James Porter Explains What He Hates About Foodies and Gives the Best Description Ever of Phoenix as a Restaurant Town

Nikki Buchanan

James Porter in his kitchen

James Porter
Petite Maison
7216 E. Shoeman Lane, Scottsdale
480-991-6887
www.petitemaisonaz.com

This is part one of my interview with James Porter, chef-owner of Petite Maison. Come back tomorrow for part two, when Porter explains why Deadliest Catch is better than anything on Food Network and names a local chef he could happily spend a week with.

Ask any chef who knows James Porter well to describe him, and nine times out of 10, the first word that pops out is "hilarious." Of course, as a classically trained chef who spent many years in resort kitchens, Porter has a thoughtful, focused side. But get him around his buddies and set a good bottle of scotch on the table, and the man can be seriously entertaining. Until he moved back to Phoenix to open Tapino Kitchen and Wine Bar in 2004, he also could have been described as peripatetic.

From the time he graduated SCI in 1992, he moved to Jenny Lake Lodge in Jackson Hole Wyoming, Boca Grande Island in Florida, the prestigious Greenbrier in West Virginia (where he apprenticed under master chefs for two years), the Virgin Islands (where he worked at Paradiso and Chateau Bordeaux), the Arizona Biltmore here in Phoenix, Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi (where he had fewer than 14 days off the entire year), Sea Venture Resort in Pismo Beach, New Jersey (to help a friend open a restaurant), Biltmore Hotel in Miami's South Beach, and, finally Portland, where he planned to open his own place. When that didn't pan out, he moved back to Phoenix and opened Tapino, which he faithfully tended for five years before closing it in May of 2009 and opening Petite Maison -- his tiny, charming French Bistro in Old Town -- just three months later.

Favorite thing to eat growing up: Boiled peanuts. It reminds me of growing up in Florida and driving to local fruit and vegetable stands. Everybody had them and every stand made them differently.

Favorite thing to eat now: Homemade roasted chicken. The beauty is in its simplicity.

Weirdest thing you ever ate: Turkey testicles. They tasted chalky and salty.

If you weren't a chef, what would you be: A Formula One race car driver. When I was little, my dad's company used to sponsor race cars. And I would go play in a pit crew for the summer.

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Petite Maison

7216 E. Shoeman Lane, Scottsdale, AZ

Category: Restaurant

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