🌎 As I previewed last week, Wayward opened its doors Friday in the former Liquor Pig space near the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Fourth Avenue in Old Town Scottsdale.
The refocused food-forward concept from co-owner Christina Foster and owning operator Kyla Hein leans into a melting-pot ethos, blending global influences across every section of the menu.
Executive chef CJ Kahley, who joined Liquor Pig last July after stints at The Mission, The Americano, Toro, and Geordie’s, has reworked the menu.
His small plates include a ceviche larb with sablefish and kaffir lime, binchotan elote, and a burrata dressed with muhammara and pomegranate, while a tortilla section features a koreano pork belly taco with ssamjang, quail egg, and green apple alongside a classic pollo asado.
Large format highlights include black cod in tom kha broth, mapo mafaldine with duck bolognese, and a bone marrow poutine with foie gras gravy built for two.
The Taco Board (pictured above) – a bone-in short rib situation feeding two to four – looks like the move for groups. It comes with 12 handmade corn tortillas, borracho beans, lime cabbage, pickled onion, charred avocado, cebollitas cambray, and chiles güero toreados. The five accoutrements: cotija cheese, salsa Oaxaca, avocado espuma, salsa macha, and chimichurri.
Cinnamon french toast crunch and strawberry buttercake are among the dessert options.
The cocktail program, steered by Hein (formerly with Rough Rider, Pigtails, and Coabana), is as thoughtfully constructed as the food and just as globe-trotting.
The “Originals” list is where things get interesting: the Dead of Night layers Mezcal Veras with Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur, cacao, and a chipotle-Abuelita salt blend; the Desperado (shown below) leans into Agave de Cortes mezcal with prickly pear, sage, and Tepache Sazón Guava; and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly takes things into serious territory with a short-rib fat-washed whiskey blend, yuzu curaçao, and allspice dram.
The Twilight Samurai – sesame oil fat-washed Hendrick’s gin, lychee, pineapple, orgeat, and egg white – might be the one to order if you want to understand what Hein is going for.
The Classics section holds its own too, with a Vieux Carré, a proper Singapore Sling, and an espresso martini made with cold brew and Mr. Black that should satisfy anyone who thinks the format has been run into the ground.
The drink names – Fistful of Dollars, Outlaw Blues, They Call Me Trinity – lean into the same Spaghetti Western aesthetic that runs through the whole room, tying the bar program to the concept rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Open 4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 4-midnight Friday-Saturday, and 2-10 p.m. Sunday.
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