Usually when you get your car serviced, you go home with a big bill, not a thank-you gift. Dave Martin sweetens the deal on his automotive assistance with a little pile of pleasing trifles – tchotchkes, candies or fresh fruit. Our favorite: a sugar cookie in Martin’s likeness, including his shiny pate and wheelchair.
Michelin-starred chef Alex Stratta has had to delay the opening of his fast-casual restaurant concept a few months, but we’re betting it’s worth the wait. Stratta’s Mediterranean-based cuisine will showcase greens, grains and proteins with a healthy emphasis. Nutritious food made with topnotch ingredients by the guy who launched modern fine dining in the Valley at Mary Elaine’s? Yes, please.
Nothing beats the experience of putting the needle on the record. And when the pandemic hit, the Uptown Phoenix record store made getting new music as easy as ordering a pizza by offering delivery within a 5-mile radius of the store. If you take advantage, leave a tip.
Handmade by Amish craftspeople in Ohio, the pieces here are built to last, and priced to match. They’re worth it if you can afford them; if not, the place is still worth visiting for its selection of Back East goodies like Jake & Amos Million Dollar Pickles and Mrs. Miller’s Peanut Butter Marshmallow Spread.
Here’s the grim truth about steak: It doesn’t travel well, unlike, say, pizza. “To-go ribeye” just doesn’t have that ring of appeal, does it? So the first thing we plan to do when “this is all over” is hit this umpteen-time BOV Best Steakhouse editor’s pick, where searing, leaping bits of crackling-hot steak fat are like spritzes of holy water.
Lola Forbes and Chris Szydlowski are the horror movie-obsessed duo behind this ghost-themed, gluten-free bakery, which also houses a mini museum featuring items from the Horror and Sci-Fi Prop Preservation Association. Peruse a curated selection of spooky props from movies such as Batman Returns, My Bloody Valentine, Robocop and Ghostbusters while noshing on a Pennywise pastry. The “Boston Screams” are also scary good.
This bicycle-themed bar and grill has the expected bike racks and wheel décor, but up in the open rafters, like something lurking in Grandma’s attic, are bicycles covered in crochet, and probably some cobwebs, too. Why?
During the lockdown, this members-only group couldn’t offer its signature salons – conversations with scientists, artists and political experts in people’s homes. So they pivoted online, hosting talks with cognoscenti around the country, including New York Times ethics columnist Kwame Anthony Appiah and biblical critic Bart Ehrman. The change proved so popular they’ll continue to offer a mix of in-person and virtual salons.
From local grains like bronze barley, purple farro and White Sonora Wheat, food industry veterans Brent Kille and Jasmin Brown shape a riot of artful pastas. They run dough through an automated machine equipped with traditional Italian bronze dyes, giving noodles lightly ridged, sauce-catching surfaces. Find them raw at farmers markets and cooked at restaurants.
If you spot green papaya salad on a restaurant menu, don’t expect the cloying flesh of supermarket papaya. Green papaya is crisp, savory and – drenched in a light, tangy dressing made of palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice, as Soi 4 does it – insanely delicious. Add long beans and a sprinkle of peanuts, and we’re in heaven.
Singh Farms’ weekly community-supported agriculture box is not for dainty appetites – or weak backs. We could barely lift the pounds of citrus, onions, Swiss chard and potatoes. The only constant is that you never know what you’ll get, but you know it will be fresh, locally grown and plentiful. Jump their Facebook page and stake your claim. Gotta stay healthy to fight off that virus!
You don’t have to be Andrew Zimmern to appreciate Nepali cuisine, a familiar but bracing amalgamation of dishes from India, Tibet and China involving noodles, rice, doughy things and a healthy dose of chile heat. Nepal’s signature momo (dumplings) are bundles of fun, some of them steamed, others fried, most floating in broth or spicy sauce. The best dal in town is right here, too.
Pierogi. Pelmeni. Manti. Every culture has its version of the dumpling, in the hands of chef Subash Yadav they’re called momos – golf ball-size Nepalese dumplings with serious chew. Fried, steamed, or submerged in broth, they have centers just as hearty as their pleasantly thick skins, filled with richly spiced meats or chopped vegetables. Sauces elevate the doughy pockets, too – most notably, tomato-rich chile sauce and intensely velvety curry.
Cumin, cinnamon and cloves, oh my! “Phoenix” and “vibrant Chinese food scene” have never felt comfortable in a sentence together, but this Mesa restaurant – specializing in the Shaanxi province in north-central China – leads a new wave of regional alternatives to the adulterated Cantonese fare of Chinese-American eateries. Enjoy a bowl of liangpi (cold noodles in spicy-sour sauce) and tell them ni hao from us.
Man (and woman) cannot live by Netflix alone. Sometimes you’ve got to get off the couch and out of the house – but how can you get some culture without bumping up against your fellow human? Murals. The Valley is covered with them, and most can be enjoyed from your car. The kind people at Murals of Phoenix sponsor festivals (both in-person and virtual) and they’ve mapped painted walls all over town. Download their map...
