Chef-owner Gio Osso of Virtù fame became a certified pizzaiolo last summer and is turning out fabulous Neapolitan-style pizza in Old Town – the real deal, designated Verace Pizza Napoletano by Italy’s official sanctioning body. His puffy, golden-brown crusts offer up just enough chew, while his pizza centers are firm and toothsome, not quite as soupy and droopy as traditional VPN pies. Better still, the toppings (think charred octopus or Italian bologna) are downright inspired.

Extensive menu of vegan items including meat-free pizzas and calzones, pasta with soy sausage, meatballs or veggies and house-made focaccia with faux cheese.

Juicy, coal-fired, you-call-it burgers the size of Shaquille O’Neal’s fist are the order of the day at this Scottsdale pizza pub. Our advice: Order it medium-rare with caramelized onions, avocado and a sunny side up egg. We call it the “PHX Mag Widowmaker.”

In early fall, date season comes to Arizona, one of only two states in the U.S. capable of growing the fruit. For Janna Anderson of Pinnacle Farms, that means plump Maktooms, a slightly red Iraqi varietal that grows on around 20 of her majestic palms. Grab them from her farm stand near South Mountain if you can.

The Valley has tons of awesome Venetian-style pizza joints. Justin Piazza owns one of them: La Piazza al Forno. So he saw little need to bless us with more thin-crust, wood-fired goodness. Instead, he blessed us with oblong-shaped pies made with a bewitching, high-hydration, focaccia-like crust that will reprogram your pizza reptile mind.

As the zoo gates close for the day, your overnight adventure is just beginning when you sign up for Night Camp. Participants enjoy guided hikes, up-close animal encounters, dinner, s’mores and hands-on activities, with zoo staff pitching the tents and taking care of all the details. The next morning includes a continental breakfast and admission to the zoo – after you’ve been awakened by the call of the gibbons, that is.

This unassuming blade shop bustles with a who’s who of Phoenix culinary talent. Chefs – from executive and sous to line cooks and home cooks – bring their knives here for the in-house experts to sharpen and repair, or to peruse its selection of vintage Japanese sushi knives, such as the $400 Baba Hamono santoku. Stop by to browse the cutlery selection or rub elbows with the foodie glitterati.

One of our city’s most esteemed food writers, Christina Barrueta (author of WriteOnRubee.com), rounded up the state’s notable chefs to share their recipes and stories in this upcoming book. The swoon-worthy photos alone are worth giving it a look. Release is set for September. For updates, follow @phoenixcooks on Instagram or Phoenix Cooks on Facebook. $32.99

There are charcuterie boards (emphasis on the bored), and then there’s Persepshen’s charcuterie, labeled a “Real Big Plate” for good reason. But it isn’t size that sets this meat masterpiece apart; it’s the quality of the made-in-house ingredients and their interplay in your lucky little mouth. Imagine sesame seed-studded lahvosh and a retinue of pickled veggies harmoninizing with chef/owner/butcher Jason Dwight’s sausages, terrines and dry-cured meats, most kept in a temperature-controlled curing chamber he built until they’re ready.

It started as an amusing story about a graffiti artist tagging monuments with the words “Penis Man,” but things came to a head when a Tempe municipal building was defaced. A SWAT team arrested Dustin Shomer in late January, but he claims he was a copycat, and that the original is still at large.

With a robust selection of standard taco toppings like carne asada and grilled shrimp, Paz is also a haven for herbivores. Plant-based patrons relish the Hippie – a street taco with kale, Brussels sprouts, pickled onion, cotija and avocado. This meat-free medley is also available in bowls and burritos.

Before he began his career handcrafting avant-garde luxury furnishings, Detroit-born Paul Jeffrey was an officer in the United States Army, a concept car designer for Ford Motor Co. and then flat broke in Arizona. A chance encounter at a Walgreens led him to become the nationally renowned woodworking artisan he is today.

The “stoner gourmet” ideal finds its apotheosis at this North Phoenix burger temple, home of the Burger Brûlée: fried egg, bacon and havarti on a burnt-sugar-encrusted beef patty.

The Iguana Balls are just popcorn chicken, but there must be voodoo in the batter, because they are a two-basket per-person proposition every time.

Offers a trove of smartly curated books in Spanish and English.