August. The month of two-a-days. The time of year when football players of all ages — from Pop Warner to the NFL — strap on their helmets and pads to prepare for the fall season.

The time when veteran players begin glancing over their shoulders to see who among the latest crop of newcomers might challenge for a starting position.

The same might be said for sports bars, those television-laden watering holes that vie for East Valley football fans on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, a competition no less fierce than that on the field.

The newest rookie on the East Valley’s roster: The Double Overtime Sports Grille, a promising player that made its debut two weeks ago on Power Road, just south of Baseline Road, in east Mesa.

Like any heralded rookie, Double Overtime, the younger sibling of a Fountain Hills sports bar by the same name, boasts some impressive stats, most notably 35 high-definition TVs.

The sports bar’s physical appearance also can turn heads. The cavernous square room features brick walls and a basketball-court-like wood floor. Two dozen high-top tables display the emblems of NFL or Major League Baseball teams, as do matching bar stools.

Each table is equipped with its own speaker box (pictured at left). Fans can tune into any of eight audio channels, depending on which of the screens they’re watching at the moment.

Of course, many a football player has looked good on paper. The true test is how he performs on game day. So a couple friends and I use our lunch hour to put Double Overtime through a preseason workout.

We start with that most standard of drills: chicken wings ($8.95 per dozen, pictured below). The scouting report describes them as “large,” and they are indeed good-sized. The heat level of the “hot” variety underwhelms, but the wings are tender and dripping with tasty sauce.

Moving on to burgers and sandwiches, a half-pound Grand Slam Burger ($8.95, pictured at top with Double OT owner Dave Gage), decked out with thick slices of bacon and sauteed mushrooms and onions, scores high on the greasy-goodness scale.

Two quarter-pound chili dogs ($7.95) and a French dip sandwich with provolone ($8.95) also easily make the cut, but a patty melt ($6.95) is a bit dry and bland.

We rank the accompanying sides in this order, starting with our favorite: tater tots, onion rings, French fries and sweet potato fries.

We wash down everything with heavy 32-ounce mugs of soda, marveling at how our server carries three in one hand. On game day, of course, they’d be filled with one of Double Overtime’s 11 beers on tap.

Unfortunately, our clock management skills prove to be as bad as the Cardinals’ and we’re unable to try the chocolate chip cookie dough skillet with ice cream ($6).

I guess we need a little practice of own before the football season starts.

Double Overtime Sports Grille
Where: 2235 S. Power Road, Mesa (just south of Baseline Road)
strong>Open: 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday
Prices: Appetizers $4.95-$9.95, salads $$5.95-$8.95, burgers/sandwiches $6.95-$8.95, entrees $8.99-$19.99
Info: (480) 287-5900 or dotgrille.com.

First Tastes offer first impressions of new East Valley restaurants. Full reviews, based on multiple visits, aren’t written until restaurants have been open at least a couple months.

Once upon a time, downtown Tempe’s Mill Avenue wasn’t over-run with million-dollar condos and overpriced chain restaurants. You actually could park for free on the street, get a good meal for less than $10 and listen to the best bands in Arizona while drinking $2 beers.

Over the past two decades, though, most of the legendary Mill Avenue hangouts — Long Wong’s, 6 East, Edcel’s Attic, Chuy’s — have faded away, replaced by soul-less corporate entities that today dominate the Valley’s most famous strip of pavement.

One of the last vestiges of what once made Mill great is Restaurant Mexico, a no-frills café that’s been serving good but inexpensive tacos, enchiladas and beans for more than 30 years.

Riding out the commercial seachanges on Mill hasn’t been easy. The tiny restaurant has been tossed about — occupying four different locations on or just off Mill — finally settling in to its present digs on Mill just north of Fifth Street a little over a year ago.

Like its previous homes, its present-day space is anything but fancy. The storefront windows allow in light on a few booths up front, but two rows of plain tables with Mexican-style wood chairs stretch into the cool darkness of the deep, hallway-like interior.

The layout fosters an atmosphere that’s a little less bustling, a little more private, than the previous location just around the corner on University Drive. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the menu. And, for the most part, the prices. Almost everything on the menu is less than $10, in some cases a lot less.

The taco suave dinner (pictured above), for example, has been one of my go-to cheap lunches for at least 10 years. The flour tortilla stuffed with seasoned pork comes with rice and refried beans for just $4.95, which I think is the same price I paid the first time I had it.

The two-enchilada dinner ($5.85, pictured at left), which also comes with rice and beans, offers a choice of the restaurant’s two sauces. I prefer the green tomatillo sauce over the dark red sauce. The former is light and more flavorful, the latter thick and slightly sweet.

Restaurant Mexico’s food is similar to the Sonoran fare popular in the Valley, but influenced more by central Mexico. Most dishes are lightly sprinkled with crumbles of white cheese instead of globs of cheddar. Refried beans are a bit runnier, but tasty.

The biggest difference you’ll encounter is in the quesadillas ($2.55, pictured below), which are “Mexico City style.” Made with corn dough called masa, they’re like deep-fried turnovers filled with chorizo (sausage) or picadillo (ground beef). A bit heavy but delicious.

Drink options include margaritas and severals kinds of Mexican beer, but my favorite beverage at Restaurant Mexico is the non-alcoholic horchata ($2.55), a milk-like drink made with rice and flavored with a touch of cinnamon.

Just a sip always brings back memories of the Mill that was.

Restaurant Mexico
Where: 423 S. Mill Avenue, Tempe
Open: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Prices: Tacos $2.60, burros $4.05-$6.75, enchiladas $2.55-$2.95, combination plates $4.95-$8.75, steak dinners $9.95-$10.75, dessert $3.25.
Info: (480) 967-3280.

D’Vine Bistro and Wine Bar celebrates the one-year anniversary of its Chandler location with day-long festivites Saturday. The day’s activities will include chef Ramon Rice’s barbecue buffet ($12) from 1 to 3 p.m., a champagne bar from 6 to 8 p.m., dinner specials and live music from Newton’s Theorem from 8 to 11 p.m.

The restaurant (pictured at left), on the northwest corner of Alma School and Ocotillo roads, also is offering a special rate at the Holiday Inn next door for patrons who don’t want to drive. Info: (480) 782-5550 or dvinewine101.com.

• Urban Campfire won’t re-open this Friday as planned. The restaurant on the southeast corner of University Drive and Rural Road closed 10 weeks ago for renovations. Chef and co-owner Robert Stempkowski says the building’s foundation needed unexpected repairs and the work is running about two weeks behind schedule.

• Chandler gelato shop Aunt Lena’s Creamery will be featured Monday on the popular Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” hosted by Guy Fieri. The restaurant, located on the southwest corner of Arizona Avenue and Ocotillo Road, offers more than 140 flavors. Info: (480) 802-1100 or auntlena.net.

• Café Laguna, the American Indian frybread restaurant in Apache Junction, has opened a second location on Power Road, just south of Baseline Road, in east Mesa. The new restaurant is owned by Nicholas and Otis Lara, whose parents own the original, and is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Info: (480) 985-0030 or lagunafrybread.com.

• Malee’s Thai Bistro, which has two locations in Scottsdale, is celebrating its 21st anniversary with a three-course prix fixe menu for $21 during the montn of August. Tom Kai Gai soup is followed by choice of Coco Chili Chicken or glass noodles with vegetables, with coconut or Thai coffee ice cream for dessert. Info: maleesthaibistro.com.

• It’s not in the the East Valley, but Noca, one of Phoenix’s most-anticipated restaurants of 2008, has opened on the northwest corner of Camelback Road and 32nd Street. The dinner-only restaurant, owned by local foodie Eliot Wexler, features “modern American” cuisine from chef Chris Curtiss (Circa 1900). Info: (602) 956-6622 or restaurantnoca.com.

Scantily clad young women roll giant dice and dance suggestively to American pop songs. A small man is pulled out of the audience and starts to sing — badly. But he’s given a wad of cash as the crowd and dancers cheer.

This is “Wowowee,” the No. 1-rated television show in the Philippines, which — no matter the time of day — always seems to be on the big-screen TV at Gingerroot, a new Filipino restaurant on the northwest corner of Alma School Road and Chandler Boulevard in Chandler.

The zaniness of the show stands in stark contrast to the almost chic dining room, an intimate space where nine tableclothed tables are carefully arranged in three perfect rows. Still, the evening’s 10 other diners, all of whom appear to be Filipino, are watching with rapt attention.

Now, I must admit, I’m not experienced with Filipino food. But I like Asian cuisines — Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese — so I’m excited to try Gingerroot, which replaced the Boracay Grill, another Filipino place, and still has some of the same staff.

An appetizer of a dozen crispy spring rolls filled with ground pork, water chestnuts and carrots accompanied by a sweet-and-sour sauce ($7) is familiar enough. From there, though, I quickly discover Filipino food is not what I expect.

Chicken adobo ($9.50, pictured at left), for example, is the unofficial national dish of the Philippines. Large chunks of boneless chicken are marinated in a vinegar-and-soy sauce. Although I’ve never been a big fan of soy sauce, I can see why Filipinos enjoy this.

Like many of the menu items at Gingerroot, it’s a simple dish, served with white rice. There’s no spiciness or bold flavors. It reminds me of the hotdishes I grew up on in the upper Midwest: just a meat and a starch bound by a sauce.

At lunchtime, Gingerroot foregoes table service in favor of a more casual potluck-like approach (another hotdish flashback). Ten items — they change daily — are offered in chafing dishes; you can choose any two for just $6.50.

There’s chicken afritada (think vegetable soup with pieces of chicken), adobong sitaw (green beans mixed with ground pork) and guinataang langka (jackfruit in coconut curry), just to name a few.

Jackfruit, which tastes a little like bland pineapple, also is featured in the halo-halo ($5, pictured at right), a dessert I’ve been wanting to try since it made an appearance on the most recent season of “Top Chef.”

A mixture of jackfruit, sweet beans, sugar palm fruit and coconut is placed in the bottom of a parfait glass and covered with a layer of shaved ice. The ice is then topped with vanilla ice cream.

It’s an exotic treat, one perfect to enjoy while watching “Wowowee.”

Gingerroot
Where: 1076 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler (northwest corner of Chandler Boulevard and Alma School Road).
Open: 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 aa.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Prices: Two-item lunch combo $6.50, appetizers $7, entrees $8.50-$17.95, desserts $5
Info: (480) 917-1240 or gingerrootrestaurant.com.

First Tastes offer first impressions of new East Valley restaurants. Full reviews, based on multiple visits, aren’t written until restaurants have been open at least a couple months.

• View a slideshow of Gingerroot
• Check out Gingerroot’s menu

Nick Haddad maybe should have chosen a different name for Sautee. Whenever I mention his nearly year-old Chandler restaurant to someone, the reaction usually is the same.

“Sautee? Never been there. I don’t like French food.”

Well, forget about foie gras and frog legs. Sautee mostly serves good ol’ American favorites like steaks, chicken and burgers, albeit slightly fancy versions.

For the most part, Sautee is a casual, comfortable place. The industrial-like interior is energized by an infusion of primary colors, courtesy of lights, glass panels and modern artwork.

It also can be a fairly noisy place, especially if you’re seated next to the open exhibition kitchen, which is dramatically framed with a broken mosaic of red and orange tile.

Calamari ($10, pictured below) is a must-have appetizer. Six-inch-long strips of squid are soaked in buttermilk for hours and then flash-fried. Slightly crunchy on the outside yet tender on the inside, it’s one of the best preparations I’ve tasted.

A small mountain of the strips comes with two sauces: a mouth-scorching chipotle chili and a creamy key lime. Mix the two together for a perfect complement to the slightly sweet white meat.

Other appetizers are almost as impressive, including skewers of dice-sized sesame beef with a spicy tangerine sauce ($9) and a quesadilla with blackened chicken, roasted corn, onions, mushrooms and gouda cheese ($9).

Entrees, at least the ones I try, are just a half-step down. Filet mignon in zip sauce ($26) is perfectly acceptable, if not particularly noteworthy. A more flavorful choice is the filet medallions with a tasty brown gravy ($26, pictured below).

Sautee’s signature Urban Stuff Chicken — a chicken breast filled with spinach, mushrooms, onions and gouda — is surprisingly ho-hum, as is a pork tenderloin glazed with brown sugar and sherry ($16) and a plate of chicken tortellini ($14).

Even a chipotle chili burger with caramelized onions on brioche ($11) leaves this burger lover unimpressed.

Not that I dislike any of these entrees. I’d have any of them again — I just don’t know that I’d go out of my way to do so.

In fact, on my last two visits I find myself nibbling at entrees in order to save more room for Sautee’s decadent desserts, especially a brick-sized piece of bread pudding soaked in rich vanilla cream ($7).

Since opening on the northeast corner of Alma School and Chandler Heights roads last August — closing its original location at Dana Park in Mesa shortly thereafter — Sautee has provided a much-needed nightlife option for Ocotillo residents.

The bar area often is crowded, even when the dining room isn’t, and the patio, which features an eight-foot-long gas fireplace, is prime real estate in the fall, winter and spring.

That nightlife crowd might be enough to keep Sautee going until area residents realize what kind of restaurant it is.

Sautee Urban Bistro
Where: 4949 S. Alma School Road, Chandler (northeast corner of Alma School and Chandler Heights roads)
Open: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 .m. to midnight Friday and Saturday
Prices: Appetizers $5-$11, salads $6-$13, sandwiches/burgers $10-$11, entrees $14-$30, desserts $7
Info: (480) 895-5180 or sautee.com

• View a slideshow of Sautee
• Check out Sautee’s menu

Fresh From the Farm, the eight-month-old restaurant at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek, is planning to open a wine and beer bar in August. The restaurant (pictured at right) had gone on summer hiatus for two weeks, but is back open for breakfast and lunch Wednesdays through Sundays and dinner on Fridays and Saturdays. Info: (480) 987-8398 or schnepffarms.com.

• Picazzo’s Gourmet Pizza & Salads has added a full bar and lounge, additional seating and a bigger patio to its Tempe location on the northeast corner of Kyrene and Warner roads. It’s celebrating with daily specials, such as half-price appetizers and bottles of wine, through Saturday. The deals are available after 4 p.m. and only at the Tempe location. Info: (480) 831-5823 or www.picazzos.com.

• The Wildflower Bread Company at 44th Street and Indian School Road in Phoenix will donate 15 percent of its proceeds between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday to the Ovarian Cancer Institute in support of Arcadia resident Nicole Drury and her mother, Colleen, who was diagnosed with cancer last year. You can read the Drury’s story on their blog at drurysfightcancer.blogspot.com. Friday’s activities will include a silent auction, live music and an art sale. Info: (602) 850-8585 or wildflowerbread.com.

• Sprinkles Cupcakes in Scottsdale will sell vanilla cupcakes topped with pink hearts Monday, Aug. 4, through Wednesday, Aug. 6, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Info: (480) 970-4321 or sprinklescupcakes.com.

• Mercato del Gelato has closed at Tempe Marketplace. No word yet on what will take its place.

More than 80 Valley restaurants have signed up to participate in the first-ever Arizona Restaurant Week this fall, more than double what organizers hoped for.

The restaurants will offer special three-course menus of signature dishes for $29 per person from Sept. 20-26. The price excludes beverages, tax and tip.

Restaurant Weeks have become popular annual events in nearly 100 U.S. cities — from San Diego to Dayton, Ohio, to Bethesda, Md. — in recent years.

“I was like, ‘Why isn’t this happening here?’” says Scottsdale-based restaurateur Sam Fox (pictured at left). “We’re the fifth-largest city in the country and we don’t have this?”

Fox operates 11 restaurants in the Valley, including Olive & Ivy (pictured below), North, Bloom and The Greene House. He also has three in Denver, where he’s participated in several Restaurant Weeks.

“It’s one of our better weeks there,” he says. “Not only is it good for business that week, but it’s bringing in a lot of people that normally wouldn’t come into the restaurants.”

In Denver, the week features dinners for two for $52.80, a reference to the Mile High City’s altitude of 5,280 feet.

“We talked to a few people (in the Valley) and nothing really got going, so we decided to talk it upon ourselves to make it happen,” Fox says. “Our goal is to be the catalyst and make it happen this year.”

Fox put together a partnership with several organizations, including the Arizona Restaurant Association and the Scottsdale and Phoenix visitors and convention bureaus.

“Our goal was to have 20 or 30 restaurants, and I think we’re up to 80 restaurants,” he says. “I think it will grow next year. I think it’ll be 150 next year once people see what it is and what it does for business.”

Beside’s Fox’s restaurants, high-profile eateries participating in the Valley’s inaugural event include Cowboy Ciao, Don & Charlie’s, Humble Pie, Roaring Fork, Roka Akor, Sol y Sombra (pictured below) and Tarbell’s. Most are in Scottsdale.

“We really tried to reach out to people,” Fox says. “I didn’t want it to be (mostly Scottsdale). We operate a restaurant in the West Valley and one in the south East Valley.

“We really wanted to get out to different areas of town, and I think we’ll grow into that. I think for the health of Restaurant Week it needs to be Valleywide.”

Each restaurant was free to come up with its own menus.

“We said, ‘Let’s look at this as a great opportunity to get new people or existing people into our restaurants and excited about going out to dinner again,’” Fox says. “Our goal is to put out a great value for guests and really blow them away.”

He estimates his restaurants’ offerings — a combination of existing menu items and some specials just for that week — will represent “anywhere from a 30 (percent) to 40 percent value” over the $29 price.

“We want to really want to showcase our restaurants,” Fox says. “We’re not looking to take shortcuts.”

• See the list of participating restaurants and their menus

Since his second-place finish on Bravo’s reality television show “Top Chef” last month, Richard Blais has been a busy man. He’s welcomed his first child, daughter Riley Maddox, and opened a new restaurant, Home, in his home city of Atlanta. He’s also consulting on a new gourmet burger restaurant called Flip that will open in September.

The fauxhawk-sporting 36-year-old is working on deals for a book and a TV show that would feature his creative cooking style, a cross between a mad chemist and MacGuyver — think liquid nitrogen and smoke guns — that’s been labeled “molecular gastronomy.”

Blais also is working on product innovation with companies ranging from Garrett popcorn to Red Stripe beer. And this Saturday, he will participate in “Top Chef: The Tour” (read a preview) when it comes to the Valley for three interactive shows.

I caught up with Blais by telephone as he was on his way to his Atlanta restaurant.

Your culinary career seems to be blowing up right now. What did you really want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a professional athlete, in particular a baseball player. No one ever told me until I was a senior in high school that I really didn’t run that fast and that I was a little shorter than most athletes. But I definitely wanted to be an athlete, and that kinda carried over into my cooking career. I really enjoy the camaraderie of working as a team in the kitchen.

People refer to you as a molecular gastronomist or gadget guy. Is that an oversimplification of what you do?

People refer to me as that, but I don’t. I’m a creative chef. I think what we do is art. It’s kinda unfortunate that people do label what I do as molecular gastronomy or gadget cooking or whatever. Everyone’s got gadgets. It’s a profession that obviously relies on tools. So finding new tools or researching new ways to use tools that already exist or, in the case of something like the nitrogen, going to find a tool that’s used in some other artistic medium and bringing it to the kitchen — I think that’s pretty neat. But I hate when people say it’s all about the gadgets. At the end of the day, it’s all about flavor and it’s about food. It’s pretty impossible for us to take a bad tomato and make it better with any tool or any application of molecular gastronomy.

What would be a more accurate description of your culinary style?

Creative. A creative chef — I hate to say modern — who uses modern techniques. Why I’m excited about going to Phoenix is that I’ve never been there before so I don’t know what the market’s going to have. I may think I know what’s going to be there, but I don’t. I’m sure I’m going to see a couple ingredients I’ve never seen before. I think every chef needs to be regional wherever they’re cooking.

I heard your first job was at McDonald’s. What did you learn?

And it might be my next job – who knows! What I learned was the giant structure of an organization like McDonald’s. I really love brands. If I find a brand, I really stick to it. McDonald’s is a great brand. It’s an American classic. It’s almost iconic. And what I learned is what makes that. What makes people go to the golden arches or go to Starbucks every day? Those are things, especially for someone that puts himself out on the edge and does creative things, at the end of the day I’d love people to come to my restaurant like they go to McDonald’s or Starbucks.

Speaking of McDonald’s, what is your favorite junk food?

I’d go with a hamburger, if you can consider that a junk food. I love cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers and fries and milkshakes — it’s kinda hard to go wrong with. Now that I’m thinking about it, some fried fish might be nice. I’m not sure these are necessarily junk foods. I’m always a sucker for a chocolate bar, too.

I hear you’re consulting on a gourmet burger concept called Flip that’s opening this fall. What’s the key to a great burger?

You’re the first person to ask me this question, but it’s one we’ve often asked ourselves inside our own think tank for the project. To me, it’s the balance between the amount of the meat to amount of the bun and the amount of the condiment. It sounds simple but I think a lot of times, especially when chefs start conceptualizing hamburgers, it becomes about the organic meat and what type of meat — and that’s very important. But most important thing is that textural difference between the bun and the meat and the toppings. It’s gotta have that cold versus hot. It’s gotta have soft versus crunch. We’re not gonna come out and put a 12-ounce burger on a little bun, which a lot of chefs do to make it a “restaurant burger.” That’s what makes a Whopper a great burger. It’s not that it’s the best meat you’ve ever had. It’s not that the bread’s freshly baked. It’s that “Wow, there’s just the perfect amount of mayonnaise versus tomato versus onion versus meat!”

You had a restaurant called Blais that offered a 31-course tasting menu. Was there an actual philosophy behind that many courses?

That was in my younger days, probably about four years ago. I’ve stepped away from doing that many courses. But the first key is making sure the food is small. Like I said, I love cheeseburgers and I love steak, but I don’t like walking away from a meal feeling like, “Wow, I’m gonna have to work out twice as hard the next day” or just feeling so heavy I have to go to sleep. So the first key is making sure it’s light enough and, almost in a healthy way, making sure you’re staying away from certain fats and starches that really give people the perception of being full. Then there’s a progression from lighter tastes to heavier or stronger flavors. But also, inside that progression, there’s one or two pit stops like, “OK, this is a very acidic course” or “It’s very citrus-y,” just to kinda start all over again and stay away from palate fatigue. So there is a philosophy. It gets harder once you get over 10 courses to sit there and say, “Why are we going to serve this course after that course?” But you can still do it.

You’ve competed on both “Iron Chef” — narrowly losing to Mario Batali — and “Top Chef.” If you had opportunity to go back and do one of them again, or be on one of them again in future, which would it be?

Wow, that’s interesting. This is the first time someone’s aked me that. I think the way “Iron Chef” is set up is to be almost like a boxing match, where it’s easier or more acceptable for contestants to come back. I wouldn’t turn down either opportunity if it came back again. They were both great opportunities. In all honesty, “Top Chef” is much more grueling. It’s the difference between a marathon and a sprint. But as far as what has happened from my appearance on “Top Chef,” I would love to go back and do that again because, even with things not working out 100 percent the way I wish they would have, the doors that have opened are amazing.

Has the rise of all the food-related TV shows, as well as magazines and Internet sites, affected chefs? Has style become as important as skill?

As great as it’s been, there’s also been a bit of negative side, for sure. I was classically trained. My TV shows were, like, Julia Childs. I didn’t grow up with Emeril, just to use it as an example. I trained in a classical French system and then fell in love with creative cooking. And then I realized, “Wait, this might be cool. I’m gonna go on TV.” It kind of just happened, but it happened through training and working as a restaurant chef. I do think there’s a lot of young people who go to culinary school now, or decide they want to be chefs, because they’re watching a TV show. They don’t necessarily understand the 15-hour days or the nine or 10 years it’s gonna take to get yourself in the situation to even be on a television show. So that’s the one little downside of it. I have interns that work with me that come into my restaurant and I say, “Why do you want to be here?” And they say, “I want to be a molecular gastronomist.” You know, I don’t have a position for them. What I want people to say is, “I want to cook tasty food and I want to learn how to cook great.” We’ll get to the other stuff down the road.

With all the user-review sites like Chowhound and Yelp, do you and other chefs today feel constantly under scrutiny?

As great as it is for the information that everyone can have, the downside is that there are people who come into my restaurant that think they are critics. They think they are as knowledgeable as someone who has trained and is writing for the New York Times. They’ll go home and post a three-page report on a half-an-hour meal or whatever it is like they’re writing for a major publication. I don’t think it’s really been controlled. There is that possibility that someone could come in here, or anyone’s restaurant, and not really know what they’re talking about and for some reason think they didn’t have a very good experience and then trash the place. All of a sudden, it’s sitting out there every time you Google “Richard Blais.” Enough other chefs — Mario Batali and Tony Bourdain — have spoken out against these blogging sites. The flip side is that they’re amazing resources for information. I’d be dishonest not to say I’ll probably check out one of these sites when I head to Phoenix to see what’s going on in the area. So it’s kind of a double-edged sword.

Here in the Valley, we occasionally see well-regarded restaurants that unexpectedly close. You youself have had a couple of acclaimed restaurants in Atlanta close after less than a year.

That’s the thing. From a business perspective, it’s a lot tougher than people think. We’re selling something that only lasts, basically, for a couple of days. I like break it down to my interns: If we buy a piece of fish and we don’t sell all of it today, we don’t have a clearance rack. We can’t put it in the back of the restaurant up on a shelf for two months and eventually we’ll sell it. The perish-ability of what we do is just crazy, and the higher up you go — this is why fine dining is taking such a hit — the more labor that’s involved. It’s a tough business model. (Pauses) I just realized the answer, if you want to give any chefs the answer to how to fill a restaurant up: Go on a national television show. I appreciate that. I know what it feels like to empty a restaurant out to get four or five stars. The television show, at least for me, really validated creative food. People are coming into my restaurant now saying, “Can I have some tofu-flavored beef?” or “Are you selling bacon ice cream tonight?” These were the types of items people were not coming to my restaurant specifically for, so I’m personally really blessed to have gone on the show.

So there’s an inherent tension between great food and a sustainable business model?

Being edgy in our field is tough. If you talk about super-creative restaurants in the United States, there aren’t that many of them. I’m not gonna name any names, but I’m in New York every other week right now and I’ve eaten at some of the most creative ones. At 8:30 on a Thursday night, I’ve been in an empty restaurant that has four stars, that has great reviews, that everyone would put on their list of five, six creative restaurants probably in the world, and these restaurants aren’t busy. It’s not because they’re too expensive. It’s not because the dining room isn’t pretty. It‘s not because there’s bad service, and it’s not because they don’t have tasty food. It’s because they’re doing something that’s a little bit different. The show (“Top Chef”), and the TV show I’m trying to make happen — there are bigger reasons than me just going on TV and having a good time. I really think mass media and television are opportunities to really expand some of these restaurants and make this creative food movement grow.

Then is Atlanta the right city for you? Would your style be more accepted in a New York or San Francisco?

It’s a tough question to answer as I’m walking around the parking lot of my restaurant here. I’m a New Yorker originally. I’m into college football, and a lot of college football coaches will have that one clause in their contract that’s like, “Here’s my contract, but if this one school comes calling, all bets are off.” I lived in San Francisco and I’m a New Yorker, and I love those two cities. And I love Atlanta because it’s put me on the map and there are so many people here that are great. Is it a place I can see three or four really creative restaurants surviving over a long period of time? Probably not. Just in general, if you think about the South, it takes them a long time to embrace things not as crazy as bacon ice cream, you know? Historically, it took the South a long time to embrace the civil rights movement, for example. So we’ll see where it goes. The difference is that Atlanta is a big metropolitan city and the South is almost disconnected from that. You know what I mean? I live in Atlanta. I don’t feel like I live in Georgia.

What culinary trends right now do you really embrace?

The big trend I embrace right now is molecular mixology, bringing the kitchen to the bar. I’m doing a lot of work with some corporate beverage companies, and I think you’re gonna see more of the things I do, whether it’s liquid nitrogen or the smoke — the textural manipulation of food I think you’re gonna see really come to the forefront on the bar scene. For example, my work with liquid nitrogen. I can freeze alcohol, something that most people I’ve done seminars for — that even work for alcohol companies — will raise their hands and say, “You can’t freeze alcohol.” I’ll pull out a tank of liquid nitrogen and all of a sudden we’re making gin-flavored ice cubes. That’s one example. Think about walking on the beach in Miami eating a mojito popsicle, or to be able to do interactive tequila shots at a club that just sorta pop themselves out of a machine. These are just some of the kinds of things we’ve demonstrated. I think you’ll see molecular gastronomy go into the bar first and become mainstream before you see it go into the kitchen mainstream. At the end of the day, people still just want to get a good buzz off of a nice drink. The creativity inside a glass is a little bit easier embraced by the masses.

What culinary trends do you wish would just die?

The trend of chefs saying that their restaurant is about getting the best ingredients from local farms. That should be every chef’s goal. When it becomes a spiel for a restaurant, I get kinda upset about that. It doesn’t matter if you open up a hamburger restaurant or a French restaurant or an Asian restaurant or whatever, every good chef’s goal should be to get the best ingredients, locally sourced, right from the ground. With being green such a giant trend in general, I think you’re gonna see this still go on and it’s just silly to me. It should always be the goal of any great chef.

Beside the book and the TV show and the new restaurants, do you have anything else on the horizon?

Well, that’s a lot. I gotta go check my e-mail — maybe there’s something else out there. That’s kinda how it’s been happening. Every day a new door opens up. I don’t know what’s next after the things we discussed, but I’ll be cooking, that’s for sure, and we’ll looking out over the edge and thinking about whether or not to jump.

Richard Blais will have an unusual way of staying cool when “Top Chef: The Tour” stops in the Valley Saturday.

“I did (a tour stop) in Columbus, Ohio, a few weeks back and this one’s gonna be even more amazing,” the 36-year-old Atlanta chef says. “We had a blast but I didn’t bring any of my toys with me.

“For the Phoenix one, I’m actually bringing one of my toys. It’s a big toy; it’s a 600-pound toy. I hear it’s pretty hot out there so I’m bringing the second-coldest substance on Earth with me.”

The substance is liquid nitrogen, one of the more unusual kitchen tools Blais (pictured at left) employed on the just-completed fourth season of the Bravo reality television show, “Top Chef.

“It’s one of those things not too many people have seen applied to food,” Blais says. “We’re definitely going to give the fans who come out to the show a good effort.”

The fauxhawk-sporting chef, who narrowly lost to Scottsdale Culinary Institute graduate Stephanie Izard in the show’s finale, became a fan favorite with his mad-scientist approach to cooking known as molecular gastronomy.

He joins Betty Fraser, a 45-year-old Los Angeles chef who competed on the second season of “Top Chef,” for the downtown Phoenix stop of the show’s 20-city tour.

The pair will give cooking demonstrations and share show secrets during three interactive shows Saturday. The action will take place in a 48-foot trailer (pictured below) outfitted with a state-of-the-art kitchen.

“We kinda take turns going back and forth,” Blais says. “She’ll do a recipe and then I’ll do a recipe. For me, the whole thing is very interactive.”

The trailer can accommodate an audience of 38 people. A live video feed will allow another 300 people to watch on big-screen TVs outside.

“As we’re cooking, I want people to throw questions at me and ask me what I’m doing,” Blais says. “Certainly it’s a mix of questions pertaining to the actual food we’re cooking and questions people have about the show. The more interactive the better.”

After Saturday’s shows, Blais will get back to a culinary career that’s taken off since his appearance of “Top Chef.” He’s pitching both a book and a TV show based on his creative cooking techniques.

And, of course, there’s actual cooking to do.

“I just opened a restaurant in Atlanta called Home,” Blais says. “It just got a four-star review.”

‘Top Chef: The Tour’
What: “Top Chef” contestants Betty Fraser (Season 2) and Richard Blais (Season 4) give interactive cooking demonstrations and share show secrets from a state-of-the-art kitchen in a 48-foot trailer.
When: One-hour shows at 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Saturday
Where: Downtown Phoenix Public Market, 721 N. Central Ave., Phoenix (between McKinley and Pierce)
How much: Free. Thirty-eight seats are available inside the trailer; another 300 seats are available outside. Seating is first come, first served.
Info: bravotv.com/thetour

• Read a (very) long Q&A with Richard Blais 

Randy Schoch is somewhat of an expert on chain restaurants. Over the past two decades, he’s owned five Ruth’s Chris Steak Houses, three Roy’s and a Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

So when the Valley restaurateur decided to create his own casual Asian restaurant, is it any surprise it would take pages from two of the Valley’s most successful Valley-based chains?

The result is Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar & Grill, which opened in January on Shea Boulevard east of the Loop 101.

It’s hard not to compare its Asian-inspired menu to that of Pei Wei, the fast-casual spinoff of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro. The two aren’t exactly the same, but there’s a lot of similarity in their rice, noodle and speciality dishes.

And Ling & Louie’s playful attitude — right down to the servers’ T-shirts with corny slogans like “Rice to Meet You” — will remind a lot of people of Oregano’s, if somewhat more strained in its attempted humor.

The combination apparently works, at least for the mostly neighborhood crowd that fills Ling & Louie’s during the lunch and dinner hours, enjoying sumo-sized Kirin beers ($5.25) or two-person Frozen Thai Mais ($9.99)

Starters from the open and noisy kitchen include the expected lettuce wraps ($7.99), potstickers ($7.99) and edamame ($3.50), all perfectly acceptable if not particularly distinguished. An exception are the delicious crab wontons with a sweet citrus-chili sauce ($4.99).

One area where Ling & Louie’s does excel: Servers are very attentive to even the smallest details like bringing samples of sauces, making sure you don’t miss last call for happy hour prices and explaining you navigate the placemat menu.

They’ll point out Evil Jungle Princess Chicken with lemongrass and Thai basil in a spicy peanut red curry sauce ($10.99, pictured above) is the bestseller. Like its menu mate, Wango Mango Chicken in a sweet-and-tangy sauce ($9.99), most of its flavor seems to run off the meat and soak into the rice beneath.

But both feature nice-cooked white meat and fresh vegetables. Both are well-prepared and well-presented. It’s just that neither is that, well, memorable.

The same can be said about most of the entrees I try, from Garlic Pepper Shrimp over egg noodles ($11.99) to Jeweled Beef in a garlicky brown sauce ($12.99) to teriyaki salmon swimming in plate of sauce ($14.99).

Even the more unusual offerings, such as Hop Sing’s Meatloaf with wasabi mashed potatoes ($10.50, pictured at left) and Firecracker Chicken Sliders topped with red pepper and blue cheese ($9.99), don’t trip the excitement meter.

On the other hand, none of these items is disappointing, either. It’s about what you’d expect from a good-quality chain restaurant — perhaps why Schoch already has another Ling & Louie’s in Denver and two more in the works.

Ling & Louie’s
Where: 9397 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale (southwest corner of Shea and 94th Street).
Open: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Prices: Appetizers $3.50-$8.99, salads $8.99-$10.99, sushi rolls $6.99-$7.99, entrees $9.50-$14.99, desserts $4.95.
Info: (480) 767-5464 or lingandlouies.com.

• View a slideshow of Ling & Louie’s
• Check out the menu for Ling & Louie’s

“Oxtail, huh?” one of my lunch companions says as he suspiciously eyes a small piece of the bony meat I’ve offered to share. “Uh, no thanks. I think I’ll stick with what I ordered.”

It’s his loss. The beef medallions (pictured at right), braised to draw maximum flavor from the bone and marrow, are delicious.

Then again, I suspect many East Valley diners are unaware of the remarkable diversity of Caribbean food, which counts French, African and Indian among its many influences.

It’s not entirely their fault. There isn’t exactly an abundance of Caribbean restaurants in the East Valley.

Fortunately, Damian Muir (pictured below) has increased that small number by one. The Jamaican-born chef and his wife, Elisa, recently opened their first restaurant, Caribbean Fusion, in the former Scottsdale Road strip-mall space vacated earlier this year by Twisted.

In true Caribbean tradition, my oxtail ($10) is served with butter beans and small dumplings called “spinners.” Brown rice and kidney beans are combined for a side that, despite the red beans, is commonly known as “peas and rice.”

A tall glass of tropical lemonade ($5) made with mango and strawberry puree adds a tart element to the meal.

One of my friends decides to pass on curry goat ($7.50) and instead go with the more familiar curry chicken ($8.50, pictured at left), not spicy but very flavorable. He’s a bit more adventurous with his side, slightly sweet Jamaican flatbread called bammy.

My other friend plays it completely safe with a tasty jerk burger ($7.95), a special of the day, which is topped with thin strips of bacon. It comes with a refreshing tropical salad featuring watermelon, pineapple and mango.

The daily lunch menu offers just eight items, but the dinner menu is more expansive. I’m especially looking forward to trying ackee and saltfish strudel ($4.50), an appetizer of dried codfish and red ackee fruit wrapped in phyllo dough.

The entrees lineup includes crawfish steamed in coconut milk ($15.50), a 14-ounce jerk T-bone steak ($28.50) and an eight-ounce lobster tail marinated in Caribbean spices ($29.50).

Desserts, for now, are ho-hum standards such as carrot cake and cheesecake, but Muir, who previously worked as sous-chef for the Camelback Inn’s Chaparral room, is planning to add Caribbean treats soon.

The restaurant’s decor also remains a work in progress. High- and low-backed padded booths offer a bit of comfortable privacy, but other tableclothed tables have been pulled away from a banquette, leaving a long bench along one wall with no particular purpose.

A dramatic, granite-topped bar with seating for eight dominates the back of the space. To one side, two chairs and a sofa form a small lounge area around a high-def TV.

Caribbean Fusion
Where: 2515 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale (between Thomas and Oak roads)
Open: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.
Prices: Appetizers $3.50-$6.50, salads $3.50-$6.50, pastas $12.50, entrees $8.50-$29.50, desserts $4.50
Info: (480) 990-1599

First Tastes offer first impressions of new East Valley restaurants. Full reviews, based on multiple visits, aren’t written until restaurants have been open at least a couple months.

• View a slideshow of Caribbean Fusion
• Check out Caribbean Fusion’s lunch menu

Goodbye, Taneko Japanese Tavern. Hello, Blanco Tacos + Tequila.

Scottsdale-based P.F. Chang’s closed its 20-month-old Japanese off-shoot at Scottsdale’s upscale Borgata shopping center Sunday. The building has been taken over by Scottsdale restaurateur Sam Fox, who will open the Valley’s first Blanco on Nov. 3.

Blanco, one of 11 restaurant concepts operated by Fox, offers modern Mexican food in a casual-chic atmosphere. Look for items like chipotle shrimp tacos ($13), green chile pork enchiladas ($14) and chicken mole ($15). Six Mexican beers and 28 kinds of tequila are served.

Tucson already has a Blanco (pictured above), but the Scottsdale location will have an expanded menu. Taneko’s former space also will be renovated to accommodate a larger patio.

According to Taneko’s website, outstanding Taneko gift cards can be redeemed at any P.F. Chang’s China Bistro or Pei Wei Asian Diner.

• Read my October 2007 review of Taneko Japanese Tavern
• Check out the menu for Tucson’s Blanco Tacos + Tequila
• Read more about Blanco Tacos + Tequila on Fox’s website

Los Sombreros Mexican Café & Cantina in Scottsdale has started a reverse happy hour from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays with $5 menu items, such as black bean queso fundido with chips, two quesadillas de rajas, a shrimp cocktail with chunks of mango or a jicama and orange salad with chile-lime dressing.

Drinks specials include $5 margaritas, mojitos, Cuba libres, sangria and wine. Pints of Dos Equis are $2. Info: (480) 994-1799 or lossombreros.com.

• Foodbar (pictured at left), the first eatery to open last summer at Old Town Scottsdale’s SouthBridge complex, has closed for renovations, including the addition of more indoor seating. Look for it to reopen this fall.

• Estate House, the mansion-inspired dinner-house at SouthBridge, is passing around free happy hour appetizers in its upstairs lounge from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Info: (480) 970-4099 or estatehouseaz.com.

• La Bocca Urban Pizzeria in downtown Tempe is hosting a five-course fundraising dinner featuring salad, three pizzas and dessert Thursday. Cost is $40 per person, $25 of which goes to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Info: (480) 967-5244 or laboccapizzeria.com.

• Scottsdale’s 3 Tomatoes & a Mozzarella is celebrating its eighth anniversary with two summer specials: two salads, two pastas (or a 16-inch pizza) and a bottle of wine for $40, or a to-go deal of a 12-inch pizza and two salads for $20. Info: (480) 585-6555 or 3tomatoes.com.

• Staffers in the Tribune’s Gilbert office are excited that In-N-Out Burger has opened across the street on the southwest corner of Gilbert Road and the Santan Freeway. Info: in-n-out.com.

Starbucks finally has released the official list of all 600 stores it’s closing, and Arizona is pretty much unscathed. The only location in the state to get the ax is a Starbucks along I-10 in Eloy.

Compare that to California, where 88 locations are closing, or Texas, which is losing 57. Even Minnesota, which has a million fewer residents than Arizona, will see 27 closings.

Besides Arizona, other states losing only one Starbucks are New Hampshire, Delaware and South Carolina.

Starbucks announced plans to close 600 stores earlier this month in an effort to boost profitability and its slumping stock price. The closures are expected to take place by March 2009.

• See the full list of Starbucks stores that are closing nationwide
• Find your nearest Starbucks in the East Valley

I know from the comments I receive from readers that a lot of you follow the health inspections of Valley restaurants posted on Maricopa County’s website. Now the Tribune has just launched its own searchable database of health inspections, which has a few extra bells and whistles.

Much like Maricopa County’s version, you can search for restaurants by name or city. But you also can search by ZIP code, type of restaurant or inspection date. Another neat feature is you can click on different inspection dates without having to go back to previous screens.

• Check an East Valley restaurant’s health inspections

Was Brush Fire Arizona Grill another victim of the Valley’s current economic struggles, or was the restaurant the victim of another jinxed Gilbert location? Either way, Brush Fire has closed its doors after just seven months.

The restaurant, from D’Vine Wine Bar & Bistro owner Mark Nowicki and chef Ramon Rice (pictured below), featured Southwest-flavored meats, such as roast pork shoulder with sweet prickly pear demi glace and rib eye steaks rubbed with black pepper and coffee.

Menu prices likely weren’t a factor. A shredded pork sandwich with beer-battered fries was a reasonable $9. A huge bowl of green chili alfredo pasta with chicken was $13.

Maybe the location had something to do with it. The strip-mall space near the Santan Freeway and Ray Road formerly was occupied by Dual Contemporary Cuisine, another well-regarded restaurant that just couldn’t seem to gain a foothold with southeast Gilbert diners.

If another couple restaurants fail there, the space may start to rival the “jinx” of downtown Gilbert’s recently closed GrainBelt GrillHouse, whose previous incarnations included Mahogany Run, Gonzo’s All-American Grill, Heartthrob Music Café and Rock City Bar & Grill.

• Read my February 2008 review of Brush Fire Arizona Grill

With the first six months of 2008 in the books, it’s time for a mid-year look at the best restaurants that have opened in the East Valley. Despite our economic doldrums, it’s been a banner year. Here, no particular order, are the 10 new restaurants that have most impressed me, taking into consideration their respective categories and niches:

Humble Pie: This cozy pizzeria and wine bar (pictured above) at Hilton Village makes delicious 11-inch, wood-fired pizzas topped with locally produced meats and farm-fresh vegetables, complemented by wines and beers selected by co-owner Tom Kaufman (Rancho Pinot Grill). 6149 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, (480) 556-9900, humblepieusa.com.

Digestif: Restaurateur Peter Kasperski (Cowboy Ciao, Sea Saw, Kazimierz World Wine Bar) adds another jewel to his empire with this SouthBridge eatery, which sets chef Payton Curry’s rustic “Cal-Ital” menu to an indie music vibe. 7114 E. Stetson Drive, Scottsdale, (480) 425-9463, digestifscottsdale.com.

Bar Tepo: This stylish yet casual New American eatery from Valley restaurateur Steve Short (Basis, Atlasta Catering) offers unusual treats, such as roasted artichoke and Boursin cheese puffs with a bacon fondue or brown suger Hoisin chicken tacos with mango salsa. 1652 S. Val Vista Drive, Mesa, (480) 633-0155, bartepo.com.

Fine’s Cellar: Michael Fine, founder of Sportsman’s Fine Wines & Spirits, started with a great wine list — also available in the barrel-vaulted restaurant’s retail shop — then tasked chef Cullen Campbell to create an all-day menu of gourmet sandwiches and entrees to match it. 7051 E. Fifth Ave., Scottsdale, (480) 994-3463, finescellar.com.

Cork: Robert and Danielle Morris’ ambitious small-plates restaurant and wine bar in Ocotillo offers delicious nibbles of everything from lobster to pheasant to antelope to ostrich. Traditional-sized dishes are served for lunch and Sunday brunch. 4991 S. Alma School Road, Chandler, (480) 883-3773, corkrestaurant.net.

Roka Akor: Trendy London restaurant Roka chose Scottsdale for its first North American spinoff, where marinated meats, seafood and vegetables are cooked over oak charcoal on a large robata grill. Sushi and Japanese kitchen dishes also are available. 7299 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, (480) 306-8800, rokarestaurant.com.

Latitude Eight: Novice restaurateur David Fliger’s simple yet modern Thai grill is the latest gem in restaurant-rich downtown Chandler. The family-run eatery — Fliger’s mother oversees the kitchen — boasts a wonderful five-course tasting menu for a mere $13. 11 W. Boston St., Chandler, (480) 722-0560, latitude-eight.com.

Eddie’s House: Chef Eddie Matney’s first public foray into the East Valley presents his eclectic versions of American comfort foods in a comfortable, casual atmosphere. Look for Matney bantering with guests and handing out samples nightly at the chef’s counter. 7042 E. Indian School Road, Scottsdale, (480) 946-1622, eddieshouseaz.com.

Bourbon Steak: Taking over the former space of the Fairmont Scottsdale resort’s well-regarded Marquesa, celebrity chef Michael Mina brings the American steakhouse into the 21st century with three tiers of beef, topped by a $175 Japanese “A5” Kobe New York strip. 7575 E. Princess Drive, Scottsdale, (480) 513-6002, michaelmina.net.

Culver’s: Yes, it’s a fast-food restaurnt. But this Wisconsin-based chain’s famous ButterBurgers — the buns are buttered, then toasted — are the epitome of fast-food burgers. Delightful frozen custard desserts cap off this guilty pleasure. 1909 S. Country Club Drive, Mesa, (480) 733-5330, culvers.com.

Related links:
• View this story as a slideshow with photos of all 10 restaurants
• Review my top East Valley restaurants of 2007