cuisine Old Town Scottsdale’s Counter Intuitive is known for its rotating theme and menu that garner inspiration from a person, place or era (think Havana nights or Bourbon Street). We chatted with Garrison Whiting, executive chef and recent Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame “Best Upcoming Chef” nominee, and got the dish on the latest theme. DID YOU ALWAYS KNOW YOU WANTED TO BECOME A CHEF? Pretty much. When I was four years old, my mom opened Kitchen Classics, which was located on 44th Street and Thomas Road until 2009. It focused on kitchenware, but it also regularly welcomed local and touring chefs for cooking classes and workshops. In between sweeping floors and stocking shelves, I learned from some of the best in the business. By 19, I had more than a decade of experience. EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT BEHIND COUNTER INTUITIVE. Last year, our team at Cowboy Ciao, where I’ve worked as a chef for six years, had the opportunity to adapt the space next door. Rather than focus on food with wine as we did at Cowboy Ciao and Kazimierz World Wine Bar, we decided to focus on food with cocktails – and kitsch. The theme of Counter Intuitive changes every few months, as does the menu. We launched with a New Orleans Estate Sale theme in 2015, complete with a backstory of a fictitious Southern gentleman who passed away. The cocktail and food menus, as you can imagine, followed the theme and focused on Southern specialties.
CHEF CONVERSATIONS In the kitchen with Garrison Whiting of Counter Intuitive BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ PHOTO BY MARK MORGAN
TELL US ABOUT THE CURRENT THEME. The theme is Agua Caliente Racetrack: Opening Day 1929, which opened in the border town of Tijuana in 1929 and cost $2.5 million. Being on the border, yet offering such a high-end attraction as horseracing, the venue had an interesting mix of wealthy Americans coming to gamble and resident Mexicans who operated the space. Our menu reflects that – a mix of dishes that would be served to the American gamblers as well as Mexican comfort foods. WHAT ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS ON THE CURRENT MENU? Shrimp was in high demand then, so we created a play on shrimp cocktail to appease our fictitious wealthy American clientele. We plate it in antique goblets and offer a side of tequila, which guests can pour into their goblet, creating the best Blood Maria ever. In honor of our fictitious Mexican patrons and workers, we have a breakfast burrito. While it doesn’t sound fancy, we make our own in-house chorizo, and it uses my secret mole recipe. Counter Intuitive, 7133 E. Stetson Drive, Scottsdale; drink@counterintuitiveaz.com.
SO SCOTTSDALE! |
SS_76_79Cuisine_Cheers_Jun16.indd 76
76
| JUNE 2016
5/25/16 2:53 PM