First Dish Archives

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Desert Digest Food & DrinkFirst Dish: Society by EVO

Kristy DurkinOctober 13, 2022

From EVO owner Nick Neuman and his partners Lee Baron, Randy Feldman and Dominic Scappaticci comes a chic, floral fantasy in the heart of Tempe. I have been wondering for years if EVO in Old Town Scottsdale would ever expand and open another location, and when I received an invitation to try Society by EVO, I happily accepted. Located in the Cornerstone Plaza strip mall near Arizona State University’s Tempe campus, to say the space...

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Desert Digest Food & DrinkFirst Dish: Light Heart Coffee

Sydnee WilsonJune 21, 2022

Photo by Sydnee Wilson Light Heart Coffee is a unique and beautifully designed coffee shop that recently opened in Scottsdale. It offers a variety of coffee and non-coffee drinks including lattes, cappuccinos, espresso tonics, jasmine lemonade and much more. In addition to great coffee, it has a welcoming and positive atmosphere. When I first walked into Light Heart Coffee, I was greeted by bright colors, wavy patterns and disco balls. Usually when I walk into...

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Desert Digest Food & DrinkFirst Dish: Recreo

Madison RutherfordMay 9, 2022

How many of us would love to go back to that carefree feeling of frolicking around the playground as a child? Indeed, it would be pretty cool to relive those memories as an adult – perhaps even with a cocktail in hand. Good news for the young at heart: Recreo, a new playground-themed restaurant in downtown Chandler, is serving up inventive eats and playful cocktails with a serious side of nostalgia. The expansive patio and...

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Desert Digest Food & DrinkFirst Dish: Far Away Wine and Provisions

Nikki BuchananMay 9, 2022

When my friend and I wander into Far Away Wine and Provisions, we consider the cozy living room set-up — couch, chairs, coffee table — near the entrance but settle instead for a couple of stools at the tiny bar. We know we want to eat something and hunching over a coffee table is never a fun way to go about it. Besides, the bar seems to be where the action is. At 5:30, there...

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Desert Digest Food & DrinkFirst Dish: Obon Bisutoro

Tiffany AcostaApril 6, 2022

Obon Bisutoro, a Japanese bistro specializing in sushi and ramen, officially opened its doors in Phoenix’s Biltmore Fashion Park in late March. I was recently invited to the restaurant – the third Obon concept in the Valley – for its soft opening. Walking into the dimly lit restaurant with complimentary Champagne in hand, I was amazed by the flawless interior design. Wood paneling is a signature décor element present in Obon’s two sister restaurants in...

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Desert Digest Food & DrinkFirst Dish: Maui Hawaiian Grill

Nikki BuchananJuly 15, 2021

I fell in love with the Hawaiian plate lunch back in the ’80s. Not in Hawaii, where I somehow missed it, but at Aloha Kitchen in Mesa, the first Hawaiian fast-casual in town, if memory serves. Of course, nowadays, island cuisine can be found all over the Valley, and one of the newest places for an excellent Hawaiian plate lunch is Maui Hawaiian Grill in Tempe. It’s a clean, well-lit place, but I can’t help noticing that men outnumber women here by something like 10-to-1, and I’m pretty...

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Desert Digest Food & DrinkFirst Dish: Hot Daisy Pizza

Nikki BuchananFebruary 9, 2021

It’s her third day as proprietor of Hot Daisy Pizza, and Tammie Coe — the classically trained pastry chef famous for ooey-gooey cupcakes, big cookies and whimsical fondant-covered cakes — seems to be having fun in her new role as pie slinger. At 3:30 in the afternoon, her tiny Roosevelt Row shop (formerly known as Tammie Coe Cakes) enjoys a steady stream of curious neighborhood customers, eager to try a slice of pepperoni or margherita...

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Desert Digest Food & DrinkFirst Dish: Luckys Indoor Outdoor

Madison RutherfordJanuary 29, 2021

“Luckys is not the new chic RoRo dive bar,” the man behind the bar says as he sets down a couple coasters and a bottle of hand sanitizer. He also tells me that mimosas and bloody Marys are “breakfast drinks” and should not be consumed at 6 p.m. on a Thursday, which happens to be when I pay my first visit to Lucky’s. He then proceeds to offer me a mimosa-flavored jello shot. Who am...

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Desert Digest Food & DrinkFirst Dish: UnderTow Pop-Up at Hotel Valley Ho

Zachary SpieckerJanuary 29, 2021

UnderTow was one of Scottsdale’s premier bars before its closure in December due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, that didn’t mean its staff was done working. A new UnderTow pop-up recently opened at Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale. I took a visit to see how the Valley’s standout tiki bar has fared during the sea changes. Location 6850 E. Main St., Scottsdale Opened: January 2021 The Scene: This tropical oasis feels like you’re taking...

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Desert DigestFirst Dish: Character Distinctive Dining

Nikki BuchananJanuary 19, 2021

Peter Kasperski, the crazy-creative Scottsdale restaurateur behind dearly departed Cowboy Ciao, Sea Saw, Digestif, Kazimierz World Wine Bar and Counter Intuitive, partners with longtime friend, former employee and inventive master barman Richie Moe to open Roosevelt Row’s most sophisticated restaurant and bar to date (Speakeasy Alias, which sits behind Character, hasn’t opened yet, but it’s almost ready to rock). I popped in to see how Kasperski, an Old Town Scottsdale boy since his salad days...

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Desert DigestFirst Dish: Nanaya Japanese Kitchen

Craig OuthierJanuary 19, 2021

Set in the storied strip-mall spot formerly occupied by Crudo and, ages ago, an Italian restaurant with mob connections, Nanaya Japanese Kitchen opened in October to minimal fanfare – a “stealth opening,” one might say. This was dictated both by form (the speakeasy-ish, around-the-back location is easy to miss from the street) and function (the restaurant is evidently serving as a “test kitchen” for a future project in Old Town Scottsdale). When the tavern-style Japanese...

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Desert DigestFirst Dish: Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant in North Scottsdale

Angelina AragonJanuary 14, 2021

Looking for a new place to wine and dine? Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant just opened in North Scottsdale and it’s the perfect place for date nights, family dinners and catching up with friends. Upon entry, you immediately find yourself in a tasting room with more than 40 varietals. And if vino isn’t your vibe, there are amazing cocktails and beer and even non-alcoholic options for the teetotalers in your tribe. Location: The Promenade in Scottsdale...

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Desert DigestFirst Dish: Trevor’s Liquors in South Scottsdale

Nikki BuchananJanuary 14, 2021

It wouldn’t be overstatement to say that 2020 drove us to drink. Off premise and online liquor sales boomed this past year as we stayed away from bars and restaurants — which have had a dismal year by contrast — and drowned our coronavirus sorrows in home-made cocktails. As the owner of perennially popular Park Plaza Liquors & Deli in Prescott, Trevor Phillips could see that opening a boutique liquor store in South Scottsdale might...