Introducing Talavera, A Spanish Steakhouse at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North

Talavera, the signature restaurant of Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, has unveiled an all-new menu, contemporary design and lively dining experience with its launch as a Spanish steakhouse.

Created by Chef Samantha Sanz, lauded as one the Phoenix area’s up-and-coming star chefs, Talavera’s new menu focuses on traditional Latin ingredients and specialties such as paella, dry-aged steak, jamón ibérico, fresh seafood and a flavourful selection of tapas.

“My creation of the menu involved taking everything I am as a chef to bring these amazing Latin and Mediterranean flavours together and make bold, beautiful dishes,” Sanz says.

A popular start to a meal at Talavera is with the menu of small starters, or de todo un poco. These savoury bites include pan con tomate (noble bread with roasted garlic and tomato), house-made pan de queso (a Columbian cheese bread), and crispy chickpeas, marcona almonds and house-pickled vegetables.

The crudo items (raw items) include a vibrant ahi tuna tiradito, beef tartare, scallops and oysters.

A signature item of the charcuteria y queso (charcuterie and cheeses) is the jamón ibérico de Bellota, one of the most prized cured hams in the world.  Deriving its rich flavour from acorns fed to the pigs, the ham is aged for 36 months. It is best paired with Talavera’s selection of fine Spanish cheeses including Mahón, cabrales blue cheese and manchego.

The tapas items include a classic gambas al ajillo (whole prawns with garlic), pulpo a la plancha (grilled Galician octopus) and croqueta de pato (a duck and foie gras sausage with manchego cheese) among others.

Chef Sanz, who hails from a family of chefs and restauranteurs in Nogales, Mexico, has used her family recipe as inspiration for the paellas on the menu. “Paella in our family was a normal thing. Anybody going to Spain would bring back saffron. I grew up eating home-cooked paella prepared over an open fire,” she says.

Talavera’s entrées selection includes an extensive choice of certified angus, wagyu, USDA prime- and grass-fed beef as well as veal porterhouse and a kurobuta pork tomahawk chop. The Latin flavours continue in the menu’s seafood options such as its whole branzino with tomato confit, and salmon with black lentils and saffron-shrimp broth.

Flaming tres leches cake with dulce de leche ice cream, chocolate marquesa cake with spiced mango chutney and an Iberian cheese board are among the postres (desserts) that provide a perfect finish to the meal.

Accompanying the new menu is a selection of more than 500 New and Old World wines, as well as innovative cocktail list and specialty Spanish gin, sherry, vermouth, beer and cider.

The renovated restaurant capitalises on its impressive valley views with expansive windows, and features a modern interior highlighted by the restaurant’s own Gin Tonic Bar for hand-crafted cocktails, a set of community tables for a more casual dining experience and occasional evenings of live flamenco music.

Talavera’s summer hours are from 5:30 to 9:30 pm Thursday through Sunday.  For reservations, book online or call 480 513 5085.