Coming Soon: Mabel's on Main

I've talked to chef Aaron May about a number of his restaurants over the past few years, but I'm not sure I've ever heard him sound as excited as he does about Mabel's on Main, the old-school-chic watering hole he's opening sometime around December 1. "For me, after Sol y...

By Michele Laudig

November 12, 2009

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I've talked to chef Aaron May about a number of his restaurants over the past few years, but I'm not sure I've ever heard him sound as excited as he does about Mabel's on Main, the old-school-chic watering hole he's opening sometime around December 1.

"For me, after Sol y Sombra and Over Easy, it's that next step," he says. "I'm really proud of it."

May says he didn't know what he was going to do with the place when he bought the old Mabel Murphy's bar (7018 E. Main) in Scottsdale.

"But we were taking out all this Green Bay Packers stuff, and we realized what a great space it is," he explains. He collaborated with Jason Anderson, who manufactures houses in shipping containers, to create a "Mad Men-esque" hangout with walnut wainscoting, chocolate leather booths, and pressed tin ceilings.

The dinner-only menu will have a lot of raw bar offerings, oysters Rockefeller, wagyu salisbury steak, and deviled eggs with caviar. May adds that there will be extensive scotch and martini programs.

Sounds like an institution in the making -- not a surprise when May admits he loves to hang at the bar at Durant's, eat chicken livers, and drink bourbon.

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