The neighborhood center on East McDowell Mountain Ranch Road is changing what time of day it serves. Suite 100 at Desert Canyon Shopping Center was most recently Café Au Plait, a coffee shop. It is being rebuilt as a wine bar, tasting room, bottle shop and bistro, with live music and a patio facing the McDowells. Two doors down, Thompson 105 Woodfired Grill & Cocktails added Sunday brunch in September. Neither one is a big announcement by itself. Together, they extend the center's day into Sunday mornings and weeknight evenings, hours when the closest wine-and-music options used to sit farther from home.
Suite 100, Then and Now
The address is 10405 E. McDowell Mountain Ranch Road. Desert Canyon Shopping Center is the name of the property, and the upstairs offices share the building. For years, the ground-floor corner suite belonged to Café Au Plait. A June 2020 profile in Phoenix With Kids described a coffee shop with a children's play area. It had closed earlier that year and then reopened at the same address under new owners. By mid-September 2026, local coverage was calling the suite "the former Café Au Plait space." No public source gives a date or a reason for the most recent closure.
The new tenant is Turquoise Wine Bar North Scottsdale, owned and operated by Ariel Sheely. Sheely told Forking Scottsdale what the plan includes:
- wines by the glass, tasting flights and bottles to take home
- shareable food built around the wine list
- live music, food-and-wine pairings and community events
- a dog-friendly patio overlooking the McDowell Mountains
The patio is the change most likely to show up in daily routines. A suite that once had an indoor play area for kids will open onto a patio where people can bring a dog and look at the mountains. The space is the same size, but it will be used at different hours.
The Opening Window
Forking Scottsdale's October 1 update said construction was still going and the target was late October or early November. Turquoise's own North Scottsdale page hasn't set a day yet. It tells visitors to follow its social media for the grand-opening date. As of October 4, treat the window as a target. Plans for Halloween weekend shouldn't depend on it.
The brand is still young. Turquoise's site lists several locations, but its directory doesn't say which ones are open and which are planned. The location confirmed as operating is in Glendale, at 8160 W. Union Hills Drive. A local business profile marked its six-month anniversary in February, after an August opening. A Catalina Foothills location in Tucson is advertising an opening night for October 15. That means McDowell Mountain Ranch is getting one of the earliest locations of a concept that is still growing. It isn't buying into a long-established formula.
Thompson 105 Already Moved Its Clock
The grill next door didn't wait for its new neighbor. Thompson 105 sits at 10401 E. McDowell Mountain Ranch Road, Suite 160. It describes its food as Italian-influenced wood-fired grill and rotisserie cooking. Starting September 13, it began opening at 10 a.m. on Sundays for a new brunch menu, with food, drinks and football all day. The brunch menu includes Chicken and Waffle, Huevos Tacos, a breakfast Benny and the Thompson 105 Burger.
Line the two changes up and the center's week looks different than it did in August:
| Time slot | Desert Canyon, summer 2026 | Desert Canyon, late fall 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday morning | Thompson 105 not yet open for brunch | Thompson 105 brunch from 10 a.m. |
| Suite 100 | Former Café Au Plait space under construction | Turquoise wine bar, tasting room, bottle shop and bistro |
| Evening outdoor seating | Thompson 105 | Thompson 105, plus a dog-friendly patio facing the McDowells |
| Live music and events | Not in the reported plans | Built into Turquoise's concept |
The right-hand column depends on Turquoise opening on schedule. The Sunday row is already in place.
The Morning Half Starts Up Thompson Peak Parkway
The center's new hours line up well with the other thing October brings back to this part of Scottsdale, which is guided walks in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Gateway Trailhead is at 18333 N. Thompson Peak Parkway. Here is the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy's fall lineup at Gateway and Lost Dog Wash:
| Date | Trailhead | Program | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 10 | Lost Dog Wash | Predators and Prey, educational walk | 8–10 a.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Gateway | Sonoran Desert Discovery, educational walk | 8–10 a.m. |
| Tue., Oct. 20 | Lost Dog Wash | Taliesin, Old Jeep, and Ringtail Trails Hike | 8–11 a.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Lost Dog Wash | Women of the McDowells, educational walk | 8–10 a.m. |
| Thu., Oct. 29 | Gateway | Venom in the Preserve, educational walk | 8–10 a.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Gateway | Boojada Adventure, educational walk | 8–10 a.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Lost Dog Wash | Sunrise Trail to Andrews-Kinsey Trail Hike | 8 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Wed., Nov. 11 | Lost Dog Wash | Veterans Day Hike | 8–10:30 a.m. |
| Tue., Nov. 17 | Gateway | Gateway to Windgate Pass Hike, rated very difficult | 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Lost Dog Wash | More Pie Please, Thanksgiving hike | 9–10:30 a.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Gateway | Sonoran Desert Discovery, educational walk | 9–11 a.m. |
The Conservancy's December calendar moves its programs to Fraesfield and Brown's Ranch. It shows no December events at Gateway or Lost Dog Wash. October and November are the stretch when these walks start close to home.
Most of the short educational walks end by 10 or 11 a.m. That leaves the rest of a Saturday open. Once Turquoise opens, that could include a glass on a patio facing the same ridgeline the walk climbed toward. If you're bringing a dog on the trail first, Scottsdale's preserve safety guidance says to leave dogs at home if the outing could go above 90°F at any point. It notes that 90°F air can mean a ground surface near 135°F. The rule depends on the temperature, not the calendar, so a warm October morning still counts.
The Same Shift One Center North
Desert Canyon isn't the only nearby corner adding restaurants this quarter. Sophia's Kitchen is at 17050 N. Thompson Peak Parkway, Suite 125, in the Windgate Crossing center at Thompson Peak and Bell. Its owner, JGP Restaurant Concepts, is the group behind Stone & Vine Urban Italian. Stone & Vine is coming to 17001 N. Scottsdale Road next to Quiriego, aiming for the fourth quarter of 2026 and casual Italian dining that feels "comfortable, familiar, and elevated." That's a group from the Thompson Peak corridor expanding west toward Scottsdale Road, the opposite of the usual pattern.
WestWorld fills out the October weekends on the other side of Bell Road. The Merchantile Market runs October 10–11, with more than 200 vendors, food, live music and family activities. Day of the Dog is a free, dog-friendly festival on Saturday, October 24, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Between those two and the Scottsdale Fall Classic hunter/jumper show on October 15–18, the month gives a dog owner a lot to do within a short drive. The Lost Dog Wash walk that same October 24 morning ends at 10 a.m., an hour before Day of the Dog opens its gates.
For a closer look, Thompson 105's Sunday brunch has been running since mid-September, and Turquoise's opening date will be posted on its social channels whenever it's set.
Shifts like the ones at Desert Canyon shape how a home here gets lived in day to day, and they're part of how The Julie J Collection talks about McDowell Mountain Ranch with clients. If you're weighing a move nearby or thinking about how to present your own home this season, schedule a private consultation and we'll go through what's changing on your corner of Thompson Peak Parkway.
