For most of the last 40 years, a dressed-up dinner at Pinnacle Peak and Pima roads meant the northwest corner. That's where The Citadel opened in 1985. Over the past 18 months that has changed. Preston's at The Citadel closed in 2025. Between February 2025 and August 2026, the corner's two most ambitious new dinner rooms both opened at La Mirada, the center just east across Pima Road. Neither was built from scratch. Each one moved into a suite that had held something else for years.
Forty Years of Dinner on the Northwest Corner
The Citadel was designed by Vern Swaback, a Scottsdale architect who once apprenticed under Frank Lloyd Wright. It opened on undeveloped desert in 1985, and The Inn at the Citadel started taking overnight guests in 1991. Restaurants there have included 8700, Market Café, Marque Bar, Michael's, BICE, Preston's Steakhouse, Café Ted and Little Snitch.
La Mirada came about a decade later, opening on the northeast corner around 1995. Its restaurant history has been mixed. Mastro's, Pane e Vino and Bistro Provence have shared the center over the years with LAMP Pizzeria, Raven Gastropub, Jade Palace, Royale India, Al Hamra Indian Cuisine, a Starbucks and Arrivederci Pinnacle Peak. The center has also hosted a Walgreens, a UPS Store, a dry cleaner, a barber shop and an animal hospital. La Mirada has long been the place for errands and a casual dinner. The Citadel was where people went for a white tablecloth.
Preston's at The Citadel closed at some point in 2025, and the year-end roundup that reported it gave no exact date. Here is what happened at La Mirada over the same period:
- February 2025. Belmont Kitchen & Cocktails opens at La Mirada, in the space New York Bagels 'N Bialys used to occupy.
- July 2025. Belmont hires Alex Stratta as executive chef.
- August 12, 2026. Il Segreto opens at La Mirada in the former Arrivederci Pinnacle Peak space.
That sequence answers the question a resident would ask when Preston's closed. Fine dining didn't leave the intersection. It moved to the other side of Pima Road.
A Former Bagel Shop Becomes the Room Critics Drive North For
Belmont opened at 8876 E. Pinnacle Peak Road in February 2025. Before that, the space was a bagel shop. The owners are Phillip and Megan Lewkowicz, the family associated with Café Monarch and Reserve in Old Town. Both of those restaurants are known for long tasting menus. Belmont runs differently. It serves an à la carte menu and is priced below its Old Town siblings, but there's still a dress code.
Five months after opening, the Lewkowiczs hired Stratta to lead the kitchen. Valley diners may know the name. He won the James Beard Best Chef Southwest award in 1998 for Mary Elaine's at The Phoenician, and about ten years later he earned two Michelin stars at his own restaurant, Alex at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Co-founder Phillip Lewkowicz called the hire a "defining moment" for the restaurant.
Nikki Buchanan opened her January 2026 review in PHOENIX magazine by revising an opinion she had held for a long time:
"I've been known to say that North Scottsdale lacks a sense of culinary adventure, citing the busy but rather pedestrian restaurants in that neck of the woods as proof. However, I'm waffling on that position these days."
Her review describes the bar as a warmer take on Art Deco, with cocktails that arrive with flames, smoke, bubbles and in one case a smoking treasure chest. Her favorite was the Spiced Merchant, made with rum and spiced pear liqueur. Wine director Kyrri Rauber built the list mainly from California, France and Italy, in that order. The magazine's photos show Maine lobster ravioli and a hamachi Napoleon topped with Osetra caviar.
Il Segreto Rebuilt the Arrivederci Space From the Inside
The second opening took longer. Il Segreto opened on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, in the suite Arrivederci Pinnacle Peak used to occupy. The address is 8900 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Suite D1, behind LAMP Pizzeria and Raven Gastropub. The owner is Jameson Neuhoff of Segreto Restaurant Group, and opening coverage pointed to his background in design.
That design work shows up as soon as you walk in. Forking Scottsdale visited in the first week and wrote that it "wasn't simply a matter of putting a new sign on the old Arrivederci space." The writer described the result as darker and moodier than what was there before. Past the host stand is a wall covered in keys, a nod to the name, which means "The Secret." From there the space splits in two. A lounge with green velvet seating sits to the left, and the dining room is to the right.
PHOENIX magazine's September openings roundup calls it white-tablecloth dining. The menu sticks to seasonal Italian standards: antipasto, pasta, entrées and desserts. The roundup also mentions an aperitivo menu and the patio. Several preview guests singled out the chocolate tart.
How the Two Rooms Compare on a Weeknight
The two restaurants sit in the same center but serve different kinds of evenings.
| Belmont Kitchen & Cocktails | Il Segreto | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 8876 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd. | 8900 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Suite D1 |
| Opened | February 2025 | August 12, 2026 |
| Previous tenant | New York Bagels 'N Bialys | Arrivederci Pinnacle Peak |
| Kitchen | Modern American, chef Alex Stratta | Seasonal Italian |
| Early option | Bar for afternoon drinks and snacks | Aperitivo, 4 to 6 p.m. |
| Worth knowing | Dress code | Dinner Tuesday through Saturday, 4 to 9 p.m. |
Il Segreto serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday only, so Sundays and Mondays at La Mirada still mean Belmont or the casual places nearby. Il Segreto takes reservations through OpenTable. Hours at new restaurants tend to change in the first few months, so check Il Segreto's site before planning around them.
Having both rooms in one center also helps the restaurants around them. Buchanan describes Belmont's à la carte menu as working for special occasions, date nights, and afternoon drinks and snacks at the bar. Il Segreto's aperitivo hour runs from 4 to 6 p.m. LAMP Pizzeria and Raven Gastropub are next to the new Italian room, and that's a combination this parking lot didn't have two years ago.
What Remains at The Citadel
No replacement for Preston's has been announced. The Citadel's current property description leads with Little Snitch and a mix of boutiques and salons. Little Snitch appears in the corner's dining history alongside BICE and Michael's. The Citadel has seen a long line of restaurants since 1985, and an announcement from either landlord could change things quickly.
There was another change at the intersection in 2025. The post office branch inside Pinnacle Peak General Store stopped operating. The branch dated back to the store's early years, when the Nelsons opened Pinnacle Peak Village in 1974 and the General Store in 1975.
Further West on Pinnacle Peak Road
The newest opening on the road is a few miles west of the intersection. Baan Thai Bistro opened in September 2026 at 7605 E. Pinnacle Peak Road. PHOENIX magazine's opening notice lists panang curry, Thai BBQ chicken, tom yum fried rice, pad Thai, and a crispy whole pompano with tamarind and ginger sauce. It's a casual option on the same road for nights when Belmont's dress code or Il Segreto's Tuesday-through-Saturday schedule doesn't suit. Menu details are on Baan Thai's site.
The two places that changed the corner the most are now a short walk apart in La Mirada, the center that opened around 1995. Belmont is at 8876 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, and Il Segreto is at 8900 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Suite D1.
Most of what's opened at Pinnacle Peak and Pima since 2025 went into suites someone else had used for years, and that tells you a lot about how a corner like this changes. If you'd like to talk through what's happening at this intersection and how it affects the area around it, Racquel Miller is glad to share what she's seeing. Let's Connect.
