Two Scottsdale chefs are contenders for the title of 2006 Best Chef of the Southwest by the James Beard Foundation, according to the Foundation’s Web site.

The James Beard Foundation has announced its semifinalists for its 2010 James Beard Awards, the culinary world’s version of the Oscars.

Too on One talks to ASU's James Harden, who dishes on the beard, singing Mariah and more.

Janos Wilder, the James Beard Award-winning chef from Janos Restaurant and J Bar in Tucson, has published a cookbook, “The Great Chiles Rellenos Book.”

Even James Beard Award-winning chefs apparently aren’t immune to the recent rash of restaurant closures: New Times is reporting chef Nobuo Fukuda is closing Sea Saw in Old Town Scottsdale. The cozy sushi spot will close June 7.

I don’t often write about restaurants in Phoenix, but I’ll make an exception for a James Beard Award-winning chef. Christopher Gross opens his new place, Christopher’s Restaurant, today at Biltmore Fashion Park.

The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Phoenix will host its second annual "Out-of-the-House Beard Event" Friday through Sunday, featuring James Beard award-winning chefs from around the nation.

The most popular locally produced TV show on Eight, Arizona PBS, will soon take over CityScape in downtown Phoenix.

Congratulations are in order, even if no one’s officially been nominated yet. The James Beard Awards, which gives top honors to those in the food and beverage industry nationwide, issued a list of first-ballot candidates in January that included several locals.

Local chefs featured on the Eight, Arizona PBS show “Check, Please! Arizona” gather at the inaugural Check, Please! Arizona Festival, where fans and foodies can sample some of the Valley’s best restaurant fare and audition for upcoming episodes of the show. Cuisine from at least 36 of the independent restaurants – from five-star dining establishments to tucked-away cafes – previously featured on the show will be offered.  Among event highlights are cooking demonstrations, panel discussions and the chance to audition in front of cameras.

NEW YORK - A Chicago chef known for his ethereal cooking - as well as the tongue cancer that nearly ended his life - was named the nation's top chef Sunday by the James Beard Foundation.

NEW YORK - Is there anything sexier than food?

What da Vinci did for canvas, Chris Bianco is doing for pizza.

If anyone’s going to open another Italian restaurant in this town, it had better be something special. But the people behind Fiamma — Italian for "flame" — aren’t worried about getting burned.

Police on Sunday were looking for a suspect in the beating deaths of a 14-year-old Phoenix boy and his grandmother.

The Goldwater Institute and the Tribune will host a Thursday forum to debate the worth of the light-rail system that’s planned to run from Phoenix to the East Valley.

WASHINGTON - To paraphrase “Bull Durham” hero Crash Davis: “A team on a streak has to respect the streak.”

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Arab television broadcast a new videotape Tuesday showing three Christian peace activists taken hostage in Iraq last year, but a fourth - the only American abducted - was not seen in the footage.

Chef Simon Purvis’ work history sounds more like a travelogue than a résumé.

James Porter cooks regularly with items such as pickled grapes, baby octopus and white anchovies. But whether his familiarity with exotic ingredients will give this Scottsdale chef an edge on Sunday is unknown.

James Porter cooks regularly with items such as pickled grapes, baby octopus and white anchovies. But whether his familiarity with exotic ingredients will give this Scottsdale chef an edge on Sunday is unknown.