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From now ’til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers — Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you’ll know; for others, it’ll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you’re here, check out our 100 Creatives on Jackalope Ranch.
Today: A man whose reputation preceeds him.
Tastemaker 19: Eliot Wexler
See also: Noca Owner Eliot Wexler on Chef Claudio Urciuoli: The Burrata Addiction, Tinkering With Dough, and “Adding Colors to the Palette”
See also: Tastemaker Claudio Urciuoli
As a city kid who grew up in downtown Chicago, Eliot Wexler experienced the eclectic array of cuisine and culture that Chicago has to offer. A lover of the culinary arts, he traveled the city forwards and backwards looking for the next great bite. In August 2008, he opened noca restaurant to share his love of food and wine with Phoenix.
I arrived in Phoenix with… I moved from Chicago in the fall of 1992 and was living at Hayden Square in Tempe with a brand new convertible. I wanted to take the car for a spin to check out the surroundings so I dropped the top and pulled out on Mill Ave. and went north. I was not familiar with the neighborhood, so because Mill curves around, and I ended up travelling west on Van Buren and a couple girls waved or whistled. I was thinking the car was a game changer, and the details are fuzzy at this point, but sometime later I realized that the congeniality was of a professional nature.
If I was sitting down to dinner for six, my five dream dining companions would be… I would have to start with some of my family who are not with us anymore.
My father’s mother, Lillian, who lived to be 107 and played the stock market to the end. She hightailed it out of the Ukraine around the very early 1900’s and met my grandfather who had also left Russia around the same time. They opened a business and she invested her spare money as she went along in the stock market and was incredibly successful. She taught me to read the stock pages in the 4th grade, which has had a major impact on my life. Her wisdom and business acumen were the foundation for my entire family. I often remember the things she would tell me about life when I was young, and back then I was not so sure, but now I know she was right.
Her husband, my Papa Lou, died when I was very young…maybe 3, so I have only a small memory of sitting on his lap and him feeding me grapes. My grandmother always told me that he called me this Yiddish name that I don’t remember but it meant something very nice. I would like to have the opportunity to sit with him as an adult.
My mother’s dad, Bernie, was a legend. His first wife, my grandmother, died in her early thirties but after that he was married and divorced four or five times. He came from a big family and back in the day in Chicago, one brother owned a bar, another brother owned a hotel next door and the stories of what went on are something else. He was sort of a playboy and he started “sharing” his wisdom when I was pretty young. My friends and I often called him I got older so he could give his legendary council. He has not been with us for a long time but my friends and I still all have his lines committed to memory. He also had a great love of food to say the least and I would eat breakfast with him every Saturday morning growing up.
The next seat would be my mom who passed from a bout with cancer a number of years ago. Towards the end when my dad went to work, I would come over and we would watch T.V. together until my dad got home. The channel that we would watch 99% of the time was the Food Network and she said something to me while we watching that directly inspired me to go into the restaurant business. I also would like the chance to have the conversation with her that I was not mature enough to have with her in her last days.
The next guest would not be in a seat but on the floor next to me: my dearest friend, Gable. He was a black standard poodle that was a true gentleman and bon vivant. He and I were inseparable and he loved food as much as I do; he would happily stand with me during the harshest Chicago weather while cooking dinner on the grill. I always gave him the first bite of anything that I made. …I miss him.
Last seat would be my Pop, who is still practicing law in Chicago and a very serious cook that was influential in my exposure to all kinds of food and cooking.
One place everyone who comes to Phoenix must eat is… a 2 a.m. trip to the taco stand next to Charlie’s for carne asada quesadillas and tacos and an atmosphere that is unforgettable.
One menu item this city could do without is… bad airport food. But that is about to change with all the local restaurants that SSP America is bringing to Terminal 4 including my nocawich concept.
My last meal in Phoenix would be… on the patio with my two dogs, Zyggy & Stella at noca with Claudio and my noca family throwing it down like it was nobody’s business.
The Tastemakers so far:
100: Tracy Dempsey
99: Craig DeMarco
98: Lara Mulchay
97: M.J. Coe
96: Betty Alatorre de Hong
95: Eric Schaefer
94: Hanna Gabrielsson
93: Shinji Kurita
92: Silvana Salcido Esparza
91: Mike Pitt
90: Christina Barrueta
89: Christopher Gross
88: Jan Wichayanuparp and Helen Yung
87: DJ Fernandes
86: Cullen Campbell
85: Chris Lee
84. Gwen Ashley Walters
83: Tony Morales
82: Lylah Ledner
81: Andrea White
80: Lori Hashimoto
79. Mrs. White
78: Eugenia Theodosopolous
77: Lou & Lovey Borenstein
76: Anthony Patafio
75: Carl Seacat
74: Sacha Levine
73: Sharon Salomon
72: Johnny Chu
71: Susie Timm
70: Jason Silberschlag
69: Gina Miller
68: Cindy Gentry
67: Amy Binkley
66: Dave Anderson
65: Mark Tarbell
64: Marianne Belardi
63: Audrey Lasalle
62: Brandon Gauthier
61: Brad and Kat Moore
60: Denise Clayton
59: Nobuo Fukuda
58: Richie Moe
57: Robin Trick
56: Alberto Della Casa and Letizia de Lucia
55: Farah Khalid
54: Dave Andrea
53: Vincent Guerithault
52: Danielle Leoni
51: Stan Zawatski
50: Maya Dailey
49: Duc Liao
48: Lisa Reinhardt
47: Isam Saed
46: Greg Peterson
45: Marco Bianco
44: Mark Fratu
43: Wendell Crow
42. Barb Harris
41: Michael Perry
40: Jeff Kraus
39: Ryan Avery
38: Charleen Badman
37: Damon Brasch
36: Dwayne Allen
35: Jason Asher
34: Pamela Hamilton
33: Victoria Chavez
32: Giovanni Scorzo
31: Tim Wilson
30: Travis Nass
29: Jason Alford
28: Clint Spotleson
27: Daniel Wayne
26: Korina Adkins
25: Carla Wade Logan
24: Jeff Zimmerman
23: Gabriele Bertaccini
22: Claudio Urciuoli
21: Peter DeRuvo
20: Natalie Morris
