Jose Garces to Arizona
He'll open a variation of Distrito, plus run the food-and-beverage service at a new hotel in Scottsdale.
Chef Jose Garces is branching out and heading west again this fall to run the food-and-beverage operations at the Drinkwater, a forthcoming hotel in the Old Town section of Scottsdale, Ariz.
Philly's Iron Chef will open a version of his West Philly joint Distrito, a frontier-theme bar called The Saloon, and Garces Trading Company Coffee To-Go. He also will run room service and poolside food for the hoteliers, the Sydell Group, which owns the Ace Hotels in New York City and Palm Springs, Calif.
Longtime collaborator Jun Aizaki of Crème Design got the call to design Distrito, whose margarita bar will have more than 100 varieties of tequila.
Distrito's menu will include barbacoa, or barbecue, cooked in a pit a in patio kitchen.
Garces' holdings include Philly's Amada, Tinto, Distrito, Garces Trading Company, Village Whiskey, Chifa, and JG Domestic, plus the Guapos Tacos food truck, as well as Chicago's Mercat a la Planxa.