It’s Friends & Family preview weekend at Liquor Pig, and the room is buzzing. I greet Cory Oppold of Course Restaurant with a hug, then chat with Matt Carter of The Mission, Zinc Bistro, and Fat Ox. At the Brazilian blue marble-topped bar, Chris Brugman tells me about his soon-to-open Heritage Kitchen, and at one of the black walnut tables, I join cocktail trailblazer Jason Asher and sommelier legend David Johnson to catch up over plates of crudo and shakshouka. These luminaries were not here just to eat and drink, but to raise a glass to colleagues who’ve been shaping Arizona’s food and beverage scene for decades: Executive chef Steven “Chops” Smith and GM and beverage manager Scott Casey.
The duo behind Liquor Pig, which opened in March, first crossed paths more than 20 years ago at Different Pointe of View, the mountaintop fine-dining gem at Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs. “It’s been a long road with a lot of challenges,” admits Smith, “but we’ve been planning this for a long time.” Along the way, they collaborated as restaurant consultants while building their own careers—Smith in the kitchen and Casey in wine and hospitality. You’ll recognize many of the restaurants in Smith’s résumé, like Arizona’s Noca, Fat Ox, and Atria, while Casey earned his Level III and Advanced sommelier credentials honing his skills at spots like Spago in West Hollywood, Daniel in Manhattan, and EVO in Scottsdale.
“His knowledge is so impressive,” says Smith. “He graduated from the CIA [Culinary Institute of America] and his palate is unparalleled.” Casey proves this daily by curating a wine list that pairs familiar varietals with unexpected gems, such as Slovenian Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentinian Criolla Grande, and Spanish Hondarrabi Zuri.
Smith’s menu follows suit, pulling inspiration from across the globe. “It’s how I grew up in the kitchens, cooking French, Spanish, and Italian,” he says. A vegetarian dish features grilled zucchini and roasted acorn squash in a pool of mole verde, decorated with falafel, pomegranate seeds, and pepita crumble. Shakshouka (the North African dish of eggs poached in a spiced tomato sauce) gets an upgrade with lamb merguez meatballs and dollops of Peruvian aji amarillo. And a chimichanga is stuffed with slow-roasted duck and dressed up with cherry-pecan mole and asadero fundido. “The grilled zucchini dish was inspired by my oldest daughter, who’s a vegetarian, the shakshouka because I wanted to mix meatballs with a breakfast dish, and the chimichanga is made with a few of my favorite things,” explains Smith. “I love cherries with duck, and I think mole is fantastic; it’s the soul of Mexico.”
Still, Smith may be best known for his pasta skills, which have cemented his reputation over the years. That legacy continues at Liquor Pig with dishes like silky ribbons of pappardelle draped in a milk-braised veal sauce, and chicken marsala reimagined as chicken terrine, paired with marsala mushroom-stuffed agnolotti. “Ro and I created that dish back at Fat Ox for the Devour festival in 2019, and it took home a best dish award,” he recalls of the latter.
That “Ro” is none other than James Beard award semifinalist Rochelle Daniel, chef-owner of Atria in Flagstaff, and a longtime friend so close that Smith calls her Sissy. At Liquor Pig, she lends her baking talents in the form of “Ro’s bread,” a must-order starter served with swathes of butter and salsa verde marmalade, along with indulgent desserts like olive oil cake gilded with honey-roasted figs and creamy Biscoff cookie-mascarpone mousse.
Of course, a place called Liquor Pig has to deliver worthy cocktails, and Matthew “Crispy” Crisp’s program more than lives up to the name. “I wanted to focus on the intentions behind the spirits and the vibe,” he says, “so the cocktail list is set up a little bit differently.” Instead of the typical categories, he has divided the menu into the Familiar, the Serene, the Gilded, and the Degenerates.
“The first pages are more familiar and approachable drinks,” he explains, with best-sellers including Spring Fairytale, a Pisco-based cocktail bolstered with kiwi, coconut, and makrut lime cordial. “For a cocktail using Chilean brandy, it’s been wildly popular,” marvels Crisp. “People are really down to experiencing something really unique.” The Serene section offers low-ABV and zero-proof cocktails, “but we put just as much time and love into these as we did the others,” he is quick to emphasize. “The Gilded? That’s our homage to Scottsdale,” he continues with a laugh. “We love our fancy cocktails, so you’ll find things like an olive oil dirty martini garnished with caviar, an espresso martini with my kind-of-secret recipe, a Spam cocktail play on Polynesian culture, and a beautiful blueberry cereal milk clarified tequila cocktail.” Rounding out the list is The Degenerates, a cheeky nod to industry insiders. “As bartenders, we work hard and play hard and sometimes go a little weird, so I have a cookies and cream Boulevardier, a mushroom Midori sour which does much better than I expected, and an industry shot that’s a take on the Surfer on Acid. We have a lot of snowboarders here, so I call it Snowboarder on Bark. It’s an apricot amaro, but I use different types of acids like malic, citric, and lactic, to taste like the pineapple in the original shot.”
For Casey and Smith, Liquor Pig is the realization of a shared dream and a mutual passion for hospitality. “It’s a place where everyone can feel comfortable,” says Smith. “Whether you want to wear a suit or shorts and flip-flops, either is great. You just want a bowl of pasta and a Prosecco? Fantastic. You’d rather create your own tasting menu? Love it. We’re all here having fun and making sure you have a great time.”
written by: christina barrueta | photos courtesy: liquor pig