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The Giving Tree Café, an organic, gluten-free restaurant, recently opened on Seventh Street in Phoenix. The café, also known as “a space of love,” offers all-day breakfast, a vegetable-heavy lunch and dinner menu, along with some really creative desserts, including a vegan and gluten-free Hazelnut Chocolate Pudding Pie made with avocado. I know you’re wondering if the pie tastes like avocado and the answer is no, says Giving Tree’s owner David Warr. “…The cacao flavor...

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This time of year, some of us go a little overboard on eating and drinking and throw our digestive systems into a tizzy. If this sounds like you, check out Suzette Smith’s Kowboy Kicked Toast recipe that uses her Garden Goddess Kowboy Kraut. It’s chockfull of probiotics to help with gut health. You can purchase Garden Goddess products online or at local farmers’ markets, but Suzette is also sharing the kraut recipe if you want...

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Chef Lee Hillson recently returned to T. Cooks at Royal Palms Resort and Spa as executive chef and he couldn’t be happier. He spent 12 years at the iconic resort in the early 2000s as executive sous chef and then as executive chef. Hillson, a James Beard House featured chef and a participant on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America, has also graced the kitchens of The Phoenician Resort and the Sheraton Grand at Wild...

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We skipped last Friday due to the holiday, so here is Recipe Monday from Dave & Buster’s at Tempe Marketplace. Epi Ortiz, kitchen manager, shares the Ancho Caesar Lettuce Wrap recipe and with so many football games to watch in the coming weeks, we thought a healthy recipe (well, healthier than potato chips) might be something you could offer your football-loving friends and family. For the best results, make sure to buy anchovies and capers...

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When the Cambria Hotel Downtown Phoenix opens on Nov. 26, so will its new restaurant, Poppy, with executive chef Nate Cayer at the helm. Cayer, a recent Chicago transplant, has spent time meeting with local vendors to get a feel for the community and has designed Poppy’s menu with seasonality and shareability in mind. Before moving to Phoenix, Cayer served as executive chef at The Godfrey Hotel in Chicago. We recently caught up with him...

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I’m guessing that most everyone has a favorite Thanksgiving stuffing recipe, but if you’re looking to mix it up a little this year, Doughbird’s executive chef Taylor Domet offers the restaurant’s rosemary stuffing recipe. If you can, go with fresh sage, Domet says. “The fresh oils from the herb really improves the flavor of the dish.” And when it comes to tasting, don’t be shy. “Never bake something like stuffing fully until you’ve tasted it...

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Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches are typically filled with a combo of vegetables and meats, which poses a problem for vegetarians and vegans. Enter Cherish Farm Fresh Eatery’s vegan banh mi.

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PHX Beer Co. is probably best known for its craft beer, but they also make first-rate thin crust pizzas cooked in black iron pans. According to Richard Stark, PHX Beer Co. director of hospitality, black iron pizza was inspired by his late aunt and uncle’s pizzeria in Baltimore. Stark, who is the former CEO of NYPD Pizza, shares PHX Beer Co.’s mashed potato pizza recipe, which came from a pizza he tasted while vacationing in...

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This week, Ghost Ranch executive chef Rene Andrade shares a street taco recipe that’s popular in his hometown of Nogales, Mexico. “Potato tacos are soul food for us.” Andrade’s recipe calls for Chiltepin chili, a hot pepper that his family has used for generations. “It’s one of the only peppers that grows in the Sonoran Desert, so it’s really special to me and to our culture.” It’s also hard to find, Andrade says. He sells...

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Most restaurants these days have a respectable selection of salads, some with a choice of protein and others with protein included. At Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, executive chef Dushyant Singh offers both. Today, Singh shares his Beef & Bleu Salad (available at lunch only), a robust offering that doesn’t take long to prepare and is great for entertaining as long as your guests are partial to bleu cheese. You might ask ahead of time...

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Scottsdale’s newest art venue, Wonderspaces, offers patrons a hands-on way to look at and experience art. Tucked away in the back of Scottsdale Fashion Square’s food court, the 16,000 square-foot venue (in the old Harkin’s Theater location), has 18-foot ceilings to accommodate large installations and also houses a gift shop and snack bar. Wonderspaces recently debuted its second immersive art show, “Elsewhere,” with 13 interactive and participatory art installations. “This is a completely new, interactive...

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For those looking for a fun Day of the Dead cocktail, the folks at Taco Guild have rustled one up for Desert Digest readers. Luke Detraz, Taco Guild’s beverage & brand director, says while any mezcal will work, he prefers El Silencio because of its level of smokiness. “It’s a happy medium where it’s not overbearing, but has enough flavor to taste through the (rest of) the cocktail.” The garnish is inspired by leftovers, in...