Fat Ox: Chef Matt Carter’s vision of the modern Italian dining experience
By Terrance Thornton | Digital Free Press
A focus toward dedication, quality and consistency are key ingredients to all of his successful, iconic restaurants found in the heart of the Valley of the Sun.
“When we opened this restaurant about seven years ago now, I really wanted to bring a little bit more traditional Italian dining experience to the Scottsdale and Phoenix restaurant scene,” Chef Matt Carter, founder of the Fat Ox, told the Digital Free Press in a July 31 phone interview. “I am born and raised here in Phoenix, so this place matters to me — my grandparents used to take me here when I was growing up when it was The Quilted Bear — I am trying to bring in something I don’t think necessarily exists here.”
Chef Carter is a celebrated Scottsdale star of culinary who owns and runs a handful of iconic eateries including:
- Zinc Bistro at 15034 N. Scottsdale Road.
- The Mission Old Town at 3815 N. Brown Ave.
- The Mission Kierland at 7122 E. Greenway Road.
- Fat Ox at 6316 N. Scottsdale Road.
The Fat Ox, which is found at the edge of the Town of Paradise Valley along Scottsdale Road, is a dining experience tailored to offer patrons a taste of modern Italian cuisine.
“I joke that I opened this restaurant just so I can make pasta,” Chef Carter said. “I wanted the comfort of a family style Italian restaurant but still focused and clean on presentation and experience. It is a little bit more paced as we have the menu set for a four course experience from a true Italian menu — it’s not just a tour of pasta.”
The kitchen at Fat Ox is a quiet, calculated symphony focused on creating daily masterpieces of dough, protein and pastry.
“I could have one or two running at any time,” Chef Carter said of his menu shifts focused on new weekly pasta dishes. “But I wanted a place that was more about pasta — they are not meant to be your whole meal — I am not saying they are not full portions, they are, but you don’t have to just eat one pasta dish here. I really like the idea of communal dining.”
The lifeblood of any restaurant pumps through the heart of the kitchen and during the morning hours of Thursday, Aug. 1 preparing for that night’s service was:
- David Ray, executive chef at Fat OX
- Joshua NesSmith, pasta chef at Fax OX
- Martin Napeahi, pasta chef at Fax OX
Fat Ox: Chef Matt Carter’s vision of the modern Italian dining experience
Fat Ox offers two classic dishes at all times made from scratch highlighting modern Italian cuisine:
- The GARGANELLI pasta with black truffle butter, speck, Parmesan as ingredients; and the RADIATORI ALLA BUTTERA with cured pork sugo, broccolini, tomato, burrata, salsa verde as ingredients.
Chef Carter says patrons can expect a modern Italian dining experience — not a modern Italian American experience.
“It is an interesting kind of thought process or thought experiment at times,” he said of introducing new dishes to the Fat OX repertoire. “I say that from the pandemic the restaurant scene here in the Valley has evolved over these past few years, people are just versed more. That is fantastic because that helps us elevate the experience they are looking for.”
But having said that, finding a balance to serve well the devout fans of FX’s The Bear and Food Network aficionados with the pallet of everyday restaurant goers, is a delicate balance.
“They do have different expectations, when I write a menu I really do have to look at that and take that into consideration,” he said offering a menu with items approachable for both novice and foodie.
“We need to a place for a husband and wife on a date night and for a family of four to come in and enjoy a family meal,” he said. “But no matter what pasta dishes still have three basic ingredients — there are plenty of people who don’t understand that.”
What can separate one restaurant from another? Ingredients, Chef Carter says.
“Product is the No. 1 factor and this is from proteins to cured meats from Italy,” he said of the Fat Ox’s dedication to quality ingredients that he says have now become available as supply chain struggles from the COVID-19 pandemic have finally subsided.
“We are back to that, working with great proteins.”
Chef Carter also says a focus of his presentation is on the plating of all dishes.
“Plating is a big deal but anyone who has an Instagram account can stay on trend nowadays,” he pointed out that he and his leadership team are regular watchers of culinary influencers, local and abroad.
“We want this place to be special and we hoped that we have the longevity of The Quilted Bear. It is just a constant upkeep and it is not just the menu — we are doing cocktail dinners… My chefs and I will do something different to keep our brand fresh, but coming up with those things constantly is not a reinvention but rather a reaffirmation of who we are.”
