Taryn Jeffries

This past week I came across a post on my Facebook feed and as I dove into the 100’s and 100’s of comments, I was gobsmacked. I went back to the post a few times to read the ever growing comments (at last glance there were over 500 comments from an array of people in the food community co-signing what the original poster bravely shared.) For the last 10 years Phoenix Bites has taken a pretty hard stance on supporting local businesses and the food community. an individual passionate about our food community and a potential means to amplify voices that have felt unheard for such a long time.

After years of working at a pizzeria since the age of 16 and flying all over the country trying pizza from restaurants in various regions, Copenhaver decided to start his own pizza joint that combines his passions — making pizza with the best quality ingredients in a cool and comfortable environment with a great playlist. Reel Pizza Pies is a cool place to go with cool music and great pizza,” says Copenhaver of his 1,200-square-foot, 15-seat restaurant that will serve slices, whole pies as well as sandwiches and subs via counter-service style. Some of those ingredients for his New York style thin-crust pizzas and pan-style pizzas include 00 organic flour, fresh mozzarella and organic tomatoes from Bianco. Menu options include classic pizza choices cooked on an Electric Deck Oven which Copenhaver calls the “pizza master” such as Cheese, Margherita, Veggie (with red bell pepper, mushroom and onion), BBQ Chicken, White Pie, Marinara, Combo (including pepperoni, sausage and mushroom), and the thick-crust Sicilian Pan Pizza featuring both aged and fresh mozzarella, tomato, pecorino, basil and extra virgin olive oil.

Salt River Fields and Earn Your Booze have teamed up for a day of fitness, fun, and booze in the beautiful spring weather at the ballpark on Saturday, May 2 for the Earn Your Booze Fitness & Cocktail Festival. Guests will enjoy a unique, full-stadium workout experience led by four of the Valley’s top fitness studios followed by a craft cocktail festival on the infield with handfuls of premium cocktails, music and games for all. Earn Your Booze Fitness & Cocktail Festival will be on Saturday, May 2 from 11am to 3pm. Tickets are $30 and include the EYB workout experience plus premium cocktails from sponsored pop-up bars on the infield.

After doing a little checking, it turns out that Hook and Ladder does NOT use whiskey barrels to age their wine, just regular wine barrels. However, there are wineries that do the aging process in whiskey barrels and blend that with wine aged in regular wine barrels, just to make the flavor interesting. This may be an interesting tasting experience, especially since Carignan, like Cab Franc is often used as structure blending varietal and tends to pickup barrel flavors more readily. Wines of this distinctive character always make for an interesting pairing experience with the mellow nuances of pronounced barrel-aging flavors going well with game, salmon, and ham.