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...
After making waves in late 2020 with their debut restaurant, Southeast Asian-influenced Belly Kitchen & Bar (named one of our Best New Restaurants in 2021), Phoenix restaurant veterans and longtime friends Robert Cissel, Paul Waxman and Michael Babcock are back at it. This summer, the Instrumental Hospitality partners will launch a second Belly at Epicenter in Gilbert. Then they’ll head back to Downtown Phoenix to open Sin Muerte, a vegetarian restaurant set to debut...
When Espiritu opened last January, it was cast as a bar not a restaurant, a let’s-get-crazy play place for drinkers unashamed to admit they like getting a little toasty. Under the short cocktail menu (five regular cocktails and one daily special) is a section called “Shots & Other Mistakes,” featuring nine possibly bad decisions (their verbiage, not mine). Here, you’ll find wild concoctions given hilarious names and descriptions, including Yeetlejuice (Jaeger cold brew, pineapple amaro,...
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...
Cory Oppold | Photo by Ian Cahill/Precision Photography AZ Former Food Network Chopped champion Cory Oppold has worked everywhere, it seems. His resume is impressive. After graduating from Scottsdale Culinary Institute, he started his career at Different Pointe of View, later working as sous chef at Binkley’s, chef de cuisine at L’Auberge and executive chef both at Tarbell’s and Atlas Bistro. Now, at last, he’s opening his own Modern American restaurant in Scottsdale, and he’s...
Since graduating from the Scottsdale Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in 2011, chef Tim Richardson has worked in many Valley kitchens, including the Arizona Biltmore and Las Sendas Golf Club. In November 2021, Richardson and business partner Fares Tarabichi (Crepe Club) opened Foch Café & Bistro in Tempe, named after the street Tarabichi’s grandparents lived on in Paris. The bistro specializes in American-European inspired dishes and inventive craft cocktails. Recently we talked to Richardson...
Find down-home Caribbean cooking at this priceless Phoenix mom-and-pop.
With few hiccups, this new modern American eatery from the boundary-pushing co-creator of Hush Public House screams excellence.
From Restaurant Progress prodigy TJ Culp comes the impossibly quaint French wine bistro you need.
Photo by Nikki Buchanan People had told me — if I’m remembering right, Rene Andrade was one of them — that I should check out Testal Mexican Kitchen a small Chihuahua-style restaurant on Grand Avenue, not far from Andrade’s own. And they were right. It’s been open a little over a year, and I’m sorry I didn’t find it sooner. It’s housed in a cool, angular building with huge windows (surely, there’s some architectural...
The Garfield Phoenix exterior | Photo courtesy instagram.com/the_garfield_phx After some hard work and elbow grease, the historical Garfield Phoenix diner has reopened under new ownership. If you’ve passed by the small storefront on Roosevelt and 10th streets, you’ve probably read the offerings painted on the diner’s façade: “Coffee, Ice Cream and Tacos.” However, this little spot is crafting a lot more than meets the eye, with even bigger things to come. The soft glow of...
Photo by Nikki Buchanan What drew me like a spell to a new Mediterranean restaurant in North Scottsdale? Weirdly, its name — Fata Morgana, which sounded exotic yet vaguely familiar. As it turns out, Fata Morgana is the Italian word for the sorceress Morgan le Fay, who was King Arthur’s half-sister and his antagonist. She could work all sorts of magic, including creating mirages in the ocean. Now, here’s where it gets interesting: the ocean...
At 1:30 on a Thursday afternoon, Buddha’s Ritual in North Scottsdale entertains a small, relaxed crowd — six or seven jeans-clad guys in their 30s having a beer-y business lunch and three pairs of 20-something women nibbling light bites and sipping cocktails. The garage doors are open, and a breeze blows across the bar, riffling the napkins as two equally young barkeeps make photogenic herb-laden cocktails for a photo shoot that will announce Buddha’s soon-to-launch...
OBON Sushi + Ramen recently announced its third location will be opening at Biltmore Fashion Park this February. The Arizona restaurant chain currently has two Scottsdale locations and delivers both innovative and traditional dishes including tuna carpaccio and mackerel toast served on local bread. OBON chef Paul Im will helm the new location with a dedication to sustainability and the use of locally sourced ingredients. The new OBON will use the Japanese hard charcoal grilling...
Photo by Nikki Buchanan I don’t know about you, but a Caribbean vacation sounds pretty good to me right now. Short of hopping a plane to Jamaica, the next best thing might be a trip to Ms. Martha’s Caribbean Kitchen at 19th Avenue and Northern. The restaurant sits on the west end of a lovely ’40s-era Spanish Colonial building (the former Good Shepherd Home for Girls), and owner Martha Laurencin keeps the religious theme...
