On Sunday, chef Donald Hawk will put up his last plates at Valentine. Hawk has run the kitchen at the Arizona-centered, award-winning Melrose restaurant since it opened in late 2020.
The chef announced his upcoming departure on May 14. He’s heading north to Las Vegas, not to cook, but to join his partner and start a job working in ecological supervision.
“It’s a very wild contrast to what I was doing for the past many years of my life,” Hawk acknowledges while sitting in one of Valentine’s leather swivel chairs next to owner Blaise Faber.
With so much momentum, why step away?
“Maybe it’s time I choose something for myself," Hawk says. "It was really heartbreaking because (of) the staff."
Faber, who has known Hawk for 15 years, invited the chef to join the team when he and Price were starting the restaurant. He calls Hawk’s departure “bittersweet.”
“He’s been here since day one, so there’s certainly a void that will be here, but the team that’s here is very strong,” he says.
Hawk agrees. He's passing the reins to Nico Zades, who has worked at Valentine for more than three years. Starting on June 4, he'll officially move up from sous chef to executive chef.
He joined Valentine after hearing about an opening in the kitchen on the same day of his first visit. While sitting at a table having breakfast, he remembers seeing Hawk. When he left, Zades messaged the restaurant, then met Hawk over tacos. Zades has been cooking at Valentine ever since.
“I’m sad about leaving a really great team," Hawk says. "But I’m also really happy to see this guy take the reins because he’s grown a lot as well.”
He studied at different culinary schools but says the timing was off and found himself drawn to other studies and work, including selling menswear at Nordstrom. He worked in kitchens on and off throughout his 20s. Those included some of Chicago’s most regarded, such as the Michelin-starred Charlie Trotter’s and Blackbird.
“I’ve always wanted to work in places like that that were doing things a little different,” Zades says.
He relocated to the Valley to be closer to his parents about eight years ago and decided to get back into cooking for good. Zades joined Beckett’s Table during the pandemic when the restaurant offered meal kits to-go. As part of a lean team, that sometimes meant he ran things solo.
“That kind of helped prepare for a situation like this because there were times I was running the restaurant alone and had to learn on my feet,” Zades says.
The chef knows there will be a lot more on-the-fly learning as he steps into “the big role” for the first time. He's excited, a little nervous, and sad to lose “a great mentor” in Hawk.
“Everyone has everyone’s back, and we all genuinely care about each other, and I think that’s part of the success also,” Zades says.
Right now, he’s trying to follow advice from Hawk and Faber.
“I’m the type of person that wants everything to happen at once, but they’ve told me (to) take it a day at a time,” Zades says.
When asked what the menu will look like following the departure of its architect, Faber and Zades say they intend to sprinkle in new dishes, as the restaurant has done throughout its tenure, while keeping popular items. The fan-favorite elote pasta and smoked chicken are here to stay, Zades says.
“I don’t believe in full tear-downs,” Faber adds.
Zades has crafted additions to the menu over the years, including a ceviche-style melon salad with green chamoy.
The chef has also come up with popular dishes that make use of excess items around the kitchen. There were masa tempura chicken tenders that used extra cuts of poultry. A tres leches-style French toast used day-old squash bread. The tortilla española incorporates the scraps of the dinner menu’s yuca and potato pave. With such strong inspiration and connection to Arizona's farmers, ranchers and the state's bounty, making the most of every item is important.
“It’s really surreal,” Hawk says.
It's only been in the past few weeks that the chef has had time to reflect on his work and the buzz that has built around Valentine's team. This James Beard Award season, the crew has cooked at the Beard house in New York and locally with fellow nominee Yotaka “Sunny” Martin of Lom Wong.
“He has no ego, not at all. I learn(ed) a lot, we learned a lot, from him,” Martin says of the chef.
Now that Hawk has had a chance to take a step back, “it’s crazy to think we’ll have had five Beard nominations in five years, and that’s the village of Valentine, that’s everyone helping everyone,” he says. “For me, it was just making a better restaurant with these guys as well.”
Hawk, who worked with restaurateurs including Chris Bianco and Bernie Kantak before joining Valentine, says he’ll be back and forth to Phoenix. Right now, he doesn’t foresee stepping back into a kitchen. But never say never.
“I’m not rushing to get back in, I want to see where this new path leads me,” he says.
While it's hard to say goodbye, Hawk says he's looking forward to seeing what the evolution of Valentine will look like. Zades wants to do Hawk and the rest of the team proud.
"I just hope to carry that torch and mentor the team and get them to where they want to go in their own career or their lives," he says. "I think that's what's most exciting to me."
The chef announced his upcoming departure on May 14. He’s heading north to Las Vegas, not to cook, but to join his partner and start a job working in ecological supervision.
“It’s a very wild contrast to what I was doing for the past many years of my life,” Hawk acknowledges while sitting in one of Valentine’s leather swivel chairs next to owner Blaise Faber.
Faber founded Valentine in 2020 with Chad Price, who left the restaurant in January. The duo's intent was to honor the flavors and history of the state through an all-day menu and bar.
Since it opened nearly five years ago, the restaurant has received five nods from the James Beard Foundation, whose awards are often called the Oscars of the culinary world. Two were for Hawk himself, as a semifinalist for Emerging Chef of the Year in 2022 and for Best Chef Southwest in 2025. The other three have been for pastry chef Crystal Kass. The restaurant has also racked up national praise from Esquire and the New York Times, and its bar is a regional honoree in the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. With so much momentum, why step away?
“Maybe it’s time I choose something for myself," Hawk says. "It was really heartbreaking because (of) the staff."
Faber, who has known Hawk for 15 years, invited the chef to join the team when he and Price were starting the restaurant. He calls Hawk’s departure “bittersweet.”
“He’s been here since day one, so there’s certainly a void that will be here, but the team that’s here is very strong,” he says.
Hawk agrees. He's passing the reins to Nico Zades, who has worked at Valentine for more than three years. Starting on June 4, he'll officially move up from sous chef to executive chef.
He joined Valentine after hearing about an opening in the kitchen on the same day of his first visit. While sitting at a table having breakfast, he remembers seeing Hawk. When he left, Zades messaged the restaurant, then met Hawk over tacos. Zades has been cooking at Valentine ever since.
“I’m sad about leaving a really great team," Hawk says. "But I’m also really happy to see this guy take the reins because he’s grown a lot as well.”
Nico Zades worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago and at Phoenix's Beckett's Table before joining Valentine.
Sara Crocker
Chicago chef returns to cooking in the desert
Zades is originally from the suburbs of Chicago. He was always interested in food, learning about Italian cooking from his mom and grandmother and hosting dinner parties for dozens of friends and family members as a teen.He studied at different culinary schools but says the timing was off and found himself drawn to other studies and work, including selling menswear at Nordstrom. He worked in kitchens on and off throughout his 20s. Those included some of Chicago’s most regarded, such as the Michelin-starred Charlie Trotter’s and Blackbird.
“I’ve always wanted to work in places like that that were doing things a little different,” Zades says.
He relocated to the Valley to be closer to his parents about eight years ago and decided to get back into cooking for good. Zades joined Beckett’s Table during the pandemic when the restaurant offered meal kits to-go. As part of a lean team, that sometimes meant he ran things solo.
“That kind of helped prepare for a situation like this because there were times I was running the restaurant alone and had to learn on my feet,” Zades says.
The chef knows there will be a lot more on-the-fly learning as he steps into “the big role” for the first time. He's excited, a little nervous, and sad to lose “a great mentor” in Hawk.
“Everyone has everyone’s back, and we all genuinely care about each other, and I think that’s part of the success also,” Zades says.
Right now, he’s trying to follow advice from Hawk and Faber.
“I’m the type of person that wants everything to happen at once, but they’ve told me (to) take it a day at a time,” Zades says.
When asked what the menu will look like following the departure of its architect, Faber and Zades say they intend to sprinkle in new dishes, as the restaurant has done throughout its tenure, while keeping popular items. The fan-favorite elote pasta and smoked chicken are here to stay, Zades says.
“I don’t believe in full tear-downs,” Faber adds.
Zades has crafted additions to the menu over the years, including a ceviche-style melon salad with green chamoy.
The chef has also come up with popular dishes that make use of excess items around the kitchen. There were masa tempura chicken tenders that used extra cuts of poultry. A tres leches-style French toast used day-old squash bread. The tortilla española incorporates the scraps of the dinner menu’s yuca and potato pave. With such strong inspiration and connection to Arizona's farmers, ranchers and the state's bounty, making the most of every item is important.
Valentine chef Donald Hawk, pictured with his team at the culinary event Devour, will leave the restaurant and retire from cooking.
Sara Crocker
‘It’s really surreal’
As Zades and Hawk spend their last few days together in the Valentine kitchen, guests are coming in to say their goodbyes.“It’s really surreal,” Hawk says.
It's only been in the past few weeks that the chef has had time to reflect on his work and the buzz that has built around Valentine's team. This James Beard Award season, the crew has cooked at the Beard house in New York and locally with fellow nominee Yotaka “Sunny” Martin of Lom Wong.
“He has no ego, not at all. I learn(ed) a lot, we learned a lot, from him,” Martin says of the chef.
Now that Hawk has had a chance to take a step back, “it’s crazy to think we’ll have had five Beard nominations in five years, and that’s the village of Valentine, that’s everyone helping everyone,” he says. “For me, it was just making a better restaurant with these guys as well.”
Hawk, who worked with restaurateurs including Chris Bianco and Bernie Kantak before joining Valentine, says he’ll be back and forth to Phoenix. Right now, he doesn’t foresee stepping back into a kitchen. But never say never.
“I’m not rushing to get back in, I want to see where this new path leads me,” he says.
"I just hope to carry that torch and mentor the team and get them to where they want to go in their own career or their lives," he says. "I think that's what's most exciting to me."
