ZuZu Revamped: Changes Are Coming to the Famed Hotel Restaurant

Scottsdale’s well-known Midcentury Modern hotel is renovating its onsite restaurant, ZuZu. The eatery inside Hotel Valley Ho will reveal a number of new features on Monday, October 7, including a revamped layout, a private dining room, a tableside chef station, redesigned menus, daily brunch service, and its famous Show Stopper shakes … but with alcohol this time.

And before we dig in, yes, ZuZu is open during the redesign.

First things first: the food. New items will include salmon belly poke, oxtail pappardelle, and crispy pork shank. Executive Chef Russell LaCasce will be refocusing the menu to list smaller, shareable plates highlighting ingredients from Hotel Valley Ho’s new 240-square-foot herb garden (think eggplant, shishito peppers, basil, thyme, and cilantro).

There will also be two revolving dishes each month: the Cut of the Moment and the Farmer’s Plate, a seasonal, vegetarian-friendly option for diners. New menu items will also highlight local purveyors such as Duncan’s Trading Company, McClendon’s Select, Berto's Gelato and Sorbet, Schreiner’s Fine Sausage, and Hickman’s Family Farms.

ZuZu is also introducing new desserts, including the ZuZu Chocolate Bar, Buttermilk Pie, and the Donut Sundae. There will also be a new daily brunch service, offering everything from the vanilla churro waffle to the Southwest elote salad.

On the 21-and-over side, ZuZu is unveiling a new wine room called The Vine Vault. What’s more, the restaurant’s Show Stopper shakes can now be embellished with libations — meaning you can now add liquor to your dessert. There will also be new cocktails on deck like the Mango Tango and Cosmo Tamarindo.


And finally, the new layout. ZuZu will be getting something of a contemporary twist. Think a new neon ZuZu sign, an updated color scheme, an enhanced sound system, and terrazzo tabletops. The new private dining, hidden from the main dining area, will be called The Rosie Room.

“The kitchen is the heart of every home, and we are thrilled that ZuZu will anchor the Hotel Valley Ho experience in a similar, lively fashion,” LaCasce says in a press release. “With a new design paired with the continuation of our current traditions like our Monday Night Chef’s Table, monthly Show Stopper shakes, and Chefs + Farmers Market Series, we hope to inspire our guests with a taste of a thoroughly reimagined Scottsdale experience.”

The boutique Scottsdale hotel itself was built in 1956 and always offered some sort of on-site restaurant, including one simply called the restaurant at Hotel Valley Ho. The restaurant space was also named Summerfield’s, and since 2005, ZuZu — nickname of Rosalyn “Rosie” Bennett Lyon, the matriarch and recipe imparter of the family owners of Hotel Valley Ho.

For more information, visit the Hotel Valley Ho website.

Editor's note: This article has been updated from its original version.