Newly Opened Restaurant Bar Cena by Cast Iron Concepts

CW7 Arizona

The newly opened Bar Cena is the latest drinking and dining establishment opened by Cast Iron Concepts. Under the direction of Owner Dom Ruggiero, known for his other popular restaurants Hush Public House (which resides next door to Bar Cena) and Fire at Will, the restaurant features a number of small plates boasting French, Italian and Spanish influences along with a vibrant craft cocktail program.   Hush General Manager Regina Di Salvo and Executive Chef Alex Harrison were instrumental in spearheading the development of Bar Cena while Chef de Cuisine Zack Myers led the charge on the creation of the menu, which encourages diners to select an array of small plates, each with their own unique, seasonal flavors.   The Muffuletta Croquettes dish, for example, features finocchiona, provolone, sesame seed and fennel olive salad, evoking traditional flavors of Tuscany. The pate en croute features pork shoulder, duck, pistachio, cranberry, port and Dijon, celebrating the unique tastes of this French-inspired starter.   Ruggiero is available for news story interviews and television segments during which he can further discuss the concept behind Bar Cena while preparing and demonstrating these dishes and other highlights from the menu for visual presentation.   For more, visit barcenascottsdale.com

Transcript

00:00 All right, hey, have you been looking for a new restaurant to try in Scottsdale?

00:03 We've got you covered from craft cocktails to chef-driven small plates.

00:07 This is the hot spot that will be on your next place to go.

00:11 Dom, how awesome is this? Your third creation.

00:29 Yes, sir.

00:30 Is right here in North Scottsdale. So let's first talk about the, of course,

00:34 the concept and how many different places you have.

00:36 Sure. So we're at Barcena in North Scottsdale. It's right next to our original location,

00:42 Hush Public House, just off Scottsdale and Thunderbird. We also own Fire at Will on Tatum and Shea.

00:48 Yeah. Now I love that each place is going to be a little different, but still have

00:52 your chef ability, the flair there, which is really nice. So this new place, Barcena.

00:57 So again, tell me a little bit about what the theme is.

01:01 So for this place, we kind of went with a European style flair with the food,

01:07 something you'd find, you know, walking down the street in Barcelona or Rome.

01:12 The foods kind of got that inflection from it, as well as lots of shared plates and a few entrees

01:20 to match up with our really innovative cocktail list.

01:23 Yeah. And I like, and the atmosphere is really cool. Like you literally, when you step in here,

01:26 I feel like I'm in another country, you know, like you said, Spain, that kind of feel and everything.

01:32 So let's talk the dishes now. What do we got down there?

01:35 So we have our endive and frisee salad with granny smith apple, point raised blue cheese,

01:41 toasted walnuts and a roasted shallot vinaigrette.

01:44 Oh my gosh. All right. Then up here.

01:45 Here we have our mussels escabeche. So it's a cold pickled mussel with house-made aioli

01:52 and grilled noble bread.

01:53 Oh my goodness. All right. You said bread, the bread right there.

01:56 So this is our house-made popover that we serve with cachoe pepe butter.

02:00 Oh my gosh.

02:01 Number one seller.

02:02 Amazing. And you make that here in house?

02:03 Make it in house. Yeah.

02:04 Wow. How long does it take to make that?

02:06 Those go about an hour in the oven.

02:08 Wow. Oh, cool. Okay. Up front here.

02:10 This is for the vegans and vegetarians. This is our spicy marinated cucumber with whipped tofu,

02:16 house-made chili crunch, sesame and fresh herbs.

02:19 Oh, wow. Okay. Coming up here. This is so important here because we were talking,

02:23 you got to find the right people to make this right here.

02:25 Yep.

02:26 That is?

02:26 So this is our prime beef tenderloin steak tartare. This has capers, parmesan, extra virgin

02:34 olive oil. We make a beef fat aioli utilizing the tallow from local cattle. And then we garnish it

02:41 with a little bit of batarga, which is cured mullet roe. Give it a little salinity to it.

02:45 Again, served with grilled noble bread.

02:47 Okay. Down in front, seafood lovers.

02:48 One of our entrees. This is our pan-seared scallops with cream corn,

02:54 house-smoked bacon and scallions.

02:56 Oh, my gosh. Heaven. And then up here, this last dish.

03:00 And then this is our wild mushroom bolognese utilizing Sonoran pasta,

03:06 pappardelle, served with a little bit of parmesan and fresh parsley.

03:10 Wow. All right. Since we're down to this end, let's talk some cocktails here.

03:12 So we have our espresso martini that we have on nitro draft.

03:19 And then we like to always utilize local. So we have some cider cork, some big marble,

03:25 and then a really killer wine list, house-made cocktails made by our friends from Two Hands

03:31 down in Phoenix who own Highball. We've worked with them on all of our concepts.

03:36 Wow. This is so awesome coming into a new place that we definitely need,

03:39 because this is what we've been lacking, the kind of new feel around this area.

03:43 Yeah. We wanted to give something a little different. So you still have your traditional

03:46 dining, but we also have some lounge settings still full service. So that way you guys can get

03:52 a group together, sit on the couch, have some cocktails, nibble, or go for the full dining

03:56 experience and do dinner. I like it. Reservations or just walk in?

03:59 Both. There you go. I like it. There it is. All right. Tell them where it's located.

04:03 We are at 14202 North Scottsdale Road, Suite 165, just off Scottsdale and Thunderbird.

04:10 All right. Hey, Dom. Thanks, man. Thanks, man. This is awesome. This looks good.

04:13 [music]

04:24 [silence]

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