Tag: Cory Oppold

Sips & Bites: News from the Phoenix restaurant community

Events & news about what’s going on around the Phoenix restaurant community, breweries and wineries.

Afternoon Tea for Mother’s Day at STK Steakhouse

Still looking for a restaurant to take mom on Sunday? The cool Scottsdale restaurant hosts a traditional tea starting with a glass of  champagne ($89 & $99) or prosecco ($69) followed by a selection of hot tea and tower of petite sandwiches, scones and desserts. Tea infused cocktails are offered for $21 each.

Over Easy celebrates National Mimosa Day

The breakfast cocktails are $2 off flights next Tuesday, May 16th at all 11 Arizona locations. Guests can choose 4 flavors including orange, peach, guava, mango, strawberry or raspberry during breakfast or lunch.

National Burger Month features at Kona Grill

The month of May and “America’s Favorite Grill” celebrates one of our favorite comfort foods with 3 burger features. A $7.99 lunch and take-out burger, Kona Sliders for $6 at happy hour and a Chophouse Burger are available throughout the month.

The much anticipated Course Restaurant is now open

Personal chef Cory Oppold’s new restaurant is open and taking reservations near Scottsdale Rd. & Shea Blvd. The highly acclaimed chef and Food Network’s “Chopped” winner serves a 5 course tasting menu Tuesday and Wednesday’s for $135 and 10-course menu Thursday-Saturday for $190. Wines paired by sommelier Nick Padua are additional an additional charge. May 28th Oppold will debut his Sunday brunch, Morning Would. His take on brunch favorites will be served in 6-courses from 10 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. for $75.

Spitz Mediterranean opens its first location Arizona

Desert Ridge Marketplace is where you can find healthy and modern Mediterranean street food found around Europe. Wraps, gyros, rice salads & bowls, falafel, hummus and more from this California based concept. Started almost 15 years ago when a couple of college friends who studied and traveled in Europe wanted to bring this type of food home to the U.S. Serving sangria, beer & wine Spitz is participating in DRM’s Sips & Stroll program allowing guests to take their drinks outside the restaurant. The fast casual restaurant is located on the east end near the AMC Theaters.

Check out my podcast Pulling Corks & Forks: The Podcast with Sandy Wasserman to hear from those in our community. Please subscribe, like & comment.

Cory Oppold to Course it out later this year

Chef Cory Oppold has been working on his restaurant concept since 2016 and if all goes as planned Fall of 2022 Course will become a reality. Serving dinner, Course will be a hyper-seasonal 5 and 8-9 course dining experience changing menus every two to three months. There will be cocktail program but his focus will be on wine pairings to compliment his cooking.

“This has been a long process for me and almost an obsession to make it work. The pandemic was actually what kind of kick started Course. During the shutdown I started a smaller company called “Simmer Down”. The menu was driven to be extremely easy for the guest to make as most or part of the meal was pre-made but sealed in Cryovaced pouches for easy heat up and clean up. More importantly it was designed to be safe alternative at that time of the pandemic for delicious food that was easily delivered to the public”.

The cooking philosophy of Cory Oppold

Cory studied at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute and built his reputation as Executive Chef at Atlas Bistro. He credits other valley restaurants including Binkley’s, Tarbell’s and Different Pointe of View as shaping his cooking philosophy. It wasn’t until he started teaching at Le Cordon Bleu that his philosophy made sense. “In order to teach you have to research and learn for yourself. This was the time period in my life that I really started to understand my approach to food.”

His philosophy is vegetable driven and believes Mother Nature is the “greatest menu writer”. “I approach each ingredient as to take as much care of it as possible. There is no ranking system in ingredients importance – The carrot is just as important as the caviar or lobster tail. I try to create the complexity of a dish from multiple simplistic items allowing each component of a dish to be pure and a direct representation of itself.”

Until Course is ready to open he will continue his in-home dining where he prepares 6-7 course meals. Cory loves the intimacy of cooking for people in their homes but the menu’s lack consistency so he felt a brick and mortar restaurant was needed. Course will be in the “Restaurant District” of East Shea Village on Shea Blvd. just east of Scottsdale Rd. For more information and to book Cory Oppold for an in home dining experience visit his website.