In this series, we’ll share a local restaurant, food store or an event. We have so many wonderful restaurants in our community. This is a great way to promote our local economy and give you a peek at what they have to offer. This time we picked Cafe Pinoli at 1676 W. White Mountain Blvd. in Pinetop-Lakeside. As some people refer it, the Café Pinoli...

This month, James Beard Award-Winning Chef Scott Conant is debuting friends-style dining and the first-ever happy hour at Mora Italian in Phoenix along with an expanded happy hour menu inspired by his travels at The Americano in Scottsdale. Giro d’Mora (“Tour of Mora”) is a five-course meal that features an ever-changing lineup of crowd favorites a...

We Americans like to think we own the comfort food genre, but I'd argue the Italians have us beat in the warm, fuzzy, comfort-via-cooking department. Consider Italian chefs who can't spend five minutes in a culinary conversation without mentioning cooking at their mothers' or nonnas' knees. And what about pizza, arguably America's favorite comfort...

Chef Riley Chandler is not your traditional chef. While he’s plenty knowledgable and skilled with traditional techniques and methods, Chandler has charted his own unique path that has allowed him the freedom to explore all things culinary his own way. It’s this path that has led to Stancato’s Italiano Sonoran, a delivery focused restaurant operatin...

Waco businessman Tom Wright travels Interstate 35 almost weekly, craving the lasagna and the crab fondue at Pignetti’s Italian Restaurant in Temple. “Waco needs something like this, a high-class, upper-end, five-star restaurant,” said Wright, whose construction company bears his name. Heeding his own advice, Wright persuaded Pignetti’s owner Clinto...

For Rafael Barceló Durazo, who grew up across the border from Arizona in the Mexican state of Sonora, Venerable Father Eusebio Kino is a symbol of unity. Today, as the Mexican consul in Tucson, he also looks to the famed missionary known as Padre Kino — and declared venerable by Pope Francis — as an example to follow. “I have always admired the cou...

The Kino Heritage Society celebrated the 30th anniversary of the “Three Statues for Three Nations,” a ceremony honoring Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, on Sunday morning. The celebration, led by Ward 5 Councilman Richard Fimbres, started at the Kino statue on 15th Street and Kino Parkway, where various speakers spoke on the history of Father Kino. A...

The doors open, the smell of authentic New York Italian food washes over you and the waiter yells from across the restaurant, “Hey! Welcome to The Grumpy Sicilian, are you here for the food or for the attitude? We will give you both.” At The Grumpy Sicilian, the New York Italian authenticity permeates far beyond the style of pizza. From the moment...

When Ciao Down Food Truck owner Francine Vonfeldt spoke with theIndy in February, she said that while her initial menu would be deli-style and focused on hot sandwiches, she intended to add Neapolitan-inspired entrées down the road. We would love to try her more traditional Italian offerings, but the Americanized sandwich-centric menu we sample in...

Forno 301 had me sitting with a glass of Montepulciano in the dark and Googling the word "testosterone." With so many Italian words on the menu — acciughe, diavola, salsiccia e funghi — it's easy to get confused here.  As it turns out, the word testosterone is exactly what you think it is. My search results did not show any pictures of red sauce pi...