After nearly two years without a Valley restaurant, celebrity chef and Chopped judge Scott Conant is back in the local culinary scene with the opening of the Italian concept, Roman God of Fire.
While living and working in NYC for years, where he garnered a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2003 for L’Impero in NYC (he left in 2007), the chef is no stranger to Arizona. Since 2016 he has owned a home in the area, and has opened plenty of restaurants in town too. He was part of the now-closed Mora Italian and Scottsdale’s The Americano, which he left in 2024.
But now, Conant is back with Roman God of Fire, which opened in Tempe back in August. The 8,000-square-foot restaurant feels grand, and comes complete with statues, arches, and other cathedral-like details located throughout the sprawling space. In a way, it’s as if Rome has landed in Arizona.
This time around, Conant has partnered with the folks at Pretty Decent Concepts (Wren & Wolf, Carry On), who reached out to Conant to see if he wanted to collaborate on a Roman-inspired menu. Turns out he did, so the team worked to craft a restaurant built on the idea of open-flame cooking and the meal before a grand battle.
“You can imagine bonfires and people cooking over the open flame and the soldiers cooking with open flames, and that was that moment of inspiration,” said Conant, adding the idea was less about grilling foods than cooking on live fire.
Crafting an Italian Menu For Arizona
Many of the items on the menu were inspired by Conant’s culinary adventures in Italy. For example, devouring crudo for the first time decades ago at Rome’s now shuttered Quinzi & Gabrielli. It’s those sorts of Italian moments that he used to drive and craft the menu at Roman God of Fire, which encompasses more than just one city in the country.
“My style would be a little different from traditional Roman,” said Conant. “I can look at Italy as a whole and be inspired by that and not pigeonholed into a particular region or flavor profile of that region.”
The menu is split into different categories, including pizza, salads, small plates, suppi (Roman street croquettes), main courses, pasta, and dessert. Many of the cooked dishes feature the wood-burning oven, giving them a kiss of smoky heat. We’re talking roasted oysters, grilled shrimp, grilled branzino, and steaks. The pizzas, or breads, are also prepared in the oven.
“The grill in general is just really spectacular [and we use] white oak on the grill itself, and it really creates a beautiful smoke and beautiful flavor transfer to the beef,” said the chef, adding that two of his favorite dishes include the side of carrots and Chicken Cacciatore. “You get that beautiful char, that nice sizzle.”
Off the Grill and On the Plate
On the pasta side, look for menu items as the Linguine alla Vongole (linguine with clams) and Tonarelli alla Carbonara. The Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia con Aragosta (spaghetti with lobster, ginger, tomato, and basil) comes with a side of Roman memories, also from the aforementioned Quinzi & Gabrielli.
“I was dining by myself, and a really famous singer named Lucio Dalla was sitting across from me, and I was kind of starstruck,” said Conant, who was eating the squid ink pasta at the time. “That spaghetti stuck in my head, and there’s always stories that go with so many of these dishes [on the Roman God of Fire menu].”
Don’t skip the salad section either, it’s the sleeper hit, advised the chef.
“What I love about the Pretty Decent team is that they do everything the right way…and it’s executed at such a high level,” he said. For example, “a lot of people are saying that it’s the best Caesar salad they’ve ever had in their lives.”
What makes the salad so great, said Conant, comes from the house-made dressing laced with truffles that coats each piece of ice-chilled lettuce. Then the dish gets topped with Parmigiano Reggiano and homemade croutons.
Come try it yourself and pair the plate with one of the many Italian wines or beers. Think of this culinary adventure as a little trip to Rome, right in Arizona.
Visit Roman God of Fire Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight. 52 E. Rio Salado Pkwy., Tempe, romangodoffire.com
