Tag: wine club

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.

New Fall menu at Hearth ’61

The signature restaurant at Mountain Shadows Resort is now offering its new menu from Chef de Cuisine Alfred Muro. If you’re dining for brunch (Greek Toast w/ poached eggs & Feta, Green Chile Pork Torta) or dinner (Duroc Farms Pork Chop or H ’61 Angliotti w/ short ribs) you know it going to be good. Those and more dishes and new desserts are now available.

GenuWino Appreciation Day Sunday at GenuWine

The downtown Phoenix wine bar is giving wine drinkers an opportunity to join their wine club this Sunday 10/10. Come down to visit between 1 – 6 p.m. and if you sign-up before there is no cost for the day and $15 if you choose not to join. Wine samples and Dough Riders Food Truck will be enjoyed. Members get 2 bottles of wine and an Arizona made gift each month along with 15% off when you visit.

Nonna Urban Kitchen offers new 3-course menu

The Old Town Scottsdale restaurant has updated its menu to highlight seasonal ingredients. Guest can pick from 6 choices in each first and second courses and 3 from the dessert menu. Cost is $48 per person plus tax & gratuity. To see the full menu offerings and to make reservation visit their website.

Fired Pie partners with Special Olympics Arizona for the rest of the year.

Guests visiting the fast casual pizzeria can donate $5 to the non-profit sports organization that works with people with disabilities. In return donors will have a placard with their name at the location until the end of 2021.

PHX Beer Co. launches first Oktoberfest beer

The local brewery released its first Oktoberfest ($16) beer coincides with other new seasonal releases including Howling Oats Hazy IPA ($16) and North Rim Hazy IPA ($17). All three are in limited supply and come in 16 oz 4-pack cans and on tap at the brewers Phoenix taproom and Scottsdale restaurant while supplies last.

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.

Rift Tap and Wine Bar opening in south Scottsdale

If all goes as planned with the expiration of the current Covid-19 lock down on Monday July 27th south Scottsdale could have a new beer and wine bar in early August. Regardless of the lock down Rift Tap and Wine Bar opens for curbside pick-up and delivery that same Monday. Rift is the brainchild of owners Damien Kanser, a wine industry veteran and friend Jon Coppins, the winemaker at Su Vino Winery.

Named after a Phish album that inspired Kanser since his childhood, Rift converted a spot that was a convenience store at Fillmore and Scottsdale Rd.. With little or nothing for craft beer and wine between old town Scottsdale and Tempe they felt this would be the perfect location for their neighborhood bar. The neighborhood is home to many service industry people and young professionals who have had nowhere to gather since Papago Brewing Co. closed a few years ago.

Rift will feature affordable wines and beers from local brewers and wineries and from across the country and the world. 25 beers on tap will be poured along with wines by the glass as guests gather at the 23 seat bar, high top tables or couches. Food trucks will be scheduled for guests to enjoy a bite to eat with their beer and wine. Coolers will house cold beers to go along with a few racks of retail wines. Kanser envisions Rift’s retail component as a quick grab n go for people to purchase on a regular basis to enjoy with dinner or by the pool. They’re sourcing limited production small batch beers directly from brewers giving the shop a unique selection by the bottle and tap.

Rift owners Damien Kanser and Jon Coppins

The wine club at Rift Tap and Wine Bar

This fall Rift will house a studio for their “Spilling the Truth” podcast they started in late 2018. Windows to the studio will allow guests to view podcasts live with brewers and winemakers joining the podcast.

Two wine clubs will be offered featuring local wines and wines to a national audience based on wineries visiting the podcast.

Rift is at 431 N. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale 85257. For updates check out their Facebook page.