Ahwatukee, AZ June 2024

— AMY RICHARDSON

SAVVY SOLUTIONS FOR TODAY’S REAL ESTATE MARKET

Buying and selling a home can be challenging. You need an agent who is laser-focused on your unique needs. Having lived and worked in Ahwatukee and the southeast valley for over 20 years, my passion for this community comes through in my warmth, work ethic, philanthropic endeavors, and connections with a clientele who are as committed to me as I am to them! From staging and prepping, to spearheading renovations, finding contractors and delivering expert market advice, I will dedicate myself to your project as if it were my own.

Give me a call or scan the code for a complimentary market analysis on your home and find out why important decisions demand Savvy Solutions.

real estate report

Rec ent ly so l d p roperties in Ahwa tu kee.

The Men Who Make a Difference

We often think of a man's strength as something tangible: a booming voice or a muscular build. But the most profound strength lies in the quiet moments, the unwavering presence that shapes a child's life. A father’s gifts of quality time, life-affirming words and positive actions have a lasting impact on his children.

Fathers and father figures serve as a cornerstone upon which futures are built. Whether a child is stepping out onto a field for the first time, facing a challenge in the classroom, or looking for help navigating one of life’s tough moments, this is where the impact of a father figure is most profound. A coach's firm handshake or a teacher's encouraging word become the bricks that build confidence and resilience.

And father figures come in all shapes and sizes. They are the family men who juggle careers and fatherhood with unwavering dedication. They are the stay-athome dads who nurture and guide with quiet strength. They are the mentors who offer wisdom and direction, and who provide a shoulder to lean on. They are the ones who nourish with food and feedback.

These men, regardless of role, serve as some of the most important architects of a child's future. They are the steady hand that guides them through stumbles and celebrates their triumphs.

So, let's honor the fathers, coaches, teachers and mentors who build with a commitment to shaping strong, well-rounded individuals.

BETH DEL VILLE,EDITOR @AHWATUKEECITYLIFESTYLE

June 2024

PUBLISHER

Sherry York | sherry.york@citylifestyle.com

EDITOR

Beth Del Ville | beth.delville@citylifestyle.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Alison Stanton, Patti Zelinski, Beth Del Ville

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Todd Ebner, Qiana Kelsch, Stephanie Slezak

Corporate Team

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Steven Schowengerdt

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Matthew Perry

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HR Janeane Thompson

AD DESIGNER Rachel Chrisman

LAYOUT DESIGNER Antanette Ray

Learn how to start your own publication at citylifestyle.com/franchise.

Jamal

JUNE 2024

city scene

WHERE NEIGHBORS CAN SEE AND BE SEEN

1: Kelvin Beachum and Larry Fitzgerald attend the 14th Annual Fitz’s Supper Club to benefit the Larry Fitzgerald Foundation. 2: Danielle Frost, Executive Director of The Larry Fitzgerald Foundation, and Fitzgerald arrive on the red carpet. 3-5: Red carpet arrivals at the 14th Annual Fitz’s Supper Club, supporting youth education and breast cancer awareness. 6: Payton Whitmore and Nic Johnson from the “Johnjay and Rich” morning show with Fitzgerald at Dominick’s Steakhouse for Fitz’s Supper Club. 7: Fitzgerald and his father, Larry Fitzgerald, Sr., arrive for Fitz’s Supper Club at Dominick’s Steakhouse.

Want to be seen in the magazine?

AMMALA RATTANA

STEPHANIE SLEZAK

STEPHANIE SLEZAK

STEPHANIE SLEZAK

STEPHANIE SLEZAK

AMMALA RATTANA

AMMALA RATTANA

First Watch Opens in Ahwatukee

First Watch, an award-winning daytime dining concept serving made-to-order breakfast, brunch and lunch using fresh ingredients, opened its first Ahwatukee location on Ray Road just west of 48th Street on April 29. First Watch's chef-driven menu includes elevated executions of classic favorites along with specialties such as the Quinoa Power Bowl®, Farm Stand Breakfast Tacos, Avocado Toast, Chickichanga, Morning Meditation, Spiked Lavender Lemonade and its signature Million Dollar Bacon. For more information, visit FirstWatch.com .

by Beth Del Ville

Photography

Arizona Lottery Provides Shoes for 100 Children in Foster Care

Arizona Lottery, in partnership with Soles 2 Souls, The Foster Alliance and Phoenix Premium Outlets, funded a day of free shoe shopping for 100 Valley foster children. The Arizona Lottery’s ongoing $25,000 partnership with Soles 2 Souls allowed the children and their foster families to shop for new pairs of shoes at Famous Footwear at Phoenix Premium Outlets. Famous Footwear also offered a 15 percent discount to families looking to purchase additional shoes.

Photography by Maxwell Kurtz-Williams

FIND

PEACE

IN Your Purpose

If you’re facing life changes, feeling anxious, or simply want to feel better emotionally, we’re ready to support you. Let’s take this step forward together.

SPECIALIZING IN Trauma | EMDR | Perinatal Mental Health

Passionate About Solving Problems

ARTICLE BY ALISON STANTON PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHANIE SLEZAK

As the founder and owner of Allen Law, a law firm that handles a variety of cases including serious injury, wrongful death, criminal defense and white collar crime, Jamal Allen spends his days working closely with clients throughout the entire state, including Ahwatukee.

In addition to striving to offer the best possible legal advice to their valued clients – including year-round residents, snowbirds and tourists – The Allen Law Firm is also passionate about mentoring clients, and helping to affect positive change in their lives.

The Allen Law Firm has earned a well-deserved reputation for its highly effective legal strategies – and also for its sense of humor. As Allen notes, he and his staff love a good lawyer joke.

Allen took some time to answer our questions, including why he decided to practice law, the book that inspires him every day, and what he enjoys most about his work.

ABOUT HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AN ATTORNEY, AND WHEN DID YOU OPEN ALLEN LAW?

I have been practicing since 1993. I first started practicing at Allen & Associates, then upgraded to a new firm with the new name of Allen Law in January of 2021. My entire legal team has over 75 years of combined experience working on cases right here in Arizona.

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP, AND WHERE DID YOU GO TO COLLEGE?

I grew up in California. I left California a week after graduating high school to study communications at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. I graduated in 1990, and by that August, I moved to Arizona to attend law school at Arizona State University.

WHERE DID YOU WORK PRIOR TO OPENING ALLEN LAW?

After I graduated from Arizona State University College of Law, I spent some time working for a large civil law firm in the area. My time working in civil litigation helped me to fine-tune my legal strategies and research skills. After this, I became a prosecutor for Maricopa County, where I worked on a variety of criminal cases. I have found that being able to analyze cases from the perspective of a prosecutor makes me uniquely qualified to defend people.

LOOKING BACK, WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO STUDY LAW IN SCHOOL AND PURSUE IT AS A CAREER? FOR INSTANCE, WERE YOU ALWAYS FASCINATED BY LAW?

Law has always been an interest of mine. The idea of helping those that need the support of someone reliable has intrigued me to follow this path. Also, post-undergrad, I was offered a position at a news station for $11,000 a year. It made my decision to go to law school so much easier.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO OPEN YOUR OWN LAW FIRM?

I felt like the legal field was often short on empathy, compassion and the ability to connect with people. This helped inspire me to open Allen Law, and help provide solutions to my clients who are facing real problems. My team is made up of truly empathetic people who want to listen to our clients’ issues and problems, and guide them through the process toward a fair resolution.

WHY ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT MENTORING CLIENTS, AND WHAT ARE SOME OF THE WAYS YOU ARE ABLE TO DO THIS?

My own personal growth has helped me understand how to tackle the personal and professional issues my

JAMAL ALLEN Founder and Owner of Allen Law

clients face. Also, I have been graced by the universe to have people associated with my practice who are more enlightened than I am.

I was introduced to the book “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz. This book acts as a template and gives me direction in my work and in mentoring clients. The four agreements are: Be impeccable with your word; Don’t take anything personally; Don’t make assumptions; and Always do your best. These agreements may sound simple, but they really resonate with me. Looking at life through the prism of these four agreements has allowed me to let a lot of things go, both with clients and in my personal life. These principles also allow me to extend myself in order to practice law better, and be a better hero and a better mentor.

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO KNOW YOU ARE HELPING PEOPLE IN A TANGIBLE WAY?

It makes me feel heroic to know that I offer a positive impact to my clients with my knowledge and services.

WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT HELPS ALLEN LAW STAND APART?

At Allen Law, we are very good at what we do. We solve problems and we heal people. In addition, we like to do things differently. Lawyers have a reputation for being standoffish and hard to reach on the phone. My friendly team is easy to reach and approachable, we pride ourselves on our sense of humor.

WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT YOU ESPECIALLY ENJOY ABOUT YOUR WORK?

I truly enjoy working with a team that’s smarter than I am. We have the privilege of solving significant issues for the residents of

our community. From wrongful death and injury cases to criminal defense and administrative matters, we work quickly, discreetly and extremely well.

WHEN YOU ARE NOT IN THE COURTROOM OR AT THE OFFICE, WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU ENJOY DOING IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

I enjoy laughing, reading, biking, golfing, fishing, traveling and cooking.

A LIFETIME OF LANDSCAPES CAPTURED THROUGH THE LENS

ARTICLE BY BETH DEL VILLE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD EBNER

Local fine arts landscape photographer

Todd Ebner shares his passion for photography

The snap of a button. The click of a shutter.

These are the sounds of the earliest memories fine arts landscape photographer Todd Ebner shares when asked about the first picture he ever took on his parents Minolta SLR camera. While he doesn’t remember the image, he remembers the feeling: excitement.

Fast forward to high school, where Ebner took three years of photography at Mountain Pointe. “It just really spoke to me and I have a very artsy brain, so I fell in love with it,” he says. “This was when shooting on film was still the only option, so I have great memories of spending hours in the dark rooms, developing prints, listening to music and hanging out with friends.”

One of the first images Ebner remembers capturing that really solidified his love of photography was during an annual spring break camping, mountain biking and hiking trip to Utah with his father. “I took a black-and-white photo of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park that came out pretty good. I remember being so excited to get back, hand develop the film and work on the print, and it ended up turning out great. I was hooked!”

Photo by Stephanie Slezak

Following high school, the long-time Ahwatukee resident left home to follow his calling of serving in the Coast Guard. “A lot of my role models growing up had experience one way or the other with the military, and since I grew up as a swimmer here, I decided that I wanted to join the Coast Guard.” Ebner ended up in aviation, conducting medevacs and search-and-rescue missions, which allowed him to fly all over the South Pacific, the Bering Sea and the California coast. But photography was never too far from his mind.

“Whenever possible, I had my gear with me so I was able to get some great aerial shots, as well as get to places I never would otherwise.”

Ebner was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard after 11 years and returned to Ahwatukee to earn a degree in nursing at Arizona State University.

While at ASU he participated in a summer study abroad program, spending a month in Peru, where he visited one of the world’s most famous archeological sites. “Machu Picchu was one of those places that I’d seen amazing photos of before; it seemed like a place that was so fantastical it almost couldn’t exist.”

But exist it did. And Ebner took the opportunity to take a photograph of his own; one that ended up earning him a grand prize photography award from the school. A second photograph of a church with the Milky Way shining brightly behind it in a rural village outside of Cusco earned him a first-place award in the same contest. Ebner says these were the first awards he’d ever received for his work and was a validating experience.

Landscapes and light still ignite a passion for Ebner. His favorite place to photograph is the Southwest and its deserts. “There’s a lot of unique features, mixed with the rugged landscape, as well as the history that’s left behind from the people who were here before us,” he says. “In Arizona, monsoon season brings about clouds that are just absolutely out of this world, if you’re willing to go out and brave the heat.”

Overall, Ebner finds a sense of calm in capturing the land and sky. “There’s just an unlimited number of beautiful places to see in the world. Catching them with my camera when the weather and the lighting is good just makes them all the more special. It’s just a peaceful experience for me.”

ToddEbner.com

Instagram: @Todd_Ebner_Photography

NO H A RD FEELINGS

COMFORT SERVES AS A LUXURIOUS REBELLION AGAINST OUR URBAN JUNGLE’S HARSH EDGES

ARTICLE BY BETH DEL VILLE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY QIANA KELSCH

The soft textures of True Classic staples stand in stark contrast to downtown Phoenix’s urban beauty. Crisp, breathable fabrics juxtapose effortlessly; a cool counterpoint to the heat radiating from sunbaked asphalt and scorched concrete. Shop these looks and more at TrueClassicTees .com.

On Jackson: Navy Commuter Long Sleeve Button Up Shirt, Khaki Commuter Pant and Reversible Dress Belt.

On Keaton: Black Wash Straight Fit Comfort

Jeans, Reversible Dress Belt, White Commuter

Long Sleeve Button Up Shirt, Black Blazer.

On Jackson: Black True Classic Trucker Hat, Military Green Active Crew Neck, Black Active Joggers.

On Keaton: Military Green Crew Neck T-Shirt, Medium Indigo Wash Straight Fit Comfort Jeans.

On Jackson: Military Green Active Crew Neck, Black Active Joggers.

FROM FOOD TO PHENOM

Get a glimpse into the kitchen of America’s favorite cooking dad Darryl Postelnick

ARTICLE BY PATTI ZELINSK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOFFMAN MEDIA

Lexi Postelnick was hanging out with her new sorority sisters at Arizona State University when she heard some girls in the corner burst out laughing. “You’ve got to see this video! We love this guy!” they called. She ran over and saw … her dad. Cooking.

She told them: “That’s my dad.” When they didn’t believe her, she whipped up family photos.

Welcome to Darryl Postelnick’s life. Social media’s favorite cooking dad—“Cooking with Darryl”—gets recognized daily, whether he is at the grocery store, the airport or in Europe.

And to think it all started in 2020 with an iPhone and simple bowl of chili. Seeking entertainment during the lockdown, Postelnick’s then-12-year-old daughter, Lindsey, asked him to create a TikTok video with her. Since her dad did not know much about social media, Lindsey created a channel and did all the tech. While that reel was only seen by a handful of Lindsey’s friends, the next catapulted him to fame.

“I made chili for a Bears game. That video completely took off for no apparent reason. It got two-and-a half-million views that day,” he says.

From there, Postelnick started posting what he made for dinner for Lindsey, his twins David and Lexi and wife Karen. “Simple dishes like my smash burgers, sandwiches and fried rice are the ones that get all the views,” he says.

Postelnick originates ideas from a variety of sources: His group of friends are excellent cooks who share dishes, Karen will send him a recipe she wants him to try or a menu item will spark an idea for him to add his own spin. “My number one recipe is short ribs because the house smells great all day. You can do so much: short rib tacos, short rib mac-and-cheese,

short rib pasta …” His voice trails off wistfully, imagining the possibilities.

But what sealed him as an icon is the phrase that punctuates each video: “R.U. Kidding Me?”

Since 2000, Postelnick, whose career as a corporate marketing executive allowed him to work anywhere, has split his time between Chicago, where his family lives, and Arizona, the state that has become his second home. “We bought our Arizona house when the twins were six months old. My kids grew up going to ASU football games and baseball games and being on campus,” he says.

Although David and Lexi just graduated from ASU, the legacy continues: Lindsey will be attending after she graduates high school.

When not cooking at home, you likely will catch Postelnick spending time in Old Town Scottsdale or in the Valley area or dining at his family’s favorite restaurants: Mastro’s City Hall, Ocean 44, Barrio Queen, Blanco Cocina and Cantina, and The Vig.

Now, Postelnick is taking his enterprise to the next level: His new book R.U. Kidding Me?

Cooking with Darryl mixes his autobiography with over 100 recipes. “I always read the comments on social media—and respond when I can,” he says. “Many people are curious as to what I do for a living or about my family. This book talks about all of that, plus gives inspiration to readers based on my life.”

The book also includes QR codes next to Postelnick’s Top 15 recipes that link to his videos for those recipes.

And yes, one of the videos included is his now-iconic chili that started it all.

Follow Cooking with Darryl on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, visit CookWithDarryl. com to order merchandise and order his debut book at CookingWithDarrylBook.com.

FILET CRISPS

Ingredients:

• 2 filets

• BaconUp

• Salt and pepper

• French baguette

• 16 ounces softened butter

• Handful of garlic

• Rosemary

• Thyme

• Garlic and herb Boursin cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°

2. In a small pan over medium heat, sauté 3-4 cloves of garlic minced and mix in the softened butter, salt and pepper

3. Chop up the rosemary and thyme and add to the butter

4. Melt some BaconUp and paint it onto all sides of the steak

5. Season the steaks with salt and pepper on all sides

6 . Slice the baguette into ½-inch thick pieces and layer them onto a cast iron skillet

7. Place in the oven for 15 seconds

8. Paint the butter onto the baguettes and place back into the oven for 10 seconds

9. Remove from the cast iron skillet and set aside when done 10. Place the cast iron back into the oven to heat up for a few minutes

11. Add the steaks to the hot pan for 1.5 minutes, flip, and then back again for another 1.5 minutes

12. Remove from the pan and tent the steaks for 10 minutes

13.  Spread the Boursin cheese onto the baguettes

14.  Slice the steak and layer a piece onto each baguette

15.  Enjoy!

Amy

Carrie P. Cravatta

Dori

events

A SELECTION OF UPCOMING

LOCAL EVENTS

JUNE 8TH

An Evening with Phil Rosenthal of “Somebody Feed Phil”

Ikeda Theater at Mesa Arts Center | 7:30 PM

Join Phil Rosenthal, the bestselling author and award-winning creator, executive producer and host of one of Netflix’s most popular food and travel shows, “Somebody Feed Phil,” as he shares insights from his travels and all the food along the way. VIP packages are available. Visit MesaArtsCenter.com for tickets and details.

JUNE 11TH - 16TH

Peter Pan | The Broadway Musical ASU Gammage

The new adaptation of the musical that has been thrilling audiences of all ages for 70 years begins when Peter Pan and his mischievous fairy sidekick, Tinker Bell, visit the bedroom of the Darling children late one night. With a sprinkle of pixie dust and a few happy thoughts, the children are taken on a magical journey they will never forget. For information and tickets, visit ASUGammage.com

JUNE 22ND

Phoenix Rising vs. Charleston Battery

Phoenix Rising Soccer Stadium | 7:30 PM

Cheer on the Phoenix Rising as they take on the Charleston Battery as part of their attempt to defend their 2023 USL Championship Title and add a second star to the crest. Visit PhxRisingFC. com for tickets and details.

Want to be featured?