He grew up obsessed with 'Iron Chef.' Now this 26-year-old leads a top Phoenix restaurant

When you picture an executive chef quietly rising through the ranks of the metro Phoenix dining scene, from overseeing two of the most opulent restaurants in Scottsdale to taking the helm at one of the most storied venues in the city, you may be expecting white hair or facial lines.

The man who walks out to greet you has neither.

Poised, yes. Grounded, absolutely. But David Brito has a face smooth as marble and jet black hair. Obsidian brows frame the 26-year-old's gentle gaze. He's disarmingly soft-spoken in a way that belies his meteoric rise, working in the kitchens at Prado, Kai and briefly at Café Monarch before taking over Reserve as the executive chef in 2021. At that exclusive Scottsdale restaurant, he spent two years designing an ever-changing 10-course tasting menu and overseeing nightly service until recently. Now he leads the kitchen at Geordie's at the Wrigley Mansion.

He's the Phoenix chef you may not have heard of yet, but whose food, once tasted, you'll no doubt remember. And though his medium is classic fine dining, his inspiration is decidedly contemporary.

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A chef from the Food Network generation

Brito fell in love with cooking not because his grandmother gathered the family around the table or because of a magical first bite at some fancy restaurant.

He grew up in Phoenix by way of California and cooking wasn't big in his family. His only childhood taste of the hospitality industry came from his uncle, who was a server at Olive Garden.

His inspiration came through the television screen, via cooking shows like "Iron Chef," which sparked a desire to be one of the greats.

Foot Network's "Iron Chef America," modeled after a Japanese show of the same name, entails a top chef appearing on the stage to challenge one of the so-called Iron Chefs. The timed competition takes place in a kitchen stadium where the two chefs must create a menu of dishes based on a secret ingredient.

Brito attended the Arizona Culinary Institute out of high school and, appropriately, landed one of his earlier jobs with an "Iron Chef" alum right here in Phoenix.

Two Michelin-starred chef Alex Stratta of Prado was Iron Chef Italian in the 2001 Las Vegas Showdown. Hosted by William Shatner, the special included Iron Chef American, Todd English; Italian, Alex Stratta; Asian, Roy Yamaguchi and French, Jean-Francois Meteigner.

However, it wasn't Stratta's TV fame that made Brito want to work for him, but his precision and reputation for excellence in the kitchen.

"After culinary school, I started cooking in a few restaurants and hotels, but when I was working at Prado, chef Alex Stratta had just started working there, implementing his own food and structure," Brito said. "He was very strict and disciplined and I loved it. He was the guy I wanted to become and whose accolades I wanted to surpass or at least match."

Brito was intimidated at first, but rose to the occasion. "I was super scared," he said. "It was a challenge. His team was experienced and here I was, but once you go through it, you become better."

The young chef left an impression on Stratta.

"He's very dedicated, passionate and driven to excel in his trade," Stratta said. "He's always been very ambitious, and I've been watching all his attributes pay dividends."

Brito worked his way from a cook Prado to a position as a line cook at Kai, before making the jump to sous chef at Café Monarch and Reserve, where his precision impressed the owners so much, they promoted him to executive chef of Reserve after only a short stint.

At age 25, he took the helm at of the exclusive Scottsdale restaurant, which became his stage — and an opportunity to share his culinary perspective.

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'Yes, chef!'

On a January afternoon, the Reserve dining room was empty aside from the woman dusting the surfaces in the lounge and cleaning the windows. In the kitchen, two chefs de partie and a sous chef, dressed in white shirts, black pants and black aprons were at their stations, seemingly in meditation as they sliced humble ingredients that would undergo Cinderella transformations for the night's 10-course tasting menu.

Closer to dinner service, the staff would start setting up the courtyard dining area, a romantic, white table cloth affair bedecked with lush greenery and lapis blue tile, where diners are serenaded by the sound of a bubbling fountain.

In the kitchen, steam rose from a pot on the stove as sous chef Jacob Hilliard shaved radishes on a mandolin. By the time they'd arrive on the guests' plates, they'd be part of a symphonic masterpiece.

Enter David Brito. Instantly, the crew came to attention, bringing him the mis en place they'd been prepping and assisting him as he began composing plates.

His kitchen was a classic brigade or brigade de cuisine, as designed by "emperor of chefs" Georges Auguste Escoffier in the late 1800s. The system delineates responsibility to make the kitchen run with military precision and efficiency. Each kitchen worker has one task, which they are expected to execute perfectly.

Escoffier's division included 25 roles, however, not all restaurants use every role. Most include a chef de cuisine or executive chef who oversees the whole kitchen, designs the menu, approves the plates before they leave the kitchen and might add the finishing touches to each plate. A sous chef or deputy chef is the second in command, creating schedules, handling orders and stepping in at any station when necessary. The chef de parties have particular stations, like grill or saute with cooks or junior cooks to assist. And the pastry chef is responsible for baked goods and desserts.

"Consistency is everything in the kitchen. The way you show up every day, the way you dress up, the way you carry yourself and how professional you are. You don't disrespect people," Brito said. "This is hospitality. We don't open the doors and suddenly become hospitable. We do that from the moment we wake up and walk in here."

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As executive chef at Reserve, Brito designed menus that changed seasonally, which meant he was always developing new ideas.

Brito doesn't draw a lot from nostalgia or his Mexican heritage, though he featured an elevated tamale on one menu. Instead, much like his inspiration for becoming a chef in the first place, he draws from social media, personal experiences and travels, all of which fuel his curiosity and desire to learn new techniques.

On the fall/winter menu, a rice course was inspired by a dish he saw cooked in a donabe or Japanese clay pot during a trip to Washington D.C.

"I had never used donabe, so, I thought, here's a chance to learn something new as a team," he said.

Once heated, a donabe cools down slowly, allowing for deeper flavor development. At Reserve, Brito brought a local desert element to his donabe-cooked dish with a mix of Japanese Koshihikari rice and Arizona-grown wild rice. He served the grains in a glass bowl with truffles, foraged mushrooms and house-made kimchi, dressed with edible flowers.

He paired the rice dish with a koji Hokkaido milk bread — Hokkaido is where the bread originated and koji is a starter made from rice or barley that lends a fluffy texture — and Rodolphe Le Meunier Beurre de Baratte, a highly coveted butter made by churning in a wooden barrel rather than through centrifuging milk.

It sounds like a lot. And it is. The genius was how well this whirlwind of seemingly disparate ingredients and inspirations came together in a cohesive, elegant dish.

Watching Brito work is hypnotic. He delicately forms quenelles of caviar, spoons foam over seaweed and places finishing touches of edible flowers, corn silk or gold with tweezers.

"David is one of the last few chefs emerging from a dying breed," said Hilliard, who is now executive sous chef at Café Monarch. "He demands perfection from himself and his staff on every level from the food to the service."

Moving to the Mansion

In late January, the owners of Café Monarch decided to change the structure of the restaurants. Reserve and Monarch would merge into a single restaurant. The move led to creative differences between Brito and the owners and they decided to part ways.

Christopher Gross, the award-winning executive chef of Christopher's at the Wrigley Mansion, had experienced Brito's menu at Reserve and recommended him to Wrigley Mansion's General Manager Jason Caballero for the role of executive chef at Geordie's.

"I respect his chops and prowess and the way he cooks," Caballero said. "We are excited to have him unlock the potential of the Mansion."

According to Caballero, since Brito took the reigns in mid-March, rather than completely revamping the staff at Geordie's, he has taken an active role in developing them. Three cooks who came with him from Reserve and Monarch are helping with the transition. He also brought his high standards of excellence with him. In the kitchen hangs a paper sign with three Michelin stars and a quote beneath that reads: "All in, all the time."

Designing a new menu at Geordie's

The menu at Geordie's is divided into four parts and allows guests to build their own four-course menu with dishes like scallop en croute, made with beurre cancalaise, Meyer lemon and a squid ink tuile and a dish of white asparagus with bone marrow sabayon, hazelnut, pickled mustard seeds and sorrel.

"I really wanted to do more of a modern European menu," Brito said. "I think it would complement Christopher's classic French and the Mansion itself."

A chef's table inside the kitchen offers an experience more reminiscent of the tasting menus Brito offered at Reserve, but even more bespoke. For $300 per person, guests can enjoy a multicourse dinner with wine pairing. Rather than a set menu, guests receive an omakase-style meal. Tell chef Brito your allergies and dislikes and he'll take care of the rest with a customized seven or eight-course meal.

It sounds a bit like a TV chef's quick-fire challenge — an appropriate next step for an ambitious chef from the Food Network generation.

Taste chef David Brito's cooking at Geordie's

Hours: Wednesday to Saturday from 3 to 10 p.m.

Details: Wrigley Mansion, 2501 E. Telawa Trail, Phoenix. wrigleymansion.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Food Network raised him. Now David Brito is Phoenix restaurant star