August 2014
A recent guest review of Brix Casual Fine Dining & Wine Bar wrote, “Flagstaff has done a lot of growing up in the last few years.” It’s happily true. The downtown restaurant industry has been on a track to offer clients high end, sustainable, creative cuisine, while maintaining that easy-going Flagstaff attitude. At the head of this march strode Paul Moir with the opening of Brix in 2007. He later opened Criollo, a Latin-inspired kitchen in downtown and mentored fellow restaurateurs in this consistent, positive direction. It’s a national trend with hometown success. Continue reading “BUILDING ON SUCCESS”
As summer heats up, it is enticing to eat cool. Vivid displays of veggies in the farmers market or stores inspire light, fresh eating and salads are a natural choice. Still, greens are often resigned to the likes of rabbit food, wimpy diet fare or a boring bed of lettuce. Change that notion with this round-up of local restaurants that toss in colorful and creative ingredients to construct salad sensations. 
Sweet temptation has always been there. People have enjoyed fruits, nuts and honey since ancient times. Today, those ingredients are still among the basic elements used to craft tantalizing treats, yet celebrated chefs and global inspiration have happily pushed flavor boundaries beyond standard cookies and cakes. From classic cravings to artisan accents, here is a local look at Flagstaff’s sweetest things. 
The higher the octane, or nutrition, the better the body responds. For that reason and others, more than seven million Americans choose a vegetarian diet. It tends to be low in cholesterol as well as total and saturated fats, which guard against Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease. Besides forgoing meat, poultry and fish, a vegetarian diet may include dairy and eggs or not. A vegan diet adheres to stricter boundaries, eliminating animal sources and their products, such as milk, eggs and honey. 
After returning from a trip to Thailand, serendipity awaited me—I’d be visiting four Thai restaurants, all located on San Francisco Street or Bangkok Street, as locals might come to call it. As on our trip, this nourishing task involved colorful stir fries and fragrant curries, eaten in friendly company. Each restaurant is owned by a Thai, whose culture makes meals a social occasion.
The incredible, edible egg is all it’s cracked up to be. The nutrient-packed ovum delivers dense protein for a measly 70 calories. And while it’s high in nutrition, it’s low in cost. Each year in the U.S., 75 billion eggs are laid, and well over half are used by consumers. The egg is a versatile food, and it’s been said that the many pleats of a chef’s toque represent the many ways an egg can be prepared. Scrambled, fried, poached, baked and soft or hard boiled. For Easter, they are dyed every shade of spring, and those hard-boiled pretties become egg salad, deviled eggs and more. 
When it comes to lifting a Guinness on Saint Paddy’s Day, everyone flirts with being Irish. And according to the Census, 34.5 million Americans actually call themselves Irish. That’s seven times the population of Ireland. So, Americans are right at home in a pub. The term pub is short for Britain’s public houses, which the working class frequented. These neighborhood watering holes also served meat pies and fish and chips to mop up the beer. It wasn’t fancy, but it was filling. Now with food the star of its own television channel, bar snacks, pub grub and game munchies have received an upgrade. It is still based on traditional eats, yet these reinvented classics boast high quality, inspired ingredients. 
On a recent trip to New England, our gang’s urgent first stop was at an oyster bar. Briny, tangy, creamy, large or small—the many varieties of mollusks have characteristics as unique as their origination. Yet they all reflect the fresh taste of the sea. If you’ve tried an oyster before and didn’t fall in love, you simply haven’t met your perfect match.
In 1938, Arizona Snowbowl took form. Although it was in the middle of the Great Depression, a helping hand from the Civilian Conservation Corps helped establish what has become the longest continually running ski area in the country. Seventy-five years later, we take a look back at Flagstaff came to embrace alpine skiing and sustain it through the decades.
“Tuna drives a sushi bar. Without it, you’ve got nothing,” said Steve Scully, owner of Karma Sushi Bar Grill. He would know. Scully logged 15 years in the food business before opening Karma seven years ago. While Scully was schooled in finer European cuisine, he is a Jersey guy. He also headed north to work in restaurants in Cape Cod, which he explained means he knows good flavors and good seafood. And when Scully aimed to position his sushi spot, he worked with Tokyo chefs. He said, “Their training has more guts to it.”