Tucson loses its only five-diamond restaurant

It’s a sign of the times, Jennifer Duffy, the resort’s public relations director said today.

“People want gourmet comfort food — they want to wear their khakis,” she said.

Ventana Room was a coat-and-tie dining experience at a room on the top floor of the hotel. It had sparkling night views of the city, attentive service, an extensive and impressive wine list, and innovative cuisine.

Earlier this year, the pricing was reduced at the Ventana Room, and the coat request was dropped, but the restaurant’s image was set. Instead, said Duffy, diners have flocked to the more casual Flying V, Cascade Lounge and Sunday brunches at the resort.

“They are wildly successful,” said Duffy.

Ventana Room closed for the summer — which it has done for years — and the decision to close it permanently was made recently.

“It’s the end of an era,” said Duffy of the closure of the restaurant, which opened in 1984.

“I’m sure regular patrons will be disappointed, but it wasn’t fitting the needs of the majority of the people.”

It once was that when a restaurant garnered the AAA Five Diamond award, it was a near guarantee of customers. The award, given rarely, is a mark of sublime cuisine, service and ambiance.

But the closure of the Ventana Room follows a trend of five diamond restaurants closing around the country.

In Phoenix, the tony Mary Elaine’s at the Phoenician Resort, closed and reopened as a steakhouse, albeit one with a James Beard Award-winning chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, at the helm. In Scottsdale, the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort’s five-diamond restaurant, Marquesa, closed two years ago. In Boston, Aujourd’hui, the fine dining restaurant at the Four Seasons closed late last spring.

The only five-diamond restaurant now open in Arizona is Kai, at the Phoenix-area Wild Horse Pass.

“A Toast to the Ventana Room” — a sale of much of its wine list at cost — is slated for Oct. 2.