 Archive for the 'Il Vinaio' TagDowntown Mesa’s Il Vinaio hosts 1st wine dinnerAugust 25th, 2009, 11:18 am by Jess HarterIl Vinaio, which recently replaced the Valley Eatery in downtown Mesa (read my preview), will host its first five-course wine dinner at 7 p.m. Thursday. The five courses include coriander-crusted scallops, heirloom tomato salad, herb-crusted sea bass, bone-in pork tenderloin and coffee-chocolate cake (see menu) About 10 spots remain for the 24-seat dinner, which costs $34.95. Info: (480) 649-6476 or www.ilvinaio.com. 5 to try: Recently opened E.V. restaurantsJuly 9th, 2009, 9:01 pm by Jess HarterThe recession has been hard on Valley restaurants, but out of adversity comes opportunity. Amidst all the closures, a number of new eateries have risen from the ashes like Phoenix’s mythical namesake. Here are five that recently have opened:
Nunthaporn’s Thai Cuisine: Former Benjarong Thai owner Treekamol Nunthaporn has taken over the Main Street space that housed Christel’s Bavarian Deli for nearly two decades. The lunch/dinner menu includes a wide variety of traditional Thai chicken, beef, pork, duck and seafood dishes, most $9 to $10. 17 W. Main St., Mesa, (480) 649-6140. Rendezvous Point Restaurant: Longtime French restaurant Citrus Café, which closed after its most recent owner was charged with stealing diners’ credit card numbers, has re-opened under new ownership. The lunch menu features basic salads, sandwiches and burgers; the dinner menu focuses on steaks and pasta dishes. 2330 N. Alma School Road, Chandler, (480) 855-5566. Fired Up Grill: Former Chandler Buca di Beppo manager Joe Busone takes over the nearby space (pictured above) that housed popular nightlife spot 56 East. Pasta dishes and individual pizzas lend an Italian flair to the menu; entrees range from Southwestern meatloaf ($13.99) to Caribbean grilled ahi tuna ($16.99). 7131 W. Ray Road, Chandler, (480) 940-4040. Trophy’s Steakhouse: Nearly three dozen big-game mounts are a clue this restaurant focuses on meat, including many kinds of wild game. The eight-ounce filet mignon ($21) is one of the best values in the Valley. Other must-tries are the pork “wings” ($9), buffalo burger ($10) and buffalo and elk meatloaf ($13). 7215 S. Power Road, Queen Creek, (480) 840-3981. Downtown Mesa’s Valley Eatery rechristened Il VinaioJune 16th, 2009, 7:29 pm by Jess HarterIt’s a difficult time to launch a restaurant, especially a large restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Especially in downtown Mesa, which doesn’t have a very restaurant-friendly track record. But these challenges aren’t stopping Cameron and Cindy Selogie (pictured below), who recently bought the blandly named Valley Eatery and are transforming it into Il Vinaio Beer & Wine Bar.
The Selogies bought the 36-year-old, 5,200-square-foot building on the northeast corner of Country Club Drive and Main Street in October and have continued to run it as a no-frills breakfast and lunch restaurant. In the meantime, though, they’ve brought in a “name” chef — Patrick Boll (pictured below), for years Robert McGrath’s right-hand man at Roaring Fork and later on his own at, among other places, Old Town Scottsdale’s trendy Stingray Sushi, Drift and Geisha a Go Go — to develop a dinner menu. The Selogies and Boll hesitate to categorize the new menu, which they plan to launch Friday, but when pressed describe it as “American, Italian, Mediterranean and rustic.” Starters, for example, include bruschetta with miti crema, caramelized peaches and toasted pecans ($8) and griddle crab cakes with pink grapefruit and spring mix salad ($10). Entrees, which Cameron Selogie says will all be under $20, range from Marsala braised pork shank ($18) to crispy chicken piccata ($15) to gnocchi with roasted chicken ($14). “We don’t want to be a five-star restaurant,” he says. “This is Mesa. We want to appeal to Mesa.”
While the new menu (see breakfast/lunch menu pdf or dinner menu pdf) is ready to go, the restaurant’s interior is still a work in progress. The restaurant closed in late May for eight days of demo work, which included removing the old booths and the drop ceiling. Five bar-height, eight-person oak tables are being custom-made for the center of the dining room. Around the outside edges of the room, two- and four-person tables will be draped with white linens in the evening. A major addition will be a 16-foot wood bar, shaped like a wine bottle, in the back of the space. A separate lounge area in the front of the restaurant will offer free wi-fi. The new interior, which the Selogies hope to finish by mid- to late July, will accommodate 130 diners. The Selogies also are planning a variety of entertainment — from live music on weekends (classical guitarist and harpist Ariel Laurel Strong will perform this Friday and Saturday) to staged readings after plays at the nearby Mesa Arts Center to winemaker classes and dinners. As for downtown Mesa’s reputation as a restaurant graveyard, Cameron Selogie says, “There’s a lot to do down here. People just don’t know about it. “We thought long and hard about what we want to do with the rest of our lives. This is what we want to do. We don’t have any visions of being a big chain.” Il Vinaio Beer & Wine Bar
|
Twitter
Facebook