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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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Essence Bakery Café started Arizona’s first baking apprenticeship program in June for graduating high school students. Students who are still in high school can apply for the pre-apprenticeship program. The two-year program allows students to gain valuable culinary skills without accruing student debt because there is no program fee. The program was started by Essence Bakery Café chef and owner Eugenia Theodosopoulos who partnered with Arizona’s Careers through Culinary Arts Program. C-CAP partners with more...

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Driving down Lower Elgin Road in Sonoita the other day, I noticed Autumn Sage Vineyards for the first time, despite passing it frequently. For some reason, the sign and white picket fence lining the hilly vineyard finally arrested my attention. It’s always exciting to write about a new vineyard, especially when it’s in my neighborhood. Autumn Sage is the brainchild of Steve Basila, who got to know our state intimately via his 40-year career as...

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Stuffed lobster at Bluewater Grill on December 10. The Camelback clam-peddler returns with its all-inclusive $45 holiday mashup. bluewatergrill.com Breakfast with Santa at the Montelucia on December 14 and 21. Ho, ho, ho, little one-percenters! $55/adult, $40/child. Kids 5 and under free. omnihotels.com Eating more, drinking more at train-station-themed Century Grand. The UnderTow sister property instantly becomes the Valley’s premier culinary amusement park. centurygrandphx.com Trying the charred octopus at FLINT by Baltaire. The Esplanade space...

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“Fancy Fry’s” just got more fun: At the Fry’s Signature Marketplace at Tatum and Shea boulevards, you can now stock up on sliders, Reubens, matzo ball soup and other prepackaged meals from Chompie’s. We’ll have a pastrami on rye with our Cab at the wine bar, thank you.

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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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Craving a craft brew? Stop by PHX Beer Co., a recently opened brewery and tap room in a renovated warehouse on Washington Street. The upgraded space features a 20-barrel system on the main brewery floor and a tasting room with a mix of high and low top tables and a fully remodeled wraparound bar. Garage doors allow patrons to get a behind-the-scenes peek at the beer-making process. Guests can also enjoy games like bag toss,...

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Donut lovers rejoice! A celebration dedicated to the sweet treat is taking place at Margaret T. Hance Park this Sunday, November 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Downtown Donut Festival will feature more than 20 local donut purveyors including Bosa Donuts, Jake’s Donuts & Treats, Pokitrition, Berrie Kabobs and Alien Donuts. Live music will be provided by New Wave Order, The Maya Spectra and Davina. The all-ages event will also feature lawn games,...

THE SCENE It’s grand indeed at Century Grand, the 1920s-inspired cocktail compound from the minds of Jason Asher and Rich Furnari of Barter & Shake. You feel like Jay and Daisy from the moment you walk into the Arcadia building that houses Century Grand (a Prohibition-era cocktail bar with dim sum carts bearing nibbles, cocktails and wine), the Grey Hen Saloon (a tasting room and spirits shop where Valley whiskey maestro and general manager John...

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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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A Taco Bell Cantina is opening at the former Restaurant Mexico site on Mill Avenue in Tempe. A Taco Bell spokesperson confirmed that the cantina is set to open before 2020. The site at 423 S. Mill Avenue previously housed Restaurant Mexico, which had been around for nearly four decades in four different locations. Its doors closed on August 15, as owner Carolina Chavarria, 83, was ready to retire from the restaurant business. The new...

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AZ Barrels, Bottles and Brews, which returns to Salt River Fields for the second year on Saturday, November 23 at 2 p.m., started as a “passion project,” says the venue’s director of marketing, Chris Bonnell. He and the Salt River Fields’ director of ticketing and special events, Shaun Northup, are both craft beer connoisseurs and wanted to showcase the great beverages coming out of the Grand Canyon State. “We wanted to highlight the breweries, distilleries...

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There’s no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen for Ghost Ranch chefs Rene Andrade and Robert Centeno. In fact, they just launched a monthly series where they invite other locally renowned chefs into the kitchen with them to create a unique five-course meal. The first guest chef is Samantha Sanz of Talavera on Wednesday, November 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. Andrade, Centeno and Sanz are all from Nogales and each dish...

THE SCENE I must admit my bias at the start: The Hermosa Inn is one of my happy places. I’ve covered political fundraisers there, enjoyed romantic staycations with my beloved there (we even brought our firstborn fur son one year, since the hotel is dog-friendly) and feasted on countless media dinners and happy hours with friends and colleagues there. I even wrote a profile of owner Ron Allred (and his lovely wife, Joyce) a couple...