DINING

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 DINING

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‘A BIG CAREER MOVE’

Chef Jeremy Pacheco leading Genuine Concepts brands

By Samantha Pacheco Molina

Arizona chef Jeremy Pacheco’s career has been a whirlwind. Now, he is taking on his biggest project to date as the newly appointed executive chef and culinary director for Genuine Concepts.

The Tucson native will lead the neighborhood-focused restaurant group’s the Vig, the Little Woody, the Womack, Ladera Taverna y Cocina and The McMillan.

“With five restaurants under my wing, it is definitely a big career move for me,” Pacheco says. “This is going to be my first time outside of a luxury hotel, and I am just excited to see what I can do, given the new environment and new audience.”

Pacheco’s culinary career began when he was 16, as a dishwasher and busboy for the Sheraton Hotel in Tucson.

He took the job to save up for a car, but it blossomed after the chef relocated him to the kitchen.

“I never really left the kitchen once I stepped inside,” Pacheco says with a laugh. “It was then that I found this love for food and cooking.”

After completing high school, Pacheco enrolled in the Scottsdale Culinary Institute and received a degree in culinary arts and restaurant management. He then worked his way up from prep cook to chef de cuisine at The Phoenician’s Terrace Dining Room.

Seven years later, he moved to Las Vegas to cook for all Encore and Wynn properties. In 2009, Wynn’s SW Steakhouse was named one of the Best New Restaurants in America by Esquire magazine under Pacheco’s residency.

“Vegas was everything you’d expect it would be. Our team did almost a thousand covers a day, and on top of that, we were covered by Forbes twice a month,” Pacheco says. “It definitely held you up to high expectations and service levels, and you were expected to exceed all of them.”

Working in Vegas also had some big upsides: meeting and working alongside celebrity chefs.

“During my time in Vegas, I had the pleasure of working with some of the world’s greatest culinary artists,” Pacheco says. “Those mentors—even the tough ones—were the people who helped shape me into the chef that I am today. In the future, I hope to be that teacher to someone else.”

The award-winning chef moved to Paradise Valley’s Lon’s at Hermosa Inn as executive chef 2010. Not particularly happy with the current menu, Pacheco experimented with different recipes and reimagine expectations in the kitchen.

He later returned to Las Vegas for a two-year position as the executive chef of Society Café. It wasn’t until 2015 that Pacheco returned to Arizona for good to reclaim his executive chef role at Hermosa Inn.

Pacheco’s first memories surrounding the kitchen were weekly Sunday suppers with family. With nine generations of Arizona roots, Pacheco explains how his fresh and simple style of cooking gives a nod to his family’s farming heritage and appreciation for clean food.

“My grandparents were farmers in Marana, and I know the hard work it takes to grow crops and other produce,” Pacheco says. “It is important that I incorporate ingredients from local ranchers and farmers to support the community.”

While Pacheco says he enjoys developing new menu items to test in the dining rooms, there is something else he considers his “favorite part” of the job.

“It’s also the tight-knit community among culinary artists and restaurantgoers,” Pacheco says. “I don’t think Arizona gets all the recognition it deserves, in terms of food. Everyone

thinks because we are in the Southwest, we only do Mexican food, but there are a lot of chefs are out there experimenting and doing some really incredible things.”

For fledgling chefs, Pacheco says they have to be prepared and understand the business is nothing like the cooking shows we see on TV.

“If you have the drive and are willing to put in the work to be successful in the business, then get as much experience as you can and travel when you are young,” Pacheco says. “I always wish I had experienced other cultures earlier than I had. It is critical to go out and experience the cultures you are inspired by.”

Aut hent ic Italian

Pizzicata treats everyone like family

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

Pizzicata owner Federico Venturini considers his guests and employees family at his Carefree Italian restaurant.

Guests impart stories of visits to Italy, from which Venturini hails. In turn, Venturini shares authentic dishes like Pinsa Romana, pizza (starting at $10) with 48% less sugar, 85% less fat and no cholesterol.

“We’re the fi rst to make Pinsa Romana in Arizona,” Venturini says proudly. “People love and enjoy our patio, and it’s a beautiful area up here.”

Venturini and his chef/wife, Viola, moved to the North Valley two years ago from a small town in Umbria, an Italian region bordering Tuscany, Lazio and Le Marche. Th ey opened the restaurant on September 26 and didn’t expect the success they garnered.

“People love our food,” he says. “We are the only authentic Italian restaurant in North Scottsdale and Carefree.”

He opened Pizzicata in Carefree after visiting a friend in Paradise Valley.

“I came here to stay together with his family,” Venturini says. “He showed me this country. I changed completely my life. Five years ago, I started my plan to open this restaurant. First, it’s very hard to get the visa. But I realized my dream in fi ve years. Italians love Americans, and Americans love Italians.”

Th e Venturinis have Pizzicata locations in Nice, France; Barcelona, Spain; and two in Italy. Soon, they will open Pomodoro Italian Grill and Seafood, an upscale restaurant in the former Cartwright’s location in Cave Creek.

Pizzicata is casual, serving pizza and homemade pasta such as fettuccine, gnocchi, ravioli, lasagna and tortellini ($18 to $28). “People love our pasta,” he says.

Appetizers at Pizzicata include caprese, with fresh tomatoes, buff alo mozzarella, burrata and prosciutto di parma ($14); and polpette al sugo, simply meatballs in tomato sauce ($10). Salads are aplenty, with the showpiece insalata di gamberi—arugula, shrimp, mango, avocado, red onion and yogurt dressing ($15).

Th e light pizzas are centered around Montebianco, shown left, which is one ball of fresh buff alo mozzarella, prosciutto di parma and extra virgin olive oil ($21).

All desserts are $10—lava cake, tiramisu, cannoli, cheesecake, lemon sorbet stuff ed, coconut sorbet stuff ed and crème brulee.

Venturini is surviving the pandemic, thanks to a healthy winter season and the Paycheck Protection Program.

“I think the government did a great job,” he says. “My employees are more like my sons and daughters. We have one big family. I kept all my employees at work during the quarantine. I didn’t fi re no one. We survived.”

Th ose familial feelings carry over into the atmosphere. Walls are adorned with paintings and photographs of Italy and Tesla lamps. A well-stocked bar separates the red-accented dining rooms.

“Th ere is no Italian atmosphere like this place,” he says. “My guests try to speak in Italian, and they share with me their experiences of them being in Italy one time in their life. I have special customers, and I’m very happy.”

Pizzicata

7212 E. Ho Road, Carefree 480.488.2848, pizzicatausa.com

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 21 PANDEMIC PROJECT Prescott’s The Barley Hound receives facelift during break

By Elsa Hortareas

Skyler Reeves understands that not many restaurants make it to the five-year mark.

However, his gastropub, The Barley Hound in Prescott, is celebrating that anniversary even during a pandemic. He used the COVID-19-forced break to renovate and accommodate social distancing.

“I had the idea in my mind. It was brewing in my mind for the last year,” says Reeves, who also owns Vivili Hospitality Group’s other properties Rosa’s Pizzeria, Taco Don’s and Hawk and Hound.

Reeves turned his back patio, which was previously used as an event space, into a seating area. The shaded, 1,800-square-foot patio boasts a bar in a shipping container and outdoor games like cornhole and ping-pong.

“We wanted to create more of a bar and lounge, casual vibe,” Reeves says.

The shipping container opens on a hinge, with a door that goes up and out, so the staff can open and close that bar as they want. The bar staff is separated from the guests with a mask and plexiglass, and everything is served in disposable cups. They ask that guests dispose of their own trash.

Pandemic restrictions pain Reeves because guest interaction is his favorite part of the business. Although paused, the Barley Hound typically hosts a “run club” on Thursday out of the back patio. Guests can run 1 or 3 miles and return to happy hour pricing.

The Barley Hound is more than the back patio, though. The restaurant is in an old house. Reeves wanted to maintain the vibe, so he redesigned the indoor seating to be cozy with couches, chairs, coffee tables and a television. However, indoor dining is off limits now.

The menu went through a bit of a revamp, too. He stresses he kept a handful of staples on the menu like the duck fat fries ($3/$6), ’Merica burger ($14), duck burger ($14), bread pudding ($8), Scotch eggs ($7) and blistered shishito peppers ($6).

Everything else was, he says, “fair game to change, reinvigorate, eliminate or add.”

But with the help of chef Tony Burris, Reeves’ partner in Hawk and Hound, The Barley Hound is introducing new items like fully loaded cauliflower nachos ($18), portobello mushroom sliders ($12), Aunt Andrea’s flower cake ($8) and duck tacos ($10).

Reeves recommends first-time visitors try the duck burger, which is 25% duck, and the whole grain mustard is “something special.”

When things return to “normal,” the restaurant plans on doing a taco night and a “featured dish” night.

The kitchen underwent a facelift to help things “run smoother behind the scenes.” The Barley Hound’s owners purchased a larger grill, removed a small wall and installed new tiling and shelving. They also painted the exterior craftsmen blue and white.

They basically did “things that are hard to do when you’re open.”

“It’s not the most exciting thing in the world, but it gives the staff better tools to work with,” Reeves says.

Besides all the renovations and being the first gastropub in Prescott, The Barley Hound stands out in other ways.

“Our cocktails really stand out,” Reeves said. He says they use fresh squeezed juices every day for them.

They use only Arizona craft beer— specifically Prescott or Northern Arizona beer—with eight of them on

tap. Occasionally, Valley breweries’ beers will be sold.

The Barley Hound features a great music selection. “We take great care to make sure the right music is playing at the right volume,” Reeves says. “It’s “youthful and energetic.”

The Barley Hound

234 S. Cortez, Prescott, 928.237.4506, thebarleyhound.com

22 UPFRONT | CITY | TRAVEL | ARTS | DINING | BEER AND WINE | SPORTS | FAMILY | MUSIC FIRE AND FUN Kasai Japanese Steakhouse have to shut down. It’s not fun. “You’re going through a lot maintains its high energy of product. You can’t just keep produce or fresh fi sh around. I’m a foodie type of guy, and every item By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski focal point. we do right now is great. We do W hen Sapporo in Scottsdale rebranded as Kasai Japanese Steakhouse in For teppanyaki, guests are treated to seven-course meals of shrimp starter, mushroom soup, house salad, fried rice, seasonal vegetables, protein and Dole Whip Hawaiian pineapple frozen dessert. care about the appetizers. We have incredible sushi, too.” Russello says he couldn’t donate the leftover produce because the boxes were open. “We’ll have 15 cases of eggs, and November 2018, the move infused new Teppanyaki features a slew of options it’s open,” he says. “You’re not allowed energy into the 11,000-square-foot airy individually or in combinations—fi let to donate it. Th at was one thing I said building. mignon ($36), New York strip ($34), when this thing started; they should

Owner Michael Russello says that sumo fi let mignon ($48), sumo New have changed that rule.” energy hasn’t subsided at the teppanyaki York strip ($44), chicken breast ($20), Restaurants are nothing new to restaurant, thanks to a pandemic break soy-glazed tofu ($20), calamari steak Russello. He also owns the ice cream facelift. ($24), salmon ($30), scallops ($34), shop Th e Creek Cookies and Cream at

“We took away other tables and added shrimp ($28), sea bass ($42), lobster Th e Shops at Dynamite Creek in Cave four teppanyaki tables, totaling 14,” ($46) and Wagyu fi let mignon ($70). Creek. Russello says. “Nowadays, people want Th ere’s more to Kasai than teppanyaki, “We have raspberry Dole Whip more of the Japanese steakhouse. though. When Kasai reopened in early there,” he says, before quickly adding,

“We were busy last night. Guests were July, it listed on its menu old favorites, “My focus is on Kasai, and we want to just having fun. It’s a dinner show where like the Misoyaki black cod with eel grow the concept in the area. Th ere are a you forget about the world for a little sauce and togarashi butter ($18) and the couple of locations that we’re eyeing. We while. I’m blessed with the best chefs Mongolian lamb chops with Asian slaw, have Downtown Phoenix ready to go as around, which make me look good.” coconut curry and beurre blanc ($24). soon as we want to pull the trigger.

Th e teppanyaki tables seat 146. “We did reduce some items on “We planned on taking over the space Previously, the tables were only at the the menu, though,” he says. “With in June. With this hoodless teppanyaki back and sides of the restaurant. Now, coronavirus, you want to keep your grill, it’s way better. We can go anywhere with the addition of the four hoodless inventory down. It’s a good amount of and do them. Th ere’s no teppanyaki in tables, teppanyaki is the dining room’s money sitting in inventory when you Downtown Phoenix.” Colorful, potent drinks are a centerpiece as well, like the Violet Solstice made with Hendricks MidSummer Solstice gin, crème de violette and fresh lemon juice ($14) or Th e P. King cocktail (in honor of original owner Patrick King, who lost his battle with melanoma earlier this year) made with Toki Japanese whiskey, lychee liqueur, fresh lime juice and a dash of bitters ($14). Th e Kasai tai, shown above, is rum, orange liqueur, amaretto, lime juice, mango and lemongrass foam ($14). Whether it’s the bar, teppanyaki table or dining room, guests will be greeted by

staff wearing masks.

“We’re really abiding by the rules,” Russello says.

“Everybody’s wearing the masks. Th e chefs, they’re more strict than anybody in the building. It’s a little easier for us because we have a bigger place. It’s tough to be 50% in a smaller restaurant. We’re lucky that it’s a big space.”

Kasai is still about having fun, though.

“It’s high energy, and we play fun music,” he says. “It’s not a place for a really quiet dinner. People yell at the tables. Th ey’re just having fun. We have a great staff , and they’re pushing the fun element, too.”

Th is fall, Kasai will take a new turn.

“I want to do brunch in the fall,” Russello says. “We’re starting to think about it right now. It’s a two-month process for a teppanyaki brunch. I want to fi gure it out and get suggestions from the chefs. I think it could be a fun brunch place, too.”

Kasai Japanese Steakhouse

14344 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, 480.607.1114, kasaiscottsdale.com

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 23 DINERINSIDER Hash Kitchen goes old school

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pancakes

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

Hash Kitchen’s Joey Maggiore and his wife, Cristina, are known for their creativity.

When it comes to Hash Kitchen’s latest over-the-top dishes, Joey has Cristina to thank.

“My wife came up with dishes that play on the old-school items we grew up with,” Joey says. “She came up with some fun things with Fruity Pebbles.”

The Fruity Pebble Poppin’ Pastries ($11) are made with sweet pastry dough and strawberry filling and then dusted with Fruity Pebbles.

“It’s served warm in an old lunch box that looks like a DJ turntable. It looks super cute,” Joey says. “It’s selling like crazy.”

Those addicted to sugar can check By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski spot Morning Squeeze is spending August raising funds for the Be Like Josh Foundation, a local nonprofit that raises awareness about special needs animals.

For every dog biscuit order Morning Squeeze receives in August, it will donate half of the sale to the organization.

Morning Squeeze dog biscuits are part of its Tail Wagger menu, which is available for pups on the restaurant’s dog-friendly patios and also available for takeaway orders. The made-fromscratch peanut butter biscuits are gluten free and come three to an order for $5.

“We love our Squeeze pups here as much as our guests,” managing partner Jaryn Oakley says. “When we learned about the amazing work the Be Like Josh Foundation is doing, we knew we wanted to help continue its mission. We hope this fundraiser is an opportunity for people to celebrate the love all animals give to us unconditionally and support this great cause.”

The Be Like Josh Foundation helps out the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup pancakes ($12, pictured), which are served with warm chocolate fudge, whipped cream and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup crumble.

Want to imbibe a bit at brunch? Try the Cinnamon Toast Crunch (spiced rum, horchata rum and coconut milk); Fruity Pebbles (fruity loops vodka and coconut milk); Captain Crunch (peanut butter whiskey, hazelnut liqueur and coconut milk) or Coco Puffs (chocolate vodka, espresso liqueur and coconut milk).

Hash Kitchen

8777 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, 480.947.3214 2855 W. Ray Road, Suite 4, Chandler, 480.909.4270,

SQUEEZE PLAY

Breakfast spot raising funds for special needs pups

The breakfast and lunch

hashkitchen.com dogs with special needs by fostering and finding good homes that can cater to the animals’ needs. They also visit schools to teach children the importance of compassion to animals as well as the inclusion of all abilities. The foundation works closely with its volunteer homes, giving the caretakers the training, tools and expert support needed for each animal’s unique needs.

“We are excited to partner with Morning Squeeze for this fundraiser,” says Jenny Braunwalder, rescue coordinator at The Be Like Josh Foundation. “All donations help us educate people and younger generations about the beauty of special abilities for all people and animals.”

The Morning Squeeze dog biscuit fundraiser runs through August 31 at both Squeeze locations in Tempe and Scottsdale. The biscuits can be ordered for dine-in or takeaway.

Morning Squeeze

690 S. Mill Avenue, Suite 110, Tempe 4233 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale morningsqueeze.com