Amuse BouchesAmuse-Bouches
Editorial StaffDecember 1, 2016
Tasty local news bites to whet your appetite.
CocktailsSeptember 4, 2026Interview with a Mixologist: Zach O’Haire from Mea Culpa
Openings/ClosingsSeptember 2, 2026August 2026 Openings & Closings
Food ReviewsSeptember 2, 2026Dining Review: Quiessence
Once known for its lumberjack college kids, good skiing and decent drinkin' scene, Flagstaff is quickly making a name for itself as a foodie town (and we're not just talking about the phenomenal pizza). To explore the burgeoning culinary scene up north, we're running a series of Q&As with the personalities behind the chef hats behind the town's restaurant renaissance we're calling the "Flag Food Boom."
Today we're chatting with:
Chef Derek Christensen
Tinderbox Kitchen
34 S. San Francisco St., Flagstaff
928-226-8400, tinderboxkitchen.com
When Tinderbox Kitchen opened almost eight years ago on South San Francisco Street, the surrounding businesses included a strip club, a tattoo parlor and a dance club. At the time, Flagstaff didn’t have much in the way of fine dining restaurants, according to Tinderbox’s head chef Derek Christensen. The cuisine was centered on upscale comfort food – meat loaf, macaroni and cheese and Salisbury steak – but Christensen says the focus is now on a seasonally changing menu. He also oversees the kitchens of the adjacent Annex Cocktail Lounge and Tourist Home, a breakfast and lunch restaurant that also features to-go specialty items.
ListsPHOENIX Magazine Team Picks: November
Lauren LoftusNovember 22, 2016
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.
November: What Is Your Favorite Autumnal Treat?
Are you a disaster in the kitchen? An occasional agoraphobic in cut-throat grocery stores? How about you give yourself (and your family) a break from dried-out stuffing and store-bought pie this holiday and spend this Thanksgiving eating food lovingly made by paid professionals. Whether you’re looking for a traditional turkey dinner or a modern twist on America's annual 7,000 calorie meal, Phoenix restaurants are prepared to deliver. With both pre-order and dine-in options, these restaurants give you an alternative choice to high stress levels and the very real possibility that you will have to wash every single dish in your kitchen.
My Wine Cellar in Ahwatukee has long been a popular spot for Valley wine enthusiasts. In early October, Shannon Rush, who served as the wine bar’s manager for the past three years, purchased the restaurant from owner Zoya Vora-Shah.
Rush has recently upgraded the restaurant’s interior and patio and the changes will be unveiled at the wine bar’s sixth annual wine festival on Sunday, Nov. 20, from noon-3 p.m., when guests can sample up to 20 wines from around the world for $20.
To go along with the restaurant’s new digs, Rush is expanding the menu to incorporate tapas-style shareable dishes, including the miso braised pork shoulder listed below. This dish is the creation of My Wine Cellar’s chef Tim Yulwel. “He has a lot of Korean and Japanese background in his cooking,” she says. The recipe pairs Asian flavors with tortillas for an interesting and tasty fusion.
Q&AFlagstaff Food Boom: Chef Panda Clark of SoSoBa
Marilyn HawkesNovember 16, 2016
Once known for its lumberjack college kids, good skiing and decent drinkin' scene, Flagstaff is quickly making a name for itself as a foodie town (and we're not just talking about the phenomenal pizza). To explore the burgeoning culinary scene up north, we're running a series of Q & A's with the personalities behind the chef hats behind the town's restaurant renaissance we're calling the "Flag Food Boom."
Today we're chatting with:
"Panda" Clark
SoSoBa, The Non-Stop Noodle Shop
12 Historic Route 66, #104, Flagstaff
928-774-3471, nonstopnoodleshop.com
Openings/ClosingsFat OX Opens in Scottsdale and it’s the Stuff of Our Gluttonous Dreams
Lauren LoftusNovember 16, 2016
When I went to Italy on a class art trip at 16, I turned my nose up at our nightly four course dinners. I know, I know: poor little girl getting to travel abroad and try new cuisines. But I suppose my palate just wasn't refined enough then, what with all that hormonal brattiness clouding my tongue. Plus it all seemed so overwhelming: bread followed by salad followed by pasta followed by meat followed by dessert. Too much.
Older and wiser, I can now get behind the excess every now and again. At Fat OX, Scottsdale's latest upscale Italian eatery, I got to relive the jubilant surplus that is a multi-course Italian dinner. But this time, I liked it.
ListsDrinks Around the Valley to Get You Through Flu Season
Lauren LoftusNovember 15, 2016
Flu season is upon us, which means constant reminders to get a flu shot and copious amounts of Kleenex and chicken noodle soup. Although fixing yourself yet another cup of Theraflu isn't a bad idea, sometimes at-home remedies just don’t cut it. For those who have gone through too many cups of tea, here are some alternate solutions to sooth your cold and boost your immune system.
RecipesRecipe Friday: Fresko Lamb Souvlaki
Marilyn HawkesNovember 10, 2016
After opening 28 restaurants as an executive chef for Thirsty Lion and other corporations, Kody Harris decided it was time to launch her own place. She got out a map, drew a 10-mile circle around her Ahwatukee home and started looking for locations. On November 8, Harris opened Fresko, a Mediterranean restaurant with an emphasis on Greek cuisine. “My parents are Greek immigrants. A lot of these recipes come from my family.” The lamb souvlaki marinade and tzatziki recipe that follow come from Harris’s mother.
Q&AFlagstaff Food Boom: Chef Caleb Schiff of Pizzicletta
Marilyn HawkesNovember 10, 2016
Once known for its lumberjack college kids, good skiing and decent drinkin' scene, Flagstaff is quickly making a name for itself as a foodie town (and we're not just talking about the phenomenal pizza). To explore the burgeoning culinary scene up north, we're running a series of Q & A's with the personalities behind the chef hats behind the town's restaurant renaissance we're calling the "Flag Food Boom."
Today we're chatting with:
Caleb Schiff
Pizzicletta
203 W. Phoenix Ave., Flagstaff
928-774-3242, pizzicletta.com
Openings/ClosingsWelcome Diner Tucson: A Phoenix Foodie Fav Gets Even Better Down South
Lauren LoftusNovember 9, 2016
The Welcome Hospitality crew has for three years worked to build restaurants with reputations that live up to their name. With both Welcome Diner and Welcome Chicken + Donuts in central Phoenix proven successes around town (PHOENIX named the latter a Best New Restaurant last year), the brand turned its eyes to the south. So what happens when a Phoenix foodie favorite meets a recently UNESCO-designated World City of Gastronomy? A whole lot of yum.
Everyone loves apple pie, right? If you’re a fan of the fabulous fall fruit, you’re in luck because during November more than a dozen Valley restaurants are featuring recipes using CaseWerks Apple Pie Liqueur to celebrate CaseWerks Pie Month. SoSoBa, The Nonstop Noodle Shop in downtown Phoenix is participating by using the beguiling liqueur in apple-glazed pork belly steamed bao buns. SoSoBa co-owner Tyler Christensen says that even though SoSoBa is primarily a noodle shop, every now and then they make bao buns – "our version of a slider.” Christensen is sharing the recipe because he says bao buns are a great holiday party food. “It’s something you can prep ahead and it’s ready to go. And you look like a rock star. It’s a cool, unique thing to serve.”
Once known for its lumberjack college kids, good skiing and decent drinkin' scene, Flagstaff is quickly making a name for itself as a foodie town (and we're not just talking about the phenomenal pizza). To explore the burgeoning culinary scene up north, we're running a series of Q & A's with the personalities behind the chef hats behind the town's restaurant renaissance we're calling the "Flag Food Boom."
Today we're chatting with:
Brian Konefal
Coppa Café
1300 S. Milton Rd., Flagstaff
928-637-6813, coppacafe.net
CocktailsWhere to Find the Best Moscow Mules in Phoenix
Lauren LoftusNovember 1, 2016
According to legend (from the soothsayers over at HuffPo), the Moscow Mule was invented in the 1940s as a way to get picky Americans to start drinking vodka and ginger beer. Before then, it seems stateside drinkers weren't fans of either vodka or ginger beer on their own. But a mash-up of the two had us singing a different tune. The Moscow Mule – just like the animal it's named for – is not simply the sum of its parts... something special happens when you mix vodka (or try gin!) and ginger beer with a healthy squeeze of lime in a copper mug. It's a magical hybrid.
We've scouted the best five mules in the Valley for your mash-up pleasure.
Food Reviews2016 Best New Restaurants
Editorial StaffNovember 1, 2016
Clasp your cufflinks and polish your pearls – PHOENIX magazine's black-tie salute to the best in Valley dining is back for 2016. Warning: The contents of this feature may result in food comas and uncontrollable grazing.