Photos by Chris Bassett

Let’s get something out of the way: Bourbon Steak is expensive. With a few exceptions, it isn’t any more or less expensive than other high-end steakhouses, but those exceptions are creating a scandalous buzz around the tony new steakhouse at the Fairmont Scottsdale resort. One particular steak – a grade A5, imported Japanese Kobe strip cut, weighing in at a mere six ounces – is $175. And a conspicuous glass of cognac – a rare Remy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl encased in a special platinum-accented crystal decanter – rings in at $3,000.
You don’t have to spend obscene amounts of money to dine here, but it’s amazingly easy to do so. Now that that’s out of the way… Bourbon Steak is not your father’s steakhouse. Subliminally sexy, it’s the antithesis of the clubby, old-school establishment. Appetizers are innovative. Steaks are decadently poached in clarified butter and finished on a wood-burning grill. It’s also not your local, homegrown steakhouse, but neither are Morton’s, Ruth’s Chris, Donovan’s (which is planning a new location within shouting distance of Bourbon Steak) or Mastro’s, for that matter.
I didn’t plan to fall for the outsider, but I did. Why? Because this is one of the top tables in town. From near flawless service to near perfection on the plates and an outrageously handsome setting, you can’t help but appreciate the talents of Michelin-starred celebrity chef Michael Mina and his team.

Barbecue Kurobata pork short rib

This Bourbon Steak is one of three – Detroit and Miami complete the trilogy – that are part of Mina’s 11-restaurant empire. I first tasted Mina’s magic in the early 1990s at Aqua in San Francisco – the launching pad for the highly acclaimed chef – where I discovered that fish could be as soul satisfying as a primordial steak. In the decade or so since, King Neptune has apparently conquered the bovine fiefdom.
The menu, a mix of mostly steak and seafood with French and Asian accents, is astonishingly only one page long. The wine and cocktail menus (books, actually) are staggering at 29 and 25 pages, respectively. It’s easy to get hung up on these conversation-starting libations, but there are plenty of low double-digit options that aren’t out of line with drink menus at other luxury restaurants around town.
I didn’t recognize the space that once housed the colonial Marquesa restaurant. What was Old World is now a strikingly modern place – a mélange of concrete, dark wood, white stone and glass. From the curved, metal mother ship of a hostess desk, a hallway leads past the classy, spacious bar on the left and a square, cozy dining room on the right. That room is the best option for conversation as it is removed – almost insulated – from the rest of the vibe-humming space.