THE SCENE As I get older, I find myself ruminating about how so often we are the products of our time and place. For example, I grew up in the West Valley in the 1990s and early 2000s. In my sprawling slices of suburbia (I lived in Peoria, Glendale, Surprise and Avondale at various times), there weren’t a lot of independently owned and operated places – restaurants nor retail. I came of age with birthday...
Photo by Nikki Buchanan Caviar and Crème Fraîche Crêpe at Christopher’s at the Wrigley Mansion Yep, it’s true. I have been to Christopher’s twice now. Lucky, lucky, lucky! And although much of the menu was the same as my first visit, we did find this lovely changeup: a dainty crêpe, adorned with flowering herbs and a glistening orb of Black River Oscietra caviar, positioned on its perch with a dab of house-made crème fraîche....
A new family-run pizzeria has opened in Downtown Phoenix. While it’s still finding its footing, it’s jumping off to a tasty start. Located on the corner of Van Buren Street and Fifth Avenue next to We’ve Got Flowers! is the new Via Della Slice Shop. Its housed in a historical warehouse, which I discovered after scrolling back through Via Della’s Instagram. I learned that the building was originally built in the 1920s as a car...
Italian meatballs | Photo by Leah LeMoine THE SCENE Sometimes it’s nice to reconnect with an old friend. I surmise I’ll be doing a lot of that as the vaccine rollout speeds up in Arizona, and I’m looking forward to seeing old pals in person – especially when those pals are restaurants. North Italia is one such friend. I remember visiting its West Valley location (since shuttered) for the first time in high school. I was besotted by a deconstructed chicken lasagne on the menu at...
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...
Pizza, beer, helping dogs. What more could you ask for?!
Mix things up with this salad/pizza combo from Fired Pie.
Spinato’s Pizzeria & Family Kitchen is more than just your favorite pizza joint.
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