In recent months, 12-time James Beard Award nominee Sam Fox opened The Global Ambassador to international acclaim. A food-lover’s dream, the modern luxury hotel boasts five culinary hotspots in Le Âme, Le Market, The Lobby Bar, Pink Dolphin, and théa Mediterranean Rooftop, each inspired by Fox’s own travels across Italy, Spain, Morocco, France. And Fox is not alone. The red-hot Arizona culinary scene is being elevated by flavors from around the world.
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There has been an appetizing array of eateries across Arizona debuting in recent years that are very much edible love letters to global cuisine. In addition to The Global Ambassador’s mouthwatering musts, here are some that need to be on all diners’ Arizona culinary scene bucket lists this year:
The Mick
Even seen Below Deck? Well, Arizona native and award-winning chef Brent Menke has lived it. After serving as the private chef aboard some of the most impressive motor yachts in the world for decades, Menke made his way back home to Arizona to open The Mick Brasserie + Bar in Scottsdale in 2020. His ever-changing menus are the culmination of his favorite dishes and flavors (both to eat and to make) from around the world, most kissed with impressive, bold influences from regions once under the French Colonial Empire.
Information: www.themickaz.com
Mochilero
Spanish for backpacker, Mochilero – now with locations in Peoria and Scottsdale – is inspired by veteran chef Jorge Cota’s backpacking trip across Mexico. Cota partnered with sister Meliza Miranda, a fellow hospitality veteran, to dream up the concept as a a means to share his favorite food memories from Mexico’s diverse coastal towns. Think al pastor pork chops, mesquite-grilled skirt steak, and all sorts of fabulous mole.
Information: www.mochilerokitchen.com.
Bar Cena
Chef Dom Ruggerio is already nearing icon status in the Valley for his beloved Hush Public House and Fire at Will concepts in Scottsdale. However, the military veteran is not one to rest on his laurels. In late 2023, he opened Bar Cena next door to Hush. Every inch of the intimate, dimly lit, small plate paradise is designed to evoke the look, feel, and tastes one might experience walking along the streets of France, Italy, or Spain.
Information: www.barcenascottsdale.com
Uchi Scottsdale
Chef Tyson Cole not only apprenticed under iconic Japanese chef Takehiko Fuse while honing his craft in Texas; he spent significant time in Japan to develop his signature non-traditional menu of Japanese specialties with Pacific Rim influences and ingredients from across the globe via Uchi. Open just since February, the stunning eatery is a master class in sushi, nigiri, sashimi, tempura, seaweed-wrapped makimono, yakimono, and more.
Information: www.uchi.uchirestaurants.com
The Reserve
Café Monarch owner Gustavo Lewkowicz has traveled extensively through Spain. This ultra-fine dining concept just across the street from the similarly fanciful Monarch is the culmination of all of those travels. Expect a 12-course (or more) tasting menu limited open to a handful of guests a night here, with each hand-presented tableside like a piece of art.
Information: www.reserveoldtown.com
Weft & Warp Art Bar + Kitchen
For several years, Weft + Warp has featured menus with a kiss of all things Mediterranean, especially Moroccan. And while that has not changed, in late 2023, Sammy “Sammy D” Demarco took over the kitchen as executive chef. The Brooklyn native who whet his teeth in the business in some of New York’s finest eateries, was personally tapped by Steve Wynn to create dishes for the Bellagio when it opened before jetting off to Amsterdam to open a concept in Kipton’s first European property. He would then spend time in kitchens all over the world before making Scottsdale his new home base. As a result, the first menus he has released have been a true taste for the tastebuds through every country where he has ever worked. Information: Information: www.andazscottdsale.com
Roka Akor
Roak Akor is among Arizona’s most appetizing dining icons. Not only does the fine dining mecca take classic Asian dishes and interpret them in a way that exudes sophistication and decadence, but they do also it with respect to the Asian culture, going so far as to use a robata grill – made from Japanese white oak that allows it to burn with almost no smoke or flame while infusing an added depth of flavor into all that touches it – to achieve it. Beyond this, the Scottsdale hotspot holds one of only 30 U.S. licenses to source Kobe Beef directly from the Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. Its highly recognizable texture and sophisticated flavor makes it one of the world’s most desirable and in-demand meats.
Information: www.rokaakor.com
The Mission
Zachery Riddell – an alum of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park – is a magician with flavors. At The Mission, he uses his considerable skills to showcase a vivid tapestry of flavors from across Latin America based on the team’s travels to the area. Certainly, this means Mexican, but also bold dishes from Peru, Argentina, Brazil, and more.
Information: www.themissionaz.com
Arboleda
Chef Evan Gotanda – who prior served at the lauded Salt House as well as the Michelin Star awarded Patina Restaurant and Anchor & Hope, all in California – designed the entire menu at Arboleda to celebrate the best flavors from Spain, Italy, Greece, and Morocco, with nods to other global influences based on the seasonality of ingredients. As a result, the buzzy Scottsdale restaurant bursting with tapas, crudos, paellas, and cured meats has become one of the most popular restaurants in town just a year since opening.
Information: www.arboledaaz.com
Christopher’s at Wrigley Mansion
Christopher Gross – a past James Beard Award winner who was nominated for Outstanding Chef by the organization again in 2022 – likes to make a scene. At his namesake fine dining concept, he makes one every night by tantalizing diners’ tastebuds with audacious twists on all things French. His menus are equal parts credit to his past, including dishes he made with the one-and-only Julia Child, as well as almost futuristic in nature with Avant Garde and whimsical takes on his favorite Parisian bites of all time.
Information: www.wrigleymansion.com/christophers
Sel Restaurant
Chef Branden Levine, a veteran of both Food Network and the one-and-only Aureole by Charlie Palmer in Las Vegas, calls his modern, marvelous menu at Sel “haute cuisine.” And it is so very haute. High-class without being stuff, Levine pours his everything into each of his dishes, including his considerable inspiration from eating and working all around the world. There are nods to big boys like French Laundry, but also small, intimate restaurants like his that he and his wife, who runs the front of the house, have frequented together over the years.
Information: www.selrestaurant.com
The Rosticceria
Abruzzo-style cooking, anyone? Chef Joey Maggiore, the mind behind Sicilian Butcher, Hash Kitchen, The Mexicano and more, astutely knew the Valley was ready for this type of eatery. It boasts a collection of wood-fired meats with an Italian twist as well as Neapolitan fried pizza and a build-your-own-soft serve bar. Opened in late 2023, the Phoenix eatery is wholly inspired by Maggiore’s travels through the Rome and Abruzzo regions with his wife Cristina and Sicilian chef father Tomaso, a culinary luminary who passed in 2021 who would absolutely adore the concept.
Information: www.therosticceria.com
