MARCH 2025 16 with Chef Danielle Realmonte, of Mowry & Cotton thephoenician.com • 6000 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale In the Kitchen D anielle Realmonte grew up learning two things: success takes hard work, and baking was not in her future – even though wholesale bakeries had been in her family for generations. In high school, Realmonte dove headfirst into learning everything about the restaurant industry, climbing the ladder to the senior sous chef position and continuing to leave her mark at Mowry & Cotton. Where did you attend school? I grew up in Scottsdale and went to Desert Mountain High School. I also went to the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) in Mesa during my junior and senior years. I’d go to Desert Mountain for my core classes and get on the bus at 11:30 to go to Mesa for my electives, which were all based in cooking: knife skills, learning mother sauces, stuff like that. We went through basic, advanced, front of house and pastry courses, so it touched on all the aspects of a restaurant. EVIT was a precursor to culinary school? Exactly. I went to the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan in 2013. The chefs and instructors at EVIT had good relationships with a lot of Valley chefs so I ended up getting a job with Kevin Binkley, saving up money for a year and then heading to New York. I was 19 and felt like I’d grown up in a bubble – Scottsdale was the only city I knew. I went from going to Target where everyone turns their heads when you walk in, to Manhattan, where you could walk down the street naked and no one would bat an eye. It was a huge change for me. I have family in New Jersey and a few of my cousins were also going to school in the city, so that was fun. I was in culinary school, working full time and trying to stage as much as I could at places like Dovetail, WD-50 and Northern Spy Food Co. Are your parents in the industry? My grandfather on my dad’s side moved to the states from Sicily and worked at a bakery with his cousin in New Jersey, making 30 cents an hour – which, he was like, ‘This is unbelievable!’ He moved back to Sicily, married my grandmother, brought her back to New Jersey and opened his own restaurant. In the 60s the family moved to Arizona, and in the 80s my dad opened a bakery in the airpark area and a bagel shop in Tempe. From there, he opened Venezia Italian Bakery, which we owned from 2001-2008. My sister and I grew up in these bakeries. We would climb the pallets of flour and read our books at the top while my mom was doing paperwork. I learned a lot of hard work and career focus from my dad and his side of the family. My mom took over a little bookkeeping but was more a stay-at-home mom taking care of me and my sister, which was also amazing. Everyone in my family growing up was hardworking. Was there any point you thought you’d take over the bakery? I never had an interest in baking. I don’t know if it was too precise for me [ laughs ] but it was never something that crossed my mind. As I got older I wondered if my family thought I or one of my cousins would take over, but since they’d been in the business so long they were at a point where they were ready to move on. I was more focused on culinary school and savory foods. What’s the first thing you remember cooking? On Christmas Eve with my nonna, we used to do ‘the feast of the seven fishes.’ I was very lucky growing up that I had lots of good influence – and talented cooks – around. My nonna would cook stuff I’d never heard of… sardines always caught my attention. Once I was old enough to understand the process, I’d always ask if I could come over on Christmas Eve and help her cook. Where else have you worked? My first job was as a hostess at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria my sophomore year of high school. My junior year, I had a car and was a little more mobile. Kevin Binkley called EVIT asking if there were any students that were looking for work so I became a food runner, expediter and server at Café Bink from 2011-2013. Pre-culinary school is when I met Tandy Peterson. She had just taken over the chef position at the café at the time, and I thought she was just unreal. I had never worked with a woman in the industry before and seeing her at such a young age as the chef de cuisine was crazy. I graduated in 2014 and was able to work but was still trying to figure out what I was interested in. I was very confused in my first couple years – in school, I thought I wanted to do catering or private events – and then working my internship I realized that working in a kitchen was a cool rush. It drove me more to line work. I was always looking at the chefs and watching them come up with dishes and thinking, ‘Okay, how do I get to that point?’ What’s one thing that stuck with you during those early years in the industry? I was learning a lot and the people I was learning from never made me feel dumb for asking questions. One of my chefs at Forager’s in New York asked me to grab Christ Lutheran School Preschool - Grade 8 • www.clsphx.org LC-MS 3901 E. Indian School Rd., Phoenix | www.cclphoenix.org | (602) 955-4830 LOVE GROW SERVE IN-PERSON WORSHIP Traditional Worship 8:00am/10:45am Contemporary Worship 8:30am/10:30am Teaching Service 9:30am ONLINE WORSHIP Sunday @ 8:am/10:30am FB Live or CHRISTCHURCHPHX.ONLINE.CHURCH

17 MARCH 2025 three peppers from the walk-in cooler, and I came back with all wrong peppers. I didn’t want to ask which were which because I wanted it to seem like I knew what I was doing. I’ll never forget, the chef said to me, ‘No question is a stupid question and no one should ever make you feel like asking questions makes you stupid.’ He reminded me that these were the times it was important to ask questions because I was still learning. I remember that with some of the younger cooks I work with today. I remind myself how I felt when I was first starting and impart that wisdom on them. What positions have you held in the kitchen thus far? I started at The Phoenician in 2015 in a Cook 2 position, which is entry level. I was promoted to Cook 1 right before Mowry & Cotton opened in 2017. I was a lead line cook, then I took a chef de partie [supervisor] position. In 2021 I became the sous chef; in 2023 I became the senior sous chef. I oversee Mowry & Cotton, afternoon tea, in-room dining, the pool and Thirsty Camel. Who were Mowry & Cotton? The name of the restaurant comes from Western folklore about George Mowry and James Cotton, who were some of the first entrepreneurs in Phoenix. They opened a bar in the city and the floors were made of flipped- over glass bottles that were pushed into the ground. In one of our private dining rooms, we added bottles to the wall to carry on that tradition. Do you have a process in coming up with new dishes? We do changes with each season so that’s the first thing we identify. Obviously there are dishes that we leave alone because guests love them, so we’ll swap out a vegetable side, flatbread, a soup, switch up a fish or steak… ultimately I look at the menus, see what I’d like to change, write that down and then I collaborate with Executive Chef Richard Boyer – he approves the changes. It’s a trial and error process. What can guests find at the restaurant? Mowry’s focus is pickling, fermentation, bold flavors and char cooking. We have our classic items but also have fun with a few dishes. Right now we have an iberico pluma that comes with whipped sesame tofu, bok choy, miso kraut and pickled peanuts. The goal for me is trying to create something you can only get here. We try to stay current and keep up with trends but we don’t want to make something that you can get anywhere else. We want our dishes exclusive to us. Who are some other chefs that inspire you? Tandy Peterson is my mentor. I’ve learned so much from her. She’s so fearless and sure of herself. Confidence has been a problem of mine for a long time and when I first came here I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I didn’t have too many goals; I was just going with the motion because I didn’t feel like I was good enough. I put all of this out there to Tandy and she took me under her wing. She saw my potential and gave me everything I needed to be successful in this position. Watching her made me be the chef I am today. Was there a recipe you came up with that you thought would be amazing and it…was not? There have been quite a few of those! But I think that’s good, because it shows you that your tastes are not the only ones that matter. I try to use those as growing experiences. Recently I did this beautiful radish carpaccio that I thought was going to be well received and my chef was like, ‘no one likes radish that much.’ [ laughs ]. But these ‘challenges’ make you stronger, make you think a little differently. What’s your favorite Arcadia restaurant? I love Vecina and I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about Santo. Little Woody’s is my favorite bar in the area. Also, not in Arcadia, but Valentine is one of my favorite restaurants in the Valley. What’s next for Chef Realmonte? Focusing on being the best chef I can be. Grow my skills, learn something every day, master the role I’m currently in. I’m excited to grow and support my cooks and staff. I’ll never forget, the chef said to me, ‘No question is a stupid question and no one should ever make you feel like asking questions makes you stupid.’ 35 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE CHARLES SIDI REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL Charles@TheBrokery.com | 480.330.6506 CharlesSidi.com l o v e a r c a d i a l i v i n g ™