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ingredients, including Arizona-raised beef for their
burgers and produce grown at the surrounding farm.
The newest thing happening at Agritopia is a project
that just opened late last month called Barnone.
When asked whether it is pronounced “barn one”
or “bar none,” the publicist said it is meant to be
ambiguous. This new collection of restaurants, shops
and studios is housed in a barn that was built in 1950.
The Quonset hut structure is skinned in reclaimed
aluminum from melted-down WWII aircraft. For
the longest time, it was literally just a barn at the
farm. But Johnston saw potential beyond anyone’s
imagination. Now 10 businesses inhabit the original
barn structure, and two others are housed in newly
constructed outbuildings. The commercial spaces
are smaller to accommodate a more artisan/maker
approach. In its literature, Barnone describes itself as
a “craftsman community.”
Johnston had to fight long and hard with Gilbert city
planners to get the project approved. He insisted
on keeping the original arched trusses and exposed
corrugated aluminum visible, which meant no interior
insulation. Johnston seems confident in the building’s
ability to stay cool during our brutal summer months,
and each of the interior spaces has its own climatecontrol
system. “I remember from my childhood
that this place always stayed somewhat cool even
in the summers,” says Johnston. He hired architect
Jack DeBartolo and builder Caliente Construction to
bring the project to life. This particular team (owner,
architect and builder) has managed to pull off an
impressive feat, revealing the beautiful industrial
qualities of the original structure, while making the
interior spaces eminently habitable.
The scale of the individual shops at Barnone is
reminiscent of the former Union Shops at Biltmore
Fashion Park, which closed earlier this year. But overall
Barnone seems slightly larger and more diverse:
FIRE & BRIMSTONE
Fire & Brimstone is community-focused restaurant
featuring local ingredients cooked over an open
flame or in a wood-burning oven. While pizza is in
the spotlight here, the eatery also features farmfresh
salads and a rotating seasonal menu, including
fire-grilled meats and seafood. Founder and chef
James Johnston (son of Joe) cut his teeth working
in the family restaurants and on the farm, gaining
experience literally from the ground up. This is what
real farm-to-table cooking is all about: ingredients
pulled straight from the soil at Agritopia and then
washed, prepped and cooked. Food has become all
about trends and creative complexity, but Johnston’s
mission is to veer away from that and reestablish a
connection between farm and community.
LETTERCRAFT
LetterCraft is Brandon and Katie Young, a husbandand-wife
team dedicated to making reclaimed
wood-burned decor and laser-cut wood gifts. They
produce handmade signs, walls, furniture, coasters,
ornaments, key chains, magnets, puzzles and more,
all out of repurposed wood. LetterCraft specializes in
custom orders and branding, working with clients to
create the perfect piece for a wedding or event, home
or office. Brandon and Katie are teachers who needed
a creative outlet, and they have found it in working
together to make local, handcrafted wood products
and custom artwork.
EVERYBODY LOVES FLOWERS
Arizona’s desert landscape may not have flower
stands dotting every street corner, like Paris or San
Diego, but Mireille Helm believes that, especially in
the desert, everybody loves flowers. Helm, founder
and operator of Everybody Loves Flowers at Barnone,
blends her longtime love of flowers with a passion
for educating clients and creating unconventional,
beautiful floral arrangements that add a much-needed