Fogon Mexican Eatery, Scottsdale

Daniel Correa grew up in Mexico City watching his mother and grandmother cook meals on the grill. He loved to watch them work, feeling that it added a more personal touch to the food he ate. When designing Fogon Mexican Eatery, he wanted his customers to feel the same way. So, he installed custom grill stations throughout the restaurant. From them, chefs cook in front of guests the very recipes Correa’s mother and grandmother first created many years ago. Grilled chicken breast, shrimp, mahi mahi, zucchini, and onions travel from grill to plate, topped with housemade sauces crafted with local and imported Mexican chilies, then wrapped in a burrito or tucked into a taco.

Just as Correa decorated his menu with traditional Mexican cuisine, so too has Fogon been filled with the works of authentic Mexican artisans. A hand-painted mural depicting a woman gathering calla lilies is crafted with oven-fired talavera tiles, themselves made in Mexico. Out on the patio, a modern fire pit and a step-pyramidal fountain battle for top honors like a flame-spitting dragon wrestling a water-gurgling ziggurat.