Opened: April 2024
Envisioned by restaurateur Charles Barber as a toned-down version of Aftermath, his industrial North-Central Phoenix gastropub, this Scottsdale offshoot instead simply lacks tone. Choosing from a more limited menu than the one promised on the website – don’t you hate that? – I start with a half-dozen oysters in “umami mignonette” ($24). As promised, there’s plenty of umami, but no acid, salt or hint of the ocean, which is kind of alarming. I slather the flaccid f*@&ers in horseradish and hope for the best. Similarly, the mac and cheese ($15) pales next to the version served at the mothership, cursed with that gritty texture you get when you melt cheese with dairy and skip the roux. Unlike Aftermath, this Born & Bred (Barber opened a location in Chandler last December) offers wood-fired pizza ($21) and it’s probably the best part of the meal, with a thick epidermis of pulled mozzarella and tangy Bianco DiNapoli tomato sauce mostly compensating for the basic-bro crust.
And the steak frites ($48)? Eh, it just sits there, a bit overcooked (the server never asked how I wanted it) with garlicky daubs of OK-I-guess chimichurri. In manufacturing terms, the whole affair seems rushed-to-market.
Wild Card: If you ever sipped a negroni and thought “If only this had strawberry…” well, here you go: the B&B Negroni ($16), with strawberry vermouth and a big fresa right in the glass.
6149 N. Scottsdale Rd., 602-989-3793, bornandbredarizona.com/scottsdale
