Famed Valley chef/restaurateur, Aaron May, has worked inside the restaurant industry since he was 15 years old. However, it wasn’t until he discovered the joys of a certain sun-bleached, small-plate-loving culinary scene located thousands of miles from home, that May discovered his muse.

Yes, chef May first fell in love with Spanish-style cuisine 10 years ago while living on the French side of the France/Spain border. A recent graduate of Scottsdale Community College‘s culinary program, May’s favorite pastime was traveling to nearby Barcelona, where the rich culture heritage extends way beyond just the city’s magnificó arts and architecture, and has influenced the entire nation’s cuisine, food and drink.

Returning to Arizona with a recipe book brimming with traditional Spanish staples, May’s Sol y Sombra restaurant helped make tapas the trendiest thing in the Scottsdale dining scene. And although that restaurant succumbed to the DC Ranch curse, May’s gone on to open six more über-successful dining spaces, including a woodsy burger joint and the Valley’s hottest classic cocktail lounge.

Recently, DLT caught up with this outsized personality for a little one-on-one about his newest brainchild, Vitamin T, scheduled to open up inside Downtown Phoenix’s new CityScape…last week. Due to a few construction code problems however, the fresh ingredients will have to wait a little longer to be turned into delicious Vitamin T.

Chef May has certainly put his stamp on Scottsdale, with restaurants including Iruna, The Lodge, 18 Degrees, Mabel’s on Main and (yum!) the ultimate breakfast spot, OverEasy. However, Vitamin T is not May’s first venture into Phoenix. In fact, his first project after closing Sol y Sombra was to open the original OverEasy inside an abandoned Taco Bell on 44th and Indian School that his friend once owned. (It’s since moved into more spacious digs just up Indian School at 48th St.) According to May, he first got his hands in the breakfast scene because he was tired of driving alllllllllllll the way down to Matt’s Big Breakfast for a decent meal to cure a hangover start the day. Needless to say, his signature Midwestern homestyle breakfast food was a huge hit and helped put him back on the map.

And now he’s only a few days away from the grand opening of his latest baby, a Mexican street food joint named Vitamin T. After spending a lot of time in Mexico (not just partying, he says) the chef came up with a menu that basically synthesized all the things he enjoys eating south of the border. Inspired by “Vitamina T”,  a Mexican slang term for comidas corridas, or meals on the run that also happen to begin with the letter T (Tacos, Tortillas, Tostadas, Tamales and, of course, Tequila.) Furthermore, May hopes to replicate the look and feel of an authentic Mexico City-style Mercaditos, where people meet up to grab a few things they need, as well as start or end up at on a day/night out.

“I want Vitamin T to be a place that you can grab dinner or lunch,” May says. “Grab food to-go, or grab a margarita and a couple tacos before an event downtown,” he says of this‘hole in the wall’ restaurant space adjacent to LGO Public House, and  featuring only 10 seats inside and around 25 more on the patio.

On tap will be Dos Equis Lager and Amber, and on the bar shelves will be Don Julio all by his lonesome. The small bar will sell all five versions of the top-shelf Don Julio tequila, two kinds of the Mexican style beer and that’s all folks. Meanwhile, this take-out friendly restaurant will offer what May does best; authentic tortas, tacos, tapas, bacon-wrapped Sonoran hot dogs, as well as a housemade salsa bar. Sounds perfect for time-crunched taco-loving urban dwellers, eh? As for now, the restaurant will be open from 11 am to 10 pm, but May says he would like to get into serving up some of Mexico’s staple breakfast dishes like chorizo and eggs and even staying open late if drunk hungry patrons of Rasputin Vodka Bar and Lucky Strike Lanes, Vitamin T’s neighbors, are wanting.

With only 1,000 sq. ft. to decorate, May decided to make the decor memorable with homage to the well known Mexican architect Luis Barragan. Using Barragan’s famous color palette the walls are painted in baby pink, light yellow and blue, with the columns tiled in ecru, burgundy and lime green. Green and orange lights illuminate the small restaurant while Don Julio empty tequila barrels (pictured left) are tucked away in the back room waiting to be used this weekend on the patio as tables.

As he was pulling up to CityScape, May told us why he saw success in restaurants inside the new mixed-use development. “CityScape is a unique different project for the whole Valley,” May said. “It seemed like a no brainer to open Vitamin T in this area. By having OverEasy in Arcadia, I saw that it really catered to the people of Phoenix.”

What’s next for the chef? Don’t worry, May has another restaurant up his sleeve. A trip to Tokyo to study the art of Asian noodles was cancelled, but he still has plans to bring an Asian noodle bar to the Valley someday, like those you can find in New York or San Fran. Just a guess but this may have something to do with his love of chicken flavored Maruchan ramen noodles.

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