According to Executive Corporate Chef Omar Bernal, every Sicilian family believes that their Nonna’s bolognese sauce is the best — each praising their grandmothers as the pinnacle of culinary excellence. The familial love at the center of that cultural phenomenon, he said, lies at the heart of what The Sicilian Butcher has to offer.
“Every region has their grandmothers who are the ones that master the recipes and techniques — but the beauty of it is that they are putting their personal touch on the final dish,” Bernal said. “Everything is fresh and the most important ingredient is love.”
From Friday, May 15, through Sunday, May 24, The Sicilian Butcher will join the lineup of featured eateries for Arizona Restaurant Week — continuing its participation several years in a row. The restaurant’s $44 meal menu includes an appetizer, salad, entree and dessert.
Beginning with the Primi, customers have the choice between the lobster bisque and arancini — saffron rice stuffed with three-meat ragu, English peas and mozzarella, herb-breaded and fried, served with marinara sauce. The available salads include burrata and heirloom tomato, or the Sicilian citrus salad — made with local citrus, shaved fennel, red onion and heirloom radish, dusted with pistachio and dressed with lemon oil.
From there, The Sicilian Butcher’s menu includes five Principali for customers to choose from — including, but not limited to, Nonna’s baked eggplant, lasagna alla norcina and salmon oreganata. One of Chef Bernal’s personal favorite dishes is the pan-roasted branzino.
“We pan-sear the branzino to crisp up the skin, giving it texture and also locking in the natural flavors of the fish — and we softly season it,” he said. “We finish it with a little bit of citrus oil, a little arugula, a little bit of a fresh lemon — and all you do is squeeze it, simplicity goes a long way.
“Arizona is warming up, so you want something lighter and the Branzino pairs very well with that.”
The fifth entree on the menu is the “Pork Chop Your Way,” including two variations. The saltimbocca is served with sage, prosciutto, fontina cheese and sherry wine demi, whereas the parmigiana is herb breaded, with San Marzano herb sauce and mozzarella.
Finally, guests can choose one of two Dolci — the traditional cannoli and gelato o sorbetto. Bernal noted that the bakery team arrives at 5 a.m. each day to make all of the restaurant’s baked goods by hand. Various ingredients the Sicilian restaurant uses are imported from Europe and everything is fresh — such is the vision of the founder, Chef Joey Maggiore, Bernal explained.
“To have a conversation with anyone from the East Coast or even from the motherland and hear them say, ‘Hey, this reminds me of home,’ — it’s so great what food does to us,” he said.
The executive corporate chef described both Maggiore and his wife, Christina, as the masterminds and visionaries behind the operations. Their curation of menus, drink offerings and design choices for each restaurant’s interior, Bernal said, is a large part of what makes The Sicilian Butcher a special place.
Looking forward to AZ Restaurant Week, the executive chef said that his greatest hope is to show the guests Italian hospitality.
“When you go into your grandmother’s place and they receive you with open arms, that excitement, that warmth — that’s the feeling we want guests to have here,” Bernal said. “Family is the way we eat at the table — everything is shareable and everything is memorable.”
Dining and Cooking