Celebrity Chef Opening 6 New Restaurants in Scottsdale

An Italian steakhouse will be one of the six new restaurants.Photo byMax GrissonUnsplash

Scottsdale is quickly becoming a Las Vegas-esque epicenter for celebrity chefs looking to open new restaurants. While Las Vegas has long been a destination for chefs to experiment with various offerings while hawking typically overpriced meals to tourists eager to pay, Scottsdale provides chefs with a stationary client base. Although some snowbirds come and go based on the season, the restaurants don’t entirely depend on constantly bringing in new tourists. The marketing and menu changes to do this continually are exhausting and come with serious burnout. However, thanks to the rapid growth of metro Phoenix, and the prominence of Scottsdale, chefs are taking notice. And now, another celebrity chef is adding his name to the mix as he looks to launch two new restaurants in the area. 

Giada de Laurentiis was the most recent celebrity chef to launch a new restaurant in Scottsdale, and though she no longer has an in-production show on any television network, she has remained in the limelight with her personal brand as well as social media content. Richard Blais has taken notice and is now making moves to launch two of his own restaurants. 

Blais doesn’t have the name recognition as Giada. He also hasn’t hosted multiple television shows, though he has appeared on a number of programs both on Bravo and Food Network, including Top Chef, Top Chef: All-Stars, Iron Chef America, and Guy’s Grocery Games. You can currently see him co-starring with Gordon Ramsy on Fox’s Next Level Chefg. He currently is the chef behind restaurants scattered around the country, including Four Flamingos in Orlando, Juniper & Ivy in San Diego, and Ember & Rye in Carlsbad (California).

Back in March of this year, both the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale and Richard Blais announced they hard partnered for upcoming projects. Those projects are finally coming to fruition. Six new restaurants in total will open, so if you’ll have plenty of time to equate yourself with his cooking style in the coming years (and with an Italian American restaurant with hand-made pasta in the works, you’ll be able to determine if you like Richard or Giada’s restaurant better).

The Hyatt Regency, which has been under renovation for months now will re-open in October as the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort. When the resort opens there will be a number of unique restaurants, all of which are the brainchild of Richard Blais. The various restaurants include Tiki Taka (featuring small plates from around the world), La Lozzona (an Italian steakhouse), Mesa Centrale (a Southwestern-themed grill), and the Grand Visa Lounge, which will be the lobby bar. Additionally, two poolside restaurants will open as well. 

There is no word yet as to if every restaurant will open at the same time as the hotel, or if the restaurant launches will be stagnated. 

After a $110 million renovation, the hotel expects to re-open sometime in October at 7500 East Doubletree Ranch Road.