The Larder + The Delta is reinventing southern food through Arizona products

The Larder + The Delta is reinventing southern food as we know it by creating a movement in a modern space and making the best of Arizonan ingredients with an imaginative changing menu.

Evolved from chef and owner Stephen Jones, The Larder + The Delta isn’t your typical soul food. In fact, Jones is quick to note that it isn’t a soul food restaurant at all. Instead, the food “tells a story” of the south through Arizona products.

“We interpret different dishes a certain way,” he says. “It goes back to the slave trade and slavery.”

Jones describes how slaves were never given any protein and had to “make do” with what they had which oftentimes, resulted in the use of tubular vegetables, peanuts, seeds and nuts. That’s a theme The Larder + The Delta pays homage to in all of their dishes.

The vegetable-focused restaurant offers unique plates like the Hoppin’ John made with heirloom rice and Sea Island field peas.

Jones says that what he wants people to leave with when visiting his restaurant, is a whole different “interpretation or expectation of what southern food is.”

Guest Laurie King, an education specialist, beams when talking about The Larder + The Delta.

“I had the biscuits and gravy, and it was just incredible,” she says. When asked about the biscuits, King only had great things to say. “It was perfect. It was crispy on the bottom, fluffy, and flavorful. It was phenomenal.”

Switching things up, the restaurant also has a wide range of mixed drinks and cocktails to compliment their dishes.

Guest Star Morrison, a business owner, indulged in “Rosemary’s Baby,” a sweet cocktail that includes the fragrant evergreen herb.

“The flavor was amazing,” she expressed. “It was the perfect balance of sweetness and alcohol.”

Since the recording of the episode The Larder + The Delta temporarily closed, before reopening in a new Phoenix location.