Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
Phoenix lunches: The Living Room Wine Cafe & Lounge
I didn’t really want to like The Living Room.
Mostly because it’s located next door to The Main Ingredient, one of my favorite low-key food and drink spots in town, serving a similar menu (sandwiches and salads).
One day, The Main Ingredient was closed and my husband and I were looking for a place to lunch. Seemed like as good of a time as any to try out The Living Room.
We both ordered the soup and half-sandwich combo ($8.95) — and surprisingly enough, it was good. It was really good.
My squash soup was the right mixture of savory and sweet. The BLT was toasted with thick slabs of bacon and the right ratio of lettuce, tomato and mayo. My husband’s chili was chunky and flavorful and his tuna melt was well above average (what else can you say about a tuna melt?).
The decor is laid back like, well, a living room. A friend once said, “It reminds me of Central Perk on Friends,” which is not totally untrue.
The menu is a bit broader than The Main Ingredient next door. In addition to salads and sandwiches, The Living Room has burgers, sliders, bruschetta, and an array of appetizers. Sundays and Mondays they have a $20 deal which includes a bottle of wine and sliders.
My take-away: two good sandwich spots residing on a block is better than one.
Shall we make it three?
The Living Room
2333 N. 7th Street
Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix ethnic food: Millie’s Cafe
For this week’s Eating the world, I drove to Mesa to try out a hole-in-the-wall Puerto Rican place I’d read about on Yelp, Millie’s Cafe. I had a meat sandwich, plantains a few ways, and a desire to try more.
When your grapefruit runneth over
I just started eating the grapefruits off of my tree.
They aren’t fully baked yet, but seeing that we have 3 trees, that’s going to mean a LOT of grapefruit, for me, as well as the rest of my area of Cenpho.
What are you going to do with all your fruit?
1) Eat them for breakfast
You think of grapefruits as something your mom ate when she was trying to lose weight. Sprinkle a little sugar on them, and they’re delicious!
2) Hide booze in it
Grapefruit juice hides LOADS of vodka. Try a greyhound (vodka + grapefruit juice) or a salty dog (vodka + grapefruit juice + salted rim), or some fancier concoctions.
3) Make a frozen dessert
This recipe for a grapefruit granita seems both easy and really refreshing/delicious.
Any other ideas?
Phoenix ethnic food: Niccoli’s Italian Grocery
Niccoli’s Italian Grocery – Deli is literally walkable from my house…yet I’d never been.
“They have amazing fresh pasta,” says my friend. And from the sign, pizza, and other delicacies. What am I waiting for?
So this week, Niccoli’s is the subject of Eating the World >>
5 things you should eat when in Phoenix
A Wiseguy pizza @ Bianco’s Pizzeria
Chris Bianco’s amazing pizza pies have been topping best-pizza lists nationwide for years, but his fennel sausage and caramelized onion version is a favorite. If you’re in the Phoenix area, brave the 3-hour lines and see what everyone (including Gayle King from Oprah) is talking about.
Note: You can drink wine/beer and nibble on olives (and get 3-hours-of-wine-drinking tipsy) at the next door bar — or arrive early-bird style (4-4:30 p.m.) and get in the first seating of the night.
Enchilada dinner @ Los Dos Molinos
Los Dos, as locals call it, is known for super spicy salsa and strong margaritas. Along with those, order one of the beef, chicken or cheese enchilada plates, which comes with a fried egg on top. A fried egg makes everything taste better.
Braised Leeks, Mozzarella, Mustard Bread Crumbs & Fried Egg @ F&B
Food & Wine Magazine voted this as one of the 10 best restaurant dishes of 2010 – but that wasn’t the first I’d heard of it. Every person I know who’s been to F&B, which has a rotating menu featuring farm fresh ingredients, has raved about this being one of the best things they’ve ever eaten.
Del Rey Torta @ Los Reyes de la Torta
So much meat never tasted so good. These piled-high sandwiches are full of different meats (mini hot dogs anyone?) along with other good things like egg, avocado and cheese (to name a few).
Note: Order a lime Agua Fresca (frosty lime drink), which could possibly be the most refreshing beverage ever created.
Carne Asada Burrito @ America’s Taco Shop
Sit outside on the patio at one of America’s now-three locations and enjoy a marinated cubes of beef, guacamole, pico de gallo and carmelized onions wrapped in a soft, delicious tortilla.
Note: Like it spicy? Get it “America’s way” with diced jalapenos.
Any additions?
Phoenix ethnic food: Caffe Sarajevo
So this week, I covered Caffe Sarajevo and apparently bungled the whole geography thing, which a few readers (ungraciously) let me know.
So read the part about the food — not about the location :^)
New (to me) discovery: New Tokyo Food Market
Fujiya Market in Tempe has pretty much been my go-to destination for Japanese groceries.
It’s where I’ve gotten my curry blocks, miso paste, frozen takoyaki and a host of other hard-to-find Japanese items for years. I had no idea there was another place I might find such things…until now.
On a recent trip to the west side, I found another, perhaps closer Japanese market, that carries most of the aforementioned items, plus a bigger selection of pottery and dinnerware, New Tokyo Food Market.
It doesn’t have prepared foods, but it pretty much has everything else you’d want in a Japanese grocery. See for yourself.
A healthy selection of quick Japanese curries.
A few giant daikon.
The back room has bowls, tea & sake sets, chopsticks, cookbooks and more.
THREE kinds of frozen takoyaki!
New Tokyo Food Market
3435 West Northern Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85051-6528
(602) 841-0255
Phoenix ethnic food: Europa Pastry Cafe
For this week’s Eating the World, I went around the corner from my house to a small Polish restaurant, Europa Pastry Cafe, near Maryland/16th Street.
While the photo looks a little messy — it was delicious! Read more…
Fresh meat: Prescott Valley Farms
I passed the sign for Prescott Valley Farms for weeks anxiously awaiting a nearby store where I could buy farm-raised meats.
Finally, it’s open.
I stopped by and chatted with owner, Clint Van Wuffen, who owns the store and the Farm where much of the meat is naturally raised.
Phoenix ethnic food: Maxim
I’m starting a weekly column on Chow Bella entitled Eating the World — which profiles ethnic restaurants around the Valley. My first week: Vietnamese/Chinese food at Maxim’s.
