New Times archives

The James Beard Foundation Awards are often called the "Oscars of Food"

Sure, Phoenix is far from being a favorite city of the JB foundation, but that doesn't mean we don't daydream about what it would be like to experience the biggest event in the culinary world.

See also:
- 2013 James Beard Award Semifinalists Announced: Four Arizona Candidates Make the Cut

Aside from the fact that it would mean hobnobbing with the biggest and brightest stars of the culinary elite, this year's awards on May 6 will be hosted by Stanley Tucci -- as in the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor, writer, film producer, and director known for his roles in Julie & Julia, The Devil Wears Prada, and, recently, The Hunger Games.

It might be a long shot, but Acqua Panna Natural Spring Water has got a chance to make those golden gastronomical dreams come true.

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@thekingoftheworld

We told you cake pops were dangerous.

Hey, Instagram friends -- we loved spending Thanksgiving with you.

Chow Bella hasn't had an Instagram account for long (follow us at @chowbellaphx) but we're already addicted to snapping, filtering and posting -- and apparently you are, too, judging from the beautiful and entertaining images we've been following.

Last week, we held our first (but not last) Instagram contest.

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Crepe Bar

Shelby models the Chow Bella apron.

In these hyper-reflective times, photographing your food is almost as important as eating it. If you're not on Instagram, what are you waiting for?! The filters make even your biggest kitchen disaster look downright delicious.

See also:
- Chow Bella's Complete Thanksgiving Guide
- Five Tips for Effective Food Photography

And we want to see. Chow Bella's on Instagram -- follow us (@chowbellaphx), show us your turkey porn, and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a super cool Chow Bella apron (modeled above by Shelby, former Chow Bella intern and current Crepe Bar barista).

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FnB Restaurant

If you have ever dreamed of taking a private seaplane to an island just to have lunch, we have news for you.

Pavle Milic and Charleen Badman of FnB in Scottsdale are holding a contest this month for their Instagram followers that could make this fantasy a reality.

See also:
- Pavle Milic & Charleen Badman Offering Exclusive Island Brunch For a Good Cause
- FnB and Noca Create Goofy Promo Video for Upcoming Fried Chicken Throwdown
- Eliot Wexler Challenges Charleen Badman of FnB To Fried Chicken Throwdown at Noca

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courtesy of Kim Kunasek

Earlier this week, we announced the winners of Just Like Mom's, Chow Bella's first Mother's Day essay contest. Today we present the winning essay by Kim Kunasek, about her mother, Emilie Charlotte Klaiber -- and Klaiber's recipe for "pancake soup."

My mother has always been a life force. As a cook and as a mother, she is creative, patient, resourceful, and loving, and her food tastes like that. Her cooking skills have helped her survive poverty, nurtured her family, comforted the bereaved, and helped a new mother (me, among many others) feel a little normal for a while when life is spinning out of control.

A poor German immigrant, my mother moved to the United States in 1959 with her new husband and her 8-year old daughter, my sister. With modest tools and budget and knowledge born of scarcity, she could make amazing meals from almost nothing. My mother never bought packaged chicken legs or breasts when I was growing up, instead quartering a whole chicken and using every spare part for something. The bones were roasted and stewed to make soup. The organs and gizzards had their part in the soup making or in gravies. Pre-packaged ground meat? Never. Gravy for any dish (more red wine and herbs than arrowroot and flour) was sublime, good enough to sip from a spoon.

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From Jamaica to Panama, the entrants in Chow Bella's first-ever Mother's Day essay contest took us on a whirlwind tour of maternal culinary inspiration. And boy, are we hungry.

Thanks to all who entered, and particularly to Gayle Shanks, co-owner of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, who graciously judged all the entries.

We have first-, second-, and third-place awards to hand out, as well as an honorable mention.

Drumroll, please.

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So, how's your mom's cooking?

C'mon, be honest. This year, in honor of Mother's Day, Chow Bella really wants to know about your mother's skill with a skillet, whether she's a regular Julia Child or dinner always seem to go up in flames.

So we're holding a good, old fashioned essay contest -- call it "Just Like Mom's" -- and we're asking you to send us a true story about your mother's cooking.

Write about her signature dish, or one particularly memorable meal. Tell us about her worst kitchen disaster; the skills (or lack thereof) she's passed down to you; or her prowess with a pressure cooker.

Get details on prizes and rules after the jump.

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You submitted nominations for awards given to the Valley's emerging creatives and the results are in. Introducing our Big Brain 2012 Finalists.

Leading up to the Big Brain Award awards announcement and celebration on April 7, Chow Bella and Jackalope Ranch will introduce the finalists.

Up today: Esther Mbaikambey

Jamie Peachey

Whether chef Esther Mbaikambey is serving up creations such as her Caribbean jerk chicken or the Nigerian thick soup, Eugusi, she often responds to her grateful guests with the phrase, "It's my pleasure."

The words are spoken slowly, always with a smile, and in Mbaikambey's thick African accent. Her mannerisms and movements suggest a calmness not typically found in the restaurant business, especially from first-time chef/owners like Mbaikambey.

"People are surprised that I am so calm," she says, "but I'm a hard worker -- I don't like to give up; I like to push through."

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You submitted nominations for awards given to the Valley's emerging creatives and the results are in. Introducing our Big Brain 2012 Finalists.

Leading up to the Big Brain Award awards announcement and celebration on April 7, Chow Bella and Jackalope Ranch will introduce the finalists.

Up today: Farmer Woody

Jamie Peachey

When you consider the Garfield neighborhood near downtown Phoenix, thoughts might turn to the area's rough-and-tumble history, or its recent popularity among artists and hipsters. But it hardly inspires visions of bucolic landscapes and vegetable gardens.

Unless you're John Milton. Milton, who prefers to be called Farmer Woody, has a goal for Garfield: to turn back the clock nearly 150 years to a time before the area was divided into residential plots -- to transform the historic neighborhood into "The Garfield Gardens."

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You submitted nominations for awards given to the Valley's emerging creatives and the results are in. Introducing our Big Brain 2012 Finalists.

Leading up to the Big Brain Award awards announcement and celebration on April 7, Chow Bella and Jackalope Ranch will introduce the finalists.

Up today: John Cavanagh

Jamie Peachey

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John Cavanagh is busy.

The guy has a full-time job as general manager of the Tuck Shop in central Phoenix, and he's getting ready any day now to introduce Astor House, a breakfast/lunch/snack/wine shop opening next door to the super popular dinner spot. On the side, he does some consulting for other restaurateurs, and in his free time, he's rebuilding a motorcycle.

And on his day off, he -- single-handledly, from scratch -- brews tonic syrup for his own private label, "John's Premium."

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