2022Best of the ValleyPeople & MediaThe Best People & Media in the Valley in 2022
Editorial StaffJuly 5, 2022
Our editorial picks for local personalities and media consumables.
news Archives
Desert DigestLocal Foodie News
Leah LeMoineJuly 19, 2021
Spicing It Up: Hot on the heels of its partnership with Mark Tarbell on a citrusy vodka (which we awarded a Best of the Valley editor’s pick for Best Spirits Collaboration, NBD), Blue Clover Distillery is shaking up another collab. This time, owner/distiller Weston Holm has hooked up with the folks at Scottsdale liquor hot spot Trevor’s. The booze enthusiasts created a private-label Mango Habanero Vodka, available exclusively at Trevor’s for $19.99 for a 750-mL bottle. Raising a Toast: Wine Spectator recently released its esteemed “Best...
The PHiX4 Arizonans in the News this Month
Sara EdwardsJuly 29, 2019
Check out these local names making headlines.
Gone are the days of bland continental buffets and dry chicken breasts at your hotel's diner. More and more, talented Valley chefs are decamping from standalone restaurants to helm the kitchens of Phoenix's impressive hotels and resorts. But that's old news to Charles Wiley, who's been churning out impossibly fresh, creative and expertly made food at Valley resort restaurants for years.
With more than 40 years of experience under his belt, Wiley’s list of accolades is impressive: Food & Wine magazine named him one of “The Ten Best New Chefs in America,” and the James Beard Foundation recognized him as “One of the Best Hotel Chefs of America.” He worked for a decade at The Boulders before opening Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort in 2001. He went down the road to run the Hotel Valley Ho’s dining program in 2005 and opened the revamped Mountain Shadow Resort’s signature restaurant Hearth ’61 as executive chef and director of food and beverage earlier this year.
PHOENIX recently caught up with Wiley to chat about opening a new restaurant, how the Valley’s culinary landscape has changed since he first arrived, and the current trend of why so many top local chefs are working at hotels.*
Downtown Phoenix has just added another culinary luminary to its roster: James Beard award-winning Chef Alex Stratta has recently taken over as culinary director at MATCH: Restaurant & Cocktails inside the chic and arty FOUND:RE Hotel.
Stratta’s storied career includes stints at Mary Elaine’s at The Phoenician, ALEX and Stratta restaurants inside the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, as well as Prado at the Omni Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale. His accomplishments include a coveted two-star rating by the Michelin Guide (three times over, in fact, for his namesake restaurant ALEX in Las Vegas) and Stratta was once named Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef.
First on his to-do list at MATCH is to completely revamp the menu, which skewed to a "global street food" theme (and didn't wow our dining critic). Ahead of Stratta's menu debut in September, PHOENIX caught up with the guy who most recently raised eyebrows by hanging his hat at the respectable but decidedly un-showy and non-James Beard-y The Herb Box.