Nook Kitchen will open its second location in downtown Phoenix early next year in the newly renovated Professional Building, now home to the Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix Downtown.
The new downtown location differs from Nook’s first location in Arcadia, which opened in October 2013, featuring a more upscale and “swanky” feel, owners Frank Vairo and Erin Brown said.
“They were an obvious choice for us,” said Michelle Davis, general manager at the new Hilton Garden Inn. “Their concept of delivering good food in a trendy but approachable manner, which is kind of our brand as well.”
Nook Kitchen will serve as the primary source of food at the hotel for lunch and dinner, Davis said.
“We didn’t want to have the typical hotel restaurant,” Davis said. “We wanted a local flare.”
Nook takes pride in being that “local flare.” Vairo said Nook is the best of everything corporate and the best of everything mom-and-pop.
“We will wait on you hand and foot, but by the end, we will be hugging you goodbye,” Vairo said.
There is something for everyone in chef Nick LaRosa’s “scratch-based kitchen,” Vairo said. He added that while making the bread, mozzarella and sauce all from scratch, Nook values its local vendors to provide all the menu items.
Related: Historic ‘Professional Building’ to retain original elements during remodeling
Vairo said the new location will give LaRosa the opportunity to expand the menu and show his creativity with more “foodie”-style dishes. He said Nook calls it “neighborhood culinary without restriction.”
“We aren’t fine dining, we are fun dining,” Vairo said.
The new downtown location, nicknamed the “grown-up Nook” by Vairo, will feature an octagon-shaped bar — one of very few in Phoenix — a outdoor patio on Central Avenue and Monroe Street, an “attention-getter” wine cooler showpiece and a fully visible kitchen from both inside the restaurant and outside on Monroe, Brown said.
The shape of the bar will allow each group to sit at one corner turned toward each other, making the whole bar interactive, Vairo said.
“The design will always reflect the neighborhood,” Brown added.
The new hotel and restaurant will occupy the historic Professional Building, a 1932 art-deco building. Davis said the hotel is going to be unique because it was not just a new business deal — it was also a restoration project.
This idea of bringing a historic building back to life and participating the “downtown renaissance” only made the decision to expand easier, Brown said.
“We love the community and we want to contribute to the community in a positive way,” she said.
Nook is a family-owned business that takes pride in its unique and comfortable environment, Vairo said.
The owners’ goal is to grow Nook as a family and someday pass the business down to their children, Brown said.
One of the reasons the Hilton chose Nook — it’s the only restaurant within the hotel — was because the owners were “good people,” Davis said.
“We just wanted to put our imprint on Arizona,” Vairo said.
Contact the reporter at sloane.mcgowan@asu.edu
