Chef Richard Blais opens first restaurants in Arizona

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James Beard® Award-nominated and celebrity Chef Richard Blais has just opened his first restaurants in Arizona. He has partnered with Grand Hyatt Scottsdale resort on all of their food and beverage concepts at the property.

His new restaurants there include La Zozzona, which translates to “messy delicious” in Italian. Chef Blais is widely recognized from Bravo’s “Top Chef” Series as the winner of the inaugural “Top Chef All-Stars.”

“It’s cool being a celebrity chef.”

The TV personality visited “Arizona Horizon” this week to talk about his new restaurants, and his reputation as a celeb chef known for his appearances on reality cooking shows.

“It’s cool being a celebrity chef, it really is,” he told Ted Simons. “I mean, I’m just a cook. And for people to come up, recognize you, know you from this show or that show, to wanna take pictures, selfies, whatever it is, get an autograph signed. To me, it’s always just mind blowing because my beginnings were very humble and, you know, fast food, to be honest.”

Humble beginnings

Chef Blais filled Simons in on his beginnings as a cook at McDonalds. “I did start at McDonald’s, yes, and, you know, fast forward 20 years,” he said. “It really was like an incredible moment to think that, you know, when I was 15, I was the poissonnier at a McDonald’s, which means fish cook in French.”

Chef Blais is the author of three cookbooks: “Try This at Home,” “So Good” and “Plant Forward,” which he co-wrote with his wife, Jazmin. Currently, he co-hosts FOX’s “Next Level Chef” with Gordon Ramsay and Nyesha Arrington.

A chef’s journey

Previously, Chef Blais graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York. He owns and operates Trail Blais, a culinary consulting group that has designed and launched popular eateries across the country.

Most recently he opened Ember & Rye in Carlsbad, California, and Four Flamingos in Orlando, Florida, with the Xenia Group and Hyatt Hotels. He is also the Culinary Director for VIP Dining at the San Diego Symphony’s performance space, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.

Blais-ing a culinary trail in Arizona

Now Chef Blais is turning his attention to Arizona. He’s teaming up with the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale resort to open several new dining concepts.

One of those concepts is called La Zozzona, which translates to “messy delicious” in Italian. The restaurant, which is the Chef’s first in Arizona, opened in November. The menu is inspired by Chef Blais’ extensive travels throughout the cities and countryside of Italy. The food offerings incorporate local ingredients from the Southwest. Come hungry! The menu features a selection of housemade pastas influenced by the trattorias of Rome, wood-fired steaks that pay homage to Florence and Tuscany, and more. 

Another restaurant is called Tiki Taka. The eatery, which opened January 7, serves tapas-style dishes inspired by Japanese and Spanish cultures. Menu items there include hamachi pizza, blistered shishito, beef bacon-wrapped dates and chorizo gyoza.

Richard Blais, Celebrity Chef, Restaurateur

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