubbed Facebook exchanges about incident. Not before Chow Bella recorded the drama, however. (Lucky for…
[Editor’s Note: Following publication, Cycle’s PR representative Ty Largo contacted us to clarify that Chef Dan Moody gave notification well in advance that he would not be able to attend the event.] While the Valley has an established pop-up art gallery scene, this past weekend marked the debut of anything even close to a…
We got a little wacky in the kitchen this weekend. Maybe we were recovering from Friday night’s alcohol-fueled bender. Maybe we were bored out of our skulls. In any case, we found ourselves wondering what it would be like if you treated creme eggs like real eggs. The results (evidence…
Need to pair some wine with your meatless Monday dish? Not so difficult, you think — enter a wine store and read the tags with pairing recommendations and flavor descriptions and pick out a bottle. Or chat with the salesperson and let them be your guide. Sounds like a simple…
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. Coming Soon: Payton Curry’s “Curry-ousity” Food Nerd Alert! Oxford…
We knew that last year’s Big Brain award winner, Natalie Morris, was back in town but she recently shared with us a little secret that we almost couldn’t believe. After eating her way around the world — trying foods like Tibetan yak cheese and Icelandic preserved shark — she came…
