The Global Ambassador opens this week. What to know about the hotel's 5 restaurants

Start booking your winter staycations. Sam Fox's long-awaited luxury hotel, and four of its five new restaurants, will open on Wednesday.

The Global Ambassador, the 141-room hotel in Phoenix’s Arcadia neighborhood at 44th Street and Camelback Road, will begin welcoming guests and diners on Dec. 6, with its Mediterranean rooftop restaurant théa to follow in mid-January. Reservations for Le Âme, the hotel's Parisian-inspired steakhouse, are now available.

Hotel assembles notable celebrity, culinary team

Hotel investors include Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker, legendary Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and country music star Dierks Bentley.

Food Network regular Eric Kim Haugen, who also partnered with Fox on The Twelve Thirty Club’s supper club menu in Nashville, will serve as the hotel’s head of culinary creative.

Dushyant Singh will serve as the hotel's director of food and beverage, and Sean Currid is The Global Ambassador's executive chef. Singh formerly led the food and beverage program at Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Bungalows and was executive chef at Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix, whose restaurants include Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails.

Currid is the former executive chef of Scottsdale's Maple & Ash, and previously worked in kitchens in Valley resorts including The Phoenician and Hotel Valley Ho.

The hotel is a partnership between Brian Frakes of Common Bond Development Group and restaurateur Sam Fox. Fox has opened 150 restaurants across the country and received 12 James Beard Award nominations, but this is his first foray as a hotelier.

You won’t find a Culinary Dropout in The Global Ambassador. The five new dining concepts take inspiration from around the world.

“As the hotel name implies, the restaurants are an expression of all these spectacular places,” Fox said in a news release. “These five restaurants are gathering places, not only for travelers and hotel guests but for locals who have been instrumental in our success.”

Here’s what to know about the forthcoming restaurants.

Le Âme

This Parisian steakhouse will showcase a variety of French classics, such as Steak Frites and Mussels en Boullion along with dishes like Loup de Mer and Crab Tagliolini. The hotel’s master sommelier will curate a wine list “true to its Parisian roots, but with reach across the globe,” per the announcement. The menu also features cocktails that mirror the cuisine, such as an Au Poivre Martini and a Parisian Spritz, which is made with Aperol, watermelon, vodka, fresh lime, pressed cucumber and tonic. In addition to dinner, Le Âme will be an all-day affair, serving breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch.

Le Market

Bakery by day and cheese shop by night, Le Market will offer espresso drinks, pastries and smoothies in the morning, followed by cheeses curated by its in-house expert and paired with wines in the evenings. Le Market is located at the entrance of the hotel and is connected to both the hotel lobby and the entrance to Le Âme

Lobby Bar

The Global Ambassador’s lobby bar will take cues from classic and craft cocktails, with “European flair,” according to the release. A piano sits adjacent to the bar, so customers can expect live music, from jazz performers to artists-in-residence. An all-day snack menu includes lobster croquettes and onion dip with housemade chips which can be made more indulgent with the addition of Osetra Caviar and a half bottle of Krug Champagne. Cocktails include the Basil & Ginger, featuring Hendrick's Gin, fresh basil and house-made yellow bell pepper syrup topped with sparkling wine and a splash of ginger beer; and Caffe Du Jour, a riff on an espresso martini using "slow-steeped proprietary coffee," Caffe Borghetti Espresso Liqueur and fresh nutmeg.

Pink Dolphin

This casual, poolside restaurant will offer indoor and al fresco dining. Its Mexican and Peruvian-inspired dishes are set to include ceviche and cancha – corn nuts made by shallow-frying corn kernels and seasoning them with lime and salt. To drink, Pink Dolphin promises pitchers of skinny margaritas and cocktails like a Guava Caipirinha, a play on Brazil’s national, cachaça-based drink.

théa Mediterranean Rooftop

Announced late last year, théa will be Arizona’s largest rooftop restaurant, featuring a sprawling dining area that spills outdoors, three bars and a sweeping view of Camelback Mountain. Its Mediterranean menu will include sharable mezze, seafood, flatbreads and pasta – such as a Spaghetti alla Nerano dish inspired by a trip Fox took to Italy’s Amalfi Coast, charred octopus and Moroccan roasted carrots. Turn up with a DJ and drinks. In addition to cocktails, théa will feature “one of the country’s most extensive rosé collections.”  While the other restaurants will open on Dec. 6, théa will open in mid-January.

Global Ambassador Club

Exclusive services, amenities and a private restaurant called The Grill are among the perks teased for “Arizona’s first-of-its-kind, members-only club” that will live inside the hotel.

The Global Ambassador

Opening Wednesday
4360 E. Camelback Road
globalambassadorhotel.com