Kembara, a new restaurant from acclaimed chef Angelo Sosa, is now open in Phoenix. The latest project from Chef Sosa and long-time partner and restaurant developer Mark Stone, Kembara is a reflection of both Chef Sosa’s and Stone’s culinary odysseys traveling, cooking, and tasting across the broad continent of Asia throughout their careers, pulling inspiration from Chiang Mai to Hanoi to Tokyo to Penang and beyond, with a fresh interpretation on beloved recipes that simultaneously honors the lineage and legacies of generational dishes. For more information visit https://www.kembaradesertridge.com/
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Of course, we all love finding a good restaurant here in town and sometimes we look out and
00:06 find one that leaves us wanting more and guess what?
00:09 We have it.
00:10 It's called Kambara.
00:11 Check it out.
00:15 Chef Angelo, another amazing creation of a restaurant here at the JW Marriott at Desert
00:32 Ridge and I'll tell you, this is awesome.
00:34 The first time we met, you were in the garden because you were launching Tia Carmen, which
00:38 is actually a garden-to-table type of restaurant.
00:42 Everything's done right here.
00:43 100% and you should see the garden now.
00:45 We're here in Kambara, Asian street food.
00:47 My business partner and I, we traveled.
00:49 Well, first we have such a love for Asian culture food.
00:53 Spent many years traveling there for this concept, Kambara, which the word means to
00:59 seek and discover.
01:00 So essentially, that's what we did.
01:01 We traveled through Chiang Mai, through to Bangkok, to Penang, to Phu Quoc, to Hanoi,
01:07 to all these amazing Asian places and then we spent about six months doing recipe development
01:12 to create these amazing.
01:13 We make our own curry, our own sambal, our own dumplings, our own noodles.
01:18 Oh my gosh.
01:19 And each part of this restaurant has a little bit of that culture in there.
01:23 I know behind us, we're looking at graffiti walls and stuff like that.
01:25 Well, you're in Tokyo, right?
01:27 And then we have Chinese lanterns.
01:28 You're in Shanghai, you're in Beijing.
01:30 As you walk through this beautiful space that Thomas Shoots, a very dear friend and really
01:34 just humble designer, created this beautiful oasis for us.
01:38 Oh my gosh.
01:39 Well, I know this is beautiful to take a look at.
01:41 And of course, the food is beautiful to taste.
01:44 So let's go make some.
01:45 All right, let's do it.
01:46 Angela, I love it.
01:47 We're back in your little area here where you're going to make us what?
01:54 We're going to make, so just think of a chicken salad, but a Thai chicken salad.
01:58 It's called Lab.
01:59 L-A-R-B.
02:00 Don't pronounce the R. Lab.
02:02 Lab.
02:03 Yeah, like I'm going to lab you.
02:05 Lab.
02:06 All right.
02:07 So let's get started.
02:08 What do we got?
02:09 What we got is we have this beautiful, unctuous, coarse ground chicken.
02:14 So we have it mixed with a little lime juice, some galangal, some lemongrass.
02:20 So next we're going to go, we're going to add some rice powder.
02:23 So it's really cool when you think of Southeast Asia, obviously there's an abundance of rice.
02:28 So we made this powder of rice, galangal, lemongrass.
02:32 We're going to add this to our chicken mixture.
02:34 Do you like spice?
02:35 I do.
02:36 Not too spicy though.
02:37 So when you're camping, you add a little spice to your dishes?
02:40 Of course, yes.
02:41 In all my little dishes I'm starting to.
02:42 We're going to mix the chicken with the chili.
02:45 And if you notice, I just broke the chili.
02:47 So I just want, it's almost like a time capsule.
02:50 I want that spice to just release so softly.
02:53 So could you do something please?
02:55 What would you like me to do?
02:56 Great.
02:57 Take some herbs.
02:58 Okay.
02:59 Then you're going to take some, yeah, that's good.
03:00 Some mint.
03:01 Some mint.
03:02 Then we're going to take some cilantro.
03:03 Oh, add some scallion.
03:04 Some scallions.
03:05 All right.
03:06 Okay.
03:07 So we're going to just really take this to the next level.
03:09 We have a lime juice, fish sauce, palm sugar, vinaigrette.
03:12 We're going to just dress the chicken.
03:16 I like that.
03:17 Okay.
03:18 So what we're going to do here, what's really beautiful, look at the plate.
03:21 So the crackling of the plate is supposed to be symbolic of when we're traveling through
03:26 Asia, we saw the facades of the buildings.
03:29 So they were aged, right?
03:31 So this is representative of Thai imperial cuisine.
03:35 So we have the beautiful colors of the crackling of the plate, the purple thinly shaved cabbage.
03:42 And I'm going to have you do some more work after this.
03:45 So then next, what we're going to do here is we're going to just put a little bit more
03:50 of the toasted rice.
03:51 Oh, my goodness.
03:52 We're going to add some Persian cured cucumbers here, just for that beautiful contrast of
04:00 textures.
04:01 When you're eating this, I want you to feel seduced.
04:03 I want to, you know, it's all about time and place.
04:05 And I want you to feel transported that you're in the streets of Bangkok.
04:09 I like this.
04:10 Oh, my goodness.
04:11 Okay, as you're finishing up, this is not the only thing that's on the menu, because
04:13 there's a lot on the menu, but one that you're very proud of.
04:16 Where's Chef Penny?
04:17 Chef Penny, bring it in, bring it in.
04:19 Chef Penny, bring this in.
04:20 Wow, you can be a chef.
04:21 You're so, wow.
04:22 Listen, I've watched enough, of course, of, you know, cooking shows.
04:26 I need you to come and expedite tonight.
04:28 So this is our amazing chef, Chef Penny.
04:30 Oh, my goodness.
04:31 So what did Chef Penny bring us out?
04:33 So we have what's called the beef rangdang, and you're going to find this in Malaysia.
04:37 This is my interpretation.
04:38 So it's beautiful, succulent Australian Wagyu, okay?
04:42 And we mix lemongrass, ginger, some chilies in there, and some lime leaf.
04:47 All right, we got the meals here.
04:49 Let's go check out the bar.
04:55 We got two great dishes here, and you can't come here without having a great cocktail.
05:00 And you guys have a great selection of Asian whiskey and gin and all kinds of drinks here.
05:06 Not only a great one, one of the largest in the country.
05:10 Isn't that super cool?
05:11 That's awesome.
05:12 Japanese whiskey, one of the largest in the country.
05:13 Here we have a beautiful takeoff of a martini, right?
05:17 There's gin, Japanese gin, Japanese vermouth, and some umami.
05:22 This is going to pair so beautifully with that lob salad, and Christopher here is going
05:26 to make what's called the sympathizer.
05:30 And this is kind of taken an old-fashioned way, right?
05:43 That's right.
05:44 Oh my goodness.
05:45 Isn't that gorgeous?
05:46 Chef, I thank you again for bringing me into another one of your creations here at the
05:49 JW Marriott Desert Ridge.
05:51 You got to come check it out.
05:52 And you got teakarma, and now?
05:55 Kumbara.
05:56 Kumbara.
05:57 And we're going to have you here at both of them.
05:58 I like it.
05:59 All right.
06:00 You got to check it out, people.
06:00 Thank you.
06:01 Thank you.
06:01 Thank you.
06:01 Thank you.
06:02 Thank you.
06:02 (bell chimes)
06:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]