photos courtesy Fox Restaurant Concepts Blanco Tacos + Tequila

East Side, West Side Wine
Omar de la Cruz, of the family-owned de la Cruz restaurants in the East Valley (including Mango’s Mexican Café and El Zócalo Mexican Grille in Chandler) was on track to open a wine bar and restaurant in downtown Mesa in August. Look for de la Cruz Bistro in the former Posh Nosh location. The menu should include 12 to 14 international wines by the glass as well as steaks, seafood, pasta and specials featuring Peruvian dishes (de la Cruz’s wife, Silda, is from Peru).
Kokopelli Winery & Bistro opened a second location in July at 14719 W. Grand Avenue, in Surprise. The menu is more extensive than at its original digs in downtown Chandler, featuring Kobe burgers and steak in addition to soups, salads, sandwiches and pastas. The beer selection is bigger, too. And take note, oenephiles: Kokopelli owner Dennis Minchella has been working on a new, more sophisticated wine line called Forte, which is his grandmother’s maiden name. It should debut next fall.

Roku Should Be Rockin’
Sushi Roku, a Los Angeles-based chain of upscale, celeb-fave raw fish purveyors, was slated to open in early September at the new W Scottsdale Hotel + Residences on Camelback Road just east of Scottsdale Road. The 6,000-square-foot space should be an eye-popper. Check out a curved “grotto” ceiling; elliptical sushi bar with a wall of suspended concrete spindles lit from below as a backdrop; black stone reflective pool; natural tree-root and concrete beverage bar; and an open steel staircase leading to a rooftop patio overlooking the pool.

Sayonara, So Long, Au Revoir
A smattering of shutterings over the summer: Taneko Japanese Tavern (owned by P.F. Chang’s), Dish in downtown Scottsdale, GrainBelt GrillHouse in downtown Gilbert and Babycakes Café in downtown Chandler. Babycakes chef/owner Sarah Ellis-Johnson was trained by a French chef and created fine-dining-quality pastries in her unassuming little salad-sandwich shop. Hopefully we haven’t seen the last of her.