Phoenix Food Blog

By Michele Laudig

It seems like everybody's looking forward to Labor Day weekend, but now there's something to look forward to after the big holiday: restaurant openings! For some reason it feels like the whole city starts to wake up in September, even though the heat isn't going anywhere.

At the new W Scottsdale, Sushi Roku will open on Friday, September 5, with executive chef Tim Fields, formerly of The Boulders Resort, presiding in the kitchen.

The menu looks pretty extensive, at least for a Japanese restaurant. Along with sashimi, temaki, and makizushi, there will be a variety of hot and cold appetizers and entrees, from toro tartar in wasabi soy with caviar, and premium homemade tofu three ways (with white truffles; caviar and lemon oil; and scallions with sesame oil), to yakiniku short ribs and grilled jidori chicken with shiitake. Sixty- and eighty-dollar omakase meals will also be offered.

The sleek 6,000-square-foot restaurant restaurant, an offshoot of the L.A. original, promises to be a dramatic environment, with teak wood floors and ceiling, moody lighting, and an elliptical sushi bar. A variety of specialty cocktails and 22 different sakes should make things even more interesting.

Two days later, on Sunday, September 7, Camelback Inn will unveil a new contemporary Southwestern eatery, Rita's Kitchen, as well as a new lobby watering hole called R Bar. Both will be located in the newly renovated main lodge, which is also making a debut.

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Rita's Kitchen will be the kind of place you could go for a "spa burrito," pecan-studded waffle, or a filling buffet (actually, make that two buffets, one more healthful, and the other more indulgent. Lunch will feature sandwiches, salads, and apps with a Southwestern spin, like Baja-style shrimp cocktail. In the evening, they'll swap out sandwiches for grilled entrees, from carne asada tampiquena to fish of the day.

The vibe at Rita's will be warm and casual, with reclaimed wood floors, adobe walls, wood ceiling beams, and abundant artwork. Strolling mariachis -- and a lengthy list of margaritas -- will keep things lively.

While R Bar sounds more like the kind of place where resort guests will want to knock back a cocktail or three, there will also be a menu of homemade Mexican dishes.

And yes, celeb chef Laurent Tourondel's BLT Steak will also be opening at Camelback Inn, but not until October 9. Stay tuned for more details.