Chef Stephen Jones to Reinvent Southern Restaurant in Iconic Binkley’s Space This Fall

Sit down for minute; I have two astounding things to tell you. First, Stephen Jones, the talented chef and James Beard Award finalist who closed The Larder + The Delta in October 2023 over leasing issues, has found a wonderful space to move into, and he plans to open a more sophisticated iteration of his much-lauded Southern restaurant on September 12 of this year. This go-round, he’s changing the punctuation, so The Larder + The Delta will morph to The Larder & The Delta — ditching the “+” sign for an ampersand, which Jones jokingly contends proves he has grown up. That’s not it, of course. Restaurant names are driven by trends just as much as the restaurants themselves are.

Secondly, the space he’s taking over is the charming, refurbished house on Osborn near 24th Street currently occupied by Binkley’s Restaurant — which, of course, means that Binkley’s is closing mid-August (bombshell No. 2). Let that sink in a minute. I know I’m trying to.

After 20 years of operating one of the best restaurants in the Valley (first in Cave Creek, later at the Osborn location), Kevin and Amy Binkley are ready to make some changes, which might accurately be called an understatement. Binkley, considered to be one of the city’s most intelligent, skilled and creative chefs, is backing away from the stove. In a text this morning, he tells me, “This is the second most important career decision we’ve ever made. The first was to open the restaurant.”

The couple plans to step back, chill out and eventually come up with a new and balanced work/life plan that will likely involve the restaurant industry. Binkley explains, “We love our restaurant and the restaurant business, but we just don’t want to be operators anymore. We’ve done our part, and we want to go out on a high note, which we are. We feel that Binkley’s has never been better than it is right now.” As you surely know, Kevin Binkley has also been named a James Beard finalist on countless occasions, but don’t get me started on that.

Knowing that Jones was looking for a new restaurant space and knowing that it was time to shake things up on his own end, Binkley approached Jones about moving into the Binkley’s space and forming a partnership with him, one in which the Binkleys would be passive partners in an advisory role. Jones and Binkley have long been friends and admirers of each other’s work; nevertheless, Jones was floored, calling his wife to say, “You’re never going to believe what just happened.”

After thinking it over a bit, Jones knew it was the right move for him, in fact, the perfect move for him. He would at last have a bigger, more polished backdrop for the kind of edgy but elegant Southern cooking he’s always dreamed of doing. In an interview he held with PHOENIX magazine last December, he explained that he had, indeed, started out offering fine dining dishes at the former Larder space on Portland, but that, over time, he caved to customers who requested more mainstream fare. “We lost track of who we were,” he admits.

He won’t repeat that misstep. In its new space, The Larder & The Delta will be a fine dining restaurant with proper wine service — open Wednesday through Saturday with one seating each on Wednesdays and Thursdays, two seatings on Fridays and Saturdays. Here, Jones will tell delicious stories of the South.

For their part, the Binkleys are thrilled to help put Jones in a space that has meant so much to them over the years. “It’s a really special location,” Binkley says, adding, “And now I get to have a fantastic restaurant to go to just blocks from my house.”

Jones plans to offer a 12-course tasting menu, priced at $160 per person and an additional $125 per person for wine pairings. Many courses will be vegetable-driven (as is true in the South) and while some dishes will be riffs on Southern classics, others will be straight-up original. Jones promises there will always be a rice-based dish on the menu.

Just as at Binkley’s, The Larder will have fancy add-ons such as foie gras, caviar and A-5 Wagyu.  Naturally, Jones also plans to make use of the citrus trees and the on-property garden Amy Binkley created and tended. Jones also promises lots of greens (collards, mustard greens, etc), as well as cooking techniques such as fermentation, pickling, curing and smoking, which he calls “all the old ways” for food preservation. In the past decade or so, Jones has earned a reputation as one of the country’s best proponents of Modern Southern cooking, a reputation he will surely broaden and strengthen in the Binkley’s space.

Jones describes his new home as “just about as turnkey as you can get,” and its modern farmhouse vibe will complement his Southern cooking perfectly. He’s already heading to the restaurant on Mondays (when Binkley’s is closed), planning menus and getting to know the space. Even better, much of the Binkley’s staff will stay on to work for Jones at The Larder & The Delta, creating a continuity that new restaurants, perforce, never enjoy. Meanwhile, Binkley is delighted that his staff will have a soft, familiar place to land, adding, “They’re like family.”

Jones promises about five menu changes a year, including a holiday menu for November and December. He also has plans for brunch down the line and special dinners with other chef friends from across the country who also specialize in Southern cooking.

Although his first menu is not finalized, we can expect something like this: chicken skin with blossom honey, lavender and Royal Ossetra caviar; butter beans with morita pepper, okra, watermelon and hibiscus; antebellum yellow corn grits with deviled crab salad, crab potlicker and tarragon; hay-grilled tuna belly with cornbread, Alabama white BBQ and Sauce Africaine; and Jimmy Red cornmeal pound cake with peaches, benne seed brittle and crème fraîche. My mouth is watering as I type this.

As for Binkley’s and the Binkleys, it will be business as usual until about May 25, a date that marks the 20th anniversary for the original Binkley’s in Cave Creek. Starting on May 24 to be exact, the Binkley’s menu will be rotating in a few nostalgic goodies from the past, including the miniature Sloppy Joe, binchotan charred tuna, green apple soda, beef tongue Reuben, flash-frozen fruit salad and chocolate parfait.

As has traditionally been true, Binkley’s will close for a week’s vacation after Mother’s Day and again during Fourth of July week. You’d be wise to make reservations soon before Binkley’s closes for good in mid-August.

The Binkleys will keep in touch through social media and their website, where they will share news of their plans as they suss them out. It’s the end of an era, but the beginning of a new one. Is it possible to be sad and happy at once? That’s where I am right now.