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Each month, we of the PHOENIX magazine creative team ask ourselves a different question about our favorite dining and drinking experiences in the Valley. Our picks are usually hidden in the back of the magazine among our Dining Guide restaurant listings. Not any more. Our picks are going digital! Feel free to follow us on social media (at least, those of us who tweet) and be sure to tag us (@PhoenixMagazine on Twitter and @PHXMagazine on Instagram) on pics of your favorite picks.

In honor of our Free PHX cover story in the June issue we're asking ourselves, What are your favorite cheap eats in the Valley?

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When the temperature rises, most chefs in the Valley will sprinkle their menus with summer-friendly dishes to help us ease our way into blistering days and sweltering nights. At EVO, Executive Chef Steven Fowler has swapped out a hearty porchetta dish for a lighter pork Milanese.

This recipe calls for a bone-in pork porterhouse (available at AJ’s or a specialty butcher), but you can also use pork chops or pork loin, Fowler says. And if you don’t have a deep fryer, you can pound out the pork and fry on the stove top in 3-4 tablespoons of canola oil. “It’s quick and easy,” Fowler says. “You can have this completed in less than 15 minutes.”

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Mother’s day has come and gone. Now it’s time to celebrate your old man. (Side note: Does anyone other than your old man still call their father "old man?") This year, instead of swinging by CVS for a discounted keyboard necktie, how about treating Dear Old Dad to something fab made right here in the Valley? We've rounded up the best gifts, activities, deals and, of course, dining options for dear old dad.

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When the mercury rises, many Valley restaurants bust out lighter menus to entice customers to brave the heat and dine out. At Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, they’ve introduced a strawberry spinach salad that goes well with pizza, says Grimaldi’s Corporate Chef Cory Lattuca. The vinaigrette is made with real strawberries rather than an extract or syrup, which “gives the dressing a nice color and some structure,” he says. “It’s a great summer salad.”

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Here at PHOENIX, it’s no secret we love experimental cocktails. Chile pepper-infused vodka shaken with purple mangosteen liquor and topped with palo verde essence bubbles? Yes, please. (I made that up, though I expect to see something similar on Valley mixologists’ craft cocktail lists any day now.) But while we aren’t scared to participate in “Fear Factor – Cocktail Edition,” it’s always nice to return to the classics every so often.

The Negroni is one such old faithful.