The new iteration of 40 Love is backed by Avery Johnson, Jr. and Sean Mulholland, as well as celebrity partners including former Arizona Cardinals wideout DeAndre Hopkins and pop star Niall Horan. The plan is to incorporate high-end dining and lounge experiences while keeping a focus on sports, all in one concept.
"When Avery and I partnered, we decided to elevate the experience," Mulholland says, describing the original, but since-shuttered WeHo 40 Love as a high-end sports bar. He partnered with Avery in 2021.
Johnson, who represents athletes that have included Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and Phoenix Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker, through his sports and entertainment firm Elevate Global, says the Valley is an ideal spot for an upscale, sport-centric restaurant and lounge.
“It’s almost like the new Miami, the new Las Vegas,” Johnson says of Scottsdale, noting the influx of sporting events and visitors in and around the Valley. “It’s a prime market and there wasn’t a spot out here like (40 Love).”
The kitchen at 40 Love will be helmed by chef Ryan Pitt, who has worked at Scottsdale restaurants including Citizen Public House and, most recently, Cafe Monarch.
The menu will take nods from its country club inspo – think steaks, seafood towers and caviar service as well as tableside presentations of whole fish, pastas and salads – and infuse Asian and Mediterranean ingredients.
“We really want to bring a fun experience to the dining,” Mulholland says.
40 Love will add brunch service, too. The drink menu will include wine selection with an emphasis on California and European grapes and a variety of cocktails that riff on classics and are “Instagrammable.”
“We’ll put on a bit of a show,” Mulholland says.
40 Love takes its inspiration from country clubs. The Scottsdale location will combine high-end dining and a lounge while infusing a focus on sports.
40 Love
The aesthetic of the expansive 7,000-square-foot space and patio incorporates the visual cues of a country club with tennis racquets and golf clubs as decor, along with nods to the desert and its home in Old Town. 40 Love, whose name is inspired by a tennis match-point play, replaces the former Kelly’s at Southbridge on Sixth Avenue near Stetson Drive. In addition to a dining room, two bars and a patio, 40 Love will have two private dining spaces and a private patio.
The original location in WeHo, founded by Mulholland and h.wood Group, was known for regular celebrity sightings. It’s something the owners anticipate will continue at the reimagined concept in Scottsdale.
“We expect to see a lot of familiar faces when we open in Scottsdale, both locally and from elsewhere,” Mulholland says. “There will be a lot of prominent people that we hope will show up and support.”
40 Love
Opening in May7117 E. Sixth Ave., Scottsdale
