“This is one of the best elevated classics I’ve seen on triple D in a long time,” Guy Fieri tells chef Dom Ruggiero, CEO and founder of Cast Iron Concepts, on a recent episode of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Fiere is not the only one impressed with Ruggiero’s decadent twist on Chicago Beef. The dish features a slab of buttery brioche blanketed in smoked provolone and smothered in rich jus, then topped with shredded slow-cooked oxtail and zesty house giardiniera. The Chicago Beef has been a signature at Hush Public House since its debut in 2019. It’s a contributing factor to the restaurant’s many accolades, including winning Best New Restaurant from PHOENIX magazine in the same year. Hush is first of three North Scottsdale eateries under the Cast Iron Concepts umbrella, joined by Fire at Will in 2022 and Bar Cena in 2023. “Opening other restaurants was always the goal,” says Ruggiero, a Le Cordon Bleu Scottsdale graduate who infuses his menus with inspiration from his travels and Marine Corps service in the Middle East and Asia.
Dom’s hallmark lies in sophisticated small plates and entrees with diverse global influences. “I’ve wanted to do that forever,” explains Ruggiero, who honed his skills at Arizona spots like Ingo’s Tasty Kitchen, Chelsea’s Kitchen, Zinc Bistro, and FnB. “It’s how I like to eat—getting together with a group of friends and ordering different things to share,” he says. “And we really try to use as many local products as we can to support all of our friends and their cool stuff, like Sonoran Pasta, Cutino hot sauce, and Frites Street fries.”
In addition to the aforementioned Chicago Beef, other Hush Public House signature dishes include crispy crabmeat and roasted corn hush puppies, and duck confit fried rice adorned with a sunny side up egg and housemade rayu (Japanese chili oil). Another hallmark is grilled oysters slathered in a garlicky butter accented with Cutino Sauce Co. habanero hot sauce, inspired by Ruggiero’s New Orleans honeymoon. “There’s five or six staple menu items and the rest of the menu changes with the seasons or when we come up with something new,” he notes.
For Fire at Will, Ruggiero originally envisioned a “hip, cheffy restaurant with dishes like bone-in cote du boeuf and whole branzino,” but it evolved to meet guests’ preference for more affordable options. “Instead, I put on a grilled ribeye with loaded baked potato, salmon, and scallops with saffron risotto,” he says, “and added a kids menu, which I had never done before. Now we have regulars who dine two or three nights a week and bring their kids, so it’s morphed into more of a neighborhood restaurant.”
Along with best-selling small plates like Iberico ham croquettes with harissa-spiked aioli and goat cheese-stuffed bacon-wrapped dates is the Hush Burger, made famous as a former Wednesday night special at Hush Public House. “I never planned on doing a cheeseburger,” shares Ruggiero. “But being a butcher, everybody said ‘come on, you’re the meat guy, you have to have a burger!’” He acquiesced, offering twelve “first come, first serve” double cheeseburgers once a week. “I ground the meat myself for the burgers and smashed them in my grandmother’s 100-year-old cast iron skillet,” says Ruggiero. “Needless to say, they caught on. We’d have people lining up at 4:45 before we opened, so we’d sell out right away. I decided we’d put the burger on at the next restaurant we open, so it’s always on the menu at Fire at Will.”
Like its siblings, Bar Cena was an instant hit when it opened last year. “We designed it as half lounge, half restaurant doing what we do—elevated small plates and entrees—but with a more European flair,” describes Ruggiero. Here you’ll find fan favorites like airy popovers accompanied by cacio e pepe butter, pate en croute studded with cranberries and pistachios, and fork-tender veal osso buco nestled on a bed of Hayden Mills polenta with velvety sherry cream and citrus-laced gremolata.
Rounding out the food options for all three restaurants is a thoughtfully curated beverage program. The drink menu stars inventive cocktails created by bar veterans Libby Lingua and Mitch Lyons of Highball and a craft brew list stocked with “as many local beers as we can, like Wren House, 12 West, Tombstone, and 1912,” says Ruggiero. “And we teamed up with The Shop Beer Co, so we have a Cast Iron Concepts lager that is on tap at all three locations.”
A winning formula for serving creative and delicious food in comfortable atmospheres has proven itself, and it’s not just the culinary aspect. Chef Dom Ruggiero attributes much of the success to his team. “We have a really amazing staff, many who have been with me since before Hush,” he notes. “It’s a really close knit, family culture that we extend to our guests, so we have a lot of regulars.”
Ruggiero shows no signs of slowing down. However, Phoenicians will be happy to hear that his sights are set beyond the current Scottsdale confines. “These three are within five miles of each other, so I’m ready to share what we do with the rest of the Valley.” And when that time comes, we’re ready too.
written by: christina barrueta | photographed by: grace stufkosky