Craig DeMarco Planning New Restaurant and Sweet Shop

Last summer, when Postino founder Craig DeMarco bought a vintage strip mall just north of Postino Central, he promised that a new concept was in the works. Now, after months of research, plans are finally rolling for not one but two new places he’ll be opening in the 1940 building at Central…

A Spring Training Guide to Food and Drink – East Valley

This week Chow Bella takes a look at the culinary options available to Spring Training fans outside of the stadiums. Today we’ll feature dining and drinking options for all games held in the East Valley. Phoenix Municipal Stadium 599 E. Van Buren Street, Phoenix Inside the Ballpark: Phoenix Municipal Stadium,…

Battle of the Bratwurst

With spring training around the corner, our thoughts have turned to stadium foods: hot dogs, Cracker Jacks, brats. Made from ground pork, beef or veal, the bratwurst somehow managed to cross worlds from German foodstuff to ballpark treat. Maybe it was the fact they’re traditionally soaked in beer. For this week’s…

Chef Chat: Jeremy Pacheco of Lon’s at the Hermosa (Part Two)

Yesterday we sat down with Jeremy Pacheco of Lon’s at the Hermosa. Today, the conversation continues.Want to hear about Pacheco’s aversion to Bobby Flay? Read on … Favorite food show?I like watching Iron Chef and I’ve been watching a lot of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I also like Alton Brown…

Win Pei Wei Money by Dominating at Facebook Games

We know more than a few people addicted to food-related Facebook games (Restaurant City, really?), but now there’s one that has an actual pay-off for becoming an expert, and you’ll learn a few cool recipes while playing.Pei Wei Asian Diner is currently hosting a “Wok Chef” game on their Facebook…

Closed for Business: Tutto at SouthBridge

Chef-restaurateur Joseph Gutierrez told me this afternoon that as of yesterday, Tutto is no more. The SouthBridge restaurant barely lasted half a year. Not-so-coincidentally, I spoke with one of the potential new owners yesterday, and was told off-the-record about the deal.  …

Essence Bakery To Join Old Town Farmers Market

I know a lot of you were simultaneously happy and heartbroken when master baker Ben Hershberger moved to NYC to work for Thomas Keller and took his Old Town Farmers Market cult-fave chocolate cherry sourdough bread along with him. (And I know many of you still have a stash of…

Chef Chat: Jeremy Pacheco of Lon’s at the Hermosa

Three weeks after his takeover, Jeremy Pacheco has reinvented the breakfast and lunch menus of Lon’s at the Hermosa. Who said Rome wasn’t polished in a day? The Tucson native spent seven years in the former Terrace Dining Room at the Phoenician. Opportunity then knocked, and Pacheco packed and left…

Next Week: RnR Opening in Old Town

Why am I so curious about new RnR, opening on March 11? Country-fried chicken and waffle sliders. Need I say more? Probably not, but there will also be Philly cheesesteak sliders, chicken and schnitzel, mini corndogs on a stick, gourmet burgers, and other sharable plates. For breakfast, I’m eyeing up…

Read This: Beckett’s Kitchen Table

Justin Beckett has lately become of the most social media-savvy chefs in the whole metro area, and he doesn’t even have a restaurant right now. Which is why his online musings are so clever. The former chef at the defunct Canal restaurant in Scottsdale is making good use of his free time…

What’s Cookin’? Apparently, a Board Game for Foodies

While shopping for nerdy gifts at a local Game Daze shop, I stumbled on What’s Cookin’, a party game created specifically for foodies. Yes, you can now impress your chef friends or foodie Meetup groups with a board game that is based on your love of a good meal. Sigh. Unfortunately, it…

The Lemon Chalet Creme Girl Scout Cookie Conundrum

To eat them or not to eat them? News has spread of a recall of some Lemon Chalet Creme Girl Scout cookies. Frankly, this is not as upsetting as, say, news regarding Thin Mints or Tagalongs. Still, those lemon cookies have their fans. Yesterday we got some bad information from…

JRC, What Are You Eating?

JRC The co-owner of The Trunk Space and Art Space in downtown Phoenix runs OneWordLong, a media imprint that produces CDs and other items based on storytelling and “labors of love”. What’d you eat for dinner last night? A bowl of Shredded Wheat with raisins–I was too sick to leave…

Tonight: Mahalo Mondays Debut at Hula’s Modern Tiki

It’s hard enough to come by restaurants in CenPho that are open on Mondays, let alone ones doing special events. Hula’s Modern Tiki was, until recently, one of those places that was usually dark at the start of the week, but now it’s back open on Mondays, from 11 a.m…

Now Open in Ahwatukee: Mad Chef Gastropub

How long does it take for an international culinary trend to hit Arizona? I’m always curious about the trickle-down effect. In the case of gastropubs, the trend du jour, it’s about six years, if you consider the 2004 debut of The Spotted Pig in Manhattan’s West Village to be any major milestone…

February Restaurant Closures

Gone the way of the Dodo, we must sadly say goodbye to the following restaurants that have shut their doors during the month of February… Asia De Cuba Backstreet Wine Salon Bad to the Bone BBQ Uno’s on Mill Ave Pie Zano’s Town and Country location — Arrowhead is still…

New Restaurant Round Up for February

February brought a revamped El Chorro, a new location for Long Wongs and another America’s Taco Shop. Here is a quick look back on what’s new Cielo at the Mondrian America’s Taco Shop on 7th ave Mabel’s on Main Lobbys Beef, Burgers and Dogs Robbie Fox’s Public House Cartel Coffee…

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: Tempe Farmers’ Markets Suffering From Identity Crisis The Ritz-Carlton’s…

Top 5 Weirdest Food-Vending Machines from Around the World

5.) Pizza Vending Machine: Italy Who needs to watch a pizza being hand-tossed by a chef when they can watch Roberto the Pizza-Producing Robot slide it out of his exit chute? After choosing one of four varieties (Margherita, bacon, ham, or fresh veggies), hungry-for-crap patrons watch through a window as…