Michele Laudig is a writer, artist and editor eating up New York City’s deliciously diverse food scene. Currently senior editor at Zagat in Manhattan, she was the staff restaurant critic and food blogger at Phoenix New Times since 2006, where she wrote cover stories, a weekly column and daily blog posts. Michele co-authored 100 Years, 100 Chefs, 100 Recipes, an Arizona Centennial Legacy Project published in February 2012, and has also written for Phoenix Magazine, Edible Phoenix, The Arizona Republic, Sommelier Journal and Hemispheres.
In previous lives, she served as New Times’ music editor, styled fashion shoots, toured with a rock ‘n roll band and lived in Tokyo. She has a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Columbia.
Or should I say, "again." After spending the Aughts in Arizona, eating my way around Phoenix as New Times' restaurant critic and resident food blogger, I've packed up my life and moved back to New York City, where I spent the better part of the Nineties. The last few months have been a roller coaster -- a frenzy of work on various projects, punctuated with weekend getaways to L.A. ...
Sweet Republic Alton Brown How cool is this? For those of you who missed it, here's what aired last Friday on our local ice cream savants at Sweet Republic. Food Network's Alton Brown couldn't say enough good things about the Toffee Banofi Sundae!
Parc Central barely cleared the six-month mark, and then swiftly closed its doors last week. It debuted at the Scottsdale Quarter back in January amid a flurry of new openings that also included Tanzy, TK's Urban Tavern, and Narcisse. Last week, there was a sign posted on its door that it was closed for "mechanical problems" and to check back over the weekend. Now, the sign is gone, the ...
Barrio Tequileria in Gilbert is a no-go. Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza, owner of Central Phoenix's award-winning Barrio Cafe, decided to back away from the downtown Gilbert location after signing a letter of intent six months ago. Lease negotiations with the landlord were dragging on, since he took issue with the restaurant name -- he wanted her to call it Barrio Gilbert, and thought "Tequileria" sounded too much like a bar ...
Cycle is speeding up to the finish line. For its final month of weekend-long chef residencies, the temporary restaurant at the Lexington Hotel is bringing out the big guns. Hope you've been saving your nickles, foodniks, because the lineup is good and it's going to sell out. Before I forget, here's the number for a reso: 602-252-2100. Now look at this: Payton Curry follows his recent Welcome Diner pop-up ...
It can't be easy juggling a barbecue sauce biz, catering biz, and full-time job as pitmaster at Big Earl's BBQ, so it doesn't come as a total surprise that Tony Morales just stepped down from his position at chef James Porter's Scottsdale barbecue joint. He's been there nearly six months. According to Porter's wife and Big Earl's PR gal Wendy, Morales has "definitely been a big asset" and he'll continue ...
I've already praised the glories of summer perks for AZ locals, and here's one more sweet deal that's building a lot of bargain-hunter buzz. The Great Arizona Summer Dine-Out is the newest promo from the Arizona Restaurant Association (whom we can also thank for running the eat-a-thon otherwise known as Arizona Restaurant Week, which is coming in September), and now that I've gotten the lowdown on it, I'm kind of ...
Today's press release from the Hotel Valley Ho was bittersweet. The downside? Trader Vic's is closing on July 30. That means diehard tiki fanatics will have to head to Hula's Modern Tiki in CenPho -- the remaining Valley tiki restaurant -- to get their Zombie or Mai Tai fix. (Drift Lounge, another Polynesian-themed spot, closed late last year and was replaced by Spanish Fly Mexican Beach Club.) On a personal level, ...
Consider me intrigued. Last night, I stopped by the newly opened Oakville Grocery -- right in the middle of Downtown, at CityScape -- with a keen eye for any differences from its predecessor, which survived little more than a year at Scottsdale Quarter. While the sprawling Scottsdale location was jam-packed with packaged food (a sea of gourmet olive oil, as I recall), this one is more compact and has a ...
Photo courtesy of a food spy friend. If one more restaurant closes this week, I'll call it a trend. Taberna Mexicana, which opened just eight months ago in the former Roy's at the Scottsdale Seville, is already history. Houston-based Legacy Restaurant Group launched the upscale Mexican concept here, with the goal of adding locations in Beverly Hills and Houston, but the restaurant's website ...