Guns are so hot right now. Stetson’s bar row just got its second newbie in less than a month–a spot called Shotgun Betty’s, just down the block from Revolver Lounge. Betty’s is the creation of Todd Borowsky, who some may remember as the owner of Skin Cabaret, but most will remember the mark he made with Cat Eye Lounge a few years back.
Borowsky must have set a record with the quickest and smoothest renovation Scottsdale’s nightlife scene has ever been party to. He started with the old miserable Drinx space and turned it into what he calls a fun, casual hangout that he’s personally looking forward to partying at. He even put one of his own Harley Davidson bikes smack on top of the bar. But basically, he just cleared the place out, colored it brown, and called it a day. Our in-house design critic says: “Shotgun Betty’s exhibits what we in the industry like to call minimalist transition inspired by the craftsma…. oh, screw it, I can’t wait to meet the waitresses!”
Speaking of, they’ll dance on the bar in Daisy Dukes to everything from Kid Rock to Taylor Swift. We have even heard about menus being designed by the likes of Aaron May and Robert McGrath. No final word on that yet, but we’ll keep you posted.
Hey, wanna hang out on Tuesday? Join us at a kick-off party for the upcoming Devoured Culinary Festival (Phoenix Art Museum, March 13-14) on Tuesday March 2 at St. Francis restaurant in Phoenix. The party doubles as a cocktail competition being organized for Devoured by azcentral.com and Nightlife Editor Megan Finnerty, who will emcee during the mixology mayhem.
The event costs $10, but you’ll get samples of the competition Finlandia cocktails, being created by nine chefs from Valley restaurants and bars. They’ll battle in elimination rounds until someone mixes up a winner.
EATERAZ’s Rick Phillips and David Tyda will judge (cocktails, not people) along with Camelback Inn’s Trudy Thomas and Metro Brasserie’s Bill DeGroot. Now, Tyda’s been known to make or break bartender’s career with his amazingly refined and infallible palate, so competitors be warned! Plus, he only lives a couple blocks away, so he’ll probably just stumble his ass home.
The event kicks off at 5:30pm. Hope to see you!
St. Francis
111 E. Camelback Road
602-200-8111
Earlier this week, RED Development announced that Oakville Grocery would take up some space at CityScape—that 1.8-million-square-foot mixed-use development in downtown Phoenix. Occupying a coveted ground floor space as the project’s official grocer, EATERAZ went searching for comment from the people who live downtown that could use such a store, but we couldn’t find any people who live downtown that could use such a store.
We did, however, run into one city employee who said, “I live in Chandler, and it’s just nice to know that when I get out of a Suns game, I will have a place to pick up some aged balsamic vinegar and artisanal crackers. After two hours of drinkin’ beer and eating hot dogs, I always crave a little Gruyere cheese and maybe a nice Gewurztraminer.”
We then asked a friend to visualize what life would be like if she lived in downtown Phoenix and had to make Oakville Grocery her place for everyday shopping, since there’s really nowhere down there to get life’s little essentials. She said: “I think overpaying about $1 to $5 for everything in that store is worth it, because it’s Oakville Grocery! … I mean, duh! I can totally see the relationship between the real Oakville, tucked between vineyards on a picturesque road in an old building with a few rose garden picnic tables out back, and this one, where the eleven people that live in 44 Monroe will shop. There’s really no difference between the two.”
We were also going to ask some guy named Steve Weiss for his comment, but he published it on Chow Bella’s blog here:
For the record, he said: “It works perfectly with an overpriced and chi-chi bowling alley. Cityscape is looking more and more like an effete out of time-frame out of control train.”
Wow, dude. Why do you gotta be such a hater?
QUESTION OF THE DAY–Can nightlife impresario, Les Corieri reproduce the same magic he had with Axis/Radius and Suede? Time will tell — March 12th to be specific.
Corieri bought the Smoothie King building and leveled the sucka just a couple months ago. The land has bore a brick and steel monster that could change the face of Scottsdale Road as we know it. They describe the new concept on their Facebook page:
“RnR Bar and Lounge … is a chic 2-story, purpose built establishment providing expansive ground and 2nd level patios, and breathtaking bar and dining indoors, all in the buzz of Old Town Scottsdale! RnR will be open BREAKFAST, LUNCH, and DINNER! With unique drinks and fine eats, RnR will be the hot place to meet up with friends and family for cocktails, coffee, and delicious dishes!”
Okay, so that really tells us absolutely nothing, but still, we’re excited to see a building that embraces the street, rather than turn its back on the people. Something that looks fun and inclusive and laid back. Something … for the people. Because you gotta make it nice for the people.
Here’s one form the ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ file. Beppe Bigazzi, a 77-year-old Italian food writer has been fired from his Italian cooking show for recommending stewed cat to viewers as a “succulent dish.”
The channel’s switchboard was inundated with complaints from arrabiata viewers and, of course, animal rights groups. Bigazzi said that casserole of cat was a famous dish in his home region of Valdarno, Tuscany.
“Cat soup is one of the best dishes from Valdarno …. [the cat] is kept three days in a stream to bring out the qualities of its white meat … I’ve eaten it myself and it’s a lot better than many other animals,” he told viewers. “Better than chicken, rabbit, or pigeon.” He said that for optimum flavor the kitty should be “soaked in spring water for three days” before being stewed.
Hmmm … Good to know.
Yesterday afternoon, we hit the dirt where The Arizona Barbecue Festival is going to be held for another video installment of our progress. As you can see, we’ve been putting all the puzzle pieces together for one great event. As you can also see, Tyda’s crazy. But the biggest part?
Tickets are on sale now! Click HERE or just visit www.azbbqfestival.com to purchase. Early Bird specials are now running–a couple bucks off general admission, or big discounts on VIP tickets.
We also suggest you wait ’till the videos’ end for a special message to our friends at Fox Restaurant Concepts. (because, really, we don’t mention them enough on this site…)
We’d write more, but gotta run to a meeting with Margy Bons from Operation Homefront, the event’s designated charity. They help out the families of U.S. military and will play a big part at the event. So now, if you don’t go to this thing we’re putting together, you know what that makes you? One of THESE!
Boy, those “ladies who lunch” really get around. The other day we noticed a startling crowd filling the patio of Petite Maison. By 10:30am there were about 40 ladies all clad in their best chintz pattern jackets, dining on quiche as their first course in a Scottsdale Dine-a-Round. The lovely ladies who dine and dash (á la trollies) hired the group over at Foodies Like Us to organize their lunch. First stop Petite Maison for quiche, next onto The Hotel Valley Ho for Café Zuzu’s short ribs and then finishing up at Estate House for some decadent chocolate dessert. We were going to ask Chief Operating Foodie, Susie Timm and event organizer, if any of these gourmand grandmas were more fussy foodies than her regular crowd, but judging by the way she was racing around from table to table, we didn’t need to ask.
TREND REPORT—Here are three we see: 1) Everybody in Phoenix has a food blog, even restaurant publicists. Is that okay with you? 2) Barbecue is about to reach a tipping point. Just watch, there will be quite a few places opening up soon. 3) Everyone in New York seems obsessed with our town’s dining scene. The past week has included the following news:
Pizzeria Bianco won best pizza in the country from Grub Street, and those guys would know: http://bit.ly/b3nMZ4
FnB and Caffe Boa received some major props from the New York Times in an article on locavore living: http://nyti.ms/axkPjO
Amuse Bouche in Surprise, AZ, got a big story on keepin’ it simple—along with one of the best pictures of lamb we’ve ever seen—in the New York Times: http://nyti.ms/d9nIIX
In the latter, our neighbor, James Porter, was quoted—here’s the mention:
“I think we’re all trying to bring reality back to dining,” said James Porter, a celebrated chef in Scottsdale who last spring shuttered his large and expensive restaurant, Tapino Kitchen & Wine Bar, in favor of a French bistro of his own, Petite Maison. “What we are doing now has no crack, crunch or sizzle of molecular gastronomy. We’re just trying to get back to the way people used to eat.”
We couldn’t agree more, Mr. Porter, and are happy to see that you will no longer be serving crack in the menu, because people just don’t eat like that anymore.
We like to think that we are the reason it’s 78 outside, not a cloud in the sky, and that chicken sandwich at Petite Maison is so good. We also like to think that we’re the reason behind 944 Magazine’s recent classin’ up. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you can actually read that magazine now – it looks more sophisticated, the articles are catchy and interesting, and there’s no more pictures of random poolside birthday bashes at local apartment complexes.
How have we helped with the classin’ up of 944, you ask? In this month’s issue, we wrote an article on our favorite Farmer’s Market finds, talkin’ homemade tortillas, great artisanal pastas, local coffee roasters, and AZ bees’ honey. Pick up a copy of the issue virtually every third step around town (they’re good like that with distribution) or click the PDF here to read it right now.
But by “now” we mean “later” because you should be outside enjoying the nice weather that’s been provided, courtesy of EATERAZ.
What good are mistakes unless you can make fun of ‘em? Lord knows we’ve made our share over here. But one mistake we haven’t made yet a VP with a big developer in town has made—forgetting to change the name of people you’re e-mailing when requesting charity donations. But thankfully, the receiver of said improper e-mail has a larger-than-life sense of humor.
This note came to a local restaurateur:
“A very good friend of mine, Susan Rehorn, is hosting a very cool fundraiser for Cherokee School. She is trying to get the “best of the best” Phoenix restaurants to help in her fund-raising cause. She has asked me to help. … [You can] 1. Donate an annual “dine-around” (dinner monthly for a year) at any of your Restaurant’s for our silent auction. 2. Donate dinner gift certificates to specific FOX Restaurants …”
Here’s the problem: The guy who received this e-mail is not with FOX Restaurant Concepts. So….his response?
Yes, I would like to donate dinner for 2 at all of the Fox Concepts courtesy of Sam. Thanks for that suggestion. PS I just forwarded that email to all local media, suggesting that Sam Fox has so dominated the Arizona restaurant scene that even I get requests to donate Fox dinners rather than anything from one of my restaurants.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
So Mr. Fox, let us know where you’ll be sending those gift certificates…
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