FOR A LESSON IN ARIZONA AGRICULTURE The Andaz
the biggest grower of lettuce in the United States. Or that Arizona produces almost as In December, chef Adam Sheff debuted much dairy as Vermont. Or there’s the pecan Weft & Warp Art Bar + Kitchen at the story. Housing developments really started stunning new Andaz resort in Scottsdale, in Arizona in the ’50s and ’60s because air Arizona, introducing visitors and locals conditioning became a reality for residences, alike to contemporary Sonoran cuisine, and all the little trees they would put in the which sees him topping trout with pecan housing developments were pecan trees. romesco, pairing watermelon with tangy Now, there’s an industry around it. At first, goat cheese, and making venison, duck, it was overwhelming. There are so many and quail jerky. Here, he shares his shock ingredients, and there’s so much history, and at discovering Arizona’s bounty. there’s no single narrative to follow. It took me a few months of taking all of that in. Andaz “I came here from New York, and my impresis very much about telling stories—it’s about sion on the way out here was, “It’s Arizona. being true to your place. I felt like that was There’s nothing but desert. What am I a great thing to do with the food, as well. actually going to cook with?” So Contemporary Sonoran gives it I did a lot of research and talked a sense of place; it puts it someto a lot of people, and I realized where physically, and that gives that I had been lied to my whole you the chance to tell the story Above: the buttercrunch life about what was actually out of what the farmers are doing salad at Weft & Warp, here. I could go on and on about and the history of Arizona, which made with local lettuce what I found out that’s incredibly and radishes and topped has to do with the culture and with trout roe CARPENTER surprising, like how Arizona is the food.” —ELLEN-CARPENTER Rush Jagoe (oysters); Don Riddle (salad)
SCOTTSDALE﹐-ARIZONA
For Drinks That Pop Catahoula Hotel | NEW-ORLEANS
On a quiet street in NOLA’s Central Business District, the 35-room Catahoula Hotel— housed in an 1845 Creole townhouse—is transporting guests from the heart of the city to Peru. While its Pisco Bar offers an array of classic cocktails highlighting its namesake liquor (think pisco sours and pisco punch), the menu’s “Just for Fun” section includes elaborate concoctions like the A Huevo (pictured), which features passionfruit, blended eggs, and the jambu flower, an Amazonian bloom that will make your tastebuds tingle like you’ve just swallowed a mouthful of Pop Rocks. —LV July 2017 ! ! "#