Phone: 480-488-9796
Fax: 480-488-9642
Address: 36889 N Tom Darlington Drive,
Carefree, AZ 85377
Tuesday - Saturday
Lunch served 11am - 2pm
Dinner served 5pm - 9pm
Closed from 2pm - 5pm
Fax: 480-488-9642
Address: 36889 N Tom Darlington Drive,
Carefree, AZ 85377
Tuesday - Saturday
Lunch served 11am - 2pm
Dinner served 5pm - 9pm
Closed from 2pm - 5pm
Confluence/Carefree from Herbert Hitchon on Vimeo.
Nestled in the foothills of Carefree, comes your new favorite spot: Confluence restaurant. Reimagined from chef Brandon Gauthier, the menu will still have a focus on fresh, and local but will be more of an elevated and modern cuisine. A casual lunch spot will turn in to a wonderful date night dinner place. Chef Brandon, in his “spare time”, enjoys fly fishing and this is where the name was dreamed up. Along with his wife, who will be running the front of the house, they felt the word Confluence has meaning. Two rivers coming together: they both trained for many years under Chef Binkley, and have now merged into one and making their dream happen, owning their own restaurant. Join them for a wonderful experience and amazing food.
MENUS
At Confluence, we believe in serving up healthy options without sacrificing flavor. We have a cozy bistro interior as well as an open patio with mountain views: Chef Brandon wants to make this restaurant unique to the area, where you can order a la carte however it is meant to have multiple courses and tastings. The wine list will be worldly with a heavy by the glass section – so you can enjoy all of your favorites. As vegetables have always been a favorite of Chef Binkley, Chef Brandon will carry that tradition on as have many vegetable options available, many locally sourced.
At Confluence, we believe in serving up healthy options without sacrificing flavor. We have a cozy bistro interior as well as an open patio with mountain views: Chef Brandon wants to make this restaurant unique to the area, where you can order a la carte however it is meant to have multiple courses and tastings. The wine list will be worldly with a heavy by the glass section – so you can enjoy all of your favorites. As vegetables have always been a favorite of Chef Binkley, Chef Brandon will carry that tradition on as have many vegetable options available, many locally sourced.
Reviews
PHOENIX magazine 2018 Restaurant of the Year No. 1
Confluence
Opened: July 2018
36889 N. Tom Darlington Dr., Carefree
480-488-9796, restaurantconfluence.com
That Brandon and Tori Gauthier’s French-influenced American bistro, housed in the former Café Bink space in Carefree, is fabulous — far and away the Valley’s best new restaurant of the year — will come as no surprise to hard-core Kevin Binkley fans. Many of them became acquainted with the unassuming couple’s prodigious talents (he cooked, she managed) at the original Binkley’s in Cave Creek years ago. Here in their very own restaurant, which they bought from Binkley and rebranded last summer, they get every detail right, offering thoughtful wines, a rotating selection of swoon-worthy house-baked breads and elegant, globally inflected dishes that reflect the Binkley’s ethos without being slavish to it. Make no mistake, Gauthier’s worldly food is uniquely his own – soulful and deeply satisfying – but that it so eloquently expresses a soupçon of Binkley’s DNA doesn’t hurt, either. The real shocker is that a place this sophisticated also dishes out the best lunch in town at bargain prices, including a melt-y chicken sandwich that will curl your toes.
Did You Know?
Carefree has the most restaurants per capita of any city or town in Arizona, per the Arizona Restaurant Association.
Confluence
Opened: July 2018
36889 N. Tom Darlington Dr., Carefree
480-488-9796, restaurantconfluence.com
That Brandon and Tori Gauthier’s French-influenced American bistro, housed in the former Café Bink space in Carefree, is fabulous — far and away the Valley’s best new restaurant of the year — will come as no surprise to hard-core Kevin Binkley fans. Many of them became acquainted with the unassuming couple’s prodigious talents (he cooked, she managed) at the original Binkley’s in Cave Creek years ago. Here in their very own restaurant, which they bought from Binkley and rebranded last summer, they get every detail right, offering thoughtful wines, a rotating selection of swoon-worthy house-baked breads and elegant, globally inflected dishes that reflect the Binkley’s ethos without being slavish to it. Make no mistake, Gauthier’s worldly food is uniquely his own – soulful and deeply satisfying – but that it so eloquently expresses a soupçon of Binkley’s DNA doesn’t hurt, either. The real shocker is that a place this sophisticated also dishes out the best lunch in town at bargain prices, including a melt-y chicken sandwich that will curl your toes.
Did You Know?
Carefree has the most restaurants per capita of any city or town in Arizona, per the Arizona Restaurant Association.
Nantucket Bay scallops with chorizo at Confluence in Carefree. (Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic)
The excellence of his restaurant should be no surprise, given Brandon Gauthier’s pedigree. But if you blink, you’ll miss Confluence — quietly tucked into a strip mall on a snoozy stretch of road in Carefree. This is stealth fine dining, wild and elaborate plates, gorgeously executed, in a casual neighborhood joint that looks like it could just as easily be serving burgers and pasta. It’s hard to say whether we should be frustrated that traditional settings for refined, artistic fare are an endangered species or excited that we live in a time when food like this could be lurking around any corner. Either way, Confluence deserves your attention.
Be sure to try: Bison tartare, black bean soup, venison au poivre, Nantucket Bay scallops.
More: Restaurant Confluence in Carefree is a new breed of fine dining
Details: 36889 N. Tom Darlington Drive, Carefree. 480-488-9796, restaurantconfluence.com.
The excellence of his restaurant should be no surprise, given Brandon Gauthier’s pedigree. But if you blink, you’ll miss Confluence — quietly tucked into a strip mall on a snoozy stretch of road in Carefree. This is stealth fine dining, wild and elaborate plates, gorgeously executed, in a casual neighborhood joint that looks like it could just as easily be serving burgers and pasta. It’s hard to say whether we should be frustrated that traditional settings for refined, artistic fare are an endangered species or excited that we live in a time when food like this could be lurking around any corner. Either way, Confluence deserves your attention.
Be sure to try: Bison tartare, black bean soup, venison au poivre, Nantucket Bay scallops.
More: Restaurant Confluence in Carefree is a new breed of fine dining
Details: 36889 N. Tom Darlington Drive, Carefree. 480-488-9796, restaurantconfluence.com.
www.restaurantconfluence.com
reservation link: https://www.exploretock.com/confluence
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