For many, necessity is the mother of invention. For Kevin Heinonen, necessity was the mother of reinvention, both as it relates to his life and Arizona’s culinary community.
Rewind to 2009. At that time, Heinonen was working as an attorney in Phoenix. “Like everyone at that time, the Great Recession was taking its toll, and I desperately needed a break,” said Heinonen. “I got to talking with my cousin, a chef in Flagstaff, and by the end of our conversation, I felt like I could really use some of that northern Arizona air to clear my head.” Once up north, Heinonen also became convinced that the mountain town had more than just fresh air; he saw it as a food city on the rise.
“This sounds insane given the timing, but I decided to invest in some real estate and try my hand at the restaurant business, albeit in the back of the house doing operations, not as a chef or anything,” said Heinonen. “But I was not totally crazy. I knew that the cost to invest in something in Downtown Flagstaff was just too great, so my partners and I looked into a space on the other side of the train tracks.”
The area where he sought the lease on space was called the Southside, and at that time it was home to a strip club, shelter services, and dilapidated buildings that were almost 100 years old. “Do not ask me how we knew, but we felt in our bones that the Southside neighborhood could serve as the epicenter for an explosion of culinary creativity,” said Heinonen. “It just needed a spark.” Enter Tinderbox Kitchen, which opened before the year’s end. “The name was fitting in many ways, especially since its opening lit a metaphorical match and started what we feel like is a food revolution,” says Heinonen.
The concept was to take rustic dishes and give them an update as well as an upgrade on plating, without getting too wild straight away. They also excelled at pairing food with local and regional beers, wine, and cocktails. Clearly answering a need in the market, against all odds it was very much an overnight success. So much so, in fact, that it was common to see a line down the street of people waiting to get tables or hoping for a last-minute reservation. Enter The Annex in 2010.
“There was this funky, similarly historic but dilapidated space that used to be a guitar store next door to Tinderbox that became available, so we jumped on it, quite literally annexing it into our Tinderbox property,” said Heinonen. “Initially, there were no plans for it to be anything more than a comfortable spot indoors for folks to grab a drink and wait for their table at the main restaurant.”
Fate, again, had bigger plans. Quenching the market’s thirst for a little mixology magic, The Annex was soon transitioned from a standing-room-only concept into its own unique destination: The Annex Cocktail Lounge.
“We were cruising with both locations until 2013 when a cultural anthropology graduate fresh out of school took a job with us as a barback,” said Heinonen. “That fellow is none other than Nick Williams, today one of our co-owners and the visionary behind all of our operations, as well as our cocktail program.”
And while some may think the degree was a waste, as Williams quickly climbed in the ranks, he found that his study of how people interact and build culture was critical to his and the concepts’ continued success.
By 2014, now with Williams on the team, it was time for expansion yet again. “To give a visual, Tinderbox Kitchen and Annex Cocktail Lounge are next door to each other, and then—back 10 years ago—there was this utterly offensive abandoned patio space that was once a group of sheepherders’ handball court in the 1920s,” said Williams. “Next to that weed extravaganza was another historic building that was once a commercial tourist home.”
It became available and the team, now also with chef Mike Schmitz on board overseeing the regular and seasonal menus, jumped into action. They leased the property and worked with the city for months to ensure that as much of the original structure could still stand, but that it could safely show customers a very different side of the brand to date.
“We were rocking dinner and drinks, so it made sense to take on breakfast and lunch services, because who needs sleep, right?” said Williams. “Ultimately, we had to essentially bulldoze the interior, but we came through the construction with what is today our fast-casual Tourist Home All Day Café.”
(Fun side note for readers: one of this magazine’s publishers can be heard on a recent Taste of AZ podcast calling the Tourist Home breakfast burrito among the top 3 in all of Northern Arizona.)
For those keeping score, by 2014, if looking 180 degrees along San Francisco Street on the south side of the railroad tracks, it would be THAT Place Project’s concepts from end to end.
Speaking of the overarching brand name, one may think it is because the organization seeks for its concepts to be “the spots” in town. And while that is certainly true, THAT is an acronym for
Tourist Home, Annex, and Tinderbox to honor the first three concepts in their foodie family.
“From there, the next major ‘thing’ to happen was that old handball court becoming available. You know, the one with all the weeds and trash thanks to the ample wind in Flagstaff,” said Williams. “We loved on that outdoor court, and pulled a lot of weeds, and found it was a gorgeous patio space just begging for guests.”
In 2019, that space opened as an extension of Annex where guests could enjoy the warmer weather months with a great drink and a plethora of bar snacks and small bites. And during the day? Given Annex does not open until the evening, it also became a patio space for Tourist Home, which closes at 2 p.m. so there is no overlap.
“We were absolutely cruising; this career was checking all of the boxes on our business and bucket lists, and then there was March of 2020,” said Heinonen. “Until then, I thought the hardest time in my career was the Great Recession, but oh how I was wrong.” The next two-plus years were a trying time for the friends and business owners. Hospitality was by far hit the hardest by the pandemic, and at times it got hard to pay the bills.
“Nevertheless, we persisted, going so far as to transform our kitchen space into a ghost kitchen called Corn & Flour,” said Williams. “Thanks to the power of online ordering and mobile apps, we pivoted into a grab and go taco concept to keep our doors open in some small way.” And they did it. They survived. “In the past 18 months, we have gone from surviving to thriving, and in more ways than one,” said Williams.
First, their success brought a lot of interest to the Southside. As a result, today the area is known for its food and beverage scene. It is proudly home to Cornish Pasty Co., Dara Thai, Lumberyard Brewing Co., Historic Brewing Barrel + Bottle House, Southside Tavern, Morning Glory Café, and Evan’s Fish & Chips in addition to the Tinderbox family. Second, in 2022 Tinderbox Kitchen earned its first Wine Spectator Best of Excellence Award, one of only a handful of restaurants in Arizona to earn the coveted honor.
And finally, here they “grow” again. “For the first time, we have opened a concept in the heart of Downtown Flagstaff, on the ‘right’ side of the tracks,” said Williams. That concept is called Teatro. “We worked on this concept for well over a year. Teatro is located where a historic theatre once stood, hence the name. In the time since the theatre closed, it had been half a dozen other things, most famously Criollo Latin Kitchen, a long-time culinary icon in the area,” said Williams. “We took our time on every element of the design with Teatro to ensure we made it our own, paid homage to those who came before, and blew the doors off of what guests think fine dining in Flagstaff could be.”
Teatro is a triumph on all levels. Chic and sexy yet warm and inviting, and most importantly utterly delicious, it is a feast for all the senses. “We are proud to be part of the foodie fabric that is now Flagstaff’s buzzy, beautiful food and drink scene, and we see even bigger things in the future, both for us and our adopted mountain town,” said Heinonen.
written by: alison bailin batz
photographed by: luke irvin