restaurants Archives

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Desert DigestFood & DrinkAZ’s Largest Patio Opens at The Revelry in Mesa

Leah LeMoineMarch 17, 2021

Photo courtesy The Revelry   Patios are having a major moment right now. Chalk it up to our fabulous spring weather and our need to socially distance in open-air spaces due to COVID-19, but no real estate has been as prime for restaurants of late as their patios. This spring, one slab stepped into the ring to KO them all: The Revelry at Mesa Riverview shopping center, whose canopy clocks in at 20,000 square feet of covered outdoor patio.  The Revelry is a 62,000-square-foot mixed-use entertainment destination with...

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Desert DigestFood ReviewsValley NewsTomaso Maggiore, Titan of Italian Cuisine, Has Died

Leah LeMoineFebruary 1, 2021

The Valley has lost one of its culinary luminaries. This past weekend, legendary Italian chef/restaurateur Tomaso Maggiore died after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 73 years old.  Maggiore immigrated to the United States from Sicily as a young man and worked his way up the restaurant ranks in New York City before moving west. He and his wife, Patricia, opened Tomaso’s Italian Restaurant in the Camelback Corridor in September 1977. Their children, Joey and Melissa, grew up in the industry and joined their parents in running a...

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Desert DigestGhost Ranch Reopens with New Chef and Dishes

Marilyn HawkesDecember 31, 2020

If you’ve been waiting for Tempe’s Ghost Ranch to reopen since closing in July due to COVID, mark your calendars for early January 2021. The modern Southwestern restaurant will debut a whole new crew, including executive chef David Mora, who has done stints at The Boulders, Coppa Café in Flagstaff and Mariposa in Sedona, where he worked with chef-owner Lisa Dahl.    While Mora and the staff will be adding some new dishes and cocktails, the menu will retain many old favorites, from tacos and enchiladas to mesquite-grilled entrees, including trout, cowboy steak and pollo asado made with local Two Wash...

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Desert DigestDesert Digest Video Podcast Episode One

Matthew JohnsonMay 15, 2020

PHOENIX magazine editor Craig Outhier and managing editor Leah LeMoine talk to Craft 64 owner James Swann and Nook Kitchen owner Frank Vairo on the challenges of re-opening restaurants after the shutdown and during a pandemic. Plus Leah takes us to Lovecraft Alehouse for Happy Hour at Home. Craig and Leah wrap it up by telling you about the various openings and closings of Valley restaurants in the past few weeks. Click here for more...

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Q&AQ&A with Alex Stratta, new culinary director at MATCH

Marilyn HawkesAugust 4, 2017

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.

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MenusSedona Chef Jeff Smedstad Wows with Elote Cafe Notebook

Ofelia MontelongoJuly 6, 2017

As I took a bite of Chef Jeff Smedstad’s "pay de queso" (Mexican cheesecake), my mind took me back to my childhood’s kitchen. I pictured my mom baking pays for the holidays and a younger me eager to eat. This is the real deal I told Smedstad. The chef and owner of the reknowned Elote Cafe in Sedona says he was influenced by a trip to Veracruz where he learned about the craft of homemade Mexican cheesecake sort of a lighter, less sweet, less dense version of our beloved New York cheesecake. He put a spin on the traditional Mexican dessert with goat cheese from Fossil Creek Goat Farm in Strawberry, Arizona, near Payson. The result is absolutely exquisite.

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RecipesRecipe Friday: EVO Pork Milanese

Marilyn HawkesJune 23, 2017

When the temperature rises, most chefs in the Valley will sprinkle their menus with summer-friendly dishes to help us ease our way into blistering days and sweltering nights. At EVO, Executive Chef Steven Fowler has swapped out a hearty porchetta dish for a lighter pork Milanese.

This recipe calls for a bone-in pork porterhouse (available at AJ’s or a specialty butcher), but you can also use pork chops or pork loin, Fowler says. And if you don’t have a deep fryer, you can pound out the pork and fry on the stove top in 3-4 tablespoons of canola oil. “It’s quick and easy,” Fowler says. “You can have this completed in less than 15 minutes.”

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ListsPHOENIX Team Picks: May

Lauren LoftusMay 31, 2017

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.

In honor of our first Escape to the Coast cover story in the May issue we're asking ourselves, Which Valley dish screams "California"?

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