“As chefs, we’re a conduit for ideas and culture, and experience and travel are what really shapes us,” Doug Robson tells me. We’re chatting in Otro Cafécito, adjacent to Otro Café, at a table crafted by Robson himself. A bright and inviting coffee shop that opened in 2022, Cafécito is one of three spots where Robson has introduced Phoenicians to his culinary perspective shaped by family heritage. Growing up in the town of Tepotzotlán, outside Mexico City, with a Vietnamese-French mother and a Scottish-English father, Robson’s early exposure to diverse flavors and traditions laid the foundation for his passion for food.
Arriving in Arizona in 1996, Robson graduated from Scottsdale Culinary Institute with a dream to open his own restaurant. Over the ensuing years, he honed his skills at renowned spots including Windows on the Green and Michael’s at The Citadel, working with acclaimed names such as Robert McGrath, Matt Carter, Patrick Fagan, and Jared Porter, before opening La Grande Orange as executive chef for Bob Lynn. In 2009, his long-held dream of opening his own Mexican restaurant came to fruition with Gallo Blanco at The Clarendon Hotel, followed by Otro Café in 2013, Gallo Blanco’s move to the Historic Garfield District in 2017, and the opening of Otro Cafécito in 2022.
Join me as I sit down with this talented chef to learn more.
Tell me about growing up in Mexico
Our family was very food-centric. My mom had a vegetable garden, and would also cook a lot of Vietnamese food like stir fries, cha gio, and pho. What’s funny is I didn’t think of it as Vietnamese! Living in Mexico, I viewed everyone as Mexican and eating Mexican food. My dad also loved to cook—like cabrito—and exposed us to everything. One day he took us to a place where they were chopping down maguey, a plant they use to distill pulque. Inside were maguey worms, which the farmers would make into tacos. I remember sitting in a field where they sautéed them with garlic and lemon, and we ate cactus worm tacos with salsa verde. They were great!
You’ve worked with some of the city’s best chefs. Do you count any of them as mentors?
Most of them. I was fortunate that at every place I worked, someone always took me under their wing and showed me the ropes. I learned so much working for chefs like Robert McGrath, who was doing southwest cuisine, and Matt Carter who taught me things like foie gras torchons and sweetbreads.
How was La Grande Orange an important part of your journey?
Bob Lynn recruited me to be the executive chef at LGO. At that point, I had done a lot of fine dining but needed more experience to learn how to run a business. Being at LGO from the ground up really gave me that exposure. I was working 70 or 80 hours a week and had never worked so much in my life. But I also never learned so much in my life. We had LGO, LGO Pizzeria, Chelsea’s, and Radio Milano, and I also did some things with Bob in Pasadena and Santa Monica.
How did Gallo Blanco come about?
My wife has always been there to give me a nudge, so I left LGO towards the end of 2008 to pursue my dream. I connected with somebody at The Clarendon, signed the agreement, and went right to work. We used all our savings, charged on credit cards, sold my wife’s car and pulled favors from everybody, but in 12 weeks, we had done all the construction, hired people, and opened Gallo Blanco. It was a whirlwind. I would start at 5 in the morning and get home at 11.
What was your inspiration?
I missed the food in Mexico, and wanted people to experience that. It’s not just tacos—there are amazing cafes with international cuisine. There’s American, European, and Middle Eastern influences—it’s a very eclectic city. I wanted to share my memories of Mexico City, so I had a lot of fun with that. People see me and assume I’m a gringo, but growing up I thought of myself as a Mexican, so I was happy that people enjoyed what I was doing at Gallo Blanco.
Tell me about Otro Café
Around 2013, I had this great idea of opening a second restaurant. And sure enough, my wife said go for it. My brother and the godparents of my eldest all pitched in, and we raised the money to open Otro. It was really tough at first, but little by little, word got out and we started earning business from the neighbors. That’s the beauty of Otro—our neighbors made it their own, so our little spot was cultivated by the neighborhood.
What inspired Cafécito?
More experiences of Mexico City. My parents still live there and when my wife and I visit, I’ll get up in the morning, jog to Panaderia Rosetta, and get a beautiful latte or cafe mocha with Mexican chocolate and pastries. We want people to visit Cafécito and feel like they’re in Mexico.
What do you enjoy most about the industry?
The people aspect. We have 100 employees and I’m very fortunate to have a team that excels. Like Carlos [Diaz], who I inherited from the Clarendon back in 2009. Now he’s a partner at Gallo Blanco. There are others who have left to do their own thing, which is just as awesome. If I’ve given them the tools to do that, I feel like I’ve contributed to the community and now there’s another spot that I can go support.
Any plans for the future?
We’re opening another neighborhood restaurant, but something different. When I moved here in ’96, there were few independent restaurants. Phoenix has been good to us and now, 28 years later, the landscape is loaded with chef-driven restaurants doing some amazing things. I can’t imagine ever leaving.
written by: christina barrueta | photographed by: luke irvin