Celebrity chef Cory Oppold, former executive chef of Atlas Bistro and 2019 "Chopped" champion, has opened Course, a fine dining restaurant in Scottsdale.
Located at the Village at Shea, the restaurant is minimalist in decor, with muted grays and whites accented with alder, birch and hints of walnut. Paintings of Anthony Bourdain, Elvis Presley and Jackie Onassis by mixed media portrait artist Andrew Cotton will soon dress up the wall behind the chef's table.
The open kitchen provides the 26-seat interior dining room with a view of the team at work. Outside, a patio will accommodate 36. According to co-owner Christian Pezzuto, once complete, the exterior space will have a secret garden feel, enclosed in greenery, with a retractable awning.
The clean lines and pared-down design are meant to keep the attention on the food — a five- and 10-course dinner menu that will change seasonally, plus a six-course brunch.
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A graduate of Scottsdale Culinary Institute, Oppold's experience ranges from Binkley's to L'Auberge, Tarbell's and Atlas Bistro. He left Atlas Bistro during the pandemic in 2020 to focus on his in-home dining business called Simmer Down and later, his high-end catering business, Course.
At a private dinner at a California vineyard in 2022, he met brothers Brett and Christian Pezzuto. They loved his cuisine and offered to help him open a restaurant.
"I'm from Chicago, and his food was comparable to Michelin-starred chefs there," said Christian Pezzuto, a real estate broker, attorney and investor. "Plus, he grew up on a dairy farm in Illinois and has a work ethic you don't come by often."
"I thought they were joking," Oppold said. "They were drinking at a wine dinner. But when they called me two days later to set up a meeting, I was like, OK. It's actually serious." A year after that conversation, the restaurant opened in May with an all-star crew behind the line.
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Oppold brought a powerful team of chefs with him
Oppold designs the menus, drawing inspiration from seasonal vegetables and, occasionally, his Midwestern background. He leads a team of six along with sous chefLuis Soto, who's been with Oppold since the Atlas days. "We don't even have to talk anymore as we work," Oppold said.
Pastry chef Antonia Kane is responsible for bread and desserts. Her resume includes stints at James Beard Award-winning Tartine bakery in San Francisco and Valentine restaurant in Phoenix.
Wine pairings and the co*cktail menu are curated by Nicholas Padua. The Hawaiian-born manager and sommelier brings a wealth of experience from his time at the Fairmont Princess, Four Seasons in Scottsdale, Tarbell's and, most recently, as The Americano's beverage director.
For co*cktails, Padua takes inspiration from seasonal ingredients, making use of herbaceous and citrus flavors on the spring menu to "evoke the feeling of lounging poolside or being on an Island vacation." Some drinks have a more savory tone, like the Gold, made with foie gras “gold," rendered foie gras fat, and Ron Zacapa XO, rested in old French Cognac barrels.
"Now what pairs best with foie gras? Sauternes! Sauternes and a touch of honey add just the right sweetness needed to balance out the silky viscosity of this co*cktail," Padua explained. "It is topped with a blanket of gold leaf and a dusting of foie gras powder as its name is reminiscent of the 1849 Gold Rush, so is the luxurious price point of $49."
What's on the menu at Course?
Dinner, served Thursday to Saturday, consists of 10 courses and is priced at $190. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, there is a five-course option for $135. Wine pairings are available for $125 for the 10-course pairing and $85 for the five-course meal.
Padua pairs wines to "complement the already elevated cuisine style of chef Cory." For the smoked sturgeon amuse bouche made with sturgeon rillette, lemon creme fraiche and caviar, he selected Drapier Cuvee carte d'Or Brut, "a rich pinot noir-driven Champagne with fine, tiny bubbles that float the caviar across the palate."
Oppold is very particular about his plates. Vegetable-forward dishes are presented as colorful disks, wheels and columns meant to keep the eyes moving. Not one element is out of place. He makes sure of it. After plating, it's not unusual for him to change the position of garnish because it wasn't how he wanted it.
This precision shows in the debut 10-course menu, which includes painstakingly composed dishes like forms of cucumber: orange arctic char topped with ribbons of cucumber, cucumber relish and cucumber juice granita, dollops of creme fraiche and sorrel puree.
His playful side comes out with the oyster course: charred romaine lettuce topped with oyster mushrooms and chicken oysters fried and glazed in honey mustard set atop smoked oyster veloute.
"For the ribeye savory course, we were able to get some of the last 2017 vintage of Emerson Brown, Oakville," Padua said of the exclusive to Course pairing.
For dessert, Kane created a velvety candycap mushroom and honey ice cream, with a flavor not unlike maple, plated with rounds of chocolate Bavarian cream and topped with honeycomb candy, white chocolate pearls and freeze-dried raspberries and a raspberry and rhubarb jam-filled beignet.
Morning Would will serve a brunch-tasting menu
Starting May 28, the restaurant will also offer a six-course brunch menu, which Oppold says will change only two or three times a year, because he wants to "play with the classic traditional items."
Called Morning Would, Oppold describes the brunch concept as Course's "immature sibling" where guests can expect bottomless mimosa options, classic co*cktails, '80s and '90s music and a more relaxed vibe.
Brunch is priced at $75 and will include sophisticated plays on classic breakfast dishes like country fried steak, bagel and lox, scrambled eggs and ham and even a milk and cereal course. Though, Oppold warns that none of it will look like what you grew up with.
How to visit Course restaurant
The grand opening will take place on May 11 at 5 p.m.
Reservations are recommended and are available via courserestaurantaz.com. The bar is currently open for walk-ins.
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 5-11 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Closed on Monday.
Details: 7366 E. Shea Blvd., Suite 106, Scottsdale. 480-687-0491, courserestaurantaz.com.
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