This month, Phoenix gains a new benchmark in luxury dining with the debut of Uppercut, an intimate steakhouse omakase experience discreetly located within Cleaverman. Curated by Pretty Decent Concepts, Uppercut is designed for guests seeking a highly personal, precision-driven expression of the modern steakhouse, where rarity, technique, and hospitality converge.
Limited to just 16 guests per seating and one to two seatings nightly, Uppercut unfolds across 14 courses guided entirely by the chefs’ vision, the finest available cuts, and seasonal ingredients. Each night brings a new culinary progression, making the experience unique from evening to evening.
Chef Jared Porter and Chef de Cuisine Travis Sassman have crafted this exploration of beef inspired by Asian culinary traditions and shaped by their careers. The omakase blends theater and technique, anchoring the experience in house-aged beef and globally sourced ingredients.
Guests begin with bone marrow paired with milk bread, followed by delicate raw preparations, and then a series of grilled beef dishes prepared over Korean-style grills at an intimate chef’s counter. Throughout the evening, the chefs draw from Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, and the broader Indochina region, interpreting regional dishes through their singular lens.
Highlights include a 45-day dry-aged negimaki finished with mirin shoyu, shaved truffles, and caviar, as well as thin carpaccio pressed tableside with yuzu aioli and fresh herbs. An Australian wagyu laab tartare elevates the traditional Thai celebratory dish, while other courses nod to Vietnamese hot pot, char siu, bihari, and red curry, all reimagined with exceptional beef.
Sourcing for Uppercut spans from a small wagyu hybrid farm in Benson, Arizona, to renowned cattle regions in Tohoku, Australia, and Oklahoma, with dry aging from 30 to over 60 days. Every selection reflects intentional curation and respect for the product. The fourteen-course progression includes three intermezzos to refresh the palate, and beef even appears in desserts such as Japanese sweet potato pie and a brownie finished with brown sugar meringue and tallow-roasted cashews.
Set within Cleaverman, Uppercut feels like a hidden sanctuary. The space, designed by Peter Bowden, blends warmth, texture, and timeless elegance with rich wood, sculptural elements, and soft lighting, creating an environment that is exclusive without feeling intimidating. Reservations for Uppercut are highly limited and released selectively. For more: UPPERCUT or CLEAVERMAN.
