Over a year in the making, a new restaurant, The Clever Koi, is set to open later this month with a menu that features modern Asian food and drink.
For co-owners and chefs Jared Porter and Joe Absolor, the idea for the restaurant has been a long time coming.
“A lot of it came about with the thought of ‘what’s not represented in the city right now,’” Porter said.
The Clever Koi is still in construction on Central Avenue, just North of Indian School Road. Its menu will feature modern, playful approaches to traditional Asian dishes such as steamed buns, noodle entrees and even dumplings that are made in-house.
Though Porter said Sochu House in Phoenix and Umami in Tempe will be potential competitors, he relies on a unique blend of cultures represented in the menu to distinguish The Clever Koi from similar restaurants.
“We’re not trying to compete with the mom and pop Chinese restaurants,” Porter said. “We want to be completely one-off.”
Along with co-owners Nicholas Campisano and Joshua James, Porter and Absolor came up with the idea for The Clever Koi while working at The Parlor Pizzeria, located on Camelback Road near Eighteenth Street.
Porter has held positions at numerous dining establishments including La Grande Orange and Olive & Ivy and was featured in Food Network Magazine and other big-name publications.
Absolor was a student at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Scottsdale, a chef at Prado at the Montelucia and an opening team member for The Parlor Pizzeria.
“If I wouldn’t have had certain experiences over the last ten years that I’ve had, I think that this operation would be far more difficult, and it would also cost us a lot more money,” Porter said. “I’ve been super lucky to be able to be a part of ground-up openings.”
The team has had the opportunity to add their own creativity as they’ve worked to create this restaurant from the ground up.
“It’s a whole learning process,” Absolor said. “I really didn’t have an appreciation for when you open a restaurant and you’re really hands-on.”
They chose Central Phoenix specifically to capitalize on the influx of people who are passionate about unique food. In addition, the restaurant’s proximity to the light rail makes it easily accessible to people throughout Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa.
“We found the right spot, pulled the trigger and went for it,” Porter said.
With a happy hour that features dishes for $5, the team aims to be accommodating for everybody.
General Manager Nicholas Campisano, who has owned and operated lounges across Southern California and Arizona, emphasizes the affordability of the restaurant for families and students.
“We’re making a lot of this stuff in house, and with that is a very high quality type of food,” Campisano said. “But, we wanted to make it to where the college kids could come in and eat a noodle bowl and have it be the most amazing noodle bowl you’ve ever had but still not hurt the pockets.”
Bar Manager Joshua James said the American and Italian influence in some of the dishes contributes to the progressive nature of the restaurant.
“The number one thing that sets us apart from other restaurants is that we have a broader scope of menu,“ James said.
The team traveled around the country together and accumulated the ideas of their favorite restaurants as they created the palette for The Clever Koi.
“We started taking bits and pieces of different concepts and foods we loved and started developing them into one singular idea,” James said. “We admire so many people in this business, and I think that’s a big part of any food start-up.”
A number of dishes on the menu pay homage to the team’s favorite restaurants, such as “Mission Chinese Pastrami” which is a play on the pastrami from Mission Chinese in New York City.
The majority of the teams’ start-up money comes from private investors that it has worked for over the past year.
“We’ve had to put a very creative business plan together – something that’s original because this isn’t the easiest thing for people to invest in,” Porter said. “There have been plenty of times where we thought we had all of our funding and people just drop out. It can be very discouraging, but you’ve got to stay the course if you want it.”
Contact reporter at sajarvis@asu.edu
