Matters of Taste: Cloth & Flame brings unique desert-dining experiences to northern Arizona

AZ Daily Sun, Mountain Living, August 2023

Written by Gail G. Collins

Jean and Courtney O’Connor pointed at the Red Rocks and sighed before sitting on a comfortable lounge set under the trees. They toasted and began a conversation with guests. The mother and daughter from Boston had visited Arizona before, but it was their first encounter with this stunning Sedona backdrop.

“It was so beautiful, I nearly cried,” said Courtney. “We can’t wait to explore the area.”

Dressy couples in collared shirts and chiffon dresses mingled with glasses of wine, their light laughter carried on the evening breeze. A guitar player strummed bluesy tunes as people posed against majestic monoliths.

In prelude to a meal, teasers were proffered on boards—cantaloupe with crème fraiche and meatballs with shaved parmesan—causing conversation about what dinner would entail. The sky caught fire, silhouetting guests in the last rays of the day as all were invited to dine at one long table stretching toward the view.

A lanky Matt Cooley warmly welcomed guests to the sold-out event hosted by Cloth & Flame. Co-founded with wife Olivia, Matt explained, “The outreach exercise in pop-up dining is built on years-long relationships with properties in a multi-faceted approach to broaden the community using spaces in a responsible way. The core thing is to build a frame and people will fill it—they are the experience and bringing them together is the platform.” The venture’s aim is experiential engagement with iconic places.

Dinner commenced as staff gently nudged between diners to deliver salads of rocket, charred beets, Mineola orange slices and goat cheese, dressed in BBQ vinaigrette, topped with puffed corn.

Appetizers of roasted garlic gnocchi with smoked Vidalia onion, hard cheeses and pickled herbs followed. The entrée, achiote-rubbed skirt steak, was served with heirloom fingerling potatoes, grilled alliums and peppers as salsa verde, and the meal concluded with mesquite chocolate cake, capped in salted vanilla bean Chantilly and cocoa nibs.

“These ticketed community dinners are our favorite,” Cooley said. “Our goal is to create legacy with locations while management maintains control—whether it’s a private owner or NGO—and the broader component is the blueprint on how not to change the spaces forever.”

Phoenix Union Train Station is an urban example. The owner bought the property with Cloth & Flame in mind to preserve the historic site. Still, an upscale city location needs a business model to maintain it. Events held on the property can provide passive income while upholding its original nature.

Cloth & Flame began as a hot air balloon company with destination desert dining, but their culinary talents and attention to detail surpassed the flight factor. Guests enjoyed ballooning, but raved about the dining, so the Cooleys evolved the culinary component solely in 2019.

“We wanted to create something together at the intersection of community and experience—to scratch that itch,” said Cooley.

He offered context. What began as premiere pop-up dining, now encompasses three things: a gastronomic aspect, working with public and private collaborators, like restaurateurs, artists and entertainers; an experiential agency, mostly company or brand events, like Chanel, Google or Bentley; and a revenue side, managing land or spaces as a lessee in a peer to peer marketplace. Cloth & Flame executes the promotional face in a unique venue.

Their capabilities are undergirded with a robust kitchen team and front of the house, commissary spaces and licensing, while incorporating the likes of celebrity chefs, wild and beautiful elements plus people.

“We understand culinary techniques, can prep and make anything possible,” Cooley said.

To generate more accessible events recently, Cloth & Flame organized a small fee wine and dance party for 1,000 guests and a free art exhibit, plus an add-on dinner, both held at the Ice House in downtown Phoenix.

Cloth & Flame is based in Arizona, taking advantage of their roots and relationships, but their adventurous exploits extend from Arizona to Austin and Amsterdam for an upcoming affair. They operate nationwide, but concentrate their efforts in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, where reliable weather prevails. Still, bets are hedged with banked insurance to tent an event while conserving the view.

On Friday, Sept. 29, Cloth & Flame will debut a five-course prix fixe dinner to kick off Flagstaff Fadeaway at High Country Motor Lodge. The event benefits restoration of Glen Canyon with the chance to meet and greet music festival talent.

Secretly, Cloth & Flame is the second-largest venue operator in the US. To expand its reach and vision, the company has plans for movie nights, ceramics classes, land art experiences and more. Also, watch for a platform coming to connect niche venues with a wider range of collaborators. AZDSun