Yesterday, we posted that Tamara Stanger is coming back to Arizona to work at Shift in Flagstaff in December, and now we have more news about shake-ups in that mountain town. Restaurateur Paul Moir, a pioneer in Flagstaff’s ever-evolving food scene, has sold the assets to his two restaurants — high-end Brix and Proper Meats + Provisions, a butcher shop with sandwiches — and taken up residence in Bend, Oregon. He’s working as a GM in the wine lounge of Domaine Serene, a position that gets him into the wine industry for which he’s always had an affinity. It’s a blow for Flag to lose one of the few (and certainly the original) modern fine dining restaurants there.
Now here’s the good news: Caleb Schiff, the owner-pizzaiolo at Pizzicletta, has bought the assets at Brix and plans to turn it into an Italian-inflected breakfast and lunch spot by day and an upscale pizza place by night. Why more pizza? Schiff says demand for it exceeds supply. Pizzicletta often has three-hour waits, and the cramped space (housed in a former textile factory) is rough on customers and staff alike.
Schiff and his Pizzi Hospitality took over Indian Gardens, the popular high-end café and market along Oak Creek in Sedona, in 2020 and he and his crew are now well-versed in artisanal coffee, a good pastry program and simple, delicious breakfasts. That’s what they’ll be offering at his as-yet-unnamed new place in the Brix location, which will also offer vegetable-driven dishes, salads and panini.
He says high-end restaurants are struggling in Flagstaff, and he likes to think of reaching his customers this way: If the hourly wage is $18, can he offer a quality meal at that price point? That’s the goal. People should be able to get a main dish for an hour’s work, he contends. He adds that 80-90 percent of Flagstaff’s residents can’t afford a meal at Brix and other restaurants like it. He wants to be accessible to everyone.
Naturally, he’ll make use of the bar. We can expect beer, wine, cocktails and an aperitif hour. His pizzas, he says, will be made from the same dough, but we should expect to see different toppings. His famously delicious house-made gelato will be there, as well as a good affogato.
Schiff says when he saw that Brix was for sale, he knew he wanted it. “It’s the most beautiful restaurant in town.” Beaucoup bucks (around $500,000) were poured into an extensive renovation a few years ago, increasing the indoor seating to about 150. Schiff wants that, given Flagstaff’s cold winters and the amount of outdoor seating he already has at his other restaurants. He pictures customers coming to his relaxing new restaurant to sip coffee, eat something healthy and hang out. Brix also has its own parking lot, a huge plus in Flag.
Sounds like a good plan. We’ll all miss Paul Moir. He helped make Flagstaff the credible food town it’s become. As Schiff says, “He was a Flagstaaff institution for 19 years,” but now he’s on to a new life and we wish him the best. For my part, I’m definitely ready for another iteration of Schiff’s fantastic pizza. Eager diners can expect to get a taste when the new restaurant opens in late winter.
