The chef co-owns CC's on Central, a Southern and soul food restaurant that he and his mom Sharon opened on Central Avenue in early 2023. He recently competed on Food Network’s passport-punching culinary competition “Ciao House.”
On the show, which whisks emerging American chefs off to Italy, Cunningham was eliminated for serving seedy slices of prickly pear alongside coriander-crusted seared tuna. When given the opportunity to return to the competition later, the chef wanted to recreate the crunchy effect that sent him packing, setting out to make a prickly pear sorbet with poppy seeds.
“I like to push buttons, so I was going to lean into the whole prickly pear seeds inside the sorbet,” he says.
But, “petty” isn’t the first word that comes to mind for chef Cesar Velasco, who got to know Cunningham after the chef tried Velasco’s wood-fired pies at the pop-up Otra Pizzeria. Velasco calls Cunningham an “awesome human being,” who “works his ass off” in the kitchen.
“We do not deserve a human like this,” Velasco says of Cunningham's impact on the Valley's dining scene. “This guy is very passionate about what he does.”
Whether it’s thanks to that passion, or pettiness, or a dash of both, Cunningham’s star is on the rise.
“I’ve always been a proponent for community and being out there,” Cunningham says.
If these last few months of appearing on Food Network, cooking with friends at pop-ups and planning curated events are any indication, Cunningham is just getting warmed up.
Devan Cunningham (right) and his mom Sharon (left) run the midtown Phoenix restaurant CC's on Central.
Sean Wilcoxson
From SoCal to CC’s on Central
Raised in Southern California, where his mom has run restaurants since 2009, Cunningham came to Phoenix in 2014. He cooked at spots such as the Windsor and the former House of Tricks, as well as with chef Stephen Jones at The Larder + The Delta.In 2017, Cunningham launched The Good Food Table, a catering and private chef business. Then, luring Sharon from California, Devan partnered with his mom to open CC’s on Central in January 2023.
The cafe has charmed our food critic and diners alike with a blend of Southern, Creole, Cajun and soul food. The menu includes comforting debris and grits, fork-tender collard greens with vinegary potlikker and bold dry-rubbed wings.
“Our team has been growing, our restaurant has been growing and our notoriety around the city and the community has been growing,” Cunningham says while sitting at an expansive community table at CC’s that peeks into the kitchen. Sharon sits across from him, while the TV at the end of the table silently plays a cooking show.
Cunningham says his mind is always turning with ideas and he likes the “freedom of range” that he gets from all the different hats he wears.
At any given point, he may be making pasta for a private client using a cavatelli maker he got from the set of “Ciao House.” Maybe he’s prepping bar snacks crafted for local lounges such as Highball and 36 Below. Or, he could be cooking alongside Otra Pizzeria at Sauvage Wine Bar and Shop, tossing wings to pair with the pies on the last Wednesday of each month.
“It’s fun to step out and do something different,” he says. “My favorite thing about the pop-up space is just the variety and versatility of it.”
A star turn on an Italian-themed cooking show
That versatility appears to have come in handy during “Ciao House” – in addition to having a valid passport. Cunningham was interviewing for a different Food Network cooking show when he was asked if he was interested in traveling to Italy for three weeks.Though CC’s was less than a year old at the time, having a solid team in place meant he didn’t hesitate.
“I was like, ‘Yeah sign me up.’ I’ve never been to Europe before so I was super excited to go to Europe, to go to Italy, the Mecca of food travels,” he says.
While cooking for celebrity chefs and judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Gabe Bertaccini, Cunningham emerged as a fan favorite for his abilities in the kitchen and at serving looks, eyes wide and eyebrows raised behind dark-rimmed glasses, in confessionals and amid the competition.
“I was not anticipating they were catching all of that and some of them were out of context, but they did a great job taking them and putting them in a place that made them that much funnier,” Cunningham says.
The occasional memeification and his newfound food TV celebrity have been surprising, Cunningham says. He’s been stopped by fans at an airport and often meets new customers who come into CC’s after streaming the show.
“It’s funny. It’s so different. I guess I didn’t really expect that,” he says. “It’s humbling, but it definitely makes me just blush and smile and get all giddy.”
The show has provided the restaurant a boost during the summer months which are slow for many Valley eateries.
“People are still finding out about us almost daily,” he says. “It’s beautiful timing for the show because summer hits us so hard here in Phoenix.”
Devan Cunningham (right) teams up with Cesar Velasco (left) of Otra Pizzeria on the last Wednesday of each month, cooking wings to pair with Otra's wood-fired pies.
Brooklen McCarty
‘My mind is always open to things’
Those challenging summers are also part of why Cunningham is a man cooking about town, aiming to support his friends and spread the word about CC’s.The Cunninghams have recently updated the restaurant’s hours from breakfast and lunch to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. And they hope to provide more opportunities for customers to come in, with ticketed dinner events, kitchen takeovers and an upcoming Saturday brunch.
“We, as a family, love breakfast. We love Saturday brunch at grandma’s house, so we’re looking to incorporate that here in the near future,” Cunningham says.
That “good Southern hearty breakfast” at grandma’s would include homemade biscuits and preserves, eggs, grits, ham steak and salmon croquettes, among other dishes, and the Cunninghams aim to recreate that vibe at their restaurant.
The family is also launching a line of seasonings and mixes later this fall under the moniker Sharon’s Creole Products, to sell items such as a Southern-style seasoning blend and cornbread mix.
“We want to create a product that people can use to kind of replicate some of our food at home and take some of our flavor home with them,” Cunningham says.
For those who have wondered about the taste of Cunningham’s Italian cookery on “Ciao House,” they can try it at a ticketed dinner on Aug. 10.
“I’ve watched plenty of shows before where it’s like I want to taste that, I want to try that, so why not go ahead and oblige them and share that with the community?” he says.
The menu will showcase a variety of dishes that wowed the show’s judges, including a ribollita, rabbit and dumplings and that prickly pear sorbet, which regretfully did not freeze in time for him to serve on the show. While Cunningham pivoted to a salad, the misstep ultimately denied his chance to get into the finale. But, the chef did try the sorbet at the show’s wrap party.
“I was happy at how good it was, but I was so sad at how good it was,” he says, contemplating “maybe I could have made it to the finals with this.”
Ticketed dinners showcasing coursed, elevated menus are something he aims to incorporate more frequently at the restaurant as well.
“That will allow for more of that creative expression,” Cunningham says.
He’s also opening the doors to CC’s after hours, giving fellow chefs run of the kitchen. Most recently, CC’s hosted Bibi’s Kitchen and Tempura Takeover.
“We can really grow our community but also help out our business as well,” he says. “Before CC’s, I was in that space myself where I was looking to utilize my friends’ locations and venues to do that.”
When asked if he’ll open more restaurants in the future, Cunningham says he’s open to it but wants to focus on consulting roles where he can help build menus and brands.
“I’m not opposed to anything. My mind is always open to things,” he says. “I’m a very creative person, so the juices are always flowing and wondering what can I do?”
