Wright bets on Roosevelt
Restaurateur Julian Wright is charging into downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row arts district with several openings planned in coming months.
Restaurateur Julian Wright and his company Fork & Dagger Hospitality are moving in to downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row arts district in a big way. • Wright owns the award-winning Tempe bar and restaurant Pedal Haus Brewery, along with its recently-opened outpost in Chandler and Mill Avenue bar Ted’s Refreshments. • But now, he plans to open make his mark on Phoenix. Wright will soon operate eight businesses throughout the Roosevelt Row arts district. • While the coronavirus pandemic has thrown extra hurdles in the path to opening and caused a couple of opening dates to be delayed, Wright was already committed to the new ventures as he signed the leases in 2019.
He now hopes to open or revamp most of the concepts between October 2020 and January 2021.
“It’s tricky with the COVID asterisk to everything,” he says. “We’re rolling with the punches.”
Soon downtown Phoenix will get its own location of Pedal Haus, but the plans don’t stop there. Wright plans to open another bar in October, a Japanese restaurant in December and transform a coffee shop in between.
He’s also taking over four existing food and beverage concepts: Josephine restaurant and its adjoining bar Coup De Grace, along with the Cambria Hotel’s restaurant Poppy and pool bar From The Rooftop.
“We might be a little nuts,” Wright says, laughing. “But as they say in poker, we are pot committed.”
Luckys bar: Expected October 2020
The first project on the docket is Luckys, a “dual-purpose bar,” Wright says.
Luckys will be located between Sazerac and FilmBar on Second Street and the inside will have a “vintage, neighborhood bar” vibe with a pool table, dart board and skee ball. The menu will include beer and cocktails.
The patio will take on a different feel. Complete with a 55-foot-long bocce court, the patio will feature a 70’s era camper that serves drinks and an Airstream trailer serving food with menu items such as tacos, loaded fries and sliders.
Luckys was originally scheduled to open in June 2020, but the opening date has been pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If health guidelines allow, Wright hopes to open at least the outside portion of the bar in October.
Sake Haus: Expected December 2020
Just down the street from Luckys, in the heart of Roosevelt Row, Wright will take over some of the prominent business space at the Monorchid building.
He plans to turn the front corner, which previously was home to The Dressing Room restaurant, into a Japanese sushi and cocktail restaurant called Sake Haus.
The small space will be “Tokyo Alley” themed, Wright says, explaining his vision of a “dark and cluttered space” with a menu of grilled skewers of meat and fish along with sushi and plates designed for sharing.
Because of the small space and shared food design, Sake Haus’ opening date is dependent on the current state of the pandemic, Wright says. But he hopes to open in December.
Pedal Haus Brewery: Expected March 2021
In the back of the same Monorchid building, a new location of Wright’s Pedal Haus will take up residence. The art gallery that currently occupies the space will stay in the south side of the building, Wright says, and the brewery will take up the north side.
There will be no actual brewing at the new location, but the award-winning beers will be brought in from Tempe. Wright hopes to open the downtown Phoenix location in March 2021.
With all of the expansion projects, Wright recently hired Jared Porter as the new director of culinary operations for Fork & Dagger Hospitality. Porter will oversee all things food-related for all of Wright’s concepts including creating new menus for the three Pedal Haus restaurants.
Customers can expect to see mainstay beers on tap along with a continued focus on pub food. There will be a variety of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free food options on the menu at the Phoenix location, Wright says.
As for joining the growing beer scene on Roosevelt Row, which includes Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company, The Theodore craft beer bar and newly opened Greenwood Brewing, Wright says he’s excited.
“The more the merrier as far as I’m concerned,” he says, “and for beer enthusiasts, the more they’re clustered, the better.”
Be Coffee will become Kahvi
Also in the same Monorchid building, Wright is taking over the Be Coffee cafe. Renaming the space Kahvi, the new version of the coffee shop will offer various coffee and tea options along with a full bar menu.
When the art gallery hosts events from live music to wedding receptions, the coffee shop will open to serve drinks as well, Wright says.
Along with his new food and beverage businesses, Wright plans to move Fork & Dagger’s offices to the upstairs space in the Monorchid building.
“We are hoping to create almost like a mini food hall,” Wright says. “It’ll be a little bit of a one stop shop.”
Wright hopes customers will grab a drink at the bar at Kahvi while waiting for a table at Sake Haus after meeting friends for a beer at Pedal Haus or one of the neighboring breweries.
After owning businesses in Tempe for years and recently setting up shop in Chandler, opening businesses in downtown Phoenix has been part of the plan for a while, Wright says.
“I really like the vibe and the feel with the community,” he says. “It seems to be developing into a restaurant, brewery, bar, entertainment district.”
Taking over Josephine and Coup de Grace
Part of the recent restaurant boom in the area included the addition of Josephine, a swanky all black-painted restaurant that opened a block north of the Monorchid building in January.
Wright will now take over the restaurant from downtown Phoenix developer True North Studio, although the previous owner is still a minority partner in the business and owns the building. Aside from a few minor changes, Wright plans to leave Josephine largely as is.
He has big plans, however, for the bar in the back. Through the back patio area at Josephine, customers could enjoy a drink at the connected bar, Coup De Grâce.
Wright plans to transform the space into a stand-alone bar with a main entrance off the alley. The new concept doesn’t yet have a name, but is planned to be a “Mexican-Caribbean” outdoor bar filled with tropical plants, Wright says.
Changes planned at the Cambria hotel
If all of those projects don’t seem like enough, Wright is also taking over some of the food and drink options at the recently opened Cambria Hotel.
He is taking over operations and will be a majority partner along with True North at the hotel’s restaurant, Poppy and the pool bar that overlooks the city, From The Rooftop.
Wright plans to keep the spaces mostly as they are aside from a change to seating, he says. Poppy’s outdoor patio that currently functions as an extension of the restaurant will get more of a lounge feel with tables switched out for lounge furniture.
Wright also plans to “really lean into brunch” at Poppy, he says.
A few floors up, Wright plans to add more bar seating to From The Rooftop, as well as more lounge areas around the shallow pool.
Wright plans to complete all changes and openings by early 2021.