Not all of Arizona’s leaders work in a boardroom or over an operating table. Some of our state’s most deliciously interesting leaders, in fact, do their best work in the kitchen. As a result, over the past two decades, the Arizona culinary scene and restaurant industry have started gaining national momentum. We recently sat down with several top chefs to get the dish on what got them cooking.
Brent Menke of The Mick Brasserie
After graduating Chaparral High School, Menke worked as a yacht deckhand for years. One day, when the yacht’s chef was on holiday, Brent was asked to help cook for the crew. The experience was a game-changer, so much so that Menke enrolled in culinary school and changed from deckhand to yacht chef in short order. He eventually partnered on a farm-restaurant concept on the East Coast with one of his clients. Menke moved back to his native Arizona in recent years to open a modern French-inspired bistro named The Mick Brasserie in 2020 with a good friend from college.
Robert Bogart of Oak on Camelback
Growing up, Bogart’s grandfather bonded with him over camping. Their favorite part: cooking together over a wood-fired grill. In these moments, Bogart’s grandfather quite literally lit the flame that became Bogart’s burning passion for food. Though he had a yearning to cook, upon graduating high school in Texas, Bogart would first serve the country for five years in the Marine Corps. Following that, Bogart earned a position under Dean Fearing, who’s widely regarded as the “Father of Southwestern Cuisine.” The position even allotted Bogart the chance to meet Julia Child, who was working with Fearing on a project at the time. Upon her advice to “keep cooking,” Bogart moved to enroll in culinary school in Arizona and worked his way up in kitchens nationwide. Bogart is now back in Arizona and recently purchased St. Francis in 2020, then re-imagining it into Oak in late 2021.
Dushyant Singh of Andaz Scottsdale
This New Delhi native took a training course on hospitality in India after high school, which included time in the kitchen. It was love at first dish; he found his calling. As a result, in 2002 at only 19, Singh made his way to the United States – first in Kentucky and then New York to attend the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Hyde Park – to hone his skills. Dushyant actually traveled to Arizona a few times for big career moves, including executive roles at The Camby and Hotel Palomar in Phoenix. Now, he has taken the reins at the Andaz in 2021, most notably its award-winning Weft & Warp Art Bar + Kitchen.
Sara Garrant of Bourbon Steak
Robust flavors and exceptionally beautiful plating are a hallmark of Garrant’s food at Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. Garrant’s start is a unique one in comparison to most, given she first began developing rich flavors while growing up in a tiny fishing community in Alaska. Garrant learned to cook by literally grabbing the day’s fresh catch from the pier as a small child and throwing it on a skillet, in the oven, or atop a grill. Clearly fearless from a young age, Garrant approaches her kitchen today with the same gusto, and it shows in her food. With beautiful attention to detail, Garrant pours her heart into every single menu item.
Russell LaCasce of ZuZu
LaCasce’s home growing up was on stilts, so he and his dad – an avid home cook – loved nothing more than making their way below the stilts to find oysters under the house. When not doing that, you could find them making chili together. That’s where the spark of “I really like food” came from, and really never left. When he was 13, LaCasce got his start at a restaurant outside of his family’s kitchen, but not cooking right away. He was washing dishes at a tiny seafood restaurant on the beach in Charleston before heading to Utah to start his career in earnest. There, he did every job – valet, bellman, in-room dining, running food, anything. It propelled his career professionally because it helped him understand everything about front-of-house operations in a restaurant. Ready to get serious, LaCasce moved to the Valley in 2006 to attend the Arizona Culinary Institute and quickly became a part of the culinary fabric of the state.
Chad Bolar of The Peppermill
Born and raised in Tempe, Bolar’s first kitchen experiences happened extremely early on, thanks to his mom and the local Tempe Montessori School. After graduating from McClintock High School, Bolar tested all of his early recipes – often French Creole and Cuban cuisine as a nod to his family roots – on his great grandmother, whom he helped care for, as well as fellow students at culinary school. Bolar then trained at a laundry list of Arizona hot spots including Christopher’s at The Biltmore, The Wrigley Mansion, Pesto’s, Veritas, and The Spotted Pig. After moving into the catering business and traveling the world, in 2019 he made his way back to Tempe to open The Peppermill in his home city with his mixologist wife, Becky.
Written by Alison Bailin Batz
Photography by Luke Irvin