Teamwork makes the dream work.
It takes a village.
None of us is as smart as all of us.
There are a lot – A LOT – of inspirational quotes about the importance of a team. That is because the simple fact is it is true. Nothing special happens in a silo. Especially in the kitchen. Often, the magic on a dish is the result of dozens of talented people, certainly starting with the head chef, but also vendors, investors, marketers, graphic designers, and especially the executive chefs, sous, chefs de cuisine, and other kitchen team members. Here are some true rock stars in the kitchen, each providing the vision, precision, and 24/7 support that is elevating Arizona’s food game to new heights.
Luis Soto
This past summer, Luis Soto was part of one of the most anticipated Arizona restaurant openings in recent memory. His gig? That would be as sous chef of Course, the ambitious multi-course, multi-sensory experience from Food Network darling Cory Oppold. The dynamic duo’s history is a good one. It starts with Soto growing up in Sonora, Mexico, in a small town best known for its copper mining. Soto and his extended family lived together and rented out their extra rooms as a bed and breakfast to the people who would come to work the mine, providing three meals a day, not to mention a comfortable place to rest their heads. As a result, Soto was shucking corn and cleaning beets young, but did not get into cooking more professionally until he moved to Arizona at 14 and got an afterschool job at Baja Fresh. There, he took on every single job to do, eventually being named the general manager of the Scottsdale and Indian School location at just 19, one of the youngest such managers in the restaurant’s history. While at that location, Luis would always have students from the nearby Le Cordon Bleu stop by for a quick meal. Eventually, Soto found himself looking to take the next step in his cooking journey and applied for the school himself. And who does he meet while there? Cory Oppold, who was one of his instructors! However, when Soto graduated in 2012, he did not go to work for Oppold straight away. Instead, he earned a role at the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Troon North, where he mentored under Mel Mecinas for years. It was not until 2016 that Soto and Oppold reconnected when Soto took on a cook position at Atlas Bistro. This time around, the former student and one-time teacher had an electric—and delicious—chemistry. Within months, Soto was Oppold’s right hand. So much so that when Oppold began putting pen to paper on his vision for Course, Soto vowed to open it with him, whenever it happened. All those years later, and still cooking together in perfect harmony, they made it happen earlier this year.
Michael Winneker
The Mick Brasserie’s ultra-talented chef de cuisine under chef-owner Brent Menke initially had a very different vision for his future. Despite being so enamored with Emeril Live and Iron Chef Japan in 3rd grade that Winneker’s mother bought him a cookbook so he could try his hand in the kitchen, after high school Michael became an apprentice for a tattoo artist, planning to become one himself. However, Michael quickly realized the role was not for him, so he took a position in a kitchen at a small Chandler restaurant. Just as fast as he knew tattoo art was not for him, he knew the kitchen very much was. Over the next several years, Winneker would chase opportunities big and small to advance his knowledge and skills, including spending several years at Cowboy Ciao, Copperwynd Resort (now ADERO), and Artizen, including time as an executive chef. When COVID-19 hit, Winneker started to re-evaluate his next steps and where he wanted to go professionally and artistically, thinking it was time to gain a better understanding of food and wine at the highest level. As if The Mick could read his mind, their beverage director and sommelier Jeff “The Cork Dork” Menzer reached out to Winneker in 2022 with an opportunity to join the team. The role, today as chef de cuisine, allows Winneker to work closely with Menzer, a colleague prior at Artizen as well, to create the semi-weekly wine pairing menus and special wine-themed event menus. Of course, Winneker also works side-by-side with Chef Menke to dream up dishes with ingredients from around the world.
Adam Dunton
Litchfield’s is an Arizona icon. The long-time signature restaurant at The Wigwam Resort, it served as a vacation complex for high-ranking executives of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in the early 1900s. The space boasts a casual-yet-classy aesthetic with authentic historic Arizona accents and ingredients proudly sourced from the abundant local farming community. In recent months, the resort announced chef Christopher McLean as executive chef and beverage director of its historic resort. While a big win for the property, it is not the first. Litchfield’s has had the privilege of employing chef de cuisine Adam Dunton, one of the sneaky best talents in Arizona, since 2018. Dunton brought his talents to the West Valley after nearly 10 years honing his culinary craft at the likes of the Arizona Biltmore, The Phoenician Resort, and The Ritz-Carlton Phoenix Resort. He takes particular pride in seeking out local farmers and producers for Litchfield’s so that he can create menus that reflect State 48 at their core. The local purveyors on the menu run the gamut and in recent years have included bread from Noble Bread in Phoenix, produce from Blue Sky Farms in Litchfield Park, olive oils and vinegars from Queen Creek Olive Oil Mill in Queen Creek, and a variety of milks and cheeses from Crow’s Dairy in Buckeye. Dutton also ensures the meat and seafood is sustainably sourced at all times, with the fish being flown into Arizona daily and the award-winning Cedar River Farms out of Colorado providing the beef.
Zachery Riddell
In 2001, though the Valley was still years from being on the radar of foodies worldwide, Scottsdale native Matthew Carter—who trained in France—opened Zinc Bistro in the heart of Kierland Commons in 2001 after working at French Laundry in Napa. In the years since, Carter has helped transform the culinary landscape statewide both by continuing to open successful concepts in Phoenix— founding Zinc Brasserie at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, The Mission Old Town Scottsdale, The Mission Kierland, and Fat Ox, as well as by serving as a mentor to countless aspiring kitchen stars. One such star, today shining as brightly as anyone in the industry, is Zachery Riddell. Once an architecture student in upstate New York, Riddell fell into a gig at a college bar before cooking for Cornell University. That experience changed his life’s ambition and led to Riddell being accepted into the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Hyde Park. His first job after graduating CIA in 2010? The Mission, where he started as a line cook and worked his way up diligently one dish at a time. The result? Today, Riddell is Carter’s executive chef at both The Mission Old Town and Kierland, where his mission is to take inspiration from all across Latin America—think anywhere from Peru and Argentina to Mexico and Brazil—and use elevated techniques to deliver something truly different to guests’ tables. TexMex, this is not!
Antonio “Tony” Rojas
Tony Rojas is a sous chef at Atria in Flagstaff, where he leads the pasta program as well as the weekly crudo and ceviche specialties. Rojas’ love of seafood, and keen eye for fresh flavor profiles, began when he was just a child growing up in Imperial Beach, California. Like most who grew up in the area, Rojas was an avid surfer from a young age, living off of the ample locally caught shellfish and seafood available. To make extra money, Rojas worked as a dishwasher and entry level-cook in his mid-teens. Before turning 20 he took on a provisioner job that relocated him to Colorado in 2015. When Rojas’ mom moved to Phoenix, where his older brother already lived and was working as a server, Tony eventually made the move to the desert as well, noting that the Valley is where his true culinary journey began. After a few smaller jobs, Rojas’ brother got him a gig at Buck & Rider. When his brother moved on to Fat Ox his sibling convinced Rochelle Daniel and Maribel Silva—the up-and-coming leaders of the local kitchen at the time—to give Tony a shot. They did, and it changed all of their lives. Rojas dove head-first into the world of finer dining, especially pasta, training under Sam “Chops” Smith. During the pandemic when Rochelle, Silva, and Smith moved up to Flagstaff to turn Atria from a dream into James Beard-nominated reality, Rojas continued in a leadership role at Fat Ox. Though, he kept his eye on his friends up north. By 2022, Rojas was ready to join them, moving up to Flagstaff over Halloween. When Chops left to open his own concept in Phoenix, Rojas took on the sous role and pasta position at Atria. The crudo and ceviche role happened a bit later, and by accident, when Rojas cooked some of his favorites during a work dinner, and Daniel fell in love with the idea of a weekly raw or seafood dish, bringing Rojas’ life full circle.
written by: alison bailin batz | photographed by: luke irvin