https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Shaq-Alkaline88-4-B-Retouch1-1280x720.jpg

All the news that’s fit to nosh.  Chino A-Go-Go: Long-time fans were shocked in March when Chino Bandido owner Eve Lee Collins announced the restaurant would be leaving its original location after 31 years. It officially closed on Mother’s Day weekend, and the new location at Bell Road and Third Avenue is slated to open in June. In the meantime, Chino’s devotees can get their jade red chicken fix at a food truck set up outside the new spot. The truck opened yesterday and will operate Monday-Friday from...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/image0-2-1280x720.jpeg

Photo courtesy Diego Pops   THE SCENE I don’t know about you, but I’ve been reuniting with a lot of old friends lately. The vaccine rollout has finally made it feel safe to see friends and family in person, to watch their expressions, to hug them, to share food with them – in restaurants, if you can imagine.   Some of these reunions have been with the eateries themselves. I know I’m not the only one who feels bonds strong enough with the...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/44oz-Oaxaca-Spiced-Wagyu-Tomahawk-Steak-1280x720.jpg

Photo courtesy Renata’s Hearth    All the news that’s fit to nosh.  Smoke Show: To quote the great philosopher Nelly, “It’s gettin’ hot in herre.” Herre = the Arizona Biltmore, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, which recently underwent a massive renovation and in which new restaurant Renata’s Hearth is slated to open on May 18. As its name hints, the eatery will focus on dishes cooked in a wood-fired oven. “We believe that Renata’s Hearth will be unlike any other restaurant that exists in the current Arizona culinary...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/182537017_2548503022124215_3109365301100733689_n-1280x720.jpg

THE SCENE You know what I’ve missed during the pandemic? Chips and salsa in real time. Sure, I brought some home from local Mexican restaurants to enjoy with my takeout tacos and tamales from time to time, but those were not – and will never be –the same as a bowl of crunchy shards of fresh corn tortillas still hot from the fryer and glistening with flecks of salt, sided with ramekins of bright, cool and colorful salsa. Something is lost in transportation.  When I found out Habanero’s Mexican Grill, a North Valley institution with two Scottsdale locations, had a happy hour, I got excited. My...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/huss0158.jpeg

Photo courtesy Huss Brewing Co.    All the news that’s fit to nosh.  Nursing a Drink: In honor of National Nurses Week, Huss Brewing Co. is offering free beer flights for all nurses from May 6-12. Upon providing official identification, each nurse can enjoy a gratis flight of four 4-ounce pours at the brewery’s Tempe flagship or at its Uptown Plaza taproom in Central Phoenix. After battling COVID-19 for more than a year, who deserves a free round more than nurses?   Pizza Party: Speaking of...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Wider-crop_author_1-MB-960x720.png

“You can never quit. Winners never quit, and quitters never win,” media mogul Ted Turner famously opined.   That inspirational quote could just as easily have come from the mouth of Fountain Hills author C.K. Donnelly, the self-described “unsuccessful quitter” who persevered after years of rejection from the book industry and went on to self-publish her debut novel, Trine Rising, The Kinderra Saga: Book 1, last year. It turns out good things do indeed come to those who wait – and who  refuse to quit: Last week, Donnelly received an Independent Press Award for her fantasy epic, which we reviewed last fall.  “Trine Rising is a...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/179284487_2987215394840083_8480229161691073193_n-1280x720.jpg

Monger’s Board | Photo by Leah LeMoine   THE SCENE   Charcuterie businesses are all the rage now – I feel like five new ones pop up every time I open Instagram – but my friend, Mahfam Moeeni-Alarcon, was one of the first charcuterie queens to make a big splash here in the Valley.   I met Mahfam nearly a decade ago (!!!), when she was working as a wine buyer at Whole Foods in Chandler. She emailed me out of the blue and invited me and a friend to the store...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Picazzos-Healthy-Italian-Kitchen-1280x720.jpg

Picazzo’s spread | Photo by Debby Wolvos   All the news that’s fit to nosh.   Bitter End?: AZ Bitters Lab is ceasing production of its lauded cocktail enhancers. Arizona’s premier bitters producers shared the news in an emotional announcement on social media on April 26. “We are heartbroken to share that we have stopped operations and are no longer producing our amazing bitters,” it begins. “Recently, we were notified by the AZ Department of Liquor Licensing and Control (DLLC), in conjunction with...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/hero_2-1280x720.jpeg

All the news that’s fit to nosh.   In Vodka Veritas: One of the Valley’s preeminent wine pros is dipping his toe into the vodka still. Mark Tarbell, chef/owner of Tarbell’s restaurant and The Wine Store at Tarbell’s, is partnering with distiller Weston Holm of Old Town Scottsdale’s Blue Clover Distillery on a new citrus vodka. The lemon- and orange-infused spirit will be available just in time for summer sipping. Pick it up exclusively at The Wine Store starting this week. My Big Fat Greek Dinner: Downtown Phoenix’s arty FOUND:RE Phoenix Hotel continues its...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PHM0421PF09.jpg

If you like keeping up with what’s going on in your community – the fact that you’re reading this suggests you do – you’ll like LocalBuzz, a new video-based app launched by Phoenix entrepreneurs Adrian Gillette and Tony Ce (Snoh Ice Shavery) this past November. In it, you can browse videos posted by Phoenicians and sorted by geo-location, documenting everything from a morning Camelback Mountain hike to someone’s lunch. 

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/175418896_891216874992300_507737554102036425_n-1280x720.jpg

Photo by Leah LeMoine   THE SCENE I am embarrassed by how many times I have driven by locations of Picazzo’s Healthy Italian Kitchen without giving it a second thought. I think for many years I assumed it was a gluten-free version of Panera Bread – an unremarkable chain bakery/cafe. Why would I go out of my way to eat there when I could support our homegrown bakery/cafe, Wildflower?   Then my friend Elaina started working with Picazzo’s. She told me it was locally owned...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PHM0421CU16.jpg

To celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2020, Phoenix College published Phoenix College: Our Past. Your Future. ($29), a charming retrospective coffee table book. Acclaimed local author and Phoenix College alumna Stella Pope Duarte (If I Die in Juárez) chronicles the community college’s history in a decade-by-decade look back that also touches on local and international history, from feminism to the Vietnam War to Y2K. A yearbook-style spread highlights notable alumni, which include Phoenix mayor Kate...

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AdobeStock_206272611-1280x720.jpeg

Have a podcast idea but no clue how to make it a reality? Check out PodPopuli, the first retail podcast storefront in the U.S., which opened in Old Town Scottsdale in January. “This is a place where people of all ages can learn to podcast, launch a podcast and even watch podcasts being created,” says founder Brian Howie, who hosts four pods of his own. PodPopuli offers recording, production, creative and distribution services.

https://www.phoenixmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PHM0421CU12-724x720.jpg

Blogger and 2020 PHOENIX magazine Great 48 honoree Alana Yazzie, aka The Fancy Navajo, “wanted to create Native fashion that was cute, girly and colorful and reflected The Fancy Navajo brand.” Longtime followers weren’t surprised when she debuted her Turquoise & Coffee T-shirt, dedicated to her two obsessions. “I also wanted to create a shirt that incorporated Diné and English,” Yazzie says. Since she’s not fluent in Diné, she often combines words from the Navajo...