Desert Digest5 Questions with Chef Christopher McLean of The Wigwam Resort
Jamie Faye KillinJune 5, 2024
Desert DigestSix Questions with Musical Instrument Museum Executive Chef Paul Steele
Marilyn HawkesMay 3, 2023
Texas native Paul Steele has worked in many of the Valley’s most celebrated kitchens, from Tarbell’s to the Royal Palms to the now shuttered Phoenix Market Café. In October 2022, he became executive chef at the Musical Instrument Museum in North Scottsdale, trading late nights for days, which allows him to spend more time with his family. We recently caught up with Steele to learn about what it’s like to run a museum kitchen. How...
Desert DigestFood & DrinkSix Questions with Cala Executive Chef Peter McQuaid
Marilyn HawkesMay 9, 2022
When we last spoke with Peter McQuaid in 2016, he was just starting culinary school at the International Culinary Center in New York City after winning a scholarship from Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP). Today, the 24-year-old McQuaid is the executive chef at Cala, a Clive Collective restaurant in the new Senna House Hotel in Scottsdale. After culinary school, McQuaid spent time in the kitchen with chef Beau MacMillan at The Sanctuary and then...
Desert DigestFood & DrinkSix Questions with Chef Lee Hillson of T. Cook’s at the Royal Palms Resort
Marilyn HawkesMay 3, 2022
We recently caught up with Lee Hillson, executive chef at T. Cook’s at the Royal Palms Resort, to chat about fine dining, menu development and how he kept his staff happy during the pandemic. The veteran chef spent 12 years at T. Cook’s in the early 2000s, and then left for another opportunity. He’s been back since 2019 overseeing the iconic resort’s food and beverage operations. Here’s what he had to say. How has fine...
Merkin Vineyards in Old Town Scottsdale’s new executive chef, Steve Zimmerman, has been busy developing new dishes for the winery’s tasting room menu. Zimmerman, who started a few months ago, was previously the executive chef at Widewaters Hotels in Tempe (Tres Kitchen and Bar) and the Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix. He brings more than 25 years of culinary experience to the farm-to-table, vine-to-glass tasting room. Having spent the bulk of his career in resort...
SpotlightSpotlight: Stephen Tilder
Cody FitzpatrickMarch 20, 2020
Ballpark food is an American tradition that predates portable cameras. But Stephen Tilder, executive chef at Chase Field, makes stadium cuisine for foodies of the Instagram age.