Persepshen — Restaurant in Phoenix

I've read so much about Persepshen and Chef Jason. And, I love how they use locally sourced, organic, farm to table ingredients, nose to tail, and don't use seed oils. So when we had the opportunity to reserve our spot after running an errand in Phoenix after driving in from Sedona, we hopped on it!

We were not the only ones waiting outside for the doors to open at 4:30pm, and the place got full, fast. Our server, Alyssa, was super friendly and helpful when we didn't know what to order at first. We had a prime seating at the counter where we could watch Chef Jason in action!

They update their menu every week, based on the local ingredients that come in. We did start off with the Plate of Pickles and Roasted Mushrooms, and then had the Cochinita Pibil (red chili orange braised Terra Market Iberico) and the Iberico Pork Ribeye.

I can't speak for the few reviews here that complained about too little food, or it being too expensive, because we eat a lot, AND we had take home leftovers because there was such an abundance of food! The food pricing was balanced, and commensurate to the level of food, which was AH-MAZING!!

Off the bat, we noticed that Chef Jason used many layers of flavor profiles in each dish that all work together synergistically, with various unique sauces, pickled items (which are gut friendly), thoughtful accompaniments, and you can tell it's made with lots of intention and love. He used a lot of cast iron skillets, and his whole team in front of, and in, the kitchen were super hospitable and friendly, and Chef Jason checked in with us to make sure our food was to his liking.

It was all so delicious, and Alyssa made sure we had everything we needed. We were so glad that they had many gluten-free items to choose from!

When he brought out his ribeye masterpiece (it was like a work of art), we were so excited, and Chef Jason summed it all up when he told us, "Good food should be shared amongst good people."

Thank you, Chef Jason, Alyssa, and team for the amazing meal and experience!...

There are a lot of places you can go and spend $100 if you're on a date, and having drinks.

This restaurant is different.

Firstly, the prices are quite reasonable compared to other places that are within walking distance. You could go down the street for a fried chicken dinner that costs $27, or come here. I haven't tried everything on the menu, but of the dishes I have tried the portions were quite large and very shareable.

Secondly, the owner makes a great effort to souce locally produced products. If you like Jameson, that's great, but they don't have it. They have something similar that is made in Arizona. Try that.

Thirdly, they do their own dry aging in house. I don't think I need to comment further on this point. Everything is made from scratch.

Fourthly, the menu changes regularly. If you really like something, it might not be there the next time you come in, but something else will be. What is in season now, may not be in season in a week or two.

Fifthly, the service is specatacular. The owner, is also the propetier, is also the chef, and is also a waiter.

Lastly, you don't have to dress up. It's casual, warm, and inviting. It's a great place to go and relax, try some new things, and learn about food from their very competent staff.

It really is the nicest restaurant I've been to in the Phoenix area since moving, and I've tried lots of places around town. Some might be nicer, fancier, or pricier, but the quality of food isn't going to be better than Persepshen, and it's probably goint to be more expensive, too.

I can't say enough good things about this place, or rate it highly enough. This is an example of everything being done right.

(Oh, and every time I've been there they've had Zeppelin playing, so...

We just ate here for the first time. The atmosphere and the service were excellent, very-friendly.

The food was good, but very rich and buttery, which tastes good but also made us too full to try any of the other dishes.

We ordered the pan-fried gnocchi and cioppino. The gnocchi was our favorite! Excellent! Buttery but gnocchi is good like that. The cioppino was good but very rich, maybe too rich. On top of this meal you are served a filet of halibut. Our halibut came too raw, I understand fish is served slightly undercooked, but this fish was sushi raw. I told our server and she was very nice and had the chef come out and look at our fish, he agreed it was too pink and asked me what I would like to do so I asked for another fillet. The next fillet that came out was definitely cooked, but it was a different fish or a very very different cut. It was thin and tasted breaded, and basically had no meat, just skin. I’m not sure it was even halibut, but actually trout.

I didn’t say anything to the chef when he came back out because I didn’t feel comfortable expressing my disappointment, but as I drove home i regretted not saying anything. If you order a nice meal and you send something back, you should receive the same thing, but this felt like I was being punished for saying anything at all.

Getting a tail end of halibut bc the chef thinks I don’t understand how fish is cooked is patronizing. I just wanted the same fillet but cooked more. He agreed it was too raw so why not just give us what we paid for, but cook it correctly. We won’t be back....