Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let's have one last look at the blog posts from this week:
Tofurky & Gravy Soda Makes for a Bizarre Thanksgiving
Draft Magazine's The Big Pour...Or At Least What We Remember From It
Chef Talk: Greg LaPrad, Quiessence
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First of all, do you really need any excuse to go to the Farm at South Mountain? It's one of the prettiest places in the Valley, and feels a millions miles away from the city, even though it's not far off the highway on South 32nd Street.
The afternoon festivities in the pecan grove ($65 a head) will include wine tastings (with dozens of AZ wineries on hand), seminars, live music, and a People's Choice Awards. Then starting at 5 p.m., the Growers Cup Awards Dinner ($125) will combine a four-course dinner from Quiessence with the four winning wines in red, white, rose, and dessert wine categories. Here's the menu: AZWineFest_AwardsDinner.pdf
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Her Field Guide to Candy: How to Identify and Make Virtually Every Candy Imaginable is just as mouthwatering as it sounds, with more than 100 essential recipes packed into one thick, tiny tome.
For candy lovers, this is a treasure trove of creating your own steady supply of homemade treats -- everything from gummy bears to peanut butter cups to fleur de sel caramels. (You're asking yourself, homemade gummy bears? Yeah, same here.)
There are also candy-making notes, tips on storing and serving the candies, and historical tidbits to give you some food for thought.
If you're already thinking Christmas, this would be a great present for your favorite sweet tooth.
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When out-of-state friends come to visit, they're surprised and amazed when we take them out for Pizza. "Pizza?" they say, "In the desert?" Absolutely. Everyone knows Bianco's has great pizza, but this week's cafe column has us jonesin' for a new spin on pizza pie. 
Food Critic Michele Laudig on Tommy V's Osteria Pizzeria:
The crust was lightly crisp and distinctly not bubbly, unlike so many other gourmet pizzerias in town. Right now, I think Tommy's needs to perfect the level of char -- on one visit, half of the pizza was blackened, and on another visit, there wasn't the slightest whiff of smokiness to it. But I've been there several times now, and over the course of those meals, the crust was generally fine.
Wild mushroom pizza, with lots of porcini, shiitake and cremini mushrooms, and scallions in a creamy ooze of melted fontina and mozzarella, got an aromatic boost from some truffle oil. Another pie was a juxtaposition of sweet and pungent, with fresh figs and fig-balsamic playing off the moody flavor of Gorgonzola. Some prosciutto and fresh arugula brought it all together. Pancetta and Gorgonzola pizza worked a different dynamic, with mozzarella to balance out the blue cheese, and more emphasis on salty, crispy pancetta. Arugula also kept it light...full story
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The folks at Sprinkles come up with special cupcake flavors for pretty much every major holiday, but they've outdone themselves for Thanksgiving. A heavy pink "EAT box" filled with a dozen seasonal treats landed in our office today, and I'm pretty sure its contents amounted to lunch for most of the New Times editorial staff.There was pumpkin, ginger maple, orange cranberry, and dark chocolate -- all pretty ridiculous. Pumpkin was my fave, although I tried a chunk of all of them.
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Am I an honorary Phoenician now that eating hot soup and drinking hot tea in the middle of summer doesn't faze me?No matter -- the promise of a steaming bowl of noodles come fall still thrills me to the core. I can't tell you what kind of mood I was in until I sat down to this simple, comforting bowl of udon at Cherryblossom Noodle Cafe and cheered up as if I just got a call from Santa Claus. This sansai ("mountain vegetables") udon had really mouthwatering broth, which I sprinkled with shichimi togarashi and proceeded to drink until my cheeks were glowing.
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Brunch is the biggest thing -- starting this Saturday, Postino Central will be serving brunch (9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays).
The menu looks as scrumptious as Postino's nighttime, wine-friendly fare . . .
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Oakville's already lined up some top local talent, including executive chef Walter Sterling (of Autostrada, Sol y Sombra, and Mary Elaine's) and wine director David Johnson, who made Sol y Sombra's Spanish wine program the talk of the town when it opened.
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Chef Michael DeMaria's new Central Phoenix cafe, Mid City Kitchen, should have opened yesterday according to the announcement on its website, but today the Republic reports that it will be open for business tomorrow, Nov. 18.
Such is the way with restaurant openings, which are never a perfect science.
Located at 2929 N. Central Ave. (at Thomas), this spot will offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a fast-casual setting.
For DeMaria -- who owns upscale Heirloom at DC Ranch and previously operated the AAA Four Diamond Award-winning Michael's at the Citadel for a decade, this is a change of pace, and frankly, a smart move.
With a light rail station right out front and hungry locals looking for affordable new indie eateries, Mid City opens at the right place and the right time.
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The Maricopa County Environmental Services Department hasn't updated its records database with the specifics yet (there is a review process that must take place first). However, a records management representative from the department confirmed that Pure's owners had moved out without informing the landlord, and left some food behind. The electricity had been shut off, and the county received two complaints on Friday, which prompted the notices that were posted.
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Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let's have one last look at the blog posts from this week:
Chef Christopher Mayo Replaces Matt Taylor at Metro Brasserie
What's Cooking at First Fridays
I drink more tea than I want to admit -- I must horde at least a dozen different kinds at any given time.
Lately genmaicha is my fixation.
I bought this particular Ito-En brand "Oishii O-Cha" at Lee Lee, where you'll find genmaicha from several different makers.
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Although I dine alone pretty often, just to fill my belly or scout out a new restaurant, sushi bars and seafood restaurants are some of the only places I can count on to feel comfortable when flying solo.
After working late one night, I stopped by the new Bluewater Grill -- located in the former Fish Market space on Camelback -- for some protein.
Yes, I resorted to flash for my photo, which is why the scallops look like some sort of Halloween holdover. But honestly, they were delicious -- sweet raw scallops served on the half-shell, topped with ponzu sauce, seaweed, flying fish row, and a dab of pickled ginger. My waitress was friendly, but wouldn't shut up about how good they were. Meanwhile, I'm patiently nodding my head to make her go away.
Did I house those scallops in about two minutes? Take a guess.
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On Friday night from 6 to 10 p.m., the free Green Streets Festival will take over Roosevelt Street between 4th and 7th Streets. Along with myriad vendors, artists, and musical guests, there will be food from local chefs and a beer garden sponsored by Valley favorite Four Peaks (look for pumpkin beer on tap).
We should have uploaded the photo above after we wrote the copy. It's a little hard to type with all this drool covering the keyboard. Then again, that's what good barbecue does, right? It incites salivation. Needless to say, we'll definitely be checking out Bryan's Black Mountain Barbecue; especially after reading this week's cafe column. 
Food Critic Michele Laudig on Bryan's Black Mountain Barbecue:
Portions here are lavish. Tender pulled pork was just spilling out of its buttery toasted bun, and it took skill to contain the whole thing with two hands. The effort was worth it, of course. I can only imagine how sloppy-good the thing would've been with the optional toppings of coleslaw or fried egg .
Even more decadent was the Big Pig, a regular special that hasn't made it to the permanent menu yet. Was it an appetizer or an entrée? Hard to say. Imagine a big basket of French fries smothered in spicy pulled pork, beans, jalapeños, green onions, and sour cream. You can start eating it with your hands, but at some point, you'll really need a fork. Beware the shoveling effect, though -- it's hard to save room for your main dish when this heaping beauty is in front of you...full story
If you like to geek out on culinary trend pieces as much as I do, then you'll love the baker's dozen of food culture somebodies and tastemakers that the website Chow.com has compiled for its first-annual Chow 13 Awards.
From the dude who has Angelenos compulsively checking Twitter to get their Korean barbecue taco fix, to the brewery founder who's gotten beer geeks drinking ever stronger, ever more esoteric brews, the rundown is a fun read.
Here's the quick rundown of who gets a nod this year:
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"For me, after Sol y Sombra and Over Easy, it's that next step," he says. "I'm really proud of it."
May says he didn't know what he was going to do with the place when he bought the old Mabel Murphy's bar (7018 E. Main) in Scottsdale.
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If all goes as planned, he'll finally be opening his own restaurant, called FnB, sometime around the 23rd of this month.
That's not even two weeks away, and Milic couldn't be more excited.
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But then we remembered China Chili's hot & sour soup, and zoomed over for one of the super-cheap lunch specials. Most items are around seven or eight bucks, including soup, egg roll, rice, and the entree.
I went with sweet & sour prawns, somewhat absentmindedly. How could I forget that "sweet & sour" equals tangy, bright orange sauce and battered, "deep-friend" (ha) prawns? My mind was elsewhere. I guess I was subliminally thinking of the excellent, garlicky "Lovers Prawns" on the dinner menu. But I cleaned the plate all the same.
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I went with the tonkotsu ramen. When I reviewed Nine 05, this was the dish that got me a little riled up. How were they to know I have a fetish for this stuff? This time around, the soup had improved a bit -- the noodles were cooked right, the broth had more depth, and the temperature was appropriately piping. It still wasn't close to the authentic Japanese dish (even just from appearances, the broth should be pale and opaque), but what the hell -- I like pork belly. Put an oozy egg on top of it, and I like it even more. I'm just going to pretend this dish is called something else.
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If your ears perk up at the sound of a cork popping out of a bottle, then this weekend's First Press events are for you.
Friday night kicks off with the First Press Grand Tasting at the Hotel Valley Ho, presented by National Bank of Arizona.
As you'd expect, there will be plenty of gourmet nibbles -- which is a good thing, considering that there will also be more than 100 wines from some of the country's top wineries.
Justin Baldwin of JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery will be in the house, too, serving as the event's honorary chair. Meanwhile, chef Eddie Matney of Eddie's House and chef Michael DeMaria of Heirloom will compete before a celebrity panel in the 3rd annual Food Fight.
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The Tempe outpost of Regions Bistro -- which originally opened at 6th Street and Mill a little over seven months ago, and then closed unexpectedly in early June -- is back in business under new ownership. Regions' Scottsdale location, on Shea Boulvard, reopened in August after a two-month hiatus.
The original concept hasn't changed. Regions continues to rotate its regional comfort food menus every month, and is currently showcasing a roundup of "New World Thanksgiving" dishes.
Regions opens at 11 a.m. daily, and serves until 10 p.m. (until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and until 9 p.m. Sunday).
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He says 100 percent of the proceeds from the night's dinner service (5 to 10 p.m.) will be donated to Free Arts of Arizona, a non-profit organization that reaches out to abused, at-risk, and homeless children through the creative arts. Call 602-340-9777 for a reservation.
Yep, it's that easy to give to charity. Come in for dinner, and pay by cash or check to Free Arts.
Chu has sponsored art shows for the organization in the past, but the economy and budget cuts have been especially hard on it lately. "I kind of want to go out on a limb this year," he says.
Pizzeria Bianco
Phoenix, AZ 
Pasta Brioni
Scottsdale, AZ 
Phoenician Resort
Scottsdale, AZ 
Sanctuary Resort
Paradise Valley, AZ 
Aunt Chilada's Restaurant & Hideaway
Phoenix, AZ 
Ajo Al's
Phoenix, AZ 
