This Weekend: Devoured Phoenix Culinary Classic

A year ago, I sipped some wine at West of Western culinary festival with entrepreneur and small business advocate Kimber Lanning of Local First Arizona, chatting about boosting the profile of local restaurants.

If only I’d brought a crystal ball with me.

Now, Lanning’s a key player involved with Devoured Phoenix Culinary Classic, the new event taking place at Phoenix Art Museum this Saturday and Sunday. Local First Arizona is behind Devour Phoenix, the new non-profit alliance of locally owned restaurants that’s putting on the event.

The schedule for Devoured looks tantalizing, with more than 50 participating restaurants and 30 wineries, craft beer and spirits reps, five different hourly chef demonstrations per day, and an impressive array of seminars, including a tequila tasting with agave expert Tania Oseguera, and a talk on “The Splendors and Miseries of a Restaurant Critic’s Life” by Wall Street Journal columnist Raymond Sokolov.

There will also be live entertainment, film screenings, and full museum access for attendees.

Read on for the full rundown of chefs, wineries, seminars, performances, and ticket info.

Participating Wineries

Sponsors & Purveyors

Alliance Beverage, Sub-Zero/Wolf, Fiji Water, BPI (Beef Products International), Red Bird Poultry

Craft Beer

A variety of Craft beer and spirits will be available for tasting, including local favorite Four Peaks Brewery.

Sub-Zero/Wolf Chef Demonstration Stage

Saturday, March 13

11:30 – Roy Pell, executive pastry chef, The Phoenician

12:30 – Christopher Gross, chef, Christopher’s / Crush Lounge

1:30 – Matt Carter, chef, Nine|05

2:30 – Aaron May, chef, Mabel’s on Main

3:30 – Jacques Qualin, chef de cuisine, J&G Steakhouse (at The Phoenician)

Sunday, March 14

11:30 – Roy Pell, executive pastry chef, The Phoenician

12:30 – Chef Damon Brasch, green

1:30 – James Porter, chef, Petite Maison

2:30 – Payton Curry, chef, Caffe Boa

3:30 – Gio Osso, chef, Estate House

MUSIC, ART & MORE

Art

Devoured guests have full access to Phoenix Art Museum galleries and exhibits

§         Ansel Adams: Discoveries. Exclusive to Phoenix Art Museum, this exhibition offers insights into the photographer’s greatest works by bringing the vast holdings from the University of Arizona‘s Center for Creative Photography’s Ansel Adams archive to light.

§         Urban Plough.  Land artist Matthew Moore presents an installation of his family farm outside Phoenix, using earthworks and video to artistically document the transformation of the farm into suburbia. (http://www.urbanplough.com/)

SEMINARS SCHEDULE

Sat, March 13

11:30 – Gary Spadafore, Director of Education, Alliance Beverage.  Topic: Deconstructing Rombauer Chardonnay and Alexander Valley Vineyards Sin Zin. Viticulture, vinification and taste of both wines.

12:30 – Pam Swartz. Author, Dine Out Phoenix: Where to Eat from Chic to Unique.  Topic:  Developing Sophistication of Arizona‘s Dining Scene, Recent Trends, and New Interesting Restaurants Opening Around Town

1:30 – Raymond Sokolov. Author, Wall Street Journal column Eating Out.  Topic:  The Splendors and Miseries of a Restaurant Critic’s Life.  Stories from the Corner Table.  One Man’s View of Today’s Food Scene

2:30 – Tania Oseguera.  Brand ambassador and foremost expert in Agave, certified as a “Distintivo T” by the CRT (Consejo Regulador del Tequila).  Topic: Cazadores Tequila Tasting.  Known the world over, Cazadores is the #1, 100% blue agave tequila in the world.

3:30 – Winemaker Eric Glomski.  Topic: Mr. Glomski will speak on his experience of cultivating a rugged, high desert Arizona landscape into fruitful vineyards.  His winemaking adventures, along with business partner Maynard James Keenan of Tool music fame, are featured in the film documentary Blood Into Wine

Sunday, March 14

11:30 – Jeff McCarty.  Estate Specialist, Alliance Beverage Dist. Co. Topic: When in Rhone…A quick look at The Rhone Ranger from Paso Robles featuring Rhone de Robles and Robert Hall Viognier.

12:30 – Todd DeSilva.  Mixologist for The Phoenician. The Phoenician beverage team won the first-ever Devoured cocktail competition, March 2.  Topic: How to concoct a “winning” cocktail.  DeSilva also will prepare batches-for-sampling of “C Cooler” – the winning cocktail in the Devoured competition.

1:30 – Raymond Sokolov. Author, Wall Street Journal column Eating Out.  Topic:  The Splendors and Miseries of a Restaurant Critic’s Life.  Stories from the Corner Table.  One Man’s View of Today’s Food Scene

2:30 – Tania Oseguera.  Brand ambassador and foremost expert in Agave.  Topic: Corzo Tequila Tasting Seminar. Handcrafted tequila made from 100% blue agave from the highlands.

3:30 – Jeff McCarty. Estate Specialist, Alliance Beverage Dist. Co.  Topic:  And now for something completely different. Introducing obscure new wine recently entering the market.

Film

11:30am, Sat. & Sun — Blood Into Wine.  Whiteman Hall, Phoenix Art Museum.  Film introduced by winemaker Eric Glomski.  Documentary film featuring Glomski, his business partner Maynard James Keenan of Tool music fame, and their yearlong (2009) adventure and travails at their Northern Arizona wineries which ultimately produced glorious wine. Film created by Chris Pomerenke and Ryan Page.

Music – LIVE Sat. & Sun.

11am — Steve Ansel Band

Noon — SugarThieves

2pm — Big Bang Theory