Kai is a new american fine-dining restaurant in Phoenix.
Editorially verified May 28, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: The grilled tribal buffalo tenderloin with cholla buds and scarlet runner bean chile.
Tip: Open Wednesday to Saturday only; the drive to Wild Horse Pass is about 30 minutes south of downtown.
Address: 5594 W Wild Horse Pass Blvd, Chandler, AZ 85226, Phoenix
FnB in Scottsdale is Charleen Badman's vegetable-forward room in Craftsman Court, where the chef won the 2019 James Beard Best Chef Southwest award.
Order: The braised leeks with mozzarella, mustard and a sunny-side egg, a Food and Wine top-ten dish.
Tip: The menu turns with the farms; Pavle Milic's all-Arizona wine list is the second reason to book.
Cafe Monarch in Old Town Scottsdale is a family-run tasting-menu room on a string-lit alley, serving a changing eight-course menu of small, refined plates.
Order: The chef's eight-course tasting, the deepest version of the kitchen's seasonal cooking.
Tip: The candlelit back alley is the seat to book; the menu is prix fixe only.
Quiessence at The Farm at South Mountain is Dustin Christofolo's seasonal tasting room, plating produce picked hours earlier from the on-site garden.
Order: The weekly tasting menu, built around whatever the garden cut that morning.
Tip: Set on a working farm off 32nd Street; book the patio in the cool months.
Different Pointe of View sits 1,800 feet up at the Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, a AAA Four Diamond room pairing American cooking with a wide skyline view.
Order: The multi-course tasting with wine pairings, timed for sunset over the city.
Tip: Request a window or terrace table at dusk; it is well north of downtown on 7th Street.
