Food Writing Samples 2026
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| (Courtesy/Prescott Valley Illustrated) |
Headline: Chef, owner, storyteller, Ivan Pugh to bring Cajun cooking to Prescott Valley
Word Count: 751
Published July 13, 2026 in Prescott Valley Illustrated
Chef Ivan Pugh is bringing the flavors of the bayou to Prescott Valley this fall with his new concept Southern Bites
Pugh grew up as a nomad, he said, living all across the country.
Growing up in Tennessee, Pugh recalled living off the land as a ranch hand. He and his family would make apple cider from fresh apples, tap maple trees for syrup, and make mustard sandwiches with butterleaf lettuce.
His first introduction to cooking was with a neighbor farmer who made rabbit gumbo and homemade pork sausage.
Pugh said he grew up with food insecurity so to get extra calories in before dinner, he would help his mom in the kitchen.
“If you want to make sure that you got something to eat, go down and help your mothers in the kitchen cook,” he said. “Then you get to do things like lick the spatula and sample the food.”
It was also in Tennessee that Pugh was introduced to country food and soul food. His biological father is a descendant of Joseph Broussard, or Beausoleil, an Acadian leader descended from the French who settled in Maritime Canada, or Acadie. Cajuns are Acadian descendants who migrated to Louisiana after they were exiled by the British, according to the National Park Service.
Eventually his family settled in Dallas, Texas.
Pugh got his degrees in English and psychology and worked for nine months in school administration. He was going to get his teaching certificate but instead went and got a job making pizzas two days a week.
“I decided none of that was really appealing to me, that what I really wanted to do was feed people,” he said. “I liked [making pizzas] more than I liked school administration, so one day, I just said, ‘I’m going to go be a chef.’”
Pugh applied to exclusive restaurants with the best chefs in hopes of learning from them.
“By the time I was 24 I had my first kitchen,” Pugh said. “By the time I was 25, I not only had my first kitchen, I had my first catering business.”
Pugh worked for a black family in his first kitchen.
“They would tell me how to make collard greens, chitlins, how to pickle pigs’ feet, and how to make roasted turkey wings,” Pugh said. “All the things that soul food was.”
When Pugh was 26, Deion Sanders was traded to the Dallas Cowboys. Their paths crossed after Sanders bought the nightclub that Pugh’s kitchen operated out of. He eventually went on to become Sander’s private chef too.
“As soon as you walk into Deion’s house and a black grandmother would walk into the kitchen, they’d be like, ‘What’s this white boy doing in the kitchen,’” Pugh said.
He said he picked up “little bits of wisdom” from the people he worked for.
For the next four and a half years working at the nightclub, Pugh cooked for big names that such as Snoop Dogg, MC Hammer, Mary J. Blige, K-Ci & JoJo, Chris Rock, and Michael Jordan. At the time, he largely cooked chicken wings.
“Anybody who you can think of who’s considered an icon today,” he said.
Pugh said he had two rules for dealing with celebrities: Treat them like regular people and never ask for an autograph.
Pugh’s opened his first concept the Alligator Café in Dallas in 2002, with only $8,000. Nearly 13 years later, it sold for $40,000,000.
Pugh took his second location, scaled it up, renamed it, and created Bucky Moonshine’s in Deep Ellum, a historic neighborhood in Dallas. Even with a new name, the food was all still his.
“When you grew up as a line cook making $4.25 an hour, and somebody says, ‘Let me give you enough money, you can take your other restaurant, you can build everything, you can build the patio on it, get your neon sign put up, get all the seating, everything you want, and pay oD your house,’” Pugh said. “You take it because there’s no other scenario in the culinary world where you get to not only be successful but also be completely debt free.
Many of the staples at his former concepts will also be available at Southern Bites.
Pugh said he plans to oDer chicken gumbo, southwest smoked chicken, ribs, shrimp and crawfish etouDee, dirty rice, fried catfish, and much more.
Southern Bites tentative opening with be the first weekend of September. For opening weekend, Pugh said one of his favorites, DJ Matthews, is coming to play.
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| (Hava Herzog/Prescott Valley Illustrated) |
Headline: Carlitos Café blends Mexican tradition with American comfort food
Subhead: Fresh food, family recipes, and perseverance
Word Count: 1,051
Published June 14, 2026 in Prescott Valley Illustrated
Ana Pettingill does not define success in the restaurant business as the amount of money being made or how many people come through the door. For her, success is defined as hard work, perseverance, community, and providing a better life for herself and her family.
Pettingill is the owner of Carlitos Café and Coffee House, which offers Mexican homestyle cooking, classic American staples, and coffee from Prescott Coffee Roasters.
Carlitos menu features traditional flavors from Pettingill’s native Hermosillo, Mexico. Tacos, enchiladas, chimichangas, menudo, and pozole find a home on Carlitos menu adjacent to hamburgers, grilled cheeses, and sandwiches.
Pettingill’s kitchen at home is a fusion of flavors too. Her husband John is from New York, and two of her kids were born in Mexico and the other two in the U.S.
“Living with my husband and my kids…in the kitchen, it’s always white people’s food with Mexican food,” she said. “Having 14 grandbabies, everybody brings something to the table from different countries, and we mix.”
She said her table is where everyone gets together, and everyone enjoys food.
Pettingill learned the art of cooking with her mother, father, nana, her ex-mother-in-law. They were a wealth of knowledge that stood in place for a recipe book.
For Pettingill, the recipes from home were never measured by teaspoons or cups, but by how it smells or how many people were being fed. Too much salt in the soup? Add potatoes. Too many people? Make smaller tortillas.
Fresh ingredients and food made-to-order are what customers can expect from Carlitos. She said if she would not eat it, then she will not serve it.
If customers do not see something they want on the menu, Pettingill said, she makes requests. Offering customizations is something she learned to accommodate her customers.
“You can trade the pancakes for a toast, you can trade the pancakes for a bowl of fruit…You can do whatever you want,” she said.
Pettingill’s story is marked by hard work and dedication. She said she has always worked in restaurants. In the morning she would work at Dunkin Donuts, leave between 2 or 3 p.m., shower, and go back to work at Pizza Hut and work until close. The next day, she would do it again. She said she learned a lot from that time.
The hard work did not stop when Pettingill opened her own restaurant. What began as menu items scribbled onto a napkin turned into Carlitos Café and Coffee House in Phoenix near Broadway and University, which she and her husband opened in 2000. After spending nearly 40 years in Phoenix, she and her husband moved to Dewey-Humboldt.
When the opportunity came to open up another Carlitos, Pettingill took it. In November 2019, Carlitos opened its doors yet again, but this time, to the Prescott Valley community.
Soon after, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, affecting business owners nationwide. She said it reminded her of the 9/11 terrorist attacks—the same emotions of anger and the unknown.
“I worked by myself for almost six, seven months,” Pettingill said. “Sweep, mop, and clean because I refuse to close, and I say, ‘Nope I’m not going to close.’”
And she was right. Her determination to keep her business afloat through the COVID-19 pandemic paid off and it is the reason Carlitos is still open today.
When Pettingill said Carlitos is her baby, she is not exaggerating. Baby Carlito, the restaurant’s logo, represents the coming together of two cultures, with an American flag and a Mexican flag in each hand. She said it is her husband and her “baby.” Carlito has his blue eyes and her curly hair. She said her real kids used to play with a red truck, so Carlito is pictured the same.
Even the restaurant itself has elements that remind her of her old home in Phoenix.
“When I came here, I feel lost. I feel, without a purpose,” she said. “And then I walk into that door and I look at this, it used to be my house in Phoenix.”
The avocado green walls in Carlitos were the same color of Pettingill’s old kitchen.
“When I walk in, it was kind of like walking in my home and I feel peace on me,” she said.
Pettingill said she often sees the same customers every day. She said many groups choose to gather there too, be it religious, political, or even crochet.
Husband and wife Lenie Smith and Irene Callaci come into Carlitos every single morning. Smith said it depends on the day what he will order. On Mondays he gets pancakes and eggs, Tuesdays is a pastry, Wednesdays is a breakfast sandwich, Thursdays is a pastry, Fridays is potatoes, eggs, and onions, and Saturdays and Sundays are for whatever he feels like.
“I come into Carlitos every single morning because she has the best food around,” Smith said. “Especially the Mexican food is super, super good. And if you don’t see on a menu whatever you really want, just tell her, and if she’s got the food she’ll make it for you.”
The biggest table in Carlitos is dedicated to the business cards of local community members.
“We gotta help each other,” she said. “It’s giving a hand to somebody and it you can’t do it, I will do it for you.”
Pettingill has four children, 14 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
“I came from Mexico with the idea to give a better life for my kids. I did,” she said. “That’s perseverance; I don’t care how tired I was some days. I became a resident; I became a citizen. I did what I could, and a lot of people helped me. A lot of people made me not trust people, but then in the end, all my kids are good, all my grandbabies are good.”
She said the journey was not easy, but it was not impossible.
“I told my kids, we came here to work and go on with life,” she said. “I have a better life, and every single one have a better life, and that’s what I am proud of. That’s the dream.”
Carlitos Café and Coffee House is located at 6719 East 2nd Street Suite C in Prescott Valley. There is also another location inside the Prescott Valley Public Library at 7401 Civic Drive in Prescott Valley.
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| (Hava Herzog/Prescott Valley Illustrated) |
Headline: Back 40: 'Elevated coffee, grounded faith' at Higher Grounds Coffee
Word Count: 537
Published July 13, 2026 in Prescott Valley Illustrated
When the Mueller family bought a coffee truck, they were not chasing a quick business success story. Their goal was simpler: serve their neighbors, build relationships, and create a positive presence in their community.
David and Holly Mueller have six kids, five girls and one boy. The truck is managed by their family friend, barista, and manager Juliah Manz.
“We live back north on Coyote Springs, so it’s kind of our stomping grounds if you will,” David said. “We really like the idea of serving our neighbors and locals there.”
The truck has been open since March. When asked what their first-year goals are, David said they are not financial, and if they break even, they would be happy.
“A goal that would be the best would be to make a positive impact in our community, whether that be through good coffee or spreading the gospel, or just building relationships with our daily customers. That would be our primary goal.”
The Muellers purchased the truck from the former owner of Lighthouse Coffee which used to be based in Chino Valley and Prescott.
David said it took a lot of work transforming the truck to Higher Grounds Coffee. David said the licensing and permitting was also a lot of work, but it has been a good experience so far.
The Mueller family girls help at the coffee truck, learning customer relations skills in the process. While owning the coffee truck, David works his remote job as a plumbing estimator and Holly is a stay-at-home mom for the kids.
Manz, the truck’s manager, is originally from Ohio and has several years of experience as a barista. Manz said she enjoys the experience of serving neighbors.
David said he has been pleased and thankful for the community support so far.
“We’ve been really overwhelmed by their support and have really been excited to get to know our neighbor better,” David said.
Higher Grounds’ coffee is from WeBe Coffee Roasters in the Phoenix area. WeBe offers specialty coffee, meaning it has various flavor profiles based on where the coffee plant is grown, the type of plant, and how its processed and brewed.
Higher Grounds Coffee offers the standard lattes, mochas, macchiatos, frappes, cold brew and several non-coffee drinks such as tea, lemonade, matcha, smoothies, cocoa, and Lotus Plant Power, a plant-based energy drink. Drinks are customizable with various syrup flavors such as vanilla, caramel, and hazelnut to pineapple, passion fruit, and a kiwi.
The truck also has small bites such as cinnamon rolls, scones, and chocolate chip cookies, all homemade by Holly. Avocado bagels, plain bagels, or everything bagels are also on the menu.
On every cup is a handwritten bible verse and sometimes even an illustration. David said it has been overwhelmingly well-received.
“The girls have come up with that idea and we’re definitely a Christian family and Christian-based,” David said. “So it’s just a way to spread hope and the good news of the gospel in a little way in the community or whoever comes by.”
Higher Grounds Coffee is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 29 North Coyote Springs Road in Prescott Valley, next to mailboxes. Higher Grounds Coffee is on Instagram @highergroundscoffeeaz.
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