Arizona Chef's Week kicks off 10 days of delicious and discounted eats

Between students and snowbirds leaving, locals traveling elsewhere, the brutal heat and rising costs, summertime is rough on restaurants in the Valley. A new 10-day dining event from the Arizona Restaurant Association aims to help.

Arizona Chef’s Week starts on Friday and will run through Aug. 10. The new event will follow a similar format to the association’s popular spring and fall restaurant weeks. Valley restaurants will offer diners three-course prix fix menus priced at $55 or $66 per person.

“Summertime in the Valley serves as a particularly challenging period for many restaurants, and therefore, it is more vital than ever to go out and support these establishments,” Steve Chucri, the association’s president and CEO, said in a press release. “This event is truly about local residents supporting local restaurants while experiencing an incredible meal.”

There is one difference between Chef’s Week and the spring and fall restaurant weeks: Chefs are encouraged to cook off-menu or one-off specials that diners can only find during these 10 days in August.

There are 44 restaurants scheduled to take part in the inaugural event. The full list, with pricing and menus, for each location is available online. Here are a few menus we can't wait to try.

AZ Chef's Week menus to try

Beckett's Table
3717 E. Indian School Road
Arcadia-area staple Beckett's Table is offering a three-course menu filled with choices for $55 per person. Start with an organic summer vegetable salad or a refreshing heirloom tomato gazpacho before diving into some fresh homemade pasta with smoked pork and charred tomato broth or grilled shrimp scampi with lemon rice. Finish your meal with a classic carrot cake or stone fruit tart. Shareable bites, such as the restaurant's famous deviled eggs, are available to add to the package.

Espiritu Mesa
123 W. Main St., Mesa
Head over to downtown Mesa for a memorable and delicious dinner at Espiritu. This dark, intimate bar and restaurant is offering three courses for $66 per person. To kick things off, pick between spicy grilled prawns or lemongrass-glazed pork belly. Next, enjoy a refreshing summer salad. And finally, savor the flavors of chiltepin miso halibut or slow-braised rib with chile colorado. While not included in the set price, we highly recommend adding one of Espiritu's creative cocktails to complete the experience.

Pa'La Wood Fired Cooking
132 E. Washington St.
At the downtown Phoenix location of Pa'La, customers can expect a three-course meal for $66 per person. Start by choosing between beef carpaccio or ocean trout tiradito with tomato jam. Next, pick between a 6-ounce Arizona-raised bavette steak or wood-fired branzino. And lastly, end on a sweet note with tres leches cake with date caramel or lavender honey creme brulee.

New event seeks to beat the heat

Chef and restaurateur Bernie Kantak says summers are always tough, but last year was “brutal.” So he and his team went into this summer season with the aim to “put more butts in seats” at Beginner’s Luck, Citizen Public House, The Gladly and his new spot, Minnow.

Among those strategies, Kantak says he approached Chucri about hosting a special dining week in the peak summer season and the association head "was totally game.”

“It’s more focused on locally owned and chef-driven restaurants who don’t have the big coffers of money to help us get through summer,” Kantak says.

Kantak says events like this “really support Arizona restaurants.”