WRITTEN BY: Nikki Link
PUBLISHED IN: Scottsdale Airpark News
There’s an Italian saying that goes, “Essere la ciliegina sulla torta,” which translates to “being the icing on the cake.” It refers to the final touch or the detail that makes something complete. That’s just what Jason Brody has been up to at his restaurant at 10810 N. Tatum Boulevard. After a recent rebrand and remodel, Nick’s Italian is now Brody’s Italian.
For Brody, the entire process has been a labor of love nearly 20 years in the making. His family were regular customers of Nick’s at Grayhawk when he was a teenager.
“I used to always chat with Nick (Cohen), and he’s like, ‘When you’re ready, come get a job with me,’” Brody said. “I think right before my 16th birthday, I went in there, filled out an app, and they hired me on the spot.”
He started off with packaging to-go orders and running food to tables. After bouncing around to several other of Cohen’s restaurants over the years, Brody landed at the Tatum location while in college.
“I’d literally leave the dorms from Tempe, come back, work Fridays and/or Saturdays, and make a little extra money,” Brody said. “Then, after my shifts, I would go back down to Tempe and live the college life.”
He was eventually promoted to general manager. After successfully weathering the storm that was the COVID-19 pandemic, Brody approached Cohen about transitioning to ownership.
“We moved pretty quickly on it. … We had a deal within a couple months,” Brody said.
He explained that the rebranding process began with some subtle announcements to existing customers.
“I would put in people’s to-gos and put in the checkbooks here (that) what was going on basically was that I was going to change the name in April to my last name called Brody’s Italian — same great food, same great staff, same guys in the kitchen,” he said.
In addition to changing the restaurant’s name and updating its logo (now a bold “B” with a fork), the 1,800-square-foot space got what Brody described as a “facelift.” Changes included newly renovated bathrooms, rewrapped booths, fresh paint, new lighting and other modern finishes. The grand unveiling was held the week of April 15.
Well on his way to establishing his own legacy in the restaurant industry, Brody noted that the process was not without its challenges. It was a careful balancing act of keeping long-standing patrons happy, while appealing to newcomers.
Part of that was letting regulars know that most of their favorite dishes weren’t going anywhere.
“The menu is pretty much the same. I shrank it a little bit and added a few new feature dishes,” Brody said.
He went on to highlight some of those new additions.
“I started selling this ‘Brody’s baked rigatoni.’ It’s like a little appetizer,” he said.
It features rigatoni pasta smothered in the restaurant’s spicy pink sauce, topped with mozzarella and then baked until crispy.
Another is the “Capellini Calzone.” Capellini pasta is stuffed inside a pizza dough crust along with mozzarella and more of that pink sauce.
“It comes out looking like a calzone,” Brody said. “When you cut into it, there’s pasta and cheese and everything inside it.”
For fans of the famous nonbreaded chicken Parmesan, lasagna, and other seafood and pasta dishes Nick’s was known for — those are right there on the menu, too.
“I can cater to vegetarians, I can cater to people who love meat, seafood; we kind of have a bit of everything for everybody,” Brody said.
Also at the core of Brody’s Italian’s culinary philosophy is a commitment to quality and reasonable prices.
“I can’t tell you how many people take boxes home, because our portions are big,” Brody said.
While he has been busy with the renovation and rebranding, Brody underscored that his work is just beginning. His biggest goal for 2024 is strengthening the restaurant’s branding and making sure that his first solo foray into the culinary world is built on a solid foundation. Signing a 10-year lease at the current location was the first step. In the future, however, he’s thinking big.
“Probably in the next couple of years, I’m gonna start looking for locations two, three, four,” Brody said.
For now, the Tatum location has his full focus — and it will be more than obvious to anyone who stops by. Brody plans on spending a significant amount of time behind the bar, interacting with guests, and making sure everyone is enjoying themselves.
“This is a place where a lot of people come to have a great meal,” Brody said. “I always say it’s like a ‘Cheers’ bar where everybody’s really friendly and knows each other. … It’s a place where you can come, have a great meal, feel comfortable and just have a really good time.”