cuisine
Bourbon & Bones is new modern, upscale chophouse. As executive chef, Isaac Carter prepares top-quality, wet-aged steaks including bone-in cuts and chops as well as fresh seafood and unique side dishes in an upbeat, yet intimate, setting. You are relatively new to the Valley’s culinary scene? Indeed! I joined Bourbon & Bones’ parent company, Square One Concepts, in early 2016 as executive chef of Crab & Mermaid Fish Shop, which is also in Scottsdale. When the opportunity arose to take on Bourbon as well, I jumped at the chance. Prior, I worked with famed chef Todd English on the original Olives in Massachusetts and its eventual second location at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. There, I also helped open Todd English Pub and Eva Longoria’s Beso. Any memorable moments from those days? We did it all, from strapping flashlights to our foreheads and cooking in the dark for more than 1,000 guests one Thanksgiving when the power went out to setting fire to more than one restaurant, thanks to our preference in using charcoal and woodassisted brick ovens and grills versus a more traditional machine. What can guests look forward to at Bourbon & Bones? The traditional chophouse steaks will impress, but we are also bringing more unique cuts to the table including a tomahawk rib-eye, which is an extra-thick prime rib-eye with some of the rib bone still attached. Similarly, we want to offer modern twists on classic sides, including a play on bacon and eggs. We think guests will also love our tableside hot rock, which will allow guests to cook items like beef carpaccio right from their seats.
CHEF CONVERSATIONS In the kitchen with Isaac Carter of Bourbon & Bones
What makes a good chef? Aside from the cooking, of course, I’ve always believed you have to be partmechanic, part-therapist, part-janitor and part-scientist in the kitchen.
BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ PHOTO BY DEBBY WOLVOS
Are there any foods you personally don’t like? You are talking to a guy who just went to China and ate live scorpions and tarantulas! What is your favorite food to cook? I got my start making fresh pasta and sauces every morning during my first cooking gig. It’s a very intimate process to craft pasta by hand, and while it seems so basic, it will always hold a special place in my heart. Bourbon & Bones, 4200 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale; 480.629.4922; www.bourbonandbonesaz.com.
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| OCTOBER 2016
9/22/16 10:28 AM