Restaurants are lifelong pursuits for Patrick and Ayana Malarchik.
Patrick started his career as a dishwasher at the Windemere Hotel and Conference Center in Sierra Vista; Ayana at the Orange Julius in Foothills Mall. She climbed the ladder at Orange Julius and moved from there to Texas Roadhouse and The Keg.
The two parlayed their experience into Tandem and The Outside Inn in Sierra Vista.
“Restaurants are a labor of love for us,” he said. “Both of us have been in restaurants our entire lives.”
When costs no longer made sense, they relocated to Tucson and brought their recipes with them. On Sept. 14, they unveiled Tandem American Eatery, a restaurant with a refined menu that ranges from wild mushroom burgers to bacon tortellini.
“We used to do more elegant fine dining in Sierra Vista,” Patrick said. “With the cost of everything going up, and the economy in shambles, we didn’t want to charge $50 to $100 a plate.
“With Tandem American Eatery, we still approach the products with the same care as we did when we were doing steak and lobster. “
The menu features gourmet offerings like barbecue bacon burger ($16.50); wild mushroom burger ($15.75); black and blue burger ($15.75) and the simple all-American burger ($13.50).
The menu goes beyond juicy burgers, however. Signature sandwiches include lobster roll ($18); crispy chicken ($14.50); BLT ($15.75); The Veggie ($14.50) and short rib Philly ($16.50).
The short rib for the loaded fries, Wellington and Tandem toast is braised for seven hours. Guests can “get in and out for $25 for beverages and food,” he said.
“To get that same kind of quality elsewhere, you would spend twice as much,” he said. “The little things make our product stand out. We fire our chips and French fries from scratch. We do our own braising of short ribs.”
Further stressing quality, Patrick said one variety of Tandem toast is served with Maine lobster and smoked gulf shrimp, with avocado, aioli and scallion.
For Ayana, it was tough to choose a signature dish, as many of the entrées sell well. The mushroom sacchetti — with fontina and porcini pasta, wild mushrooms, roasted onion, spinach and demi-glace ($15.75) — is one of her top sellers. Patrick recommends it with short ribs.
“The mushroom sacchetti is a mixture of mushrooms that we can get at the time, whatever is in season,” Patrick said.
“It has so much flavor. We have fontina cheese and we throw in spinach, demi-glace. It’s like a beef stroganoff without the sour cream. The guest has an option to add a protein to it.
“We keep our pastas free of proteins with an option to add a protein. They can add what they want. We try to be minimalists, but not in a bad way. We can adjust something, if it’s reasonable.”
Ayana said the staff takes allergies seriously, as well.
So far, it’s paid off. Tandem American Eatery is doing well.
“We had a good first winter season,” Patrick said. “Sales were where we needed to be. With labor costs and it being our first summer, we didn’t know exactly what to expect. It hasn’t been horrible yet.
“We’ve worked in Tucson, so we know summers can be rough on a business. We know Tucson. We have no qualms about it being slower in the summertime.”
Patrick doesn’t mind working long hours, as it’s his calling. He can operate without a dishwasher and wash up on his own. The chef can cook. His wife can bartend.
“We’re putting our own personal work into making sure the concept runs,” he said.
Patrick and Ayana say Tandem American Eatery is very much a hands-on project.
“One of us is always there, from open to close, the six days a week that we’re open,” he said. “We do most of our advertising and promotion from our house while we’re watching the kids. We develop the menus in the middle of the night after the kids go to bed.”
The couple finds it’s easy to stay passionate about it.
“Honestly, it just honest work for me,” Patrick said. “I’ve always liked being in the restaurant business. I don’t even call it a passion. It’s just a lifestyle.”
Ayana added, “We like to take care of people’s food and drink needs. We’re fulfilling a need on a basic level. People have to eat. They want to go out and enjoy themselves. We’re offering a place where people can do that, in a casual atmosphere without having to clean up after themselves.”
Tandem American Eatery
Shoppes at Bears Path
8864 E. Tanque Verde Road, Tucson
520-526-2501
tandemaz.com
Tandem’s specials
Monday and Tuesday
Burger and beer deal, $19
Wednesday
Wings, $2 off whiskey
20% off bottles of wine
$2 off glasses of wine
Thursday
Date night meal deal
One salad, two pastas with protein, one dessert, $55
Friday
Fry-day fish and chips, $17
Saturday
Sin-ful Saturday
10% to share or not to share menu items and desserts
