Citing differences with business partner Steve Wolff, chef Robert Stempkowski says he’s leaving Urban Campfire, the smokehouse-style restaurant on the southeast corner of University Drive and Rural Road in Tempe.

“Urban Campfire, as we all knew it, is no more,” Stempkowski says, adding that his partnership with Wolff is “irretrievably broken.”

Urban Campfire, which opened in July 2007 in a stand-alone building that formerly housed Greasy Tony’s, featured such comfort foods as pulled-pork sliders, green chile stew and barbecue spare ribs.

Wolff and Stempkowski went through a protracted legal battle with Greasy Tony’s owners over a liquor license dispute. After winning a judgment, the pair decided to close the restaurant over the summer to renovate the aging building’s interior and patio.

The pair planned to reopen in August, but the restaurant remains closed.

Wolff still may try to reopen Urban Campfire, says Stempkowsk, whose long career includes stints at Christopher’s, Michael’s at the Citadel, Mary Elaine’s and Binkley’s.

“I don’t know what he’ll do as far as the food thing,” he says. “I just know I won’t be participating any more.”

• Previous: Urban Campfire to close for 10 weeks (May 19, 2008)
• Previous: Best new East Valley restaurants of 2007 (Dec. 30, 2007)
• Previous: Urban Campfire serves comfort food with panache (Aug. 24, 2007)

Ra Sushi executive chef Tai Obata (pictured at left) has unveiled several new additions, including three new rolls, to the Scottsdale-based chain’s menu.

The new items include a beef tataki roll ($9.25), king crab roll ($11) and mango lobster roll ($9).

Other newcomers are a spicy octopus and cucumber salad ($6.25), shrimp shumai appetizer ($6.75) and a bara chirashi lunch bowl ($9).

Also making its debut: Kona Kampachi, a species of Hawaiian yellowtail, available as nigiri ($5) or sashimi ($10).

New to the drink menu: three martinis (Bruce Lee-Chee, Mount Saint Melons and Chai One On) and five cocktails (Moshi Moshi Mojito, Mango Libido Mojito, Crouching Chaiger, Okinawa Iced Tea and Kampai Mai Tai).

Ra has 21 restaurants across the country, including locations in Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa and Ahwatukee. Info: rasushi.com.

Miele’s Italian Bistro bills itself as “a taste of Italy in your neighborhood,” and it’s hard to think of a more accurate description of this unassuming but enjoyable south Tempe restaurant.

Its Italian bona fides come courtesy of Giuseppe (pictured on right) and Sergio Miele, brothers from the old country who had restaurants in New York before moving to the Valley and opening Miele’s in March 2005.

Their cozy, square space in a Fry’s shopping center is simply adorned with framed retro posters and Murano glass light fixtures imported from Venice. Two tiny televisions hang in opposite corners.

A seven-seat, L-shaped bar offers a dozen wines and four beers on tap. It also serves as staging area of sorts where Giuseppe, simply known as “Joe,” personally inspects the southern Italian dishes emerging from the kitchen.

If you’re a newcomer looking for guidance, Joe is quick to point out that “unlike most places, everything on our menu is good.” Since he looks a bit like an extra from “The Sopranos,” you’re inclined to believe him.

• Slideshow: See more photos of Miele’s Italian Bistro

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Big Dog in Town, which opened last month on the northeast corner of University Drive and Rural Road in Tempe, will host a grand opening celebration from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.

The eatery, which offers seven different regional styles of hot dogs, will have contests, giveaways and music. All proceeds will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of North Tempe.

Info: (480) 656-5609 or bigdogintown.com.

• Previous: Tempe hot dog shop doles out 7 regional styles (Aug. 12, 2008)

After four and a half years at Elliot and Hardy roads in Tempe, Yupha’s Thai Kitchen has moved to the Pollack Tempe Cinemas shopping center on the southeast corner of Elliot and McClintock.

The new high-ceiling space with red and yellow walls has an open and contemporary feel. A colorful mural of a Bangkok floating market dominates one wall.

The menu remains the same. Eleven lunch specials ($7.95) feature dishes like chicken pad gra prow (a spicy mix of poultry, onions, bell peppers and Thai chili peppers, pictured at right), red curry in coconut milk and drunken noodles. All specials include soup and Thai roll.

Dinner offers nearly 50 entrees, ranging from five different curries to 13 seafood dishes to five noodle dishes.

Yupha’s, 1805 E. Elliot Road, Tempe, is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Info: (480) 839-0576 or yuphathaikitchen.com.

Last month, Michel Wall of Chandler won Z’Tejas Southwestern Grill’s annual Chile Fest dessert contest.

Since then, a couple readers have been looking for the recipe of Wall’s chipotle chocolate torte topped with peaches, raspberries and cinnamon vanilla whipped cream.

The dessert is on Z’Tejas’ menu through Sept. 21 at all four Valley locations. A dollar from every sale benefits the Foundation for Blind Children. Info: ztejas.com.

• Previous: Chandler woman wins Z’Tejas chile dessert contest (Aug. 24, 2008)

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Many Americans, struggling with the double whammy of high prices and job worries, are skipping their usual Labor Day trips, according to the American Automobile Association.

But just because you’re not leaving town doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a few hours of “vacation.” Here are seven East Valley restaurants that will take you on a culinary trip — and have you back home by bed time:

Bavarian Point: Zwiebelrostbraten (a beef filet with deep-fried onions) and huhnerbrust punijab (boneless chicken in a curry sauce) are among the authentic German offerings at this strip-mall restaurant, whose  pub serves up Bavarian beers like Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse and Spaten lager. 4815 E. Main St., Mesa, (480) 830-0999.

D’Arcy McGee’s: Irish and English specialities — such as Irish breakfast, Yorkshire pudding, leek and salmon pie and steak and mushroom boxty — abound at this Tempe Marketplace eatery (pictured at left). Beers on tap include Harp, Strongbow, Smithwick’s, Kilkenny, Erdinger and Hoegaarden. 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway, (480) 557-9087, primepubs.com.

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Cadillac Ranch, the second-story restaurant and bar that opened earlier this year at Tempe Marketplace, finally is going to offer draft beer.

Starting Thursday, the venue will have eight beers on tap: Budweiser, Bud Light, Widmer Hefeweisen, Widmer Drop Top Amber, Stella Artois, Shock Top Orange, Coors Light and Pale Moon.

The draft beers will be unveiled during an invite-only party from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, when guests can enjoy one-cent beers. Draft specials will run all night.

Info: (480) 894-1111 or cadillacranchtempe.com.

Ra Sushi’s happy hour not only is getting longer, it’s spilling over into the weekend.

Starting this week, the Scottsdale-based chain will offer a lower-priced happy hour menu from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Previously, its happy hour was 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays.

Sushi and appetizers will be half-off the regular menu prices. Drinks specials will range from $1 to $5.

“Our new happy hour is just one way to give back to our customers during a tough economy,” Ra Sushi co-founder Scott Kilpatrick says. “We’re bucking the trend of raising prices at a time when costs seem to be spiking everywhere else.”

Ra had 21 locations nationwide, including restaurants in Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa and Ahwatukee.

• Check out Ra Sushi’s new happy hour menu (pdf)

Big Dog in Town, a new fast-casual hot dog concept, has taken over the former JD’s Dogs restaurant on the northeast corner of Rural Road and University Drive in Tempe.

Big Dog customers can choose from eight types of dogs, ranging from regular ($3) to jumbo ($4.50) to its half-pound Famous ($8). They then can choose one of seven regional styles.

For an extra $1, for example, choices include New York (mustard, chili, chopped onions), Boston (baked beans and chopped onions) or Tijuana (jalapenos, chopped onions and hot sauce).

For an extra $2, choices are Chicago (mustard, relish, chopped onions, tomatoes, dill pickle and celery salt), Jersey (grilled potatoes, bell peppers and onions), Baltimore (cole slaw and bacon) or Texas (chili, bacon, grilled onions and barbecue sauce).

Sides include Frito pie ($2.50 to $4), fries ($2) and onion rings ($2).

Big Dog also offers free Wii games for customers. Info: (480) 292-1645 or bigdogintown.com.

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.

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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.

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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.

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Present-day Caffe Boa bears little resemblance to Jay and Christine Wisniewski’s original shoebox-sized eatery that opened on the south end of downtown Tempe’s Mill Avenue in 1994.

Back then, its sophisticated sandwiches and pasta dishes seemed out of sync with a no-frills décor and college-hangout vibe. And there was always a challenge in getting one of the five indoor tables, especially when hot weather rendered a tiny patio inhospitable.

Thankfully, the Wisniewkis were able to move a couple blocks north in 2005 into a much larger space that formerly housed Mill Landing. Its covered front patio, a shaded oasis of green plants and red brick, alone provides more seating than the entire former location.

Inside, dramatic floral photography and colorful murals contrast the dining room’s greenish-gray and wheat walls. Weathered, butcher-block-like tables and dark hardwood floors soften exposed brick.

It’s an atmosphere — slightly upscale yet still casual and comfortable — that perfectly complements Caffe Boa’s mostly European-style cuisine, which emphasizes high-quality organic ingredients.

Meals begin with fresh breads (pictured at left) from Mesa’s Breadsmith bakery, presented in large baskets by servers who also deliver trays of olives and oil from the Queen Creek Olive Mill.

Handmade pasta dishes remain menu mainstays. Ricotta and spinach tortellini ($18.95) is one of my favorites. It comes with broccoli florets, sweet peas and mushrooms in a wonderful brown cream sauce that leaves a garlicky reminder on my lips for hours afterward.

Almost as good is goat cheese ravioli ($18), made with artisan goat cheese from Black Mesa Ranch near Snowflake and served with a sage-tinged butter sauce and toasted hazelnuts.

If you prefer variety, spinach ravioli filled with artichoke and ricotta ($17.95) provides two different tastes: Half the pasta is covered with a tomato basil sauce, the other half with a not-as-flavorable white garlic cream sauce.

Aside from pastas, the dinner menu offers a half-dozen entrees. The highlight is the poularde ($23, pictured at right), tender pieces of poultry in truffle oil and a mushroom cream sauce, with Forbidden rice, almost black in color and nutty in flavor. It’s an earthy and incredibly rich combination.

The free-range filet mignon ($25), perfectly cooked, comes on a chevre tart that’s a tad too crusty, but a side of delicious root vegetables and porcini mushrooms more than makes up for it.

I’m not a huge fan of blue cheese burgers, but I’d definitely have Caffe Boa’s version ($13) again. A half-pound of American Kobe beef holds its own against the sharpness of the Point Reyes blue cheese. I just wish accompanying Yukon gold potato wedges could do the same.

Desserts — such as a praline pyramid with caramel and Gianduja chocolate ($9), a triple chocolate mousse cake with chocolate ganache ($9) or tiramisu ($9, pictured at left) — are decadent but all surprisingly light.

Wine lovers may want to study Caffe Boa’s wine list on its website before visiting; it’ll take some time to get through all 25 pages detailing the Wisniewski’s impressive 2,500-bottle cellar.

Bottles are a little pricey because of the quality. Most reds and whites are north of $50, and more than a few exceed $500. But there also are two dozen selections available by the glass for $10 or less, so almost any budget can be accommodated.

Caffe Boa
Where: 398 S. Mill Ave., Tempe (northwest corner of Mill and Fourth Street)
Open: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Prices: Appetizers $7.25-$15.50, salads $6.95-$14, panini $7.95-$13, pasta $14.95-$18.95, entrees $18-$36, desserts $9.
Info: (480) 968-9112 or cafeboa.com.

• View a slideshow of Caffe Boa
• Check out the menu for Caffe Boa
• Check out the wine list for Caffe Boa

Bar Tepo, the New American restaurant that opened earlier this year at Dana Park in Mesa, has launched some daily lunch specials, including poblano and chicken mac ‘n’ cheese ($7), tempura fish and sweet potato chips ($8) and a cilantro and chile seared chicken quesadilla ($7).

• Read my April 2008 review of Bar Tepo 

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Azhar Began couldn’t have picked a harder-to-find spot for his Classic Italian Pizzeria. I’ve driven by the aging Lake Country Village shopping center along Tempe’s Baseline Road hundreds of times, completely forgetting about the intimate eatery hidden within.

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With the price of just about everything spiraling out of control, wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy a delicious lunch for less than $5? When I’m trying to stretch my restaurant budget, I turn to East Valley pizzerias, many of which offer a slice or two for just a few bucks. Some even throw in a drink. Here are five of my go-to spots:

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