A Farm-to-Table Valentine’s Day
At Local First Arizona, we love local, farm-to-table restaurants. As you plan your evening and outfit, we are highlighting the perfect Valentine’s date spots around Arizona. Here are some of our favorite local farmer & chef relationships that will bring your date night to life.
Phoenix City Grille (Phoenix)
Phoenix City Grille sits in the heart of Phoenix, offering a warm ambience and locally sourced ingredients. Chef Micah Wyzlic expresses how important it is to him to support farmers by “purchasing and featuring their local, organic, nutrient dense foods.” Wyzlic has spent years cultivating “long-lasting and ever-evolving” partnerships.
“I appreciate the camaraderie between chefs and I,” says Mark Rhine of RhibaFarms, a partner to Phoenix City Grille. When asked about maintaining these relationships, he explained that without dedicated time, many of these relationships wouldn’t survive.
Partners: Crow’s Dairy | La Sonorense | McClendon’s Select | Mediterra Bakehouse | Mount Hope Spices | One Windmill Farms | Passport Coffee | The Pork Shop | Ramona Farms| RhibaFarms | Schreiner’s Sausage | Shamrock Farms
For your Valentine’s date, call or make reservations online here.
Quiessence Restaurant (Phoenix)
Quiessence is located yards away from the Soil & Seed Garden at the Farm at South Mountain where “we harvest seasonal greens, vegetables, herbs, eggs, and edible flowers,” says Chef Dustin Christofolo. Christofolo has always placed a high priority on sourcing locally, “Arizona’s amazing growing season is one of the reasons I became a chef. When I got started in the kitchen, I was ordering from local purveyors like McClendon’s Select, Maya’s Farm, and Queen Creek Olive Mill.” Now at Quiessence, Christofolo works with farmer Billy Anthony to plan the menu three months in advance. The pair meet every week to review harvest and planting schedules.
Partners: Danzeisen Dairy | Maya’s Farm | McClendon’s Select | The Meat Shop | Queen Creek Olive Mill | RhibaFarms
Stop by the Farm at South Mountain all week long to experience the Valentine’s Chef Tasting (Feb 12-16). Tickets here.
Cotton & Copper (Phoenix)
Chef Tamara Stanger brings a variety of seasonal, locally-grown and foraged items to the menu at Cotton & Copper‘s South Tempe location. Their website proudly states, “We are dedicated to serving thoughtful food & beverage that speaks through the bounty of Arizona, using only the highest quality ingredients, to create a unique & memorable experience.”
Partners: Abby Lee Farms | Brother Nature Farms | Crooked Sky Farm | McClendon’s Select | Ramona Farms | Symbiotic Farms | Two Wash Ranch
Find additional information and make reservations here.
Agustín Kitchen (Tucson)
Alex O’Neill of Agustin Kitchen, located on west side Tucson, is another Arizona chef who values communication. “My relationships with our farmers develop just like any other, luck and circumstance gets us together and patience and respect builds the rest,” he says. O’Neill claims the key to a happy farmer-chef relationship is in the requests. “I don’t make any. I let them tell me what they are excited about, what is coming, and why it is going to be so good and fantastic. We don’t force anything on the land or on the farmers that they don’t feel excited about. It’s worked beautifully.”
Partners: Barrio Bread | Caffe Luce | Double Check Ranch | Fiore di Capra | Gourmet Girls| Hayden Flour Mills | High Energy Agriculture | Iskashitaa Refugee Network | Patagonia Greens | Queen Creek Olive Mill | Rattlebox Farm | Sleeping Frog Farms | SouthWinds Farm
Learn more about Augustin Kitchen and make reservations online here.
Shift (Flagstaff)
Shift is an intimate and comfortable restaurant boasting a menu that highlights local sourcing. Their website states that owner Dara Wong Rodger is determined to “focus on bold flavors, a locally driven menu, and artfully composed plates served up amidst a casual and approachable ambiance.”
Partners: Crow’s Dairy | Roots Micro Farm | Sweetwater Farms
More information and reservations available here.
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