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Local eateries, hotels gear up for midnight
BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
While New Year’s Eve festivities were largely scaled back a year ago, there’s little uncertainty this month among Scottsdale restaurants and hotels as they prepare to ring in 2022.
Restaurants and hotels are eager to bring back elements of pre-pandemic New Year’s Eve celebrations while offering new experiences.
“I feel like everybody is at a point where they’re ready to get back to a normal environment and put this past year behind them,” said Nick Neuman, the owner of EVO in OldTown. “I’m looking forward to inching back to the way things used to be and being able to relax and breathe a bit more.”
With plans to stick with his signature four-course dinner on New Year’s Eve, Neuman is excited that nearly 100 guests who stayed home last year are returning, bringing the number of guests to north of 400.
Roaring Fork is preparing for at least 280 guests on New Year’s Eve by offering its regular menu a la carte in addition to a steak and lobster dinner option.
“The thing that differentiates our restaurant from others on New Year’s Eve is that we offer our regular menu a la carte in addition to the Steak & Lobster promotion,” said Roaring Fork’s general manager Matt Sevigny. “We don’t offer any pre-fixed menu for a price per person so that our dining patrons can enjoy their favorites and our house specialties on New Year’s Eve as well.”
After selling out last year’s bowling lanes, Mavrix has expanded its experience for this year’s festivities.
“Last year we only sold lanes as packages of two to reduce the amount of interaction between guests. Now we are selling individual lane packages,” said JP Mullan, the COO at Octane Entertainment, which owns Mavrix.
“We sold out of the lane packages right away last year, so we added Trophy Room booth packages for 2021,” Mullan added. “We also added an earlier 6:30 p.m. package for families to experience a NYE cel-
EVO owner Rick Neuman said his Old Town restaurant offers a friendly, calm atmosphere to welcome the new year. (Facebook)
seeNEWYEAR'S page 23
‘Undercover Billionaire’ sets up shop here
BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
Grant Cardone – the star of “Undercover Billionaire” on Discovery network as well as a bestselling author and speaker on leadership and other topics – has brought his company, Cardone Ventures, to Scottsdale.
With a goal of helping businesses expand tenfold – or 10X as Cardone likes to call it – the office opened with a spectacular act of generosity as Cardone and Cardone Ventures Co-Founder/CEO Brandon Dawson donated 6,000 toys to various charities across Scottsdale and to victims of tornadoes that ravaged the Midwest.
Together with an additional 4,000 toys coming from outside donors, the total value of the toys was $200,000.
“The act of giving has stood the test of time,” Cardone said. “Men and women from all over the world and all religions believe in giving. It’s a gift to be able to give anything to anyone.”
Grant Cardone, dressed in the blue suit, was joined by members of the Greater Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce in cutting the ribbon to his new offices here.
(Special to the Progress)
Of the toys being donated across the country, $100,000 worth will stay in Arizona for the Scottsdale Firefighter’s Charities Association, Arizona Helping Hands, Family Promise and Armer Foundation for Kids.
The other half of the toys will be donated to young victims of the tornadoes.
“I’m the vice-chairman of the American Academy of Hospitality Services on the east coast and we do toy drives every single year. Grant does toy drives every year in Miami with law enforcement, the fire department and the Grant Cardone Foundation,” Dawson said. “When we opened the offices here, we decided to start this toy drive where we kept $100,000 of toys here and we sent $100,000 worth of toys to the Midwest where the tornadoes hit. Whatever community we’re in, we like to support it.”
Cardone Ventures has ambitions to draw businesses to the Phoenix Metro-
politan area while creating nearly 150 jobs.
“One of the reasons we chose this town is because it is a symbol of people who have done unbelievable things,” Cardone said. “We plan to do 50 educational workshops a year here and this office will house 150 employees. We will also bring an additional 5,000 to 6,000 people to visit Scottsdale who have never visited Arizona before.”
Founded in 2019, Cardone Ventures has caught the attention of thousands of business owners worldwide looking to maximize their potential.
As their own business began to take off, it became clear to Cardone and Dawson that they needed to have a presence on the west coast in addition to their presence in Miami, Florida.
“I had been building a home here for the last four years and I have been officing out of here for training facilities,” Dawson said. “When I partnered with Grant, my wife and I had been thinking we were going to live in Scottsdale. The business between us has gotten so massive that we decided we needed a west coast facility.”
There was one aspect of Scottsdale that had the duo sold on the area.
“Grant has always had a west coast presence and after debating where to go, we agreed this is the place to be because of the people here,” Dawson said. “This is such a great epicenter on the west coast because of the work ethic, the talent that’s here and the opportunity to recruit great people out of the university systems for us is super important.”
The two secured an office space off Scottsdale Road and Goldwater Boulevard with oneof-a-kind views of the city and came fully furnished, which was a bonus for Cardone. “Part of the 10X concept is the speed at which you can get something accomplished will determine how much success you have in a marketplace,” he said. “The fact that we didn’t have to build this out or buy furniture allowed us to open and get right to work.” Cardone and Dawson plan to host 50 events at the space this year – which the predicted could attract up to thousands of business owners from all over the globe to Scottsdale.
“I know we are going to run tens of thousands of businesses through this town over the next year or two and create a massive presence here,” Dawson said.
Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega believes that Cardone Ventures is a perfect fit for the city and is evidence of all that Scottsdale is.
“Scottsdale is an amazing city because it’s an intersection of talent and investment,” Ortega said “People come from all over the world to build a better city and contribute to our city in positive ways. This is how we grow as a city and how we grow as a vibrant community that’s full of positivity.” The first way that Cardone and Dawson plan to help Scottsdale grow is by getting people back to work.
“This is a real stand for us to come here, open up a big office with 150 employees and make an expansion like this,” Cardone said. “We’re here to say that we’re going back to work, we’re going to be in an office and we’re going to do what we can to get life back to normal and people back to work.”
Information: cardoneventures.com
To mark its foray into Scottsdale, Cardone Ventures donated 6,000 toys to local charities and to children ravaged by the tornadoes that struck Kentucky and the Midwest earlier this month. Together with 4,000 toys from outside sources, the total value of the gift was over $200,000. (Special to the Progress)
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ebration with an 8 p.m. ball drop.”
ZuZu at Hotel Valley Ho and Hearth ’61 at Mountain Shadows are eager to open doors on an expected 200 patrons that are expected to partake in more dancing and mingling than last year.
“Last year, while we had a full house, it was much more restricted,” said ZuZu executive chef Russell LaCasce. “We still offered live music and amazing food, but guests were restricted from leaving their table to dance or mingle.”
LaCasce is excited about entertaining guests this year as he feels that his restaurant offers a spacious and unique way to celebrate the turning of the calendar. “We have a well-spaced and flexible layout; we can move tables around to accommodate the musicians and the dance area, and we offer an indoor-outdoor space for our guests,” he said.
LaCasce is not the only person who feels that their establishment offers an ideal place to watch the ball drop.
“With the restaurant situated right next to our bar, it allows for the party to continue after dinner with great ease,” said Hearth ‘61 food & beverage manager Jim Gallen.
Neuman, on the other hand, feels that his restaurant will offer a calmer way to round out 2021.
“We have a ton of guests that frequent us because of the friendly neighborhood vibe we offer,” he said. “We have guests who come every year for New Year’s Eve to see their friends again and relax without having to go over the top.”
However, what could be the most exclusive party this New Year’s Eve is the celebration planned for Canopy Scottsdale.
“We’ve limited entry this year exclusively to registered hotel guests to help maintain that relaxed vibe intrinsic to our rooftop,” said Canopy Scottsdale general manager and chief enthusiast Devin Mahoney. “Similar to our normal operating hours, we do not accept reservations and will hold the door once capacity is reached.”
While this year’s celebration will be more intimate than last year’s, Mahoney is looking forward to seeing more guests as the clock nears midnight.
“As the clock grows closer to midnight, the spirit of the hotel will be bursting with excitement of having the best views of the Valley’s firework shows at Outrider Rooftop Lounge – perched atop of the hotel’s seventh floor,” he said.
Ditto for Gallen, who said, “The staff is typically excited for New Year’s Eve. We jokingly refer to this night as our ‘Super Bowl.’”
The morale is the same at ZuZu.
“We encourage our staff to celebrate with us by dressing up and enjoying the atmosphere, which in turn allows our guests to have fun, too,” said LaCasce.
Overall, spirits look high and these restaurants hope to create a fun experience that will kick off 2022 the right way.
“We hope that our guests enjoy a pleasant dining experience that is relaxing and a true celebration of the coming year,” Sevigny said.
“I hope our guests feel that celebrating at Hearth ’61 made the holiday exactly what they wanted it to be and that they leave with fond memories of welcoming 2022 with us,” said Gallen.
Canopy Scottsdale is limiting its New Year’s Eve party on its rooftop deck to hotel
guests. (Special to the Progress)
Information Hotelvalleyho.com/zuzu Mavrix.com, mountainshadows.com/ dining/hearth roaringfork.com/Scottsdale evoscottsdale.com
