Restaurant collaborations seem to be trending in the Valley. Plans for at least six new restaurants in Phoenix and Scottsdale recently have been announced.
Mama Linda’s
Gadzooks Enchiladas and Soup and Wren House Brewing Company are joining forces on Mama Linda’s, a new bakery and restaurant on the northwest corner of 20th Street and Osborn.
The common denominator is the brothers Poole – Aaron is co-owner of Gadzooks and Drew is co-owner of Wren House.
They hope to open in about a month.
Roland’s
Nadia Holguin and Armando Hernandez of Tacos Chiwas are teaming up with Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco to launch Roland’s, a new restaurant at Van Buren and 15th Street.
The trio have yet to determine what kind of food – Italian, Mexican, a hybrid of the two or something else entirely – will be served.
The opening is planned for late this year.
Starlite BBQ
Walter Sterling and Sacha Levine – the chefs who collaborated to open Ocotillo in 2015 – are getting together again to launch Starlite BBQ on the northeast corner of Indian School and Miller roads in Scottsdale.
Their goal is to create a casual hangout with an atmosphere somewhere between polished corporate places and no-frills joints.
They’re planning an opening late this year.
ShinBay & Sizzle
Shinji Kurita, who closed his acclaimed Japanese fine-dining restaurant ShinBay last year, and Hyunwook Lee, who debuted Sizzle Korean Barbecue (pictured above) last year at Desert Ridge, are dividing a 4,000-square-foot building on the southwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Second Street in Old Town Scottsdale.
Kurita will reopen ShinBay and Lee will launch his second Sizzle.
Look for the openings of both in early 2018.
Ocean 44
Brothers Jeff and Mike Mastro are hooking up with their father, Dennis Mastro, and his partner Scott Troilio, who own Steak 44, on a seafood version called Ocean 44 on the site of the former Harkins Camelview theaters at Highland and Goldwater in Scottsdale.
The Mastros are the namesakes of Mastro’s Steakhouses, which the family sold a decade ago. The elder Matsro and Troilo also run Dominick’s Steakhouse.
Ocean 44 is scheduled to open in late 2018.
