17 Dec 12th-Dec 18th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Master Plan Pretty Decent Concepts to open 5 new Valley restaurants and bars. BY CASSIE BRUCCI O n the heels of opening one of downtown Phoenix’s most highly-anticipated cocktail bars, Pretty Decent Concepts is wasting no time building the next generation of dining establishments. The hospitality group behind Valley hotspots like Wren & Wolf, Trophy Room and Creampuff Donuts is developing five new projects, all slated to open in 2025. Three of the new spots will be located in downtown Phoenix, while the others will call Tempe’s Mill Avenue home. According to co-founder Teddy Myers, the groups were created simultaneously, something the group often sets out to do. “Our goal is to create concepts that are derivative of each other, so you can have a complete evening when you’re coming out with us,” Myers says. Tempe’s Filthy Animal and Drop Dead Gorgeous share a common thread of 1970s- era influences. Filthy Animal will focus on live-fire cooking inspired by the jungles of South America, and Drop Dead Gorgeous will offer high-end cocktails in a listening lounge-meets-disco environment. Over in Phoenix, there’s steakhouse Cleaverman and Filthy, a speakeasy-style bar with a martini-forward menu and nightly live music. There’s also Uppercut, which will feature a 12-course steak omakase-style tasting menu with limited seating and reservations. After almost a year-and-a-half of planning, Myers says he and his team are feeling great about nearing the finish line. “We’ve been deep in this process for a long time, and we’re excited we can finally start sharing the details with the commu- nities,” he says. What to expect at PDC’s new concepts When the Phoenix New Times last caught up with the restaurateur, we learned more about what to expect from the then- unnamed Tempe spots. With the name reveals, Myers provided more context about the concepts’ ideation process. He explains how he and his team often conjure up narratives for their restaurants. This time, the story revolved around a world traveler. “With Filthy Animal, we were talking about this explorer who fell in love with the beauty and brutality of jungle-style cooking in the Yucatán but had a pent- house in Shanghai in the ’70s,” Myers says. “Drop Dead Gorgeous would be the listening lounge he would go to when he’s back home.” Exact menus are still in the works, but Myers says Filthy Animal will focus on American food with Latin and Asian influ- ences. Drop Dead Gorgeous’ beverage program, led by Pretty Decent Concepts’ Beverage Director Jax Donahue, will be “fun, but complex” with a ’70s spin. In Phoenix, Myers’ love of steakhouses inspired Cleaverman and Uppercut. After finding a vacant spot at the revitalized Arizona Center — a place he refers to as “a beacon to the rest of downtown (Phoenix)” — he worked with designer and frequent collaborator Peter Bowden to build a space exuding “timeless elegance.” “We started by asking, ‘What would a classic steakhouse meant to last 40 or 50 years look like on day one?’” Myers says. “That’s what we’re trying to create.” On the food side, Cleaverman and Uppercut will naturally have beef-forward menus, plus an in-house dry-aging program. But while Cleaverman gives guests a classic steakhouse experience, Uppercut will focus on education. “The omakase takes you on a journey through beef in a very intimate experi- ence,” Myers says. “We want to show, for example, what corn-fed from Iowa is like compared to grass-fed from Argentina.” The accompanying bar, Filthy, will focus on all things martinis, but not in the way you might expect. “When we say martinis, we don’t mean foo-foo, early 2000s martini bar,” he says. Unlike Drop Dead Gorgeous, Filthy doesn’t focus on any specific era. Donahue is instead creating a selection of martinis with varying flavor profiles and ingredients. “We want to show that martinis can be taken more seriously. You don’t have to just put espresso in it,” Myers says. Drop Dead Gorgeous and Filthy Animal Opening Winter/Spring 2025 740 S. Mill Ave., Tempe Cleaverman, Filthy and Uppercut Opening Winter/Spring 2025 455 N. Third St. Located in the same building as Cleaverman and Uppercut, Filthy promises to serve up “serious” martinis. (Courtesy of Pretty Decent Concepts) Drop Dead Gorgeous, according to Myers, evokes the feeling of excitement during a day’s golden hour, “when everybody feels their best and is excited about where the night is going to take them.” (Courtesy of Pretty Decent Concepts) Cleaverman pays homage to classic steakhouses. (Courtesy of Pretty Decent Concepts) ▼ Food & Drink
