Devon Sanner – Chef/Co-owner, Zio Peppe
In April 2021, Chef Devon Sanner opened his first restaurant, Zio Peppe, a collaboration with longtime friend and fellow culinary fixture Chef Mat Cable (Fresco Pizzeria & Pastaria, First We Eat Catering and Confections, partner in Dante’s Fire and Z Mansion house caterer).
Zio Peppe is a “quintessentially Tucson” take on Italian cuisine with house pastas, pizza and bread made with indigenous mesquite flour and heritage and regional grains. Sausages and other charcuterie are all made in-house.
Prior to Zio Peppe, Chef Devon spent 15 years working with James Beard Award-winning Chef Janos Wilder.
Born and raised in Tucson, he became an Eagle Scout, National Merit Scholar, Flinn Scholar and Tucson Young Man of the Year Finalist. He studied Russian and Political Science at the University of Arizona and earned a master’s degree in Slavic Languages and Literatures before enrolling at Scottsdale Culinary Institute.
In 2005, after culinary school and followed by an externship at Janos, Chef Devon worked his way up the ranks at Janos and J Bar, becoming Chef de Cuisine in 2009. When both Janos and J Bar closed in 2012, he joined Wilder as Chef de Cuisine at Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails. In 2016, Wilder opened The Carriage House with Sanner as Executive Chef.
Chef Devon has also cooked at The American Pavilion at Cannes Film Festival three times, staged at Tru, Alinea and Momofuku Ssam Bar and Noodle Bar in New York. Additionally, he’s a founder and president of the Gastronomic Union of Tucson, a not-for-profit affiliation of more than three dozen of Tucson’s best and most beloved chefs fostering a culinary community of creativity, professional development and community engagement.
