"One of the great things that we heard," says Chris Lee, customer relationship management (CRM) consultant, foodie, and a principal organizer of the first Ignite Food event, "is that a past participant that has been to every Ignite said he thought it was the most raw passion he's seen on an Ignite stage yet."
Lee said Ignite Food, the sold-out event held last night at Stand Up Live at Cityscape in Downtown Phoenix, was packed to capacity, with over 450 people on hand to see a host of chefs, restaurateurs, and food enthusiasts speak for five minutes each on food- and drink-related topics such as farming, burritos, and rum.
And like any event, Lee says there were some notable crowd favorites.
"While we love the variety that Ignite provides," Lee tells me, "we heard comments from folks that they enjoyed the cohesiveness of the presentations."
Lee listed some of the crowd favorites as: The Full Monte of Rum - Dwayne Allen I want YOU for the Food Nerd Army - Dominic Armato Starting from scratch - Charleen Badman Salt is salt is salt is sooooo wrong! - Aaron Eckburg It's Pronounced Glenfiddi-CK not, Glenfiddi-CH - Jason Miller That's just offal...or BRAINS! - Cisco Saavedra Agrarian Ethics: Coming Back to the Land - Paul Schwennesen The Unexplainable Awesomeness of the Burrito - Brian Sun
And what would Ignite Food be without, well, without food. Treats were on hand for attendees from notables such as Pittsburgh Willy's, Petite Maison, Tracy Dempsey, 24 Carrots Cafe, and Loaded Cupcake.
Like Ignite Phoenix, Lee says Ignite Food will be posting videos of the presentations on YouTube and that they should be going up shortly.
And stay tuned for Chow Bella's review of the event.
