As if Steve McDonald needed to let everyone know that the days of SIX nightclub are shot, he’s locked and loaded for a weekend opening of Revolver Lounge, the new bar housed in the old Six space. What you won’t find anymore: bright primary colors, loads of unused space, and, well, walls. What you will find: a classic look of wood and leather, a comfy vibe, a big, open room, and the same bank of peek-a-boo bathrooms that gave Six a slice of sex-appeal.
The vibe, McDonald hopes, is where the big 180 should come from. “We’re older now,” says McDonald about the Scottsdale scene, “and I just wanted to create a place that people feel comfortable coming to. I think that’s what everybody wants. Do you want to deal with that power hungry door guy anymore? I know I don’t.”
For a tour, watch our video below, which we shot yesterday as the cleaning crew was prepping for tonight’s big grand opening. Revolver Lounge is located at 7316 East Stetson Drive in Old Town Scottsdale.
PS–Don’t complain about the sound of static in this video. We hear annoying mic static is the new audio trick being used by all the big directors … Just trying to stay ahead of the trends here at EATERAZ, you know?
When that wicker basket passes over your lap at church, you’d better add some dolla-dolla bills, or else you’re goin’ to hell, neighbor. Although the consequences might not be so dire for those that don’t reserve seats at an upcoming holy meal at St. Francis Restaurant in Phoenix, the rewards sound damn close to eternal (and by eternal, we mean tasty) for those that do.
On February 10, two Jesuit Priests from nearby Brophy College Prep and St. Francis Church will bless the restaurant of Chef Aaron Chamberlin, in a traditional “Haustas” ceremony—a custom where family and friends “break bread” together and enjoy each others’ company. It’s actually a perfect theme for this restaurant, which was named after the “St. Francis” neighborhood around it.
So to celebrate, Chef Chamberlin is planning a Farm-to-Table menu in collaboration with local farmer Patrick Duncan—who’s not only a Brophy alum, but grows nearly 200 varieties of certified organic specialty fruit and vegetables on his Litchfield Park tract. The four-courser will cost $60 per person or $90 per person with holy wine pairings (kidding, the wine won’t be holy, but the service will be).
Reservations are required. Please call for menu details.
St. Francis
111 E. Camelback Rd.
(602) 200-8111
www.stfrancisaz.com
So most people who know us, know that our office is a hop-skip from Scottsdale Waterfront. And that means we’ve been waiting for Culinary Dropout to open. The place, as you probably know because everybody’s got a food blog and they all say the same thing, is owned by Sam Fox—the guy who’s got Sauce Pizza + Wine next door and Modern Steak across the street. Dropout’s been doing friends and family for a couple days now, and last night we snuck in to say Hi to a couple mutual friends & family we’ve got with Fox:
The place looked pretty cool, as you can see from the spy shot here:
Well today we walked over for their first public lunch service. We were going to do a nice food review for all you nice folks, but look what happened.
This was the Fish & Chips.
This was a Cubano sandwich.
And here lied a Pub Burger with Havarti & bacon.
And it’s not that the fries sucked, its just that you really get lots of fries. And they were great. And in true Fox fashion, our server was sexy as hell. But we refrained from taking her picture because, hey, we’re sneaky but we’re not creepy!
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Last night, EATERAZ hosted an event at Fred’s at Barneys New York, to celebrate EATERAZ’s Co-Founder and Editor, David Tyda‘s full time devotion to the site.
Fred’s was at capacity, where local glitteratti enjoyed Grey Goose Tyda-Tini’s and glasses of Domaine Chandon étoile Champagne.
Fred’s head honcho, Chef Mark Strausman even flew in from New York to make sure guests received the full Fred’s treatment. And the Fred’s treatment they did receive, as they fed on several of their signature pizzas, Chicken Milanese Sliders on focaccio, Madison Avenue Tuna Salad Sliders on brioche, and Mark’s Meatballs. Ooooooh those meatballs — to quote Rachel Ray for probably the first and last time — yummo!
Big thanks to Fred’s for helping us gratuitously celebrate.
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Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge.
Hey, has anybody met that kooky mutherclucker who runs that La Vida Locavore truck? He parks the thing at the Scottsdale Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and dishes out a pretty sweet loco for local goods. Well that guy, Joe, is starting an underground society of foodies called Stealthy Table. It happens like this: out of nowhere, he’ll announce a dinner in an unlikely location that’s a cool and groovy one-night affair. “Covert culinary creations” he calls them.
Wow, we like food too, Joe, but not in a CIA-kinda-way, you know? He’s got one scheduled for Valentine’s night at an “undisclosed location” oooooh, mysterious!
Chefs Cullen Campbell, Brandon Crouser, Tracy Dempsey and Lisa G. will all collaborate for a 5-course knock-your-Valentine’s-panties-off Menu. Tickets are $100 flat per person. You can view the menu and buy tickets by scrolling over the “t” in “table” at www.stealthytable.com.
Here’s the thing about a lot of food-related online services—they all seem to solve a problem you thought you had, but in reality, never really had in the first place. We downloaded the Starbucks app, thinking we’d need to store coworker drinks for coffee runs, but haven’t entered the info yet. We check out BeerCloud, the app that scans beer bottle UPC codes and leads you to the nearest packy for a six-pack. Never used it. The Wine DJ, which pairs wine with music … we’ve got better taste. The list goes on.
But here’s something we think may come in handy provided the industry itself gets on the bandwithwagon: moBistro. Made by two local guys, moBistro takes all the components of a restaurant web site—menus, location, hours, reviews, about us—and reformats it to flow with a PDA interface, meaning no zooming or waiting for pictures to load or dealing with Flash boxes. We see a lot of potential here, and also see how it could become a go-to guide for the dining public.
Restaurants can get in the game for free if they load the info themselves (it looks to be pretty easy) or $79 if they want mo’s guys to load it up. Then there’s a monthly fee of about $20; $35 if you want mo to service the content.
We thought we had seen a ghost of Mardi Gras past. But in fact it was Theresa Romero herself, the former owner of Baby Kay’s Cajun Kitchen, having dinner at the place that has since inhabited her original Baby Kay’s location, Petite Maison. She was enjoying the patio of the cozy French bistro operated by Chef James Porter and Wendy Goldman with a friend before we bugged her enough to get up and chat with us for a bit.
Was she there to throw some beads one last time? Say hello to Cajun Casper? Or just have some French Onion Soup? Watch the video below to find out, or head over to our YouTube channel. Oh, you’ll also have to watch it if you wanna know what the title to this article means… Good stuff, Ms. Romero. Good stuff.
There’s a lot wrong with the world, and the “Press” section on FnB restaurant’s web site just added one thing to the list.
What’s FnB? It’s a new restaurant owned in part by the charismatic gent you may remember running the nightly shows at Digestif and Prado restaurants. If we had to name this town’s top five actual maitre’d’s, he’s in the top three. Nice as hell. Remembers people. Always trying to make you feel good. Passionate. Although we’ve heard good things about the food, we’ve admittedly not been to dine there yet.
But we’re not talking about the food today.
Go to FnB’s web site (www.fnbrestaurant.com) and you’ll see the usual navigation tabs—Menu, About, Contact, Press… It’s under the latter where our heart skipped a beat. Click on that and you will see stories from the Arizona Republic, Yelp and Urban Spoon. Hey, which two of these are not like the other?
It’s no secret that EATERAZ is owned by two guys with a background in magazine publishing who are trying their best to embrace all things digital, but at what point did average user reviews (hell, let’s even call them above-average user reviews) become “media.” Arizona Republic critic Howard Seftel has spent decades refining his sense of taste. We might not always agree with it, but that’s the fun, isn’t it? The New Times’ Michele Laudig (aka Chow Bella) tracks the scene with fervor and speed that is unmatched. And Nikki Buchanan has published more well-written and researched reviews than just about anyone in town.
Sound like we’re kissing ass? No way. We’ll be the first to call these people out when they deserve it, but we’re also the first to say they are the actual “media,” some Yelp review is not. Everyone also knows we love Yelp, and love Yelpers, but those reviews belong in a different category. So Milic, dude, you can tell us what to order for dinner and we will trust you. But please, don’t devalue the work of people who have spent tireless hours trying to perfect the craft of food writing for a career. That’d be like us putting your $11 Fried Green Tomatoes in the same category as some place that serves $8 Fried Green Tomatoes.
Unless you’re reading about the 107 year old woman who started a blog, or the 107 year old virgin looking for love, there’s not too many things over 100 years old that are all that exciting. But on January 21, J&G Steakhouse in The Phoenician is going to serve up a combined 107 years of aged Glenlivet Scotch during a special dinner—“Scotch, Smokes & Steaks.” Dinner begins at 6pm on the patio with cigars, hors d’oeuvres, and Glenlivet’s 12-year-old single malt. Then enjoy a four-course dinner paired with Glenlivet Nadurra 16, 15 year-old French Oak Reserve, 18-year old, Archive 21 year-old, and Glenlivet XXV. Dinner is $75 per person, and includes two take-home Glencarin glasses. Call 480.214.8000 to reserve a seat.
After some people read this e-mail, they’ll probably DM us on Twitter saying things like “Did you have nothing better to write about than Bashas’ coupons??” After other people read this e-mail, they’ll probably wish they were in the zip code that got these.
In the usual pile of mailbox crap, we were hit with cool group of coupons that went like this: You buy a package of Jennie-O Ground Turkey Breast for about $6, and for free you get a pack of cheese, box of taco shells, shredded lettuce, and packet of seasoning. (Because who really likes turkey tacos? You’ve got to season the sh*t out of ground turkey meat.) So you mask the taste of turkey with a buncha spice — voila! You’ve got a healthy alternative that tastes like the unhealthy alternative. All for six bucks.
Problem is, we got these coupons on the last day of the deal. Bashas’ fault? The mailman’s fault? James Porter’s fault? Yea, we’ll just blame Porter. You owe us turkey tacos dude.
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