Meet chef Meliton 'Mel' Mecinas, the Oaxaca, Mexico-born maestro behind the Four Seasons Scottsdale's signature Talavera restaurant. Formerly a super-formal steakhouse, chef Mecinas has transformed this sumptuous space, featuring to-die-for views of Pinnacle Peak, into a more casual fish and chop house with a bold-yet-balanced menu. But after talking to chef Mecinas, we're more interested in crashing his next family dinner.



How long have you been here in the Valley?

For four years. Before that I was at the Four Seasons properties in Santa Barbara and then Beverly Hills.



We noticed the restaurant itself is more informal and the menu is less steak-centric.

Yes, it's fine dining but a little more natural. We want guests to feel free to take the suit off and enjoy simple food prepared with the best possible ingredients and a simplicity of flavors. The goal is to have a menu and atmosphere where people can come in 3-4 times a week, not just for anniversaries and other special occasions.



We're also intrigued by your recent Vine & Dine dinners. Did you really do an all-chocolate dinner?

We wanted to put together a wine dinner series that features lots of not-your-average ingredients. For example, we just did a tequila dinner, a beer dinner, an all-organic dinner with Long Meadow Ranch and, yes, a chocolate dinner. We've been playing with molé sauces as well as scallops cooked in a basket of cocoa leaves.



What are your favorite menu items?

My specialty is the king crab wrapped in a beef roulade. Another favorite that we'll probably never take off the menu is the Chilean sea bass with braised oxtail.



And where do you eat on your days off?

As a resort chef, I like to visit my fellow chefs at T. Cook's, elements and others. I also like Modern Steak. But most of the time I cook here at home. I cook every day for my kids. Something casual, like fresh fish with haricot verts and roasted potatoes. Not too crazy, but good, simple food. Like my cooking at the restaurant.



Sounds great. Do you want to adopt a starving writer?

Well, we offer a Chef De Jour program, where people come in around 3 pm, get an embroidered apron, and then work with us in the kitchen prepping for the dinner service. It's a great way to learn, and then you get to sit down an enjoy a 6 or 7 course dinner for four people that you helped create.



[gallery order="DESC" columns="6"]