Course Is Prix Fixe for the N. Scottsdale Masses
It’s honestly surprising to me that Scottsdale doesn’t have more prix fixe restaurants. The demographics are there, the population’s there—what is it? Do midwest snowbirds require more control over their dining choices? Do our retirees have a unique lack of sitting endurance? Im not trying to offend anyone—I’m honestly curious. Years ago, Binkley’s was way up in Carefree, and it totally made sense. Of course rich retirees would like a prix fixe restaurant. Of course! But then Binkley’s moved to Phoenix and left Atlas Bistro as the only place in the area. But Atlas Bistro always seemed like a secret wine club, and the course length was always five. Still big, but not the 10+ courses you see in New York and San Francisco. Ok, long story short, now N. Scottsdale has Course, a proper 5-10 course prix fixe restaurant serving up all the ridiculousness you’d expect. Things with caviar, never-just-beef tartare, something that reminds you of your childhood, and supplemental wagyu and truffles if you’re feeling extra frisky. The food critics in town are in love, and you will be too.
Where: Scottsdale and Shea
Website: courserestaurantaz.com
Reservations: OpenTable
Found On
Course Has 7.5 Yumpoints
May 9, 2024 / Tirion Boan
Phoenix New Times: Morning Would serves a 6-course brunch to celebrate
The original idea for Morning Would started in 2019 as a pop-up event with Chula Seafood. Once Oppold opened Course, he was eager to bring back the multicourse brunch concept. The dinner experience at Course takes a more serious fine dining tone. Morning Would, complete with its cheeky name and cute logo, is fun and relaxed — but by no means any less flavorful.
APR 26, 2024
Foodists Awards: 2024 Finalists
EMERGING RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
TOP CHEF - Cory Oppold
MAR 28, 2024 / TIRION BOAN AND SARA CROCKER
Phoenix New Times: The 10 best brunch restaurants in Phoenix
There are plenty of fine dining restaurants in the Valley. But fine dining isn’t usually a category that crosses over with brunch. But on Sunday mornings, chef Cory Oppold and the team at his Scottsdale restaurant Course throw caution to the wind. The once-weekly brunch concept is called Morning Would and invites customers to settle in for a while. For $75, customers can enjoy a seven-course prix fixe menu.
FEB 21, 2024 / BAHAR ANOOSHAHR
AZ Central: The 9 best fancy restaurants with tasting menus in metro Phoenix
At Course, "Chopped" champion Chef Cory Oppold has designed three tasting menus: five- and 10-course dinner menus along with a six-course brunch menu. Together with his team and pastry chef Antonia Lee Kane, they change the menus seasonally with creative and artful plates. Some of the current menu items include “Charcuterie," made with pheasant, gribiche, preserved apricot, pistachio and toast or Moons Over my Hammie, prepared with scrambled duck egg, brioche and duck “ham.”
JAN 16, 2024 / Bahar Anooshahr
AZ Central: 100 essential restaurants in metro Phoenix: The best places to dine in 2024
Unpretentious fine dining defines Course restaurant. Chef Cory Oppold and his team remain approachable even as they create highly abstract, artistic presentations of familiar and nostalgic foods. Give the playful six-course brunch a try or bring a big appetite for the 10-course dinner.
DEC 28, 2023 / FELICIA CAMPBELL AND BAHAR ANOOSHAHR
AZ Central: The 10 best new restaurants and bars that opened in metro Phoenix in 2023
"Chopped" champion Cory Oppold opened an aptly named multi-course fine dining restaurant in Scottsdale in May 2023, where the chef showcases course after course of artful plates in either five-course menu offered Tuesdays and Wednesday or a 10-course dinner menu offered Thursday through Saturday, both of which change seasonally, as well as a playful six-course Sunday brunch that draws inspiration from his childhood favorites.
NOV 1, 2023 / NIKKI BUCHANAN, MARILYN HAWKES, CRAIG OUTHIER
Phoenix Magazine: 2023 Best New Restaurants
It’s easy to love this classy, comfortable fine-dining restaurant, the brainchild of chef-owner and 2019 Chopped champion Cory
Oppold, who juggles three different menus – a five-course prix-fixe menu, a 10-course tasting menu and a seven-course Sunday brunch menu – yet gets everything right. He sweats the details, providing pretty dinnerware, craft cocktails, a knowledgeable sommelier (Nicholas Padua) and credible wine list, on-trend desserts by pastry chef Antonia Kane, and beautifully composed Modernist Cuisine, which might include a pasta-based riff on ratatouille or an elegant deconstruction of the Cubano using Ibérico pork.
SEP 6, 2023 / NIKKI BUCHANAN
Eater: The 14 Hottest New Restaurants in Phoenix Right Now
Chef and owner Cory Oppold brings delicious choices to his classy but comfortable Central Scottsdale restaurant, where diners may select a five-course prix fixe menu with options for each course ($135 per person) or a 10-course, chef’s-choice tasting menu ($190 per person). Each plate is a study in Modernist cuisine, featuring foams, powders and deconstructed dishes. On Sunday, the restaurant takes the name Morning Would and offers a seven-course tasting menu for $75 per person.
Sep 1, 2023 / NIKKI BUCHANAN
Phoenix Magazine: Dining Review: Course
High-end dining and prix fixe menus are the norm for Oppold, a Chopped champion who formerly worked for Kevin Binkley and Mark Tarbell and later operated as executive chef at Atlas Bistro, a South Scottsdale BYOB built on the prix fixe concept. Now he’s partnered with investors and longtime fans Brett and Christian Pezzuto to create his own personal playground for seasonal modernist cuisine in its many splendored forms, including artful presentations, deconstructed dishes, foams and powders.
