In addition to the many food festivals happening this spring across the Valley, more intimate events are going down in the Phoenix food world as well. From lunches soundtracked by Grammy Award-winning cellists to special cookbook dinners, here are three food events happening in the remainder of March.
Lunch with Zuill Bailey
Roka Akor
7299 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
Upscale Japanese eatery Roka Akor will be hosting a lunch in Scottsdale with Zuill Bailey — a Grammy Award-winning cellist — from 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13. Attendees get a four-course meal while Bailey hits the Bach and other classics. And after the performance, you’ll get a chance to ask the musician any pressing questions.
The menu includes their Steadfast Salad with yuzu thyme dressing, followed by a hamachi serrano roll and California roll. Entrees include salmon teriyaki with pickled cucumbers, Snake River skirt steak, and a wild mushroom hotpot. The fourth course is an assortment of sorbets.
Cost is $75 per person, and tickets are still available.
Buttermilk Graffiti Cookbook Dinner
Southern Rail
300 West Camelback Road
Chef Edward Lee’s latest cookbook, Buttermilk Graffiti, has a paperback release coming up, and chef Justin Beckett is inviting fans to celebrate with a special dinner at Southern Rail. A pre-dinner book talk and signing will be held at the neighboring Changing Hands at 6 p.m., and dinner starts at 7 p.m., on Monday, March 18.
The three-course dinner includes an appetizer trio (with smoked steak tartare deviled eggs), cola-braised bone-in pork short ribs, and whiskey ginger cake. Plus there'll be dishes from Lee's cookbooks like Smoke & Pickles and, of course, Buttermilk Graffiti.
Tickets are $95 and also include a paperback copy of Buttermilk Graffiti.
Devour the World
Japanese Friendship Garden
1125 North Third Avenue
Heavy rains in mid February (remember when it was snowing here?) postponed the Devour the World event, part of the weeklong series of events leading to the Devour Culinary Classic till March. It was a bummer at the time, but now that it’s here, we’re pretty excited.
Explore the Japanese Friendship Garden and stop by different food booths for some worldly samples, or catch one of the schedules performances. Featured restaurants include Andreoli Italian Grocer, Bri, El Chullo Peruvian Restaurant & Bar, Nelson's Meat + Fish, Magic Kitchen Indonesian Cuisine, and more.
Devour the World is 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 21. If you enjoyed Devour (and it looks like many of you did) or didn’t get a chance to go, Devour the World is the next best thing. And yes, tickets are still available for $75 (which includes libation and food sampling).