Friday: Chefs Tour Downtown Bars and Restaurants

What happens when you get a bunch of chefs from notable local restaurants, you put them on a trolley, and you take them bar-hopping downtown? I don't know, but there should be some sort of cheeky punchline here. Anyway, it sounds like a fun time, and it's happening tomorrow night...

By Michele Laudig

June 18, 2009

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What happens when you get a bunch of chefs from notable local restaurants, you put them on a trolley, and you take them bar-hopping downtown?

I don't know, but there should be some sort of cheeky punchline here.

Anyway, it sounds like a fun time, and it's happening tomorrow night. Chef Christopher Gross recruited 15 or 20 chefs from his professional network (James Porter and Beau MacMillan among them) after a mutual friend introduced him to Terry Madeksza (operations director for the Downtown Phoenix Partnership), who who offered to take them on a tour of such spots as Sens, Hanny's, and Conspire.

"A few years ago, some of my friends and I would do a 'Messed-Up Bar Night,' and we'd go to places like Bikini Lounge and Fat Cats," says Gross. "So when I met Terry, we decided it would be fun to do a chef tour down there and introduce them to a bunch of places. Some of these people don't usually go south of McDowell, or even Camelback."

Follow the group's adventures into the wee hours on Twitter at @downtownphoenix

And full disclosure here: Chow Bella contributor Sloane Burwell will be volunteering as a tour guide.

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