The Patio Is the Bet, Not the Champagne
A Champagne-driven brasserie takes the old Living Room space at La Encantada this August. The menu, the patio engineering, and the Foothills context.
Frida American Brasserie takes the Living Room's old space at La Encantada this month, and the most consequential thing in it is a conditioned outdoor room meant to sell seats through a Tucson summer.
La Encantada has been carrying a dark restaurant since the Living Room Wine Café & Lounge closed. That space, inside the center at 2905 E. Skyline Drive, is being taken this month by Frida American Brasserie — a Champagne-led restaurant from Charles Hunt and Frida Hunt, the same operators behind Villa Peru at River and Campbell. The cooking is described as European-inspired American, and the beverage program is built on Champagne and Champagne-based cocktails — a narrower bet than the steakhouse-or-wine-list default an upscale Tucson opening usually reaches for. But the decision that will actually determine how this address performs is not on the menu. It is the patio, which is being built climate-controlled.
- August 2026
- Announced opening window for Frida American Brasserie
- 2905 E. Skyline
- La Encantada, at Skyline and Campbell
- 258,000 sq ft
- Size of La Encantada, open since November 2003
- $690,000
- Redfin's trailing-3-month median sale price, Catalina Foothills
What the Menu Commits To
The stated range runs from elevated small plates to steakhouse-style entrées — mini lobster rolls, crab cakes, duck confit salad, filet mignon medallions — with a seafood-forward second half that includes oysters, lobster tails and grilled halibut. Two service details tell you more about the room than the ingredient list does. Booths get a service button that summons Champagne cart service to the table, and DJs are planned for Sunday brunch and weekend evenings. That is a restaurant designed to hold a table rather than turn it — a different operating model from the one the space last held. The design language is black-and-white minimalism, drawn from Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's style and carried through the branding, the uniforms and the interior.
The Patio Had to Be Engineered
The patio is being built as a climate-controlled "living patio," meant to stay comfortable through a Tucson summer rather than close for it. That is the most consequential physical decision in the whole project. La Encantada is an open-air center — the walk between stores is the format, not a corridor — so outdoor seating there is exposed to the same June-through-September stretch that empties patios across the metro. A restaurant that can sell its patio in August instead of only from November through April is not adding a nice feature; it is adding roughly half a year of seats to the plan it underwrites its rent against. Whether the system delivers that in a 105-degree afternoon is worth checking in person.
- The Space (2905 E. Skyline Dr., Former Living Room, Opening August 2026): The suite the Living Room Wine Café & Lounge occupied at La Encantada before it closed, now being reopened as a Champagne-focused brasserie with a climate-controlled patio.
- The Center (La Encantada, 258,000 sq ft, No anchor tenant): An open-air, Spanish hacienda-style shopping center at Skyline and Campbell that opened in November 2003 with more than 50 stores and services and no anchor store.
- The Operators (Charles and Frida Hunt, Villa Peru, Second Tucson address): The same owners have run Villa Peru at 1745 E. River Rd. in Joesler Village since August 2017, after opening the first Villa Peru in Tempe in 2012.
A Center With No Anchor Cannot Carry a Dark Storefront
La Encantada opened in November 2003 with about 258,000 square feet, more than 50 stores and services, and no anchor tenant. That last detail is the one that makes this lease worth noting. An anchored center can absorb a dark restaurant because a grocery or a department store is still doing the work of pulling cars into the lot. A center with no anchor is drawing on its tenant mix itself, so an empty dining room on the walk is a hole in the product rather than a vacancy on a rent roll. Backfilling it with an operator who has kept a restaurant running for nine years across town is a steadier bet than a first-time concept would be.
The center sits in the Catalina Foothills, which is unincorporated Pima County rather than the City of Tucson — a distinction that governs which permits, tax rates and service providers apply to any address up here, and one that surprises buyers who assume a Tucson mailing address means Tucson city limits. On price: Redfin's Catalina Foothills page, in its June 2026 update, put the median sale price at $690,000 over the trailing three months, essentially flat against the same period a year earlier, at about $302 per square foot, down 2.6 percent. Homes sold after 56 days on market against 59 a year before. A restaurant lease does not move any of those figures. What it changes is the shorter, more practical thing a buyer notices on a Tuesday drive: whether the nearest retail center's lights are on.
Quick reference (August 7, 2026): Frida American Brasserie is scheduled to open in August 2026 at La Encantada, 2905 E. Skyline Drive, Tucson, in the space formerly occupied by the Living Room Wine Café & Lounge. It is owned by Charles Hunt and Frida Hunt, who also own Villa Peru at 1745 E. River Rd. The concept is European-inspired American cooking with a Champagne-focused beverage program, a climate-controlled patio, and DJs planned for Sunday brunch and weekend evenings. Opening dates, hours and menus at a new restaurant change — confirm current details with the business before planning a visit.
Filling the Foothills' Most Visible Vacancy
Two things here are worth filing away. One is that the Foothills' main open-air center is filling its most visible vacancy with an operator that has already run a restaurant here for nine years. The other is the patio: if a conditioned outdoor room works through a Tucson August, every open-air center in this metro will copy it, because all of them lose the same six months. Go in September and see whether the patio is full.
Sources
Tucson Foodie — "Frida American Brasserie to bring Champagne-driven dining to La Encantada" — tucsonfoodie.com/2026/03/18/frida-american-brasserie-to-bring-champagne-driven-dining-to-la-encantada — accessed August 7, 2026 (for the August opening at 2905 E. Skyline Dr. in the former Living Room space, owners Charles Hunt and Frida Hunt, the Champagne-focused beverage program, the European-inspired American menu including mini lobster rolls, crab cakes, duck confit salad, filet mignon medallions, oysters, lobster tails and grilled halibut, the climate-controlled "living patio," the booth service buttons for Champagne cart service, the DJs at Sunday brunch and weekend evenings, and the black-and-white design language drawn from Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy).
La Encantada — "Frida American Brasserie" store directory listing — laencantadashoppingcenter.com/directory/store/frida-american-brasserie — accessed August 7, 2026 (for the restaurant's listing as an incoming La Encantada tenant).
Yelp — "The Living Room Wine Cafe & Lounge — CLOSED, 2905 E Skyline Dr, Tucson" — yelp.com/biz/the-living-room-wine-cafe-and-lounge-tucson-2 — accessed August 7, 2026 (for the prior tenant at the address being closed).
Villa Peru — "About" — villaperutucson.com/about — accessed August 7, 2026 (for Charles Hunt and Frida Hunt as owners, the first Villa Peru opening in Tempe in 2012, and the Tucson restaurant opening in Joesler Village at River and Campbell in August 2017 at 1745 E. River Rd.).
Wikipedia — "La Encantada (shopping center)" — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Encantada_(shopping_center) — accessed August 7, 2026 (for the November 2003 opening, the roughly 258,000 square feet of floor area, the more than 50 stores and services with no anchor tenant, the Spanish hacienda design, and the location at Skyline and Campbell).
Redfin — "Catalina Foothills Housing Market" — redfin.com/city/21800/AZ/Catalina-Foothills/housing-market — accessed August 7, 2026 (for the $690,000 median sale price over the trailing three months, essentially flat year over year, $302 per square foot down 2.6 percent, and 56 days on market against 59 a year earlier, as of the page's June 2026 update).
All figures are current as of August 7, 2026; opening dates, hours, menus and home values change, so readers should confirm current information before relying on any single figure. This post is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase real estate. Kyle Berglund and Tierra Antigua Realty fully support and comply with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.
Topics
- New Business
- Frida American Brasserie
- La Encantada
- Catalina Foothills
- Skyline Drive
- Restaurants
- Retail
- Pima County
- Tucson
- 85718