'Maple & Ash, Scottsdale, AZ'

Scottsdale, AZ

Surf and turf aficionados won't have to wait long for Maple & Ash, one of the most anticipated restaurants of 2019 in the Phoenix area. The Chicago-based restaurant opens Tuesday, Aug. 20, making its debut at Scottsdale Waterfront in the former location of Wildfish Seafood Grille.

The restaurant is known for its maple and ash wood-fired hearth, as well as modern take on the classic steakhouse.

Food & Wine named Chef Danny Grant, a former Scottsdale resident and Michelin-starred chef, one of the nation's "Best New Chefs" in 2012. While Grant calls Chicago his home now, he hasn't forgotten his roots in Arizona, where he spent the early years of his culinary career in the kitchen of Elements, a luxury restaurant at Paradise Valley's Sanctuary Camelback Resort & Spa.

Currid himself has led an illustrious culinary career in the Phoenix area, with past posts at JW Marriott Camelback Inn, Michael's at the Citadel, Mary Elaine's at the Phoenician and Café Zuzu at the Hotel Valley Ho.

"If you notice our name, we don't mention 'steakhouse' anywhere in it," Maple & Ash co-owner David Pisor told The Republic's Dominic Armato. "What we've done is to try to produce really good food through a steakhouse model."

On the "surf" side, the standout menu item is the restaurant's signature fire-roasted seafood tower, a double-decker of lobster, shrimp, oysters and clams. Diners can also explore other seafood offerings, including caviar, roasted fish and chilled dishes.




The menu's headliner, however, is the chef's tasting menu titled "I Don't Give A F*@k." The menu makes a cheeky nod to film references and double entendres, adding a playful side to the swanky restaurant.

There are also some slight adjustments at the Scottsdale restaurant that make it different from the Chicago location.In Chicago, where winters can be brutal and temperatures drop well below freezing, Grant focuses on “richer, more soul-satisfying, warmer food.”

“Here we’re going to put dishes that are lighter and fresher, so you can walk out in 80-, 90-degree weather and still feel light,” Grant said.“Not super heavy. The big thing is cooking with local produce, local tomatoes, beautiful citrus. Things are in season longer here than in Chicago.”

In the end, Grant wants diners to have fun and leave feeling like they don’t want to leave. “(I want them to think) this place is [expletive] awesome,” Grant said. “The best dinner ever, the best party ever. I hope they feel our love for what we’re doing here, and we can show them a good time. It feels like us hosting them in our home.”

The recent closure of Darden Restaurants' Wildfish Seafood Grill has left a vacancy at Scottsdale Waterfront. But the space already has found a compelling new tenant: a contemporary steakhouse under the direction of a Michelin-starred chef.

Maple & Ash, the popular Chicago restaurant known for backing up its playful, irreverent attitude with firstrate fare, will open in Scottsdale in late 2018 or early 2019 — the brand's second U.S. location. While the Valley isn’t lacking for steakhouses, Maple & Ash promises a level of quality and menu diversity that will set it apart from other local offerings.

“If you notice our name, we don’t mention ‘steakhouse’ anywhere in it,” Maple & Ash co-owner David Pisor told The Republic. “What we’ve done is to try to produce really good food through a steakhouse model.”

In practice, that means bolstering an impressive array of luxury chops with the formidable cooking chops of executive chef Danny Grant.

Food & Wine named Grant one of the nation’s “Best New Chefs” in 2012, and now-shuttered RIA in Chicago earned two Michelin stars under his direction.

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