It's been months in the making -- surely more months than chef Wade Moises originally planned on when he and business partner/sous chef Nicholas Gentry left their gigs at Sassi, the swanky north Scottsdale fine dining spot, last June. But after finally getting the green light from the city last week, Moises quietly opened PastaBar, his downtown Phoenix restaurant, over the weekend. Friends and family were in on it; now Moises is opening his doors to the public.
"Quietly" is the key wor
I just got the word from chef Wade Moises that PastaBar, his new downtown restaurant, finally got its liquor license today. He's working on the wine list as we speak.
Apparently the lack of alcohol has kept some customers from making reservations; Moises expects things to pick up now that folks can have some vino with their handmade chitarra.
PastaBar is now serving lunch, too, and not just during the week. Service starts at noon, daily, and continues 'til midnight (and until 2 a.m. on Fridays
Jackie Mercandetti
Hungry for Italian eats? Look no further than this week's Cafe column. New Times shines some light on the corner of First and Pierce and more specifically on Chef Wade Moises' PastaBAR.
Food Critic Michele Laudig on PastaBAR:
The menu is streamlined, nothing tops out over $17, and portions are fairly generous; the bowls of pasta may not seem very big until you dig in and realize how rich they are. There are several rustic appetizers, eight handmade pastas inspired by Moises
Sloane BurwellJames Porter gets Aaron May's autograph.
After this weekend, it's time to replace "party like a rockstar" with "drink like a chef." Friday night is a bit of a blur for most (if not all) of the participants in a Chef's Tour of central downtown Phoenix restaurants (yes, and bars) dreamed up by chef Christopher Gross and made a reality by Terry Madeksza and Samantha Jackson from the Downtown Phoenix Partnership.
Terry and Samantha invited me along to serve as a tour guide, so here's
Many restaurants that use local produce love to brag about the fact, plastering the words all over their menus, windows, and Web sites. But you won't see Wade Moises use hip buzzwords like organic and locally-grown on his menu.What he does say is that creating dishes from local foods should be the rule, not the exception. As Moises sees it, it shouldn't be a big deal for a restaurant to buy ingredients locally. In Italy, Moises says, regions and towns will have their own special dishes made with
