I’ve loved Shift since it opened in the Babbitt Building in downtown Flagstaff in 2016. Thanks to the considerable talents of chef-owner Dara Wong, it’s always been a quirky, cozy spot for inspired food made with local ingredients and an eye to sustainability.
Wong (former pastry chef at Kevin Heinonen’s Tourist Home) is famous for her creative desserts at Shift, but as of December 1, she’s bringing on chef and legendary pie-maker Tamara Stanger, who is also a diva in the dessert category. As you may recall, Stanger made her mark at Cotton & Copper in Tempe, which she co-owned with Sean Traynor. When C&C closed in 2021, Stanger headed to Boulder, Utah, where she has been working, since 2021, at Hell’s Backbone Grill & Farm. The place specializes in farm-to-table cuisine from the farm on the property, so it was an excellent fit for Stanger, who says she learned a lot there.
Stanger also tells me she’s super-excited to come back to Arizona for a slew of reasons. For one, she has family here. For another, it will be much easier for her to work on the Blue Watermelon Project, founded by Scottsdale chef Charleen Badman, who invites other chefs, farmers and restaurateurs to work with her on educating kids about healthy, delicious food from ground to pan to plate. More importantly, Stanger tells me she loves Wong’s concept: loves the small, frequently changing menu, the emphasis on local, sustainable ingredients, the collaboration with small farms, the transparency of the exposition kitchen, and the food’s consistently perfect execution. In short, the two seem to care about exactly the same things.
Wong says Stanger will have full autonomy — although there may be a small tweak made now and again. Naturally, I have to know if Stanger’s pies will show up, and Wong assures me they will. Wong says she sees Stanger’s arrival as a great opportunity for the two women to collaborate, push boundaries and inspire each other.
Stanger is replacing Christian Lowe, another super-talent who injured her hand, accelerating an exit that seemed inevitable after she was a semi-finalist for the James Beard Emerging Chef award in 2023. The girl is going places. Wong says that each chef who has worked in her kitchen — her ex-partner Joe Rodger, then George Murkowitz then Christian Lowe — has taken Shift to the next level. “We’re always shifting,” she laughs, adding that she loves having another strong woman chef in the kitchen with her. She even discloses that she’s looking for a partner.
This could be a match made in heaven. Stanger is thrilled to be moving to Flagstaff, saying she’ll be hiking with her dog and hanging out at the breweries (having gotten her start, so long ago, at Helio Basin Brewing).
Once things are well underway (around December 10), Stanger will be devising a Hanukkah menu and a New Year’s menu, bringing along her signature rabbit lasagna somewhere along the line. I can’t wait to get to Flag and eat my way down the menu. And I don’t think my stratospherically high hopes are pie in the sky.
