It was recently announced by Arizona-based Desert Viking Development that award-winning chef Aaron Chamberlain will be bringing a cutting-edge restaurant concept to The Blocks of Roosevelt Row project in downtown Phoenix. Visitors and residents of the city may already be familiar with Chamberlin’s work. In fact, it has been said that his previous restaurants—St. Francis and Phoenix Public Market—helped put midtown Phoenix on the map.

Chamberlin recently spoke of the new business endeavor that will be located at 5th Street and Roosevelt: “We’ve had the Phoenix Public Market Cafe in downtown for three years now, and I’ve lived in and been involved in downtown for the past 10 years. We know what a special project this is and we look forward to continuing to feed the downtown community.” 

The new venture, that is scheduled to open spring 2017, has been generating plenty of positive buzz among other downtown businesses and owners, including John Sagasta, founder of Melt, and Jobot Coffee & Diner. Much of a 5th Street’s overall success has been contributed to business owners like Sagasta, whose passion and dedication for this historical district has never receded. “While things are changing on 5th Street, its future has never looked brighter,” says Sagasta. 

Desert Viking Development is certainly no stranger to renovating and preserving many of Arizona’s historic buildings. The company also houses several other popular destinations around Phoenix including Lola’s Coffee, Okra, Phoenix Ale Brewery Central Kitchen, The Womack, SanTan Brewery, El Zocalo, Pita Jungle and La Bocca. 

Niels Kreipke, president of the Desert Viking development firm, spoke about the project: “We are excited about the tenants and architects we have on-board, and continue to look for other local restaurants, retail owners and artists to balance out the project and enhance the vision.”