Blessed with grand visions and a gift for the pivot, Pretty Decent Concepts idea man Teddy Myers takes flight.
Google Teddy Myers and your feed populates with article after article spinning a version of this headline: “From Rock Star to Restaurateur.” Though Myers admits the hook is catchy, he says that’s not how he sees himself, at least not anymore. “I’ve been trying to escape that for a long time,” Myers says.
The story goes something like this. In 2008, 23-year-old Myers had graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in journalism and was spending his days selling ads for Phoenix New Times and nights playing drums in a band called Faucet. It was the latter that stoked the fires of his ambition and creativity. Myers, a Valley native, nurtured dreams of Faucet reaching rock stardom. He even tried to court investors to fund the band’s path to triumph.
But he called off the search thanks to a winning $1 million raffle ticket. Myers took the post-tax earnings of about $500,000 to pave Faucet’s road to success, with a new look and new name: Hollywood Heartthrob. The makeover helped-ish: The band had a good-enough run and a few brief brushes with fame, but after five years, called it quits.
Myers married wife Kaitlin, also a Valley native, and the couple settled in Downtown Phoenix, noodling on an idea to open a restaurant. Something novel, something conceptual. Something with the right vibe. Which, after learning the ropes at Fox Restaurant Concepts, is exactly what they did in 2017 with the launch of Chico Malo, a bold and design-forward Mexican eatery.
So, the “rock star to restaurateur” thing isn’t inaccurate, but it also oversimplifies the creative vision that gave birth to Chico Malo, and eventually to the lineage of vividly imagined, richly detailed restaurants and bars that now thrive under his rapidly growing hospitality group, Pretty Decent Concepts (PDC). It also fails to underscore the diligence required to execute such an undertaking.
“I think my superpower is my persistence,” Myers says. “When I want to do something, where others might give up, I just figure out a way to make it happen.”
PDC is definitely making it happen. Founded in 2016 as Culture Shock Hospitality, the group rebranded a year later and, in the eight years since, has achieved meteoric success no matter the metric – local popularity, innovation, the bottom line.
Under PDC: second restaurant Wren & Wolf (Myers’s favorite for its moody taxidermy-as-décor atmosphere); swanky cocktail bar Trophy Room, where cell phones are checked at the door; and Carry On, a 1970s-airplane-themed lounge, which earned a James Beard semi-finalist nod and Best Bar Design by North America’s 50 Best Bars. There’s also sweets shop Creampuff, safari-styled Filthy Animal and disco bar Drop Dead Gorgeous, plus soon-to-open steakhouse Cleaverman, martini bar Filthy, and omakase resto Uppercut.
Myers credits PDC’s swift expansion to the alchemy of its team. There are three partners – Myers, COO Thor Nguyen and CFO Kaitlin Myers – plus culinary director Ivan Gonzalez, beverage director Jax Donahue and director of operations Brad Danler. “We’ve been able to create a culture of taking chances, of doing new and exciting things,” he says.
What they’re doing is immersive experiences, the throughline of PDC. A meticulous curation of theme; lighting design; thoughtfully selected materials, from granite to leather to faux fur; and entry sequences that operate like portals to another dimension combine to disrupt guests’ sense of space and time.
After Jason Asher’s departure from Barter & Shake (the group behind immersive bars UnderTow, Platform 18 and Grey Hen Rx), this may be more important than ever for the local hospitality scene. And it’s attracting the next crop of creatives. At the hiring fair for Filthy Animal, some 600 people showed up.
“We heard over and over that day that they just want to be part of what we’re building, to get in on the ground level of whatever’s next,” he says. For a would-be rock star, this kind of fandom should seem like a dream realized. And yet.
“That was the most surprising thing to hear,” Myers says. “To have that outpouring [of love] and interest in joining our cause has been the coolest, most humbling experience in my life. I didn’t know anybody cared.”
– Jessica Dunham
Molly Yeh x Hayden Flour Mills Confetti Cake Mix
Nothing screams, “Party!” like confetti cake. But adult taste buds – and health concerns – may dissuade you from reaching for the boxed mix of your childhood. Enter Gilbert granary Hayden Flour Mills, which in May debuted its confetti cake mix ($13.99), a collaboration with Food Network star Molly Yeh. “We’ve been hard at work to turn Molly’s famous confetti cake recipe into an easy-to-use box mix,” Hayden co-owner Emma Zimmerman announced via the brand’s social media. “Featuring clean ingredients, Hayden Flour Mills heritage stone-milled flour, and dye-free sprinkles.”
– Leah LeMoine
Love From the Inside Out Podcast
Fans of Glennon Doyle, Brené Brown and Elizabeth Gilbert will find similar inspiration and parasocial sisterhood in Phoenix publicist Susan Kricun’s new podcast, Love From the Inside Out. Inspired by her own journey of self-discovery and self-compassion, Kricun passes on the therapy-esque lessons she’s learned in short and sweet episodes that feel like chats over coffee with a warm, loving and nonjudgmental friend. Available on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
– Leah LeMoine
