Last month, Devon Sanner took the reins as Executive Chef at the Lodge at Ventana Canyon. His is a journey with deep Tucson roots, global adventure, and a hunger for cultivating great teams and consistent outcomes. Finding excellence as a chef has been his polestar. Hear our conversation below:
You were quite the young man growing up! Eagle Scout, National Merit Scholar, Flinn Scholar, and a finalist for Tucson Young Man of the Year. What motivated you before heading off to college? What did you imagine you would do as an adult during those formative years?
As a young kid growing up in Tucson, I was inspired by Dr. Jack Copeland, who was doing pioneering work in artificial heart transplants at the University Medical Center. I thought I’d become a cardiothoracic surgeon. In junior high and high school, though, I dove into the humanities and social sciences. I loved studying language, literature, history, government, and philosophy. I envisioned possible careers in foreign service with the State Department, pursuing constitutional law, or running for elected office.
What prompted you to study Slavic languages? And how did that evolve into mastering the language of food? And why the Scottsdale Culinary Institute?
Growing up in Tucson, I picked up a little Spanish, and in junior high and high school, I studied French. When I got to college in the early 1990s, I wanted to take up another language, and given my interest in the possibility of working in foreign policy or diplomacy, Russian seemed like a natural choice, with the Soviet Union having dissolved.
The Flinn Scholarship allowed me to study in St. Petersburg and Moscow over the summers during my time at the U of A. I became fascinated with the language, culture, and enigma of Russia, and I continued my Russian studies in graduate school.
However, the market for academics in Slavics was dwindling badly, so I defected to a PhD program in language education. After three more years of coursework in that program, I resolved that I had to get some experience as a practitioner. I jumped into a stint in Teach for America, teaching English composition to 7th and 8th graders in South Central Phoenix.
The Food Network was ascending, and cooking took on a new cachet. So, after four years of undergraduate work and seven years of grad school without borrowing a penny, I borrowed about $40,000 for an education at Scottsdale Culinary Institute. This Le Cordon Bleu-affiliated program was turning out graduates who were leaving a mark on the industry, like Silvana Salcido Esparza of Barrio Cafe in Phoenix and Stephanie Izard of Girl and the Goat in Chicago. It was a gamble that broke well for me and opened many opportunities.
In April 2021, you opened your first restaurant, Zio Peppe (wow!). Before that, you spent 15 years alongside James Beard Award-winning Chef Janos Wilder. And later at Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails and as executive chef at The Carriage House. What was that like, starting the restaurant? How did your experiences with Janos shape you as a chef?
It can’t be overstated the impact that working with Janos Wilder for 15 years has had on my cooking, my approach to food, and how I look to build community through food. When Janos opened his first restaurant in Tucson in 1983, a couple of decades before I even considered cooking as a profession, he advertised for gardeners/farmers before he advertised for line cooks. He was passionate about sourcing locally and seasonally, highlighting the ingredients that grow here and the flavors that are part of Tucson’s culinary heritage.
Zio Peppe was born of the symbiosis and synergy between my partner, Mat Cable, and me. Mat grew up in the Italian restaurant industry, and I came to the project after spending 15 years working in nouvelle Southwestern cuisine. Having relationships with local partners like the San Xavier Co-Op farm, Mission Garden, Pivot Produce, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Iskashitaa Refugee Network, and a host of other local growers, ranchers, brewers, vintners, and food artisans is a huge part of what makes Zio Peppe unique.
You are a founder and an active member of the Gastronomic Union of Tucson. This not-for-profit organization fosters a community of creativity, professional development, and engagement among Tucson's top chefs. How impactful was the formation of GUT for Tucson? Where do you see Tucson and GUT in 10 years? What are the critical elements to push beyond where we are now as a gastro-destination?
The GUT origin story may one day get its own Marvel movie with all the phenomenally talented, admittedly quirky, and undeniably passionate chefs that gave rise to this multi-headed beast. Inspired by Tucson’s designation as a City of Gastronomy from UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), a group of local chefs gathered for camaraderie and collegial exchange. We geeked out on being able to learn from one another and do things that we don’t all regularly get to do in our own kitchens, like bringing in butcher Ben Forbes to butcher a whole hog or an elk, or conduct a practicum on fermentation to make hot sauces and Sonoran kimchi. It’s the spirit of conviviality and creative engagement that draws this amazing group of chefs to volunteer for dozens of hours of unpaid labor to create the magic of our GUT dinners and the festivals in which we participate. For many of us, it’s part continuing education, socialization, and therapy.
Embracing the City of Gastronomy designation, the chefs of GUT have amplified Tucson’s presence on the culinary scene. As part of this collegial exchange, we’ve sent chefs to Spain, Brazil, China, Mexico, Turkey, and Italy and hosted chefs from around the world.
Teaching the world about the richness of our culinary heritage from our 5000+ year agricultural history, the Indigenous foraged ingredients like mesquite, chiltepin, and cholla, the heritage ingredients introduced by Padre Kino and the Spaniards, up through how the immigrants and refugees of our present-day help shape the food scene of Tucson is at the core of what GUT does and part of why more of the world’s eyes have been drawn to Tucson as a culinary destination.
I haven’t yet encountered a chef scene in another city that quite does what GUT does. At a benefit dinner GUT hosted, we paired GUT teams with the absolute pantheon of Tucson culinary legends - Jonathan Landeen, Jim Murphy, Carlotta Flores, Alan Zeman, Janos Wilder, and Donna Nordin. The chefs of GUT share things that a previous generation of chefs would guard as trade secrets to inspire everyone in the culinary community to up their game.
I’m very bullish on Tucson's future as a food destination. Visit Tucson, Tucson City of Gastronomy, and Délice Network have all significantly leveraged Tucson’s food heritage. Food tourism will continue to rise and bolster our local economy, and in turn, that economic growth will create more opportunities for Tucson’s chefs, restaurateurs, and food artisans.
Your culinary adventures include cooking at The American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival and staging at prestigious restaurants like Tru, Alinea, and Momofuku. What did your global explorations of fine food bring to your favorite dishes?
Some learning is all about adaptation and resilience: I learned how to execute a soigné dinner for Hollywood directors, corporate sponsors, and the Mayor of Cannes, working with dormitory-style hot plates, a toaster oven, and a few panini presses while cooking in a tent on the beach. Other learning is about stripping away the superfluous and creating unforgettable flavors without the excess puffery of fine dining, such as my stage at Momofuku Ssäm Bar and Noodle Bar.
My experiences at Tru, and even more so at Alinea, where the cuisine is audacious in preparation time, precision, imagination, and pursuit of perfection. Take thirty chefs, cooks, and stages working 14+ hour days to plate 27 courses of Michelin-caliber food for 70 diners a night; it exceeds passion well into the depths of obsession. It’s transformative.
Taking your talent to the Lodge at Ventana Canyon, where you will begin working as executive chef, could lead you to adapt your cuisine to a new audience of food lovers. Can you share an example of a chef morphing to the audience?
I want to bring consistently excellent food to the Ventana Canyon Club and Lodge that will resonate with guests and club members. While one’s cooking necessarily adapts to different audiences, the approach to food and the ethos behind the food can remain unchanged.
Several of my culinary heroes have operated varied concepts with differing clientele - Janos Wilder, the eponymous restaurateur of Janos, JBAR, Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails, and The Carriage House, maintained a consistent philosophy and approach to food at the different restaurants. Perhaps the standard bearer for this “same philosophy, different audience” excellence is Danny Meyer, owner of some of the most celebrated highbrow establishments in New York, including Eleven Madison Park, which was at one point named the #1 restaurant in the world in the San Pellegrino rankings, as well as launching Shake Shack - a modest but excellent burger stand that has become a nationwide empire.
It’s not about being all things to all people but about doing things consistently well, with intention and hospitality, and making excellence a habit and a part of the culture. They recognize their teammates for their successes. They all feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to their team to execute at the highest level.
Some learning is all about adaptation and resilience: I learned how to execute a soigné dinner for Hollywood directors, corporate sponsors, and the Mayor of Cannes, working with dormitory-style hot plates, a toaster oven, and a few panini presses while cooking in a tent on the beach.