Inspired by her own health journey and world travels, health coach Nico Doniele teamed up with EVO founder Nick Neuman to open Santé, a high-end, 5,000 square-foot restaurant in North Scottsdale with an emphasis on healthy, organic food. Her motto, “Let us live to eat and live longer to eat,” is reflected in the globally inspired menu, which has vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free, keto and low FODMAP options. “We wanted to create a restaurant where people with all kinds of dietary restrictions can dine together and enjoy the community and connection we’ve been missing over the last nearly two years,” Doniele said in a press release. Santé also has a grab-and-go marketplace. To find out more, we asked Doniele six questions about her new venture.
How did you come up with this idea?
It’s a concept that I created during the pandemic. It’s basically the way I live my life. I’m a health coach and I preach this to my private clients. I started thinking, what can I do to really reach out to more people and create a bigger impact on our planet? It began last October with an idea and a little bit of divine inspiration to make that call to Nick because he’s a restaurateur here and I’ve known him for a million years. We used to bartend together in Scottsdale and remained friends.
How did you decide on where you would source your menu items?
I went down this long road of visiting farms. I knew my price point of food was going to be higher and all the naysayers were trying to break us down. We’re like, “Nope, we’re going to be organic.” We’re using as much local produce as we can from Blue Sky Farms, Rhiba Farms and McClendon’s. Many of the animal farms here don’t produce enough product for a restaurant. So I went to Texas and we’re going to tour a farm in Georgia that we’re getting some of our steaks from. These regenerative farms have a negative carbon footprint because of the way they’re operating, so we don’t feel bad having to ship it.
How did you decide on menu items?
I developed the menu with the chefs. I went to them with all the ideas that I wanted on the menu and I let them kind of run with it. I didn’t create the sauce, but said, “I want a chicken dish with some vegetables” and they would create something. Every single [dish] is super different and amazing and multi-cultured. Most of our menu is gluten-free and a lot of dishes can be made vegan easily by changing the dressing or taking off the cheese. There will be a lot of decadent things, but every single thing is sourced clean. It’s exciting. I don’t think there’s anything like it here in Arizona.
Can you tell me about the cocktail program?
We’ve created a really beautiful curated cocktail program and the drinks are going to be very special. We’re going to do some cocktails that are shaken at the table and will also have a bar cart. We’ll have a Dole Whip mimosa for brunch and some other really fun stuff, too.
What is the Sunday School program?
Starting in January, Sunday School will be an opportunity for people in the wellness industry to come speak about their craft and share their knowledge and their gifts. For example, a naturopathic doctor can give us a rundown on how to take care of your gut. We’ve already got people lined up to share their gifts, their purpose.
This concept is great for people who have certain dietary issues, but what about everybody else?
They won’t even know the difference. For guys who want their meat and potatoes, we’ve got that. We’ve also got some naughty stuff like really decadent cornbread with maple butter that’s made with shishito peppers, but it’s made with the best grass-fed milk and butter and the cleanest organic shishito peppers. Even though it’s naughty, the sourcing is amazing. That’s the key – where are you getting your food from? How is it sourced? It’s not sprayed with pesticides. For the most part we’re staying healthy, but healthy can also mean where something is sourced.
Santé opened on Dec. 14 at 15507 N. Scottsdale Rd. in Scottsdale. For more information visit lovesante.com.
