For the second year in a row, an Arizona wine made SF Gate’s list of the top wines of the year. This year the recognition goes to the 2012 Sand-Reckoner Malvasia Bianca, which comes from Rob Hammelman in Cochise County. If you’ve been paying close attention you will have already…
In today’s installment of People Eating Things You Thought They Couldn’t (for part one see “Watch This Woman Eat a 72-Ounce Steak in Less Than Three Minutes”) we present a video of competitive eater Kevin Strahle, who goes by the name L.A. Beast, eating two cacti. And we’re not talking…
In my house, we have been watching a lot of Alaska: The Last Frontier of late, and some days I dream about being a homesteader. The TV show follows the story of three generations of hardcore homesteaders living in the harsh Alaskan frontier, growing, raising, hunting, or gathering everything they…
For those people who can barely finish a petite sirloin, this video seemingly will defy the laws of nature. In it, Molly Schuyler, a competitive eater and mother of four from Minnesota, demolishes a 72-ounce steak in 2 minutes and 44 seconds. Seriously. You have to see this…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture shut down a Foster Farms poultry plant in California on Wednesday after finding cockroaches on site for the fourth time since September. The USDA won’t say how many roaches were found but did say the pests were found in various locations throughout the plant. This…
But what about your mom’s famous queso dip? Well, she might have to use — gasp — actual cheese this year because Kraft Foods has warned that it may run short of its famous Velveeta processed cheese product. The possible shortage comes at a time when the cheese product tends…
Okay, we know. This picture may not be the world’s most appetizing food porn shot we could use to convince you to buy a guinea hen. But after about an hour and a half of roasting these locally-raised hens, it’ll be easy to see why you picked one up. One…
We’ve followed Phoenix photographer and trained chef Heather Gill on Twitter for years and recently her Farmers Market Series of photographers caught our eye on her Etsy shop…
Hold onto your stomach because you’re likely to get more than a little upset about the sources of some common food additives. We’ll start with red food coloring, much of which derives its hue from the female Dactylopius coccus, an insect that’s been used as a source of red dye…
When a small brewery outside St. Louis received a cease and desist letter from corporate coffee magnate Starbucks for naming its beer “Frappicino” (a slightly different spelling of the trademarked Starbucks drink), owner Jeff Britton decided to respond in possibly the best way ever. His genius reply starts with his…
With another year officially over and gone, it means another opportunity to appreciate how many changes we didn’t make to our eating habits in 2013. Last January, we swore we were going to work out more and eat better. But we’ll be honest: That kick lasted all of about five…
Did you pop a bottle of champagne to ring in the New Year? Or did you indulge in a finger or two (or three) of Maker’s Mark? Either way, what you drink supposedly says a lot about how you’re likely to vote. According to consumer data supplied by GFK MRI,…
What? You don’t follow us on Instagram already? Well you should fix that by finding our Chow Bella Instagram account: @chowbellaphx. We posted hundred of photos from our food adventures last year, generating thousands of likes and hundreds of comments. Thanks to all our followers for your interaction. And in…
Pondering pastry from 2013 has been pretty easy. There were some powerhouse trends, and some more subtle scary trends that slipped in, pinging our radar. Trends are just that: trendy. And there is a need for them eventually to be buried in a time capsule…
Every weekday, Chow Bella brings you food stories from around the world in the form of its Wake Up Call column. Sometimes the stories are about national food trends bound for Phoenix, other times they’re just plain fun, and still other times they’re stories of food scene mavens caught up…
If you’re looking to siphon the last bit of Christmas flavors into 2013, glögg oatmeal from Iss’ Magic Mixes is an ideal fast breakfast option for you. Made and sold locally by Melissa “Iss” Seil-Webb from her own recipe, this spiced oatmeal contains more than just oats. After her father…
We’re finally emerging from our Christmas food coma, and judging by the great photos you all shared on Instagram, we’re probably not the only ones. We loved checking out your snapshots of Christmas cookies, pies, and other sweets. Based on what we’ve seen, there were plenty of good eats from…
The Turduken is obsolete. Behold the Cthuken. pic.twitter.com/M5JZ9s5zig— Mana (@damana) December 16, 2013 Last week, the above tweet hit the Internet, courtesy of Damana Madden, a.k.a. @damana, and as you can imagine it didn’t take long for the disturbing image of a Turducken-like creation to go viral. In fact, it’s…
We’re more than a little bitter that this scientific breakthrough had to come so long after our childhood ended. And our parents probably are, too, because all those fillings couldn’t have been cheap. Scientists at Berlin-based biotech lab Organo Balance say they’ve invented candy that won’t give you cavities. Or…
Just when you thought eggplant was off the market for the winter, Maya’s Farm shows up to the market with beautiful rosa bianca eggplants. This Italian heirloom varietal can be distinguished from typical eggplant with its beautiful light purple-pinkish striping. They are also generally smaller than store-bought eggplant with a…
Except the cronut. We love the cronut. (Photo: Tejal Rao)Here are 13 food trends whose ubiquity has dulled the sheen of novelty — now they’re just boring and sometimes annoying, in spite of an exciting debut. (To keep things interesting, we’ve included a few food trends we hope continue into…
We’re not going to say we told you so, but we did say Bar Crudo was the best place for specialty cocktails in the Valley. And we’re not the only ones who think so…
