November 2013
Location, location, location. Is it a hackneyed phrase or premium advice for a business? If Cuveé 928 Wine Bar is the example, its strategic setting on Heritage Square has garnered some serious foot traffic, but it’s their business strategy that has garnered them ongoing success. Seven years ago, owners Jennifer Shafer and Taryn Beveridge enjoyed socializing in town, “but there was nowhere to go for wine that was kept at a proper temperature and also offered a menu of light food,” Shafer said. “Surely there were more people like us—we saw a niche opportunity.” Continue reading “The Meaning of Wine & Dine”
When good people work together, great things can happen. This is the overriding mantra of Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort on I-40, about 20 miles east of Flagstaff. In the 1950’s, the exit—with its iconic two arrows piercing the ground—served as a popular rest stop. Now, like a turnaround story, the casino and hotel complex sits on the opposite side of the interstate, with its logo arrow duo pointing skyward. 
While Richard Fernandez was in a farmers market, he had an epiphany about where food comes from and how it is prepared. He wanted to share it with others. Concerned with the way society accepts food processing and technology, he said, “I want to get people to think differently about the world they live in.” The owner-chef of Pizza Furiosa calls it a conscientious agenda and extends this to the next generation, teaching kids about nutrition and cooking. 
When Tom and Amanda Wilson bought Pasto Cucina Italiana in 2007, they employed a vision of “Old World flavors with a modern flourish.” They achieved that goal in the urban, glass-fronted store on Aspen as wells as with their crossover cuisine. Architectural amenities, like the copper ceiling, exposed brick, hardwood floors and wrought iron, give an Italian feel to a meal eaten at a window table within view of our own historic piazza—Heritage Square. And Pasto boosted the palate presentation with traditional fare that channels a contemporary vibe. 
Since Mitch Wiewel and Itzel Arvizu opened Madrid Tapas y Sangria over a year ago, a number of Spaniards have passed through. While en route to the Grand Canyon, the travelers were lured by the menu of familiar offerings: Gambas al ajillo—or garlic shrimp—served in an earthenware ramekin called a cazuela; stuffed piquillo peppers, an imported sweet and slightly piquant chili filled with manchego; and melon con jamón, fresh cantaloupe wrapped in Serrano ham. The caliber of dishes caused guests to insist Wiewel speak to them in Spanish. “I’m going to have to work on that,” he said. 
Restaurateur Paul Moir has worked to bring both Brix and Criollo to the downtown scene. While these restaurants were not the first to provide haute cuisine to the Flagstaff market, they did create a deep bench of fine dining options and a sharper focus toward local and seasonal foods. Moir’s recipe for establishing a restaurant also lent a helping hand to the success of Diablo Burger. Moir is also expanding his range with three new establishments in Tucson’s downtown—including Diablo Burger’s second location.
Like many eateries with a South of the Border menu, Flagstaff’s Café Ole on the Southside pulls out all the stops with its décor. The folksier, the better. The restaurant, whose motto is “fresh Mexican cooking from the heart,” stops traffic on South San Francisco with its brightly-painted front covered in angels, harvest produce and a huge, scarlet heart wishing peace and 10,000 blessings. 
If anyone needs an excuse – and this writer doesn’t – to contemplate sweets and consume treats, May, in its salute Mom, is the perfect one. Use it to taste-test your way through a glass-fronted case of chocolates or lick fingers messy from tearing at a sticky bun. Either way, one’s dedication will assure that the mom who first put a cookie in your own little paw receives the best gift for the holiday. 
This month, MartAnne’s Breakfast Palace celebrates a dozen years of serving chilaquiles to a salsa-slurping, chorizo-crazed, egg-static group of diehards. A sign at the restaurant’s entrance states the obvious result: The House That Chilaquiles Built.
Somewhere along the way, Salsa Brava owner-chef John Conley developed an obsession for wood-fired fare. A decade ago, he built an Alan Scott artisan brick oven in his backyard, and two years ago, he bought a mobile, wood-fired oven. Conley says a plethora of recipe experimentation ensued. And with that, he ventured into the Italian restaurant business with the opening of Fat Olives in November 2012. As you might have guessed, the hallmark of Conley’s second successful eatery on Route 66 is the oven.