Video: Craft 64 owner James Swann explains why he's aiming for June 1 at the latest to bring craft beer & pizza lovers back inside for sit down service.
PHOENIX magazine editor Craig Outhier and managing editor Leah LeMoine talk to Craft 64 owner James Swann and Nook Kitchen owner Frank Vairo on the challenges of re-opening restaurants after the shutdown and during a pandemic. Plus Leah takes us to Lovecraft Alehouse for Happy Hour at Home. Craig and Leah wrap it up by telling you about the various openings and closings of Valley restaurants in the past few weeks. Click here for more...
In the first of a monthly series, we meet the former homebrewers behind the off-beat Flagstaff craft beer purveyor.
Some of our favorite breweries have re-opened to enjoy drinks at the bar while others are still offering tasty t0-go brews. Here are some of the new options for craft beer around Arizona this week.
If you’ve ever cohabitated with another human, you know how difficult it is to decide on dinner. You feel like sushi, your beloved feels like Chinese. You feel like fried chicken, your roommate feels like gyros. In my house, my fella and I agree on some cuisines – Thai and Vietnamese are weekly takeout treats for us, even before the pandemic – but he never feels like Indian, and I rarely feel like pizza. Our particular dinner dilemma is complicated by the fact that I will drive anywhere for good...
Our weekly go-to list for new craft brews in Arizona.
People are being asked to forego non-essentials – including visits to wine-tasting rooms. This hurts the bottom line for Arizona wine growers, but it’s not nearly as painful as the mass closures of restaurants, hotels and wine shops, where they do the bulk of their sales. Many hope to pick up the slack through wine clubs and direct-mail services. Some wineries have gone digital, connecting with their customer base via services like Zoom. Kent Callaghan...
Many people enter the deliciously haughty realm of beverage snobbery as craft beer or wine snobs and only later become coffee snobs, translating their discerning phraseology – esters, tannins, noses, mouthfeels and finishes – to America’s ubiquitous day-starter. I went the other way, starting with single-origin pour-overs and balanced espresso blends at Press Coffee’s Scottsdale Quarter location, which was just downstairs from our old office at the Quarter. Owner Steve Kraus and his crew of roasters and baristas taught me about coffee growing regions, introduced me to the flavor wheel, showed me how coffee is roasted, invited me...
For Chef Branden Levine, summer vacations aren’t just for fun – they’re for culinary inspiration. After his most recent trip to Oaxaca with his wife and Sel restaurant co-owner, May, he was inspired to bring home flavors of the region, like a prune mole, which you’ll find on his menu. Levine shares some of his favorites in the Oaxaca area. Los Pacos Oaxaca is known for its moles, and Los Pacos has all seven types...
Pending, as with all things, the conclusion of the coronavirus saga, Sedona’s famed Elote Cafe is reopening in a new location just a mile and a half away from the original. Chef Jeff Smedstad says he couldn’t imagine moving the restaurant outside of Sedona. “This is my home. It’s important to me that we maintain the Sedona vibe,” Smedstad says, defining said vibe as a “laidback lifestyle” and time spent in nature. The menu at...
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo may not include taking tequila shots at your favorite local watering hole or devouring tacos at your neighborhood Mexican eatery this year. However, there are still ways to observe the popular holiday from the comfort of your own home. Here is a handful of Cinco de Mayo specials being offered by local restaurants. Modern Tortilla This famed food truck will be offering a build-your-own-taco bar outside of Aioli Gourmet Burgers in...
Ladera Taverna y Cocina may be temporarily closed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a tipple or two from its award-winning mixologist, Colton Brock. He won Arizona Cocktail Weekend’s Last Slinger Standing competition in February, but lately he’s been slinging simple mezcal drinks at home. We caught up with Brock and asked him to share a couple of recipes for us to try. What have you been mixing up at home? I predominantly drink mezcal and other agave spirits,...
The weather is getting warmer and your beers need to be colder. They also need to be fresh! Here are the new craft beer releases from Arizona breweries for the week of April 30.
MercBar at The Esplanade offers a classy version of the gin-based Singapore Sling, an oft-adulterated refresher invented in 1915 at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
Take a peek inside Persepshen, the new restaurant that took over the quirky ‘60s-era space in Phoenix that formerly housed Hula’s Modern Tiki.
