Tommy Plato’s Bourdain-inspired Old Town restaurant is a disarming treat – if not quite the globetrotting adventure our critic hoped it would be.
by Nikki Buchanan | Photography by Melissa Valladares
On a Friday night in September, typically a brutal month for Phoenix-area restaurants, The Ends in Old Town Scottsdale is packed and deafening. Restaurateur Tommy Plato, who opened this lovely Midcentury-Modern hangout in the former Kazimierz World Wine Bar space this past June, must feel gratified that the restaurant is such a hit. Clearly, he was banking on it, having closed his other longtime Old Town venue – Second Story Liquor Bar – to pour his energy into this modern American concept with global touches. The space is streamlined yet strangely cozy, a mix of white brick, green plants and graphic Southwestern art.
The restaurant’s name is an allusion to celebrity chef, food writer and TV travel prophet Anthony Bourdain, who journeyed to “the ends of the earth” to educate his viewers on far-flung foodways. It’s a bit surprising, then, to read a menu that does little more than circle the block. Devised by executive chef Jordano Sessions, who also headed the kitchen at Second Story, it lingers in Italy and Japan, featuring the cacio e pepe and hamachi crudo found on scores of menus around town. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m just wondering if there’s enough wandering, given the premise. That said, there are a handful of dishes I’d come back for in a heartbeat, while others just need a little tweaking to make them memorable.
Cocktails and mocktails are strong here, thanks to mixologist Ben Browning and crew, who create pretty things like the gin-based Infinite Play (featured in our September/October issue) and the non-alcoholic Smartest Cocktail in the Room, a frothy, complex and allegedly healthy elixir that makes a compelling argument for the sober-curious lifestyle.
Similarly, Tommy’s Biscuits (named for the owner and listed as an appetizer) are insanely good. Picture soft, fluffy squares of buttery goodness whose oven-crisped tops come drizzled with fermented honey. Served with creamy, grass-fed butter and seasonal jam (Champagne-strawberry, on my visit), they’re a carryover from Second Story, where they were called WTF Biscuits. One bite and you’ll ask the same rhetorical question.
Things get a bit dicier after that, beginning with hamachi crudo, awash in barrel-aged tamari (richer, thicker soy sauce) and sprinkled with house-aged chile flakes. It’s all a bit too much, the salt and heat overpowering the delicate flavor of the fish. Crispy egg-yolk nigiri suffers from the opposite problem. Despite the elaborate combo – a jammy, soy-cured egg yolk perched on a crispy-crunchy rice pad jazzed up with gochujang aioli, eel sauce, crispy ginger and a flutter of furikake – the dish tastes inexplicably one-dimensional. Too much soy? Who knows? Love that rice, though – and if you drape the too-salty-by-half crudo over it, as Plato suggests, both dishes are elevated.
Crispy Brussels sprouts salad – spring mix heaped over big, undercooked Brussels sprouts – could be great if the Brussels sprouts were roasted to a crispy fare-thee-well or served raw as part of the greenery. Pickled Fresno chiles add a welcome and much-needed touch of acid.
On a positive note, a shared plate of juicy Lao sausage, fragrant with lemongrass, is wonderful with steamed rice, finadene (salty, soy-based chile sauce from Guam) and Asian salad (a mild kimchi).
We’re back to disappointment in the pasta section, where soft, overcooked pappardelle tossed with wild mushrooms, pecorino and truffled mascarpone (creamy, but not much truffle flavor) is bland and in need of salt.
However, the entrées turn everything around. A hefty Wagyu New York strip, charred on the outside, rosy inside and meltingly tender, is a delicious bargain at $60. It’s served with a pitcher of decent demiglace and a saucer of brûléed bone marrow butter. I slather the butter over the steak and try not to think about my heart.
Slow-cooked rack of lamb, set in an earthy, faintly spicy harissa brodo (broth) sweetened with garlic and shallots, is also generously portioned and perfectly cooked. Now if only a side dish of stir-fried snap peas, nicely seasoned with Sichuan chile oil, ginger and scallions, were as carefully handled. Sadly, they’re greasy, and they’ve lost every trace of snap.
Waxy peewee potatoes, described as Hasselback potatoes but in no way resembling that preparation (except for being thinly sliced) border on the ridiculous. They’re coated in what is described on the menu as fonduta, a mild, pale and somewhat waxy fondue made from fontina, blackened under the broiler. There’s nothing remotely praiseworthy about this gloppy, uninteresting dish that I hate for not really being the Hasselbacks I was promised.
However, by the time I’m three spoonsful into custard (aka créme brûlée) smoothed with salted caramel, I’m purring again.
Despite the emotional whiplash this meal has given me, I’m not ready to write off The Ends. I love the stylish yet tranquil space and the gracious, well-trained staff. And while I’d probably never go to the ends of the earth to eat here, I can imagine dropping in for cocktails, nibbles and a good steak – maybe more if the kitchen gets a handle on its inconsistencies.
The Ends
Cuisine: Modern American
Contact: 7137 E. Stetson Dr., Scottsdale, 480-367-9900, endsrestaurant.com
Hours: Su-Th 4-10 p.m., F-Sa 4 p.m.-midnight
Highlights: Tommy’s Biscuits ($13); Lao sausage ($16); lamb ($42); Wagyu New York strip ($60); salted caramel custard ($10)
