FOOD & DRINK

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Coming Thai eatery promises to be ‘Tang-y’

BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer

Los Angeles native Courtney Luengthada spent years working his way up the ranks at the renowned but nowshuttered modern Thai restaurant Tommy Tang’s in Hollywood and became good friends with Tang himself.

But it’s always been Luengthada’s lifelong dream to open up his own Thai restaurant.

Now, nearly two decades since Tang’s Los Angeles restaurant closed, Luengthada and his partner, Jeffrey Fisher, will finally do just that.

Kin Dai Kin Dee, a 2,400-square-foot, full-service, contemporary Thai concept, is slated to open late spring.

The restaurant will occupy the old Melting Pot space just off Hayden Road and north of East Via de Ventura.

At Kin Dai Kin Dee, Luengthada and Jeffrey Fisher and Courtney Luengthada are the owners of Kin Dai Kin Dee, a contemporary Thai concept slated to open in late spring. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)

Fisher will combine Luengthada’s Thai family recipes and his experience working in a highly-touted Thai restaurant with the couple’s combined past experiences living in seven different cities together, including four in Italy. “It’s grounded in a mixture of family recipes; but because we’ve had the opportunity to live across the U.S. and Europe, we’re trying to bring some of those influences in [not only] from an experience perspective, but also from a menu perspective,” Fisher said.

Kin Dai Kin Dee’s menu features a traditional, yet elevated take on pad Thai: Instead of the egg mixed into the pad Thai dish, the noodles are wrapped with egg, like an omelet.

An example of Thai-with-a-Europeantwist is the Ragu Curry Di Tailandia, which combines short ribs, Panang curry, and kaffir lime with organic penne pasta.

“The recipes and the flavor themselves, they really need to be grounded in authenticity, but we want to have fun with them, and we want to bring a different approach to it because there’s really good Thai food

seeKIN DAI page 48

The flavors of Michigan come to Scottsdale

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Progress Staff Writer

When David Najor moved to Arizona, he brought the feelings, the work ethic and the love he has for Michigan.

His new Detroit Coney Grill restaurant in Scottsdale is peppered with Great Lakes State freeway signs and photos of famous Michiganders, but more importantly, there’s the food.

The Detroit native lines his shelves with Sanders hot fudge, Better Made chips, Sanders trail mix and Vernors and Faygo pop – not soda here – everything Michiganders have come to love. Coneys are the top dog here, with chili, mustard and onions piled high.

“I noticed the Coneys out here were garbage and a lot of the restaurants out here were not mom-and-pop establishments,” Najor said in between guests’ hugs.

“It was all chain after chain after chain. Everyone thought I was going to fail because it’s a new business, new state, new industry, but I just kept it simple.”

Najor and his family are in the grocery store business, but by keeping it simple, he has found success with food.

“I just treat people the way I would want to be treated,” Najor said. “I offer good food at a fair price. I have God on my side, so I can’t lose—ever.”

The extensive menu includes a Detroit

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48 SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | MARCH 1, 2020 FOOD & DRINK in the marketplace,” Fisher said.

The real star of the menu, however, has to be the return perhaps the most popular dish on Tang’s past menu: the Tommy Duck, a boneless crispy Long Island duck dish with honey-ginger sauce and asparagus.

In 1986, the New York Times described Tommy Duck as “a crackly skinned and succulent creation in which the meat is marinated in ginger and soy, then steamed.” After which, the duck is “flash-deep-fried and glazed with a sweet plum and ginger sauce.” On Kin Dai Kin Dee’s menu, they call the dish “’Eat’ the Original Tommy Tang’s Duck.”

“Tommy’s given us permission to have it on the menu,” Luengthada assured, adding it’s not the only Tang-penned dish they’ll have on the menu, once finalized.

Fisher added they would like to have Tang visit the restaurant in the fall and possibly host a couple of dinner at Kin Dai Kin Dee, too.

“Which we’re really excited about doing,” Fisher said. “Courtney is very dear friends with Tommy.”

Tang is “somewhat retired,” Luengthada said, and currently lives in Bangkok, Thailand.

Also flying in from Thailand — albeit, pre-opening, not post- — where they will present the desserts.

Alex Axelson of Noi Cacao is creating the dessert menu. Axelson previously worked at République Café in Los Angeles and now lives in Phoenix.

The menu has been a labor of love for Luengthada, who teamed up with his mother’s Los Angeles-based cousin, Auntie Tim Jittra, and his Thailand-based cousin, Al Benjasiriwan, to create the dishes.

“What’s interesting is Auntie Tim’s family, they come from a very long line of cooks in the kitchen. Her grandmother worked for the king in the palace,” Fisher said. “She remembers some of the preparations her grandmother was doing, and, actually, a lot of it came to the really amazing cutting and presentation of the fruit.”

Fisher added: “Plating is really quite important.”

The design and aesthetic of both the indoor and outdoor spaces are important to the owners, too.

Construction will begin shortly, and the space will transform into what Fisher describes as contemporary and “very warm.”

Inside, they’ll add a bar, a partially open kitchen with counter space, and plenty of seating, including tables, booths, and lounges.

“The design of the restaurant is intended to be more contemporary as well to try to compliment the very contemporary plating of the dishes,” Fisher said.

Outside, they’ll add a canopy, an archway, luminaria lining the walkway to the entrance, cypress trees as “a nod to Italy” and lots of other greenery – including hedges and fresh herbs, like lavender and rosemary.

“It’s intimate, but it’s lively, and it has a really wonderful indoor-outdoor sensibility,” Fisher said. “The intention was to be as complementary and seamless from indoor to outdoor.”

Fisher and Luengthada have also partnered with Advanced Sommelier Wesam Kawa, who is creating the restaurant’s wine list — one that includes large and small producers from the world’s major viticultural regions — as well as training the staff.

“The wine list will be very complementary with the menu,” Fisher said.

In addition to wine, will also serve local microbrews and a full bar with Thai-inspired craft cocktails.

In the end, Luengthada and Fisher simply want guests to “eat good,” and “eat well.” This is what Kin Dai Kin Dee means, after all.

“It’s very important,” Fisher said. “We’re planting roots here. My parents have lived here for 20 years in West Phoenix, and so we’ve really decided this is our home. We really want to become part of the community.” KIN DAI ���� page 46

Kin Dai Kin Dee will serve the original Tommy Tang’s duck, a highly touted dish that was popular at Tang’s now-shuttered Los Angeles Thai restaurant. (Courtney Luengthada)

If you go Kin Dai Kin Dee Where: 8260 N. Hayden Road, Ste. A100 Opens: Late spring Website: kindaikindee.com

Scottsdale eateries ‘D evour’ awards

BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer

Day One of the Devour Culinary Classic at the Desert Botanical Gardens was overcast and plagued by sporadic rainfall, spotted with multi-colored umbrellas bobbing along from vendor to vendor.

But hungry Devour attendees still, well, devoured all the mouthwatering bites and gulped down all the frothy booze and sweet and spicy cocktails the food and drink festival had to offer this year.

Last weekend was full of twists on classic dishes, like Proof at Four Seasons’ grilled strawberry shortcake with candied jalapeños and Arizona honey cream; and fun and unexpected fusions, like newcomProof at Four Seasons was named a Gold Medal Winner at this year’s Devour Culinary Classic, which took place Feb. 22 and 23 at the Desert Botanical Gardens. Proof served a grilled strawberry shortcake with candied jalapeños and Arizona honey cream. (Kristine Cannon/Progress Staff)

er Josephine’s Cajun-Vietnamese spring roll filled with crawfish, shrimp, and Chinese sausage.

And while the offerings from all 55 of Arizona’s top restaurants representing the best-of-the-best culinary talent in the state were virtually can’t-misses, the results are finally in — and a handful of Scottsdalearea restaurants were named winners. While none were Double Gold Medal Winners, a new fifth category added this year, five Scottsdale restaurants were named Gold Medal Winners.

They include Fellow Osteria, which served Sardinian gnocchi with octopus sausage, pecorino Romana, and fennel flowers; Lincoln Steakhouse at Camelback

Coney ($4.85); the Detroit loose burger ($5.45), seasoned ground beef with chili, mustard and onions; and a “plain” Coney dog ($4.45) with mustard, ketchup, relish, onions and kraut.

There are other odes to Michigan, such as the Big Mack “Inaw”—named after the village—that includes four hamburger patties, cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions, Thousand Island dressing on a tri-level bun ($7.95). Boneless Red Wings ($5.95) are boneless tenderloins with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.

Occasionally he carries Sanders “bumpy cake,” and Superman ice cream, two standards in Michigan.

In Scottsdale, he serves breakfast of skillets/omelets, breakfast burritos and sides like pancakes and turkey sausage. The chili is proprietary, but, Najor said, he starts with National Coney Island chili, and adds his own beef and spices. He’s won awards from the Food Network and Travel Channel.

“Travel Channel thinks our burgers are the ninth-best in the country,” Najor said. “I beg to differ. We grind our own beef. The hot dogs are all made by hand. We Detroit Coney Grill owner David Najor, left, has a laugh with customer Tim Schraser. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)

use the same dogs as Tiger Stadium and Lafayette Coney Island.”

The new location at Hayden and Indian Bend roads is ideal, Najor said. He recently added a covered patio, which will be perfect for the Spring Training crowds. More than 60,000 cars a day pass by the free-standing building, according to Najor.

“I fell in love with the corner,” he said.

“I fell in love with the traffic and the fact that I had a free-standing building. The fact that I was able to build a patio in Arizona is a plus because everyone eats outside.”

Most of his memorabilia is donated, but he’s careful about what he accepts. Michiganders love his restaurant, he said.

“I love a lot of Detroiters coming here,” Najor said. “Most of them live out this way

49 FOOD & DRINK or they’re willing to come to this location. I love it when Detroit customers come in here. They’re the ones who are going to post about it on social media, ‘Hey, you got to go try Superman ice cream.’”

He has a deal with Faygo to have the pop shipped to his store.

“I get mine direct because I’m in the supermarket business,” Najor said. “I also know the CEO of Faygo very well. I call him all the time. I was trying to get Rock and Rye (a flavor of Faygo) pop slushies out here, but I had to buy a certain machine. I just wasn’t really willing to invest in it yet.”

The Scottsdale restaurant is the prototype for Najor’s restaurants moving forward. He’ll have beer, wine and liquor like his new store.

“I say this and I mean this: I’ll never lose because I have God on my side,” Najor said. “What that means is I’m not scared. The fear is gone because when you know he’s behind you, you do the right thing. You bust your tail, you work hard, you treat your people with respect no matter who it is. You follow God’s ways and you’ll be successful.”

Information: 6953 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale; 480-597-4300

DEVOUR ���� page 48

Inn, which served a “surf and turf” lobster escargot and beef tongue popover with cholla cactus bud.

Along with Proof at Four Seasons, Sweet Republic won. It served a red bean ice cream in a fresh-made krumkake cone. Also capturing the gold was T.Cook’s at Royal Palms Resort, which served its Arcadia Orange Bombe with white chocolate Grand Marnier mousse, hazelnut dacquoise, and citrus curd.

“Yet another dessert triumph, called the Arcadia Orange Bombe, a ball of hazelnut dacquoise and white chocolate ganache infused with a jolly amount of Grand Marnier,” food critic Howard Seftel wrote in his tasting notes.

Scottsdale-area Silver Medal Winners include Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa for their Spanish octopus with squid ink fideo, preserved lemon, soffit, and espelette.

Other silver winners were Merkin Vineyards Osteria for their braised wild board and creamy polenta; Roka Akor for their Grilled Tako with ricotto crema, mizuna, and pickles; Sel for their little neck clam

ZuZu at Hotel Valley Ho won Silver for their “Ferdinand” beef cheek fl auta with white bean puree, green Chile pork, fried egg crema, lime, chiles, and cotija. (Kristine Cannon/Progress Staff)

ceviche with prickly pear apple cider jus, smoked trout roe, yuzu-prosecco gelee, and squid ink tuile.

And Sushi Roku scored a silver for their large shrimp seared with a hanabi sauce and butter mixture and topped with Serrano and Fresno confetti served over sushi rice. ZuZu at Hotel Valley Ho’s silver recognized their “Ferdinand” beef cheek flauta with white bean puree, green Chile pork, fried egg crema, lime, chiles, and cotija. “People-pleasin’ (and judge pleasin’) empanadas stuffed with beef cheek, green chile pork, and white bean puree. Good stuff,” Seftel wrote.

Bronze Medal Winners included J&G Steakhouse at The Phoenician for their bacon-wrapped gulf shrimp served with passion mustard sauce and avocado, and newcomers Prep & Pastry for their duck confit hash.

The Devour judges this year consisted of food critics and writers from around the country, including Howard Seftel, Christina Barrueta, and Craig Outhier from Phoenix; Astrid Taran from New York; Jillian Dara from Boston; and Carey Sweet from San Francisco.

After tasting all samples, the judges divided the medalists into five categories: Double Gold, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and No Medal.

Double Gold was reserved for those restaurants receiving a unanimous Gold Medal ranking from all the judges.

Devour presenter Local First Arizona also worked with Chef Danielle Leoni, a national leader in sustainable seafood at her Phoenix-based restaurant, The Breadfruit & Rum Bar, to judge chefs on their sustainability practices, including where they sourced their food from.

View the full list of winners at devourphoenix.com.