This all-day diner in Old Town from chef Bernie Kantak does everything well – and breakfast perfectly.
By Nikki Buchanan | Photography by Mirelle Inglefield
In February, chef Bernie Kantak and his front-of-the-house counterpart, Andrew Fritz, opened Beginner’s Luck, a tiny, tucked away spot formerly occupied by Piccolo Virtù in Old Town Scottsdale. From the looks of the always-packed dining room, the Citizen Public House and Gladly partners have once again hit the jackpot.
Granted, the location is ideal for ensnaring tourists, but BL’s success can’t be attributed solely to season, location or even luck. For starters, it offers something Old Town has long lacked: a charming, affordable all-day restaurant dishing out quality food with chef-y touches. That’s huge.
Also important: Kantak and Fritz sweat every detail, which includes sourcing high-quality coffee from individual farms, not countries. Fritz’s Third Wave coffee program includes lovely seasonal lattes and a wicked cinnamon mocha.
Kantak also tasked pastry chef Ben Cadriel to recreate a childhood favorite – his grandmother’s kolache, a pillowy, brioche-like pastry offered each day with sweet fruit or savory meat filling. I favor the savory versions, filled with things like green chile pork or ridiculously good birria.
Also on offer: fantastic mesquite date nut bread (dense and faintly earthy, smeared with cream cheese), ultra-light but decadent French toast, and a breakfast pudding combo that turns the morning cereal bowl on its ear.
Naturally, the menu features Kantak’s Original Chopped Salad (a smoked salmon-Israeli couscous situation that’s been endlessly copied), but I’m just as crazy for a crunchy iceberg wedge littered with bacon, tomatoes, cucumbers, dill pickles, smoked Moody Blue cheese, dill ranch and crushed kettle chips. Questionably healthy, but who cares?
Which do I love more? The 12-hour slow-roasted pork sandwich (rich swine meat tucked into a grilled ciabatta bun with mayo, herby chermoula, pickled onions and chicharrón) or the pork bowl (that same phenomenal pork strewn atop creamy blue corn grits with chicharrón, pickled onions, queso fresco and fresh veggies)? Depends on the day.
Light, lemony crab and shrimp salad, chive-flecked and tucked in a butter-toasted New England bun, is perfect for summer. Then again, it’s never too hot for the coffee-charred steak Fritz – a New York strip topped with melting chile butter, then sided with crispy fries and paprikash sour cream.
I’m completely smitten. Go try your luck.
Beginner’s Luck
Cuisine: Modern American
Contact: 7240 E. Main St., Scottsdale, 480-571-0416, beginnersluckaz.com
Hours: W-Su 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
Highlights: Monster kolache ($5-$6); mesquite date nut bread ($6); French toast ($15), cereal bowl ($12); pork sandwich ($18); dill pickle wedge ($17); steak Fritz ($45)
