Hush Public House

When it opened in 2019, Hush quickly became one of the most exciting places to eat in metro Phoenix. It is the product of many melding influences. Like owner and chef Dom Ruggiero's signature oxtail-centric riff on a Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich, molten with cheese and showered with soulful giardiniera, all the elements here come together harmoniously. Then there's the room itself: intimate, filled with cordial chatter and nostalgic rock, cooking sounds and smells washing out from a wide-open kitchen. It all primes you for Ruggiero's food. The chef, who has opened other concepts in the Valley including fine-dining Fire at Will and Hush's neighbor Bar Cena, cooks New American food with finesse, character and soul. There are the crab-perfumed hush puppies to start, plus a cauliflower steak with coconut curry that will haunt your daydreams and a chicken liver mousse with seeming miles of depth. The menu changes a lot, sure, but what doesn't change is the kitchen's stunning facility with vegetables, fish and meat. With experience as a butcher, Ruggiero can nail a flatiron steak. Being a barbecue guy, he can smoke mean beef ribs. But being a Renaissance man in the kitchen, he can plate glorious swordfish steaks or ceviche, plus simple plant-driven dishes like hard-cheese-showered snap peas that honor their name. Reservations are recommended and can be made via Tock. Call ahead for larger parties and takeout orders.