If you’ve popped by the MercBar lately, you may have noticed something a little different, a little out of place inside this Phoenix outpost of the iconic original in NYC. First things first, there are actual lights inside this infamously dark, candlelit space that’s hidden behind a nondescript door inside a Biltmore-area high-rise. And even more intriguing, the lights are illuminating a man tucked behind the bar, who’s dressed in a white chef’s coat and knocking out gourmet nibbles out of a micro-kitchen.

Meet chef Walter Sterling, formerly of Scottsdale’s Oakville Grocery (and Sol y Sombra), who’s now serving as the Valley’s first true bar-chef. Armed with nothing more than a crock-pot, a toaster oven and a high-tech hot plate, he’s serving up everything from spicy, slow-braised pork sandwiches to scratch-made soups (click here to see the full menu, including the new seasonal cocktails menu and ‘Best $7 Glass You’ll Ever Drink’ wine list).

Stake out a spot at the bar for a front row seat, or sidle up to the new communal table outfitted with stackable (and surprisingly comfortable) 1950s modular chairs. Either way, get ready to experience cooking envy as you wonder why you can’t craft food this good with your fancy gas-top stove and convection oven? More important, it’s a uniquely New York solution to a problem that we usually don’t have here in the land of suburban sprawl. How do you create-chef crafted food when you don’t have room for a traditional kitchen? You wedge him behind the bar, of course.

Images via Brad Reed Photography

Want to try your hand at bar-chefing? First, tuck yourself into a tiny corner, and then turn off your full-sized oven and break out that toaster oven you’ve been lugging around since your college dorm days. Then knock out chef Sterling’s crazy-good, and surprisingly-simply, crab toast starter.

Crab Toast with Lemon Aioli, Sea Salt and Jalepenos

Ingredients
10 Slices Baguette
1 cup lump crab meat
2 egg yolks
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 jalepeno
1 tablespoon crème fraiche
1 lemon
Sea Salt

Method:
1) In a mixing bowl place the egg yolks, juice of half a lemon and a pinch of sea salt. Whisk together and slowly drizzle the olive oil in to form the lemon aioli. The mixture will get thicker as more oil in incorporated. This is your lemon aioli. In another mixing bowl add the crab, sea salt, the juice of the other half of lemon, the tablespoon crème fraiche, the chopped parsley and a tablespoon of the lemon aioli. Mix delicately as to not break up the crab too much.
2) Toast the bread and slice the jalepeno into thin slices.

Assembly
Spread the crab salad mixture on to the toasted baguette slices and place a few slices of jalepenos on top. Serve.

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