The buttermilk Soulfully Southern Southern ‘Brunch ’N Vibes’ are on the menu at SugarJam in Scottsdale. BY NATASHA YEE tucked into an industrial strip mall in north Scottsdale, customers waited for tables while others danced and a DJ spun tunes. Tables brimmed with plates of catfish A and grits and French toast sandwiches packed with scrambled eggs and country ham. A line snaked outside the restaurant and into the adjoining market, where one can find scented candles, SugarJam T-shirts, and artwork depicting bottles of tequila and gin near a neon sign that reads, “Brunch ’N Vibes.” A two-hour wait at the popular Southern restaurant off Hayden Road south of Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard has become customary for the weekend, says owner and Chef Dana Dumas. She hates turning hungry customers away from her business, which originally opened about a mile away as SugarJam Bake Shop & Bistro in 2014. As the business grew, Dumas realized it was time for a bigger space, 5,300 square feet to be exact, which she found at the current restaurant. The new space debuted in January 2021. ”Luckily, I already had loyal customers who followed me down the street to my new location. So I took the plunge on a bigger space, but I counted on that busi- ness and it ended up working out really well,” Dumas says. Old and new customers come to enjoy 26 Southern comfort food like creole shrimp and Southern grits topped with seasoned crab, and buttermilk fried chicken tenders served with flapjacks. t noon on a recent Sunday, in the height of the brunch rush, SugarJam The Southern Kitchen was packed. At the restaurant, fried chicken tenders and flapjacks is a popular dish at SugarJam. Natasha Yee On a recent trip, the grits were rich and buttery, topped with spicy pan-seared shrimp, sauteed red bell peppers and onions, and fried crab croquettes. Two eggs, any style, come on the side. The buttermilk fried chicken comes with French toast, waffles, or the server- recommended pancakes. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the fried chicken was salty, spicy, and adorned with a barbecue glaze. It paired perfectly with slow-scrambled eggs, three semi-sweet pancakes topped with powdered sugar, and a side of maple syrup. Get a bit of all three on your fork for the perfect bite of sweet, salty, buttery, fluffy goodness. An SJ Cherry Pie was the ideal way to end the soulful meal. The personal pie was at once sweet and tart with a golden brown crust, and could easily be shared with a friend. Dumas recently added frozen treats made by Doc’s Artisan Ice Creams to her offerings, served from an ice cream trailer parked outside. Ice cream flavors include peach cobbler and bourbon pecan, infused with SugarJam’s house-made pies. Sassy Cones makes artisan waffle cones to hold the ice cream, with flavors including orig- inal, red velvet, peanut butter, and chocolate. ‘My Parents Didn’t Raise Me on Chicken Nuggets and Pasta’ Though Dumas didn’t attend culinary school, she grew up eating and cooking with her father, who taught her to notice distinct flavors at the Manhattan eateries they frequented. “My dad took me to nice restaurants as a kid and I remember people being surprised that I was so well-behaved,” Dumas says. “But that’s how I was brought up, to eat quality food in nice restaurants among adults. My parents didn’t raise me on chicken nuggets and pasta.” She later worked in corporate retail and hospitality but kept her passion for food alive, baking cookies for friends and family SEPT 15TH–SEPT 21ST, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
