To celebrate the Summer Solstice, Page Springs Cellars will host the 6th Annual Tilted Earth Music & Wine Festival. The evening of Friday June 21st will bring a wine dinner & Saturday 22nd will offer guests the music festival. The events will benefit of the Arizona Culinary Institute of Scottsdale and local Verde Valley charities.
Page Springs founder and winemaker at Page Springs Cellars says of the festival “Tilted strives to accomplish these goals by tilling the “soils” on and around the Summer Solstice each year by producing the Tilted Earth Festival. The “seeds” will be sown in this soil by the hands of attending artisans from the fields of craft drink, food, music and fine arts. After planting, the fields will be “watered” by the local community – Arizonans from far-and-wide – and eventually people from all over the country and world. The cultural and economic fruit grown and harvested from this effort will strengthen our people, our families, our community and our economy.
The Henry Schuerman Commemorative Wine Dinner
Five chefs will prepare a five course dinner honoring the father of Verde Valley winemaking, Henry Schuerman. The dinner will be paired with wines from local wineries. The chef’s will draw inspiration from Schuerman’s family vintage cookbook from the late 1800’s. Schuerman’s descendants will be on hand to speak about the families winemaking history.
The dinner will be under the stars on Page Springs outdoor deck and will start at 7 p.m. Tickets will be $105+ and proceeds will benefit student scholarships.
Music at Tilted Earth
Saturday evening brings a line-up of 4 bands, a wine garden, a food truck, games, massage and a silent auction. The doors open up at 5:30 with Ill Ego taking the stage followed by House of Stairs, Joe Novelli & The CloudWalls and Gerado Continos and The Habaneros. Festival goers are invited to bring blankets and chairs but no pets.
Tickets for the rain or shine festival are $65 on-line and $75 at the door. Tickets include a free parking (at DA Ranch) and a shuttle to Page Springs, water and a stemless wine glass. To purchase tickets for one or both events head to the festivals website.
Silent auction items include wine pairing dinner, original artwork, Verde Valley railroad rides and signed bottles of wine.
Page Springs Cellars Tasting Room & Bistro will be open both days but will close at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Page Spring Cellars is at 1500 N Page Springs Rd. Cornville 86325.
The award-winning farm to table restaurant Quiessence at The Farm is bringing back its popular Taste of Quiessence dinner experience. As with previous years there is limited seating for the dinners created by chef Dustin Christofolo. The twelve dinners will feature dishes prepared with ingredients from The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm along with ingredients from local vendors.
12 diners per evening will enjoy the special dinners offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays June 4th – 27th. The three course dinners will change weekly based on ingredients available in the farm. An amuse bosche may be prepared from chef Christofolo. Possible dishes may be…..
Cucumber soup. All photos courtesy of Quiessence at The Farm
Hand crafted Potato Gnocchi with Zucchini, Oven Dried Tomatoes, Parisian Carrots, Leeks, Mint.
As one of the more popular Phoenix restaurants and because of the limited seating guests wanting the Taste of Quiessence dinner must call 602-276-0601 and mention the dinner. The three course dinner is $45 per person plus tax and tip. The in-house sommelier will pair your dinner with wine for an additional $20.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Taste of Quiessence the restaurant will close for 5 weeks in July & August for research and development.
Heading out to lunch and dinner during the hot summer months can be quite a chore. So locally owned Cold Beer & Cheeseburgers is motivating you with Summer Savings including Kids Eat Free a few locations.
Beginning May 28th at their Arcadia, Shea, 7th St and Gilbert(Higley) locations kids 12 and under get a free meal when an adult meal is purchased all day Tuesday. The Kid’s Meal’s are available everyday too and include Cheeseburger Sliders, Chicken Fingers, Grilled Cheese, Mmmac & Cheese and more. A small drink and fries are included for $7.50.
Cheeseburger Fries. All photos courtesy of Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers
More Summer Savings
That’s just one of the ways to get you to come out in the heat. Other Summer Savings include the return of the popular Summer Secret Scratch Off. 50,000 scratch off cards are ready to be given away at all locations. When redeemed on a future visit guests will receive 10% and have a chance to win these prizes.
$1,000 cash prize
2-night staycation at a luxury resort, $200 tab at Bourbon & Bones and a complimentary lunch at Famous 48
Golf Foursome at a Scottsdale golf course
Up to 30% off next visit
Cheeseburger Sliders
Summer Savings also include the featured deals on food and beer daily including.
Monday – Mac Daddy Monday. All day, $13.50 unlimited toppings on MMMac & Cheese
Happiest Hour in Town. Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers is known for its generous weekly happy hour featuring select appetizers, domestic and craft beer specials.
Tuesday – Cantastic Tuesday. All day, $3 any canned beer and half-off bottles of wine
Wednesday – Pimp Your Burger. All day, $13.50 with unlimited toppings
Thursday – Trivia Thursday. $8.50 tot chos, $5 Dos Equis Mugs, $4 White Claws, $5 Jack Daniels Cocktails
Every Day Ice Cold Beer Buckets. “Buy 6, Save $6;” “Buy 12, Save $12.” Fans can mix and match from a selection of 100 canned and bottled beers.
With 10 locations in around Phoenix and 2 more on the way find a Cold Beer & Cheeseburgers near you at https://www.coldbeers.com/
Like many of us living in Arizona, I too came from somewhere else. Across the river from New York City in suburban New Jersey I grew up on take-out pizza, diner food, and bagels. Despite many New York and New Jersey transplants opening restaurants serving food from our home state those foods just taste better back east. Whenever I head back for a visit I head for my favorite foods and I was back a couple of weeks ago.
Most people wouldn’t visit these family restaurants in suburban Bergen County unless you’re visiting family or friends in the area. But if you live there or happen to be traveling through the small towns that dot the metro area they’re easy to find.
Let’s eat
When you don’t know what you want or everybody wants something different a local diner is always a good call. So with family who flew into town we headed to to Matthews Colonial Diner in Waldwick. Wanting a char-broiled burger I opted to eat healthy knowing there would be plenty of food this week. The Beet & Goat Cheese Salad was a solid and out of the ordinary choice for me. My family knowing my eating habits gave me the “are you feeling ok” look when the word salad came out of my mouth.
Seems like Italian food reigned the week with 2 or 3 meals as we wound having pizza or pasta delivered. A favorite of my sister and her family is The Sicilian Sun in Ho-Ho-Kus. Whether we walk over to dine-in or have it delivered it rarely disappoints. Ordering take-out I went pasta free ordering Chicken Scarpello with sausage, pepperoncini, mushrooms, garlic and a touch of garlic. So good I may have to head back sooner than later to get it again.
Chicken Scarpello from The Sicilian Sun
Wednesday lunch had a group of 20 family and friends at the Ho-Ho-Kus Inn & Tavern for a 4 course lunch. Lots of history at this place that was constructed in 1796. The entree course had your typical, beef, chicken and fish option along with Bolognese Tagliatelle. I had the latter, I told you there was a lot of Italian food.
In the city
A trip to New Jersey isn’t complete without a visit to New York City. Thursday I caught a ride to lower Manhattan’s Financial District to play tourist and walk off the calories I consumed.
Getting into the city early I grabbed a a quick lox, egg & tomato bagel from the Park Place location of Lenwich, a local chain of sandwich shops I’ve never experienced before. Not my typical bagel and lox combination but it gave me the fuel I needed to pound the pavement.
Meeting a friend for lunch who had little time we opted for “street meat” from a food truck nearby. The city is know for it’s food trucks and carts offering a quick and reasonably priced lunch. We went for Mediterranean food and I opted for a falafel sandwich and my friend with a chicken and rice. Filling portions for only $5 each. The weather was one of the nicer days so we opted for a park bench to eat and chat.
NYC Falafel
Back on the Jersey side
Thursday dinner had us ordering in…… pizza from Anthony Franco’s Pizzeria. A visit to Jersey wouldn’t be a visit to Jersey without a couple of pizza pies. Sausage, onions, mushrooms and more topping our pies a few slices for now and few left for later.
In between rain drops on Friday I decided to give in to my burger craving at Red Cedar Market Season Kitchen for their RCM Mushroom and Swiss burger. This busy cafe made the best burger I’ve had in a while. Made to order and cooked to my preferred medium rare and drizzled with truffle oil and served with delicious fries.
RCM Mushroom & Swiss burger
Dinner had heading to the State Line Diner, a couple of miles south of the New York state border on Route 17. So much to choose from I didn’t know what I was going with until the words “Roat Beef & Swiss Cheese Triple Decker sandwich with a side of Steak Cut Onion Rings” came out. The rare roast beef was good but I wish I hadn’t ordered the onion rings as I compared them to a hometown favorite pile from the defunct Louie’s Charcoal Pit.
A quick trip upstate to Saratoga Springs
Saturday afternoon I drove up the New York Thruway to visit a friend I met in Arizona who re-located back home to upstate New York.
Once arriving I made my way to Broadway, the main drag in Saratoga Springs, waiting for my friend to get off work. The best weather of my visit had people out & about on this late Saturday afternoon and I found Druthers Brewery for a cold Raspberry Nut Brown Ale. It hit the spot before I strolled the downtown to Congress Park to taste the spring water known for in the area.
Meeting my friend at Purdy’s Discount Wine & Liquors where she got off work but not before I tasted New York State made sangria and sparkling wine.
With other friends taking the train from Boston for an overnight visit the plan was for a festive Paella dinner. After wine, a generous portion of charcuterie and realizing it was late our Paella dinner was tabled until Sunday brunch. Made from scratch with each the chicken, shrimp and chorizo cooked separately we all watched and helped prepare as we sipped on our cups of Spot Coffee, an upstate coffee roaster.
The Cortile at Solevo
Dinner on Sunday night in Saratoga had us paying a visit to get this, a new Italian restaurant Solevo Kitchen & Social. For an appetizer we ordered the tasty Eggplant Chips drizzled with Calabrian Chili Honey and basil. My friends ordered the Sunday Sauce, rigatoni and meatballs in a San Marzano plum tomato sauce and Gnochhi with wild mushrooms, arugula, rosemary in a brown butter sauce.
After seeing several Items I’d already had that week I went with The Cortile, a mix of prosciutto, sweet peas, ground veal in a plum tomato & cream sauce with tagliatelle. Red wine and my Pinky Ring cocktail accompanied our meal and all were satisfied for our walk home.
Back to Jersey then back to Arizona
After a fun visit upstate I made my trip back down to New Jersey Monday morning. Deciding to raid my sisters cabinets and refrigerator for late lunch and early dinner I opted not to order….Italian food for dinner. Despite my best efforts to taste my niece and nephews Chicken Parmigna their like me very protective of their food. Early Tuesday I was on a plane back to my current home, Scottsdale.
More New Jersey and New York eats on my next visit east. See my Instagram for pictures of my visit @SandyWass
Don’t let this weeks cooler than normal temperatures fool you, the triple digits are coming. When the heat returns many of the Phoenix area farmers markets take the summer off but not at Hotel Valley Ho. Summer is when their Chef + Farmers Market returns indoors at their Sands indoor venue.
Saturday’s from June 22nd – July 13th from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. guests can enjoy tastes from local chefs, purchase fresh produce and more goodies from local purveyors. While shopping and tasting enjoy live music and sip on Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s or taste wine and spirits. Valley Ho’s chef Russell Lacasce will provide the tasty bites along with Matt Taylor of Mora Italian and Rene Andrade of Ghost Ranch.
Save room to taste the milkshakes made by contestants of the Battle Freak Shake contest to see who makes the best “Show Stopper” Shake. The winning shake will be featured in Augustin Zuzu. All attendees will receive a voucher for 25% off a summer visit to Zuzu.
Each weeks Chef + Farmers Market will have a theme from food to music, here is the schedule.
June 22nd- South of the Border
June 29th- Bada Boom
July 6th- Grillin ‘n’ Chillin
July 13th – Sweet Treats
Hotel Valley Ho is at 6850 E. Main St. Scottsdale 85251.
The family-owned Someburros Mexican eatery continues to grow and has announced their 9th location in Uptown Phoenix. It will be the first location outside the east valley when it opens at 7th St and Camelback. Expected top open later this summer, they will be serving award-winning burritos, tacos, enchiladas and more authentic Mexican food.
The fast casual restaurant will also serve frozen margaritas and draft beers to go with your food.
Co-owner Amy Vasquez is very excited about the Uptown Phoenix location as its where she lives. “It’s been a dream of mine for some time to open a Someburros in my neighborhood,” she said. “We know this community, we love this community and we’re raising our own families in this community, so we can’t wait to build our workforce and fanbase within it.”
When George and Mary Vasquez opened the first Someburros in 1986 they insisted on giving back to the community. Their three children continue this tradition of philanthropy at the current 8 locations. When the new location opens it will partner with local schools as part of their community outreach.
“This is a bustling area, and with so many students, professionals and residents around, fast-casual is always in demand,” said Tim Vasquez, of the decision to open in Uptown Phoenix. “We’ve been thinking about expanding to this area for a while now, but we wanted to wait until we could find the perfect place. Now that we’ve found it, we can’t wait to get the doors open.”
To keep up to date on when the new location will open and to find the other location check out their website.
As I type Ocean 44 Chief Executive Chef Marc Lupino is on his way back to Scottsdale after a quick fishing trip to Alaska. Lupino left Wednesday for Cordova to fish the Copper River for King Salmon before the fishing season opens for commercial fishing.
This unique opportunity has Lupino and a small group of people fishing Thursday into Friday before returning to Scottsdale. Once he returns he will prepare the fish for guests Friday evening. It doesn’t get much fresher than that, especially for a restaurant so far from the Copper River.
Once in the kitchen the fish will be braised in spring water, butter and lemon. Can’t make it in tonight, the fish will be on the menu in coming weeks as more fish are caught.
Celebrating the Copper River King Salmon
This annual event as the fishing season opens has restaurants anticipating the arrival of this rich and flavorful fish. Restaurants in Seattle celebrate it’s arrival as Alaska Airlines delivers thousands of pounds of the fish Friday morning.
The airline’s “Salmon Thirty Salmon” even displays a 129 foot image of the wild caught salmon.
2019 is expected to be better than 2018 for the salmon harvest.
Ocean 44 is at 4748 N. Goldwater Blvd. Scottsdale 85251.
With 4 locations around the valley Matt’s Big Breakfast has announced that its 5th location will be in Scottsdale. After teasing and getting feedback from customers on social media the southwest corner of Scottsdale Rd & Thunderbird will be the new location. When it opens this fall people will line-up for one of the iconic names on the valley’s breakfast scene.
“Scottsdale was hungry,” said Matt Pool, owner and namesake of the most important meal of the day. “Local fans have even submitted suggestions on vacant spots for us to take over!”
This will be the eateries first franchised location taking on the atmosphere of the neighborhood. The menu, fundamentals and culture will be staying the same.
Matt’s Big Breakfast has received national attention with mentions in the New York Times, Bon Appetit and Eater. An appearance on The Food Network also helped put them on the national map.
French Toast
Relying on locals at Matt’s Big Breakfast
Sourcing ingredients from local purveyors customers in Scottsdale can expect sweet and savory dishes from Griddle Cakes to Salami Scrambles. The Big Butter Burger is a favorite of many and pays tribute to Pool’s Wisconsin upbringing.
“One of our main priorities is to avoid growing simply for the sake of growth, and to instead let it happen organically, and with the right people taking the reins of each new restaurant we open,” said Pool. “While this new location may have minor stylistic differences from existing Matt’s restaurants, guests will get to enjoy the same quality, consistency & superior service that they’ve come to expect from the Matt’s Big Breakfast family.”
Since opening in downtown Phoenix in 2004 the eatery has opened in Tempe, Arcadia and Sky Harbor Airport.
“We’re thrilled to add a Scottsdale location to the Matt’s Big Breakfast family,” Pool said. “Local fans will find everything they love about Matt’s at the new location – they just don’t have to drive as far now to enjoy it.”
For more information about Matt’s Big Breakfast checkout their website.
Guests dining for dinner and brunch at Mowry & Cotton will notice new dishes to choose from the next time they dine at the restaurant. Chef de Cuisine Tandy Peterson has added Spring vegetables and proteins to the menu at the award-wining restaurant.
At the modern American restaurant inside The Phoenician Resort, Peterson has chosen lighter and fresh fare for Spring dining. New dishes on the dinner menu include Corn & Chorizo dip with chicharrones, chilis & Oaxaca cheese. Popular American comfort food favorite Chicken Pot Pie is packed with potatoes, sage veloute and Spring vegetables. A fresh tuna steak and Blistering Shishito Peppers are also featured on the new menu.
New brunch menu items feature Crispy Chicken Sandwich and Belgian Waffles with lemon curd, berries and Chantilly cream.
Mowry & Cotton at The Phoenician 6000 E Camelback Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. To make reservations to dine with Chef Tandy Peterson call 480.423.2530
There’s a lot to celebrate in the month of May including foodie favorite National BBQ Month. The 4 Phoenix area Famous Dave’s BBQ’s have a months worth of BBQ deals for smoked meat lovers.
Chicken Week starts today through the 12th. $12.99 for a chicken platter, 2 sides, salad and cornbread.
Add-On Brisket Week is the 13th – 19th. For $2 you can add smoked brisket to any entrée.
Every Monday in May is BOGO Monday. Buy 1 sandwich and get 1 FREE!
Must mention above offer to get deals.
Tuesday is $29.99 Feast for 2. Save $14!
When mom and dad order an entrée on Tuesday, kid’s get to eat for free from the Lil Wilbur’s menu. 1 free kids meal per adult entrée.
Wing Wednesday gets you $.50 Jumbo Wings. Do I need to say anything else!
All You Can Eat Rib Tips for $15.99 on Thursdays. Sorry no sharing or to-go boxes for this one.
Kick off the weekend on Friday’s with $5 Hand Crafted Signature Drinks.
Also during National BBQ Month
You know your mom loves BBQ so bring her in on Mother’s Day for a $10 gift card for another visit. And Signature Drinks are just $5.
Senior Lunch Deal gets those 55 & over saving 20% everyday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. in May. Don’t forget to mention the offer for this one.
Book a graduation party at Famous Dave’s during National BBQ Month and get a $25 gift card for future visit. Call 480-718-5331, text 480-310-9310 or email catering@famousdavesaz.com for more information and to place your order!
Until May 19th bring a case of water and help fill an F-150 and receive 1/2 off voucher for Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix AND a free brisket sandwich. Limited quantities on both.
Visit Famous Dave’s BBQ for more details. No other discounts on above promotions valid. The 4 Phoenix area Famous Dave’s are at Mesa Riverview, Santan Village in Gilbert, Chandler & Peoria.
