If you’ve been a PHOENIX magazine reader for any goodly length of time, you know we’re not exactly charting exotic new territory with this Top 100 Dishes in Arizona cover story. It’s a tried-and-true concept that we pull out of the garage every few years – the last one was in 2022 – and take out for a joyride.
Believe me when I say “joyride” is the mindful term to use here, because it’s a true, unqualified joy celebrating local chefs and their culinary good works. Given all the restaurants and talent that move in and out of the Valley on a yearly basis, and the rise of seasonal and rotating menus, three years seems like a safe, responsible following distance between Top Dishes issues.
Still, one must innovate, no? So we tried a few new things this year, most of which fall under the heading of “bigger.” That applies to the writing, first and foremost. I gave our crew of 11 editors and food writers the freedom to wax a little more extensively this time around, to tell more of the “story” of a given dish: how and why it was conceived, and sometimes how the chef makes it. For example, chef Pierce Azlin told me he uses a dressing made from fermented yuzu zest to fortify his mystifyingly good chicken fried rice with that last, all-important brick of flavor at his self-titled Midtown restaurant. I love details like that.
We also expanded the scope of this Top 100 Dishes feature to include the entire state, recruiting talented and knowledgeable regional food writers to help curate the list. If you do any traveling around the state this winter – and you certainly might, if you follow some of the suggestions in our 5 Wild Winter Getaways supplementary feature – it might come in handy.
As always, January feels the perfect month to drop our biggest, most singular food issue of the year. The weather’s perfect, the collective disposition of Greater Phoenix is rising, and everybody is plotting how to best exploit the coming high season. You need food for that kind of thought.
“Given all the restaurants and talent that move in and out of the Valley on a yearly basis, and the rise of seasonal and rotating menus, three years seems like a safe, responsible following distance between Top Dishes issues.”
