Devon Sanner, one of the chef-owners of the east side Italian-fusion restaurant Zio Peppe, is taking over the culinary program at Ventana Canyon Club and Lodge.
His appointment earlier this week to be the Lodge’s executive chef will take him out of the Zio Peppe kitchen, which he has run since he and Mat Cable opened the restaurant in May 2021. He starts the new job Sept. 17 after he and Cable return from representing Tucson as City of Gastronomy Ambassadors in Parma, Italy.
Sanner’s absence from Zio Peppe, 6502 E. Tanque Verde Road, does not mean the end of the popular restaurant. Cable, who also owns Fresco Pizzeria & Pastaria at 3011 E. Speedway, will hire a chef de cuisine to work with him in the kitchen. Sanner, meanwhile, will act as a consultant, working with Cable on menu ideas that emphasize their mission to capture the flavors of Tucson with locally-grown and heritage ingredients.
“Devon and I kind of developed this style of cuisine together and I have no plans to deviate from that,” said Cable, whose wife Britnee also works at the restaurant. “There is nothing on the menu that I’m not happy with. I don’t expect that diners and regulars are going to notice any difference other than missing Devon’s smiling face.”
“It was absolutely a hard choice. I really do love what we’ve managed to accomplish at Zio Peppe,” Sanner said of his decision. “I love my crew as my second family. Certainly not being with them on a daily basis is going to be sad for me. But I am looking forward to the new challenge at Ventana and the opportunity to take that brand and re-elevate it to glory.”
Clayton Robideau, Ventana Canyon vice president and clubhouse manager, said Sanner brings a reputation and credibility in the community that the Lodge hopes will help elevate and “build our relationship with the local community as a whole.”
“We want to make a name for ourselves with the culinary program and we feel Devon is a great asset to achieve those goals,” he said.
Ventana Canyon Club and Lodge at 6200 N. Club House Lane, in the foothills of the picturesque Catalina Mountains, has a members-only country club with two Tom Fazio-designed golf courses, and a 50-room boutique hotel. Its dining options including the upscale members-only Catalina Dining Room and the more casual Ventana Bar & Grill.
A graduate of Scottsdale Culinary Institute, Sanner, 50, got his start in 2005 working with James Beard Award-winning chef Janos Wilder at Wilder’s namesake restaurants at La Paloma Resort and at his Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails and Carriage House, which Wilder shuttered in late 2020.
During his time with Wilder, the Tucson native also staged with Tru in Chicago and New York’s Momofuku.
Sanner has long been a leading voice in Tucson’s chef community, promoting the hyper-local sourcing and heritage foods ethos he learned from Wilder. In 2019, he was one of the founders of the Gastronomic Union of Tucson (GUT), a collective of Tucson chefs committed to sharing ideas and hosting events to promote Tucson’s restaurants and its UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation.
He also led his Zio Peppe culinary team to victory in a handful of local competitions including Tucson Originals’ Pizza Throwdown and this month’s Brews & Bites, pairing restaurants and breweries. Last year, Sanner was a finalist in the 2023 Iron Chef Tucson competition, narrowly losing to two-time winner Kenneth Foy, chef-owner of Dante’s Fire.
Sanner replaces Wendy Gauthier who left the Lodge in July after less than two years.
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