Presented in partnership with Local First Arizona, Devour Phoenix, Phoenix Art Museum and the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance, the Devoured week of events featuring the seventh annual Devoured Culinary Classic will run from February 28 through March 6. The week long celebration of food and drink returns with an all-star lineup of local chefs, culinarians, winemakers, brewmasters, and mixologists. The main event, the award-winning Devoured Culinary Classic, will be held on Saturday, March 5, and Sunday, March 6, at Phoenix Art Museum, and will feature a new format, new restaurants and chefs, an intimate VIP experience, and more.
NEW FORMAT TO GUIDE GUESTS THROUGH CULINARY IMMERSION
This year’s Devoured Culinary Classic will offer four distinct areas to explore for complete culinary immersion. In the Great Hall, attendees will sample first course dishes like salads and appetizers. In the Dorrance Sculpture Garden, guests will be able to taste entree-style plates and sample beers, wines and spirits from around the region. Attendees can satisfy their sweet tooth in the Hardes Theater Dessert Lounge, a new addition to this year’s event featuring local restaurants, bakeries, coffee roasters, and confectioners. Inside Palette, guests can browse the Local Foods Marketplace to sample and purchase products from local food artisans.
To see a list of participating restaurants, click here. A list of participating restaurants, wineries, breweries, distilleries, and food artisans will also be updated at http://devouredphoenix.com/.
VIP EXPERIENCE WELCOMES LEADING AREA CHEFS
This year, VIP ticket holders will have exclusive access to two of Phoenix’s most beloved chefs in the private VIP Lounge. Cullen Campbell, chef/owner of Crudo, will host the VIP area on Saturday. Since opening in 2012, Crudo, which means “raw” in Italian, has won rave reviews from USA Today, LA Times & Sunset Magazine, while Campbell’s refined take on coastal Italian cuisine has been personally lauded by the editor of Saveur and earned him an invite to cook at the James Beard House in New York City. Cullen has taken a different direction with his new restaurant, Okra, which serves Italian-accented twists on classic Southern dishes like Tennessee Hot Chicken and Pig Cheek Pot Pie.
Vincent Guerithault, owner and chef of Vincent’s on Camelback, will be the featured chef in the VIP area on Sunday. For nearly 30 years, Vincent has been combining his expertise in classic French cooking with Southwestern ingredients to create a unique blend of flavors that has become his signature. Vincent has received many accolades throughout his career, including a Citation of Excellence from the International Food & Wine Society, the James Beard award as “America’s Best Chef: Southwest,” and the prestigious Chevalier de L’Ordre du Merite Agricole on behalf of the Republic of France.
VIP ticket holders will also be treated to exclusive cocktail tastings in the VIP Lounge, as well as being able to enter the Devoured Culinary Classic an hour earlier than general admission ticket holders. Single day VIP tickets are $150 each and can be purchased at http://devouredphoenix.com/tickets/.
CELEBRATE THE ENTIRE WEEK WITH DEVOURED PRE-EVENTS
The Devour Phoenix Bartending Competition sponsored by Arizona Distilling Co. will kick off the week of events at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 28, at the DeSoto Central Market in Phoenix. Designed to celebrate Phoenix’s cocktail culture, “startenders” from nine metro-Phoenix bars and restaurants armed with a selection of Arizona’s best locally distilled spirits convene for a mix-off of epic proportions. Participating bartenders will go head to head in a series of three rounds, shaking it to compete for the title of Best Cocktail of the Valley for 2016. Participants will be selected through a public online voting process to be announced at a later date. Tickets are $40 each and will be available for purchase beginning Monday, December 7, 2015.
Palette to Palate will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, at the Renaissance Hotel Phoenix Downtown. The event blends the visual arts and culinary arts by pairing chefs and painters to interpret each other’s work for a show that is at once unique and insightful into the worlds of the two artists. The evening will feature Arizona wines and award winning chefs, paired with regional artists who will unveil new works at the event. Confirmed chefs and restaurants include Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza of Barrio Cafe, Chef Justin Beckett of Beckett’s Table and Southern Rail, Chef Josh Murray of Icon Lounge at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, and Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company. Tickets are $40 each and will be available for purchase beginning Monday, December 7, 2015.
Guests may also purchase a ticket package that includes entrance to both the Bartending Competition and Palette to Palate for just $60. Tickets can be purchased beginning Monday, December 7, 2015 at http://devouredphoenix.com/tickets/.
DEVOURED CULINARY CLASSIC PRE-SALE RUNS THROUGH DECEMBER 11, 2015
Tickets for the seventh annual Devoured Culinary Classic will go on sale in limited release on Monday, December 7, and to the public on Monday, December 14. Tickets will be available for purchase at devouredphoenix.com/tickets. Tickets for the 2016 Devoured Culinary Classic are available in several package options:
Beginning on Monday, December 7, 2015, Phoenix Art Museum Members and Local First Arizona Localists can purchase tickets a week before the general public at a rate of $89 for a single day ticket or $159 for a two-day ticket. Phoenix Art Museum Members can purchase tickets by calling 602-257-2124. Localists can purchase tickets by calling 602-956-0909 ext. 1 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday, December 7 through Friday, December 11.
Tickets for the general public will be available for sale on Monday, December 14 at devouredphoenix.com/tickets. Tickets options include Single Day General Admission ($99), Two-Day General Admission ($179), and Single Day VIP ($150).
For additional information, please visit devouredphoenix.com, or follow us on Instagram @devourphoenix, Twitter @devourphoenix and facebook.com/DevourPhoenix.
The Devoured Culinary Classic presented by Local First Arizona, Devour Phoenix, Phoenix Art Museum, and Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance. The Devoured Culinary Classic is generously sponsored in part by Alliance Bank and Quench Fine Wines.
