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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...

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Hand Cut Burgers & Chophouse rolled out a new menu October 1 with four new pasta entrees and a host of other tempting items. Hand Cut’s executive chef (and culinary director for Riot Hospitality Group) Samantha Roberts has graciously shared one of the pasta recipes with PHOENIX magazine. The recipe calls for imported Italian basil pesto, which you can pick up at the grocery store. Roberts says to look for imported Italian pesto that has...

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If you’re ready to up your meatball game, help is on the way. Danny Grant, chef/partner at Scottsdale’s newest steakhouse, Maple & Ash, is sharing his incomparable dry-aged meatball recipe with Desert Digest readers. Some tips from Grant: If you can’t get your hands on dry-aged ground beef, regular ground beef will do. Same goes for the cheese curds. You can substitute readily available fontina or ciliegine mozzarella (small balls of fresh mozzarella). Also, when...

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Executive chef Lindsey Dale of SaltRock Southwest Kitchen at Amara Resort and Spa in Sedona recently revealed her fall menu and one seasonal dish caught our eye: Beets and Ricotta Salad. Dale makes her own ricotta in house and adds some interesting elements, including a chili tangerine gastrique and vanilla pickled strawberries. “I’m particularly drawn to sauces and vinaigrettes. I really like how they can transform both the presentation and bring brightness to the dishes,...

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If you’re a taco lover (and really, who isn’t?), you’ll appreciate this week’s recipe from chef Suny Santana of Roosevelt Row’s Taco Chelo. He shares the restaurant’s popular Rockfish Taco recipe, which has several components, but the end result is worth it. Santana uses rockfish from local Chula Seafood because it’s available year-round and the restaurant can get it fresh every day. “It’s a nice, flaky fish.” After battering and frying the fish in hot...

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Fall officially starts on Sept. 23, but most of us have already been dreaming about wearing sweaters and picking out apples at the farmers market. To help us make the seasonal transition, True Food Kitchen’s beverage director, Jon Augustin, shares an autumnal cocktail recipe that recently debuted on the restaurant’s new fall menu. True Food Kitchen uses Old Forester Bourbon, but Augustin says you can use any bourbon that you prefer. While preparing, he advises...

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Now that grilling season is almost behind us, it’s time to focus on our indoor kitchens. While not everyone likes cooking fish in the house because of its lingering scent, this salmon recipe from chef Robert Conneway from The Lola Cocktail Lab + Eatery only requires a short time on the stove before finishing in the oven. The blackened salmon recipe with cauliflower puree and seasonal steamed vegetables is a healthy dish that you can...

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If you’ve been to The Sicilian Baker, you’ve probably already experienced (ahem, tasted) the sensational desserts they dish out. It’s always fun to pick up a few pastries while you’re there, including cassatina, a traditional Sicilian dessert. But sometimes half the fun of eating dessert is making it yourself, so we’ve snagged the cassatina recipe for you to try at home. The Sicilian Baker offers some valuable tips: Take your time while making each element...