I’ve known Todd Sawyer, restaurateur and owner of Atlas Bistro & Wine Shop, for 15 years, and in that time, I’ve seen Atlas Bistro remain one of the most quietly influential restaurants in Phoenix. One recent afternoon, I wandered into the bottle shop attached to the bistro in search of a rare white varietal to further my wine education. As we chatted about the Timorasso varietal from Piedmont, I realized that the story of Atlas—both the restaurant and the man behind it—was a natural fit for this publication. At the heart of Atlas is the talent Sawyer cultivates, along with his unwavering belief in the importance of hospitality.
Located in Wilshire Plaza, a modest strip mall at Scottsdale and McDowell Roads, Atlas has served as an incubator for some of the Valley’s best chefs. Sawyer’s journey in hospitality began in 1996 as a class project while studying finance and entrepreneurship at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business. “Instead of doing a theoretical project, I did an actual project,” he recalls. That actual project was BoJo’s, a sandwich shop in the same plaza. When he and partners Chad Withycombe and Carlos Manriquez later pivoted to fine dining, Atlas Bistro, a BYOB fine-dining restaurant, was established.
From the very beginning, Atlas has operated as a BYOB concept, with guests encouraged to select a bottle from AZ Wine Co., located next door, before dining. Sawyer explains, “I made a doorway into the wine store…and decided this would be a perfect marriage of a wine store and a restaurant.” Sawyer eventually purchased the wine shop and now operates both under the same ownership, though the restaurant and bottle shop remain separate entities.
With Atlas, Sawyer has built an impressive track record of mentorship. Carlos Manriquez (Mucho Gusto), Brandon Crouser and Cullen Campbell (Crudo), Joshua Riesner and Keenan Bosworth (Pig & Pickle), Chris McKinley (The Local), and Cory Oppold (COURSE Restaurant) all passed through the kitchen before launching their own projects. “It’s kind of like you run a game show,” Sawyer recalls former Arizona Republic critic Howard Seftel once telling him. “You just keep finding the next person and keep elevating a little bit more and a little bit more.”
Currently, that next person is Jabari Corbin. Born and raised in Barbados, Corbin attended Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale, where he met Oppold. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and an MBA from Grand Canyon University. Before joining Atlas full-time, Corbin spent time in both the front and back of house at respected kitchens across the Valley, including with chefs like Christopher Gross and Kevin Binkley. He worked part-time at Atlas before the pandemic, then came on full-time as executive chef post-COVID. “Todd was looking for a chef,” Corbin recalls. “And I was like, ‘Oh sweet. I’m looking for a job.’ He convinced me to come back to the kitchen in January of 2020.”
Corbin’s initial objective was to break down what he refers to as the “imaginary silo” typically found between the front and back of house. “That’s one thing I wanted to get away from,” he explains. To enhance collaboration, he prioritized communication. “Oscar,” referring to the front-of-house manager, “and I, along with Todd, have open communication. We keep those channels open and don’t just blame somebody else for a mistake. We like to give everyone the opportunity to showcase themselves,” Corbin shares.
That mutual respect extends throughout the kitchen. Chefs Mike Willison and Steven Mills contribute to the menu, serve dishes to guests, and explain them tableside. Corbin actively encourages this. “They both want to work on talking to guests,” he says. “On busy nights, if it’s a table they know, or someone liked the dish they curated, I say, ‘Hey, go talk to the table. Run their next course, explain it. Tell them your name, talk about yourself.’” He credits a public speaking class for making him more comfortable with guest interaction. “The whole point of what we do is to see the enjoyment,” Corbin says. “I like to see that and not just hear it.”
Hospitality is at the heart of both Corbin and Sawyer’s philosophies. “No matter how good the food was, if the service didn’t meet up to it, the food couldn’t save bad service,” Corbin says. Sawyer adds, “I’ve been doing this every day for 25 years… and I just want something real.” Their approach resonates with the words of hospitality legend Danny Meyer, who famously wrote, “Hospitality is the foundation on which we build everything else.”
Every summer, Sawyer closes the restaurant during July and August, while the wine shop remains open year-round. He encourages his team to use that time to travel or take a break. “To spend that time with family, friends, recouping, letting the restaurant go dark… it’s worked out wonderfully,” he says. While Atlas Bistro may be on hiatus when this issue reaches readers, the seasonal pause is part of its rhythm—one that allows inspiration to take root. The return in the fall is always worth the wait.
And then there’s the wine. “We try to find interesting events with the restaurant and the wine store combination,” Sawyer says. “After wine dinners, anyone who wants the wines from the dinners and the winemaker meet and greets can come over and buy the wines right after.” They’ve recently hosted Carlo Mondavi, Palmaz Vineyards, Anne Trimbach, Elena Brovia, and Lewis Cellars. With roughly 10,000 bottles and 1,500 labels in the shop, it’s easy to go deep. “I don’t know how many countries are represented…due to both personal travels and interest and the number of people (I have met) over 25 years…winemakers, suppliers, and importers,” Sawyer says.
Perhaps Atlas’s most significant legacy lies in the chefs it nurtures and the culture it preserves. But for Sawyer, the connections made along the way are equally important. “I’ve met the most wonderful people through the restaurant,” Sawyer says. “That’s always kept my interest, I think, more so than anything else.”
written by: marci symington | photographed by: luke irvin
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