HOMES FOR SALE AT SCOTTSDALE WATERFRONT

 

Scottsdale's new day
Elegant shops, art walks, nightlife, and fancy hotels: This Arizona downtown is now anything but dusty
by Nora Burba Trulsson

I leave no stone unturned at the new Scottsdale Waterfront, where locally owned shops mix with all the big names. I hit Estilo for a flirty wrap dress, and Mahsa for matching sandals. Next, I saunter over to Haus, which is kitty-corner to Scottsdale Fashion Square mall, for a peek at vintage furnishings and Jonathan Adler vases. And then I move on, across the canal that bisects downtown, to check out Fifth Avenue, where the dusty, old turquoise-jewelry and souvenir stands share space with chic boutiques selling everything from custom handbags to herbal cosmetics.

My credit card's beginning to come out at warp speed. I call it quits and reunite with my husband for a glass of Chardonnay at the grottolike Kazimierz World Wine Bar, which, along with Sea Saw and Cowboy Ciao, makes up a troika of trendy (and really good) downtown eateries owned by restaurateur Peter Kasperski. We move on to Olive & Ivy Restaurant & Marketplace — a darling new spot on the Scottsdale Waterfront — for delicate veal-stuffed ravioli and olive oil-poached salmon, followed by much-needed espresso, as good as any we'd find in Italy.

After all, it's a Thursday night. Which, in downtown Scottsdale, means ArtWalk: an always-hopping scene, with galleries along Main Street and Marshall Way staying open late with new shows, live tunes, and plastic cups brimming with complimentary wine. Swept up in the sidewalk throng, we wander in and out of galleries; at Chiaroscuro, we walk through an other-worldly installation, and we ogle oversize watercolors at Duley-Jones Gallery.

We follow the tide down the street to SMoCA Nights, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art's thriving intellectual nightlife hybrid: part club scene, part art event, staged three times a year. Until midnight, cocktails flow, DJs spin, artists paint, and models sashay down catwalks.

Invigorated by the natural energy of the evening — or perhaps the caffeine — we soon find ourselves at Axis/Radius, one of about 20 nightclubs within a mile-wide area. Techno and top 40 music pulses as dancers swarm Radius's illuminated floor; we cross the glass walkway over to Axis and take in the scene from a cozy booth. Needless to say, we sleep in the next day.

Once atop Camelback Mountain's boulders, taking in that phenomenal view, we reflect on our whirlwind weekend — and plot our return visit. Next time, we'll try the W Scottsdale Hotel, which is opening later this year. And, by early summer, SouthBridge, a collection of locally owned restaurants and shops, will debut on the canal's south bank. Give us another shot or two of espresso, and we'll be back. Soon.