Chic Chef 77 Bistro & Wine Bar was founded by celebrity chef Nik Fields, who is also a private chef to the Phoenix Suns.
Fields said her dream was to create a space where you can enjoy a glass of wine, paired with high-quality food, while enjoying some live music or poetry, but also a place where she can lift up other Black creators.
Her restaurant will predominantly feature Black winemakers.
"When people walk in here, I want them to know that it is Black-owned, but I want them to know that it's all-inclusive and one of the things that we want to do is to be a pioneer in the wine industry," Fields said. "I know that there's so many winemakers that don't get the publicity because they're overshadowed by a lot of bigger brands."
Up first for February, she'll be featuring De'Twah Premium Wines.
The brand will get a lot of exposure too. Fields has already booked big names ahead of the big events in the Valley this month.
"I'm super excited," Fields said. "We have private events for the entire Super Bowl, we have Beats by Dre, we have ESPN, we have Apple Music and so many others."
Getting to where she is today, though, was a journey. It started when Fields was a teenager.
"I actually graduated high school and immediately went off to Italy and my dream was to become this master chef my parents said absolutely not, like, there's no money in the kitchen," she said.
So, she got her MBA, got married, and had her daughter. She still found incredible success in her career, but never stopped cooking or dreaming about that being her goal.
Once her husband got his Ph.D. and her daughter graduated from college, she felt it was her time to make new moves.
"I said, 'I did my job, now I'm going to do what I want to do.'"
Word got around about her cooking chops and one day, she found herself on the phone with Sharon Stone who was asking her to be her private chef for a movie premiere.
"I was like, 'Am I being Punk'd? Like, Sharon Stone is on my phone,'" she said. "Literally, from there, like, the floodgates opened. I was at every movie premiere, I was a private chef, I mean, I still can't believe how that actually happened."
Now, she's preparing for her biggest venture yet.
"I'm super excited, I'm nervous, I'm humbled," Fields said. "I'm literally living my dream off of my passion and every day I'm just like I still can't believe that this is true, it's just been an amazing journey and I'm not done."
She plans to open more locations across the country and the world.
She also has her own collection of spices, oils, and various cooking utensils, which she also will sell inside the restaurant.
The grand opening for Chic Chef 77 will happen on "Wine Down Wednesday" February 8 and will begin at 5 p.m.
It is located at 1221 E Apache Blvd, Tempe, AZ 85251, just east of Rural Road.
