FOOD & DRINK
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | SEPTEMBER 23, 2018
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Wasted Grain adds a Bubble Room for champagne lovers BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
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f you’ve spent any in Old Town lately, you’ve likely noticed its latest upgrade: the recently renovated Wasted Grain. Over the summer, the Old Town Scottsdale nightlife mainstay underwent a $500,000 facelift that not only included a sleek, new interior, but also a brand-new champagne lounge. Wasted Grain’s new sister concept, Bubble Room, is Old Town’s only champagne lounge, located just across the Wasted Grain patio and up the stairs. Step inside, and your eyes will be immediately drawn to the gold-hued chandelier – resembling champagne bubbles – dangling just above the purple-lit bar. Rows of champagne bottles line the wall, but what you see is only a taste of what Bubble Room actually offers: The champagne lounge has more than 21 different champagnes on its menu. Bubble Room can accommodate 300 guests, who can take advantage of its bottle service called Bubble Service, where bottles are placed in custom champagne displays at each table. “We are extremely excited to open the first champagne lounge in Old Town,” said partner Jason Johnson. “We look forward to bringing a fresh and innovative experience to a high energy crowd who will be dressed to impress.”
In addition to the renovations and its new champagne lounge, Wasted Grain also updated its menu, offering both custom champagne cocktails and new brunch offerings. Wasted Grain is calling its brunch experience Garden, which will offer cereal-stuffed pancakes, including Fruit Loops and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, as well as mimosa cakes. The Garden experience takes place on the weekends from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and guests can sit inside Wasted Grain or on the dog-friendly, open-air, 3,000-square-foot patio. To pair with the stuffed pancakes, Wasted Grain and Bubble Room both offer four custom champagne cocktails, all priced at $12. The cocktails range in flavor, from an elderflower liquor-based cocktail mixed with sparkling brut (called Flower Child) and a peach orange blossom-flavored cocktail (Sunkissed) to a cucumber-mint and lemon-flavored mixed drink called So Fresh & So Clean. It’s the Morning After cocktail – a grapefruit, strawberry and lemonflavored champagne cocktail – that seems most popular, however. To top it all off, Wasted Grain also added an Instagram-worthy bubble wing mural located on its patio. Because if you didn’t post your brunch experience to Instagram, did you even brunch at all? Information: wastedgrain.com, bubbleroomscottsdale.com
The Morning After Ingredients: 1.5 oz Ketel One botanical grapefruit rose vodka 1/2 oz strawberry reál 1/2 oz lemon juice Directions: Shaken/strained into a stemless wine glass Top off with sparkling rosé Garnish with a dehydrated strawberry
Kneaders' cookies helping the �ight against cancer BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Progress Staff Writer
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neaders Bakery and Café’s elephantshaped cookies are helping the restaurant’s guests make a difference. The Utah-based bakery and eatery is selling the light-blue, white chocolate-covered snacks with rainbow sprinkles for $2.99 to raise money for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, spearheaded by Dr. Joshua Schiffman. The cookies, part of restaurant’s Hope Fight Childhood Cancer campaign, are available through Oct. 3 at both Scottsdale Kneaders locations, 7607 E. McDowell Road and 15505 N. Hayden Road. Kneaders CEO James Worthington said Schiffman’s research shows elephants rarely get cancer and have 40 copies of a
The timing is perfect, as September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. “Cancer is something personal to me and my family,” Worthington said. “My nephew, Tanner, was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2015. He’s doing great now, but it was heart-wrenching for us to watch as a family. “We wanted to support (Photo courtesy Kneaders Bakery and Café) him any way we could. We’re September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and, in support of that, Kneaders Bakery and Café is selling elephant- a family business, so we shaped cookies. thought we would join the �ight against cancer.” cancer-�ighting p53 gene, whereas humans Worthington, whose father had urinary only have two. Most children suffering from tract cancer, said Schiffman also survived cancer only have one. Hodgkin Lymphoma.
“He’s changing the landscape of cancer treatment options for young people or anybody who has cancer,” Schiffman added. “This became something very, very personal for us. We wanted to help out and do what we do best, which is make cookies.” The cookie program launched in 2016 and Kneaders has baked a different style of cookie each year. The current rendition is an homage to grandma’s animal cookies. “We named our elephant mascot Hope,” he said. “The whole premise of this is to bring hope to those who have to deal with cancer.” Kneaders guests can donate directly to the cause, in lieu of buying cookies, by visiting hope.kneaders.com. There is a variety of elephant-themed gift items on the site as well. “We’re grateful to our guests,” Worthington said. “That’s what it’s going to take to �ight this.”