At Arboleda, Scottsdale’s swanky new Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, patrons are welcome to delight in dishes such as tapas, paella, and Argentinian ribeye. Located in the heart of Scottsdale Quarter, Arboleda’s botanical design elements and arched ceilings evoke the feeling of stepping into a tree grove. We sat down with Arboleda’s mixologist Richie Moe to talk about all things vermouth and sherry as well as what he is planning for the first installment of Summer Cocktail Camp on Sunday, July 2.
What should patrons expect while visiting Arboleda?
To describe the restaurant itself, it’s a tour of the Mediterranean. Menu-wise, it’s designed to be a choose-your-own-adventure where we have some little one-biters like tapas, cured meats and charcuterie boards. Some of the dishes are refined, whereas other ones are a little bit bulkier and have more substance. It’s cool because there are so many different avenues that you could go on our menu. You could literally come in with friends and dine on 20 different plates.
What does Arboleda have in store for Summer Cocktail Camp?
With our featured cocktails, we wanted to do a tour of the Mediterranean. We picked three different things that can be drank by themselves or used in cocktails.
Cocktail No. 1 is made using a white port and is called the Sueño. It’s basically an advanced gin and tonic. It has a fair amount of white port, a little bit of gin, Mediterranean tonic water, some cucumber and an afterthought of juniper berries in it as well.
Cocktail No. 2 is called the Formula One. For this one, I wanted to take a theory of the Old West Indies trading routes when they were trading sugar, cognacs and rums. The cocktail has some rhum agricole that has an earthy quality to it, as well as some Carpano Antica for an Italian and fortified wine aspect. The ingredients are made into a daiquiri and topped with micro basil and saffron oil.
For cocktail No. 3, think of the theory of a Black Manhattan, but very Mediterranean. To incorporate the idea of a fortified wine tour of the Mediterranean, we will be using sherry that has a lot of cooked fruit tones to it and is a great substitute for vermouth. It will be topped with a little bit of black walnut bitters, Angostura bitters and a flamed orange peel.
What is your favorite cocktail ingredient right now?
Honestly after starting to work at Arboleda, I love fortified wines and I love ingredients that you can enjoy on their own on the rocks or chilled, such as white ports, vermouths or sherry wines. All of those can be enjoyed on their own, but I think they add a whole different element to cocktails.
What cocktail represents Arizona summertime?
Our “Formula One” is probably the most Arizona. It’s very vibrant and refreshing.
This or that: Negroni or Aperol spritz?
Negroni. I’m just more of a hard spirit guy. I love gins and really enjoy bitter things.
