Tag: Chopped

Sips & Bites: News you can use from the Phoenix restaurant community

Quick sips & bites of news about what’s going on around the Phoenix restaurant community, breweries and wineries.

The Thirsty Lion to open new & larger Westgate restaurant

The newest location in Glendale will be Arizona’s 5th and its largest with two stories and an indoor/outdoor rooftop bar. The gastropub that specializes in scratch made and seasonal cooking is set to open in December 2022. The 5,000+ square foot restaurant will be able to seat over 700 people at full capacity.

New seasonal menu at EVO from new chef Nick LaRosa

The downtown Scottsdale neighborhood restaurant rolled out an Autumn inspired menu from LaRosa. The new chef who joined EVO earlier this year loves this time of year, perfect for his Italian style cooking. A Fall Spiced Duroc Chop and Five Cheese Angliotti are just a couple of his new dishes. To hear Chef LaRosa’s story check out Episode 45 of The Podcast to here what the Chopped champion has to say.

New Nonna Urban Kitchen weekly wine tasting

Starting tonight and every Thursday night after (except Thanksgiving, cauz ya know somebody’s gonna ask or show up) the downtown Scottsdale restaurant offers a free tasting at 5:30 p.m. thanks to the help of their wine vendors.

GenuWine Arizona pouring Sand Reckoner wines on First Friday

Tomorrow night he wine bar on Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix will welcome the folks from the Arizona winery to pour and mix & mingle with the crowd. Cajun food from Zydeco’s Louisiana Food truck will be on hand selling their good eats during the 6-9 p.m event.

Happy Veteran’s Day

Next Thursday November 11th is Veteran’s Day and more restaurants than not are doing something to say “Thank you” to our veterans, so many it was to many to list. Find one and raise a glass and say “Thanks”. Many local restaurants and bars are also veteran owned so look out and support those too.

Don’t forget to check out my podcast Pulling Corks & Forks: The Podcast with Sandy Wasserman to hear from those in our community. Please subscribe, like & comment.

“Chopped” champion Chef Nick LaRosa has a new menu at Nook Kitchen

Arcadia’s Nook Kitchen has re-opened this week with a new menu from Chef Nick LaRosa. The restaurant moved to a new larger location along Indian School Road in December and was humming along as it did at the old location when Covid- 19 broke out. They did take out until several nearby restaurants were hit with the virus and owner Frank Vairo and partners decided to close for the summer.

Nicholas Winger, managing partner, said: “We can’t wait to welcome back our guests.  We are operating with limited-seating and dining socially distanced due to pandemic regulations, so we encourage reservations, especially with our small dining room. It fills up quickly.”

What’s on the menu from Chef Nick LaRosa

With the opening comes a new menu of Italian favorites with a modern twist from LaRosa. House made pastas and fresh ingredients are on the menu such as Casarecce Bolognese for meat lovers and Veggie Campanelle for vegetarians. Napolitano styled pizzas are still coming out of the pizza oven along with entrees such as pan-seared salmon, a double bone-in pork chop and the Nook Burger.

LaRosa was champion of the Food Network’s “Chopped” in 2017 and has earned other local accolades.

Chef Nick LaRosa
Aracini

“We’re excited and want to shout from the rooftops that ‘we’re back!’ ” LaRosa said. “And we’re really happy to be back, too.  The time off has given us the opportunity to add new menu items, plus fantastic desserts and still focus on the dishes we know our patrons love. “The specialness of our food is Italian with a twist.  If you want to eat hearty, we’ve got it.  If you’d rather eat light, we’ve got that too in spades.”

The menu also includes appetizers including Brussel Chips, Aracini and more. Exciting new desserts include a gelato flight from Cool Gelato and Nook’s version of Affogatto. Sommelier Matthew Wohleb has created a new and old world wine list to compliment the cuisine and mixoligist Gabe Chavez mixes up the cocktail program.

Nook Kitchen opens Wednesday thru Sunday at 5 p.m. and is at 4231 E. Indian School R. Phoenix 85018.

Celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez to appear at Sanctuary on Camelback

When Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa resumes its Lunch & Learn series on Sunday November 17th their doing with a celebrity chef. The resorts own celebrity chef Beau McMillan will welcome his friend Aaron Sanchez for the interactive culinary demonstration. Sanchez is co-host of the Food Network’s “Chopped” and a judge and co-host of Fox’s “MasterChef”.

MacMillan and Sanchez will host 125 guests for the 3-course lunch inspired by Sanchez’s latest best-selling memoir, “Where I Came From: Life Lessons from a Latino Chef”. Guests will receive a signed copy of the book at the end of the event. In addition to his TV work Sanchez is chef and owner of New Orlean’s popular restaurant “Johnny Sanchez”. He’s considered to be America’s most prominent Latino chef and when he’s not working on TV he’s donating his time and money to worthy causes.

Lunch & Learn with Aaron Sanchez starts at 11 a.m. and tickets are $135 per  person and are all inclusive. Reservations are needed and can be made by calling 855-318-9009. Seats are limited so guests are encouraged to make their reservations early.

Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa is at 5700 E. McDonald Dr. Paradise Valley 85253.

Santa Barbara Catering featured on Food Network’s Chopped in February

Arizona chefs and restaurants have been well represented over the years on cable and network television as food challenge and travel shows as have burst into prime time. You can now add Tempe’s Santa Barbara Catering and its executive sous chef Marissa Delgado to the list as they will be featured on the Food Network’s Chopped premiering Tuesday February 13th at 8pm.

Santa Barbara Catering
Executive Sous Chef Delgado in action

Executive Sous Chef Marissa Delgado

Delgado is a  perfect fit for television with her spunky attitude and her kitchen creativity with a reputation for molecular gastronomy and pastry making. With Santa Barbara Catering for 7 years, Delgado has limitless options in the catering kitchen.

“Being able to represent not only Arizona, but also the catering industry on national television was  an experience that I am extremely proud of. My culinary depth as a catering chef helped to prepare me for this fast paced challenge. Also, having executed so many custom menus for our clients, I was able to quickly plan a creative strategy during the competition. ” said Delgado.

Tune in to see how Delgado did with her challenge and its results.

Santa Barbara Catering

It’s should be no surprise that Santa Barbara Catering is making it to a tv screen near you as the company has been a premier caterer around the Phoenix area for over 25 years. With its menu creativity and more they’ve received numerous accolades in the catering industry including being named “International Caterer of the Year” by International Catering Association.

In addition to catering they also operate Palette at the Phoenix Art Museum and is the museum’s daytime caterer.  The Farm at South Mountain is also part of the Santa Barbara Catering family.

For more information visit their website.