The Public Transit Department is relaunching the downtown business circulator DASH with a bright new paint scheme and decals on Monday July 28th. In addition, Public Transit would like to thank its passengers with a contest at Central Station at Central Ave. and Van Buren Street, highlighting favorite Downtown places. Selected entries will have a chance to win restaurant gift certificates, Dodge Theatre tickets and more!

Find out more

Bravo’s “Top Chef: The Tour,” a nationwide promotional tour featuring a customized traveling “Top Chef” 18-wheeler semi-truck, will visit the Market on July 26 on its eighth city-stop. Bravo and Cox Communications will bring Phoenix’s “Top Chef” fans and foodies the ultimate culinary experience, complete with cooking demonstrations and food tastings hosted by former chef’testants “Top Chef” Season Two’s Betty Fraser and Season Four’s Richard Blais. There will be 3 live interactive shows: 8:30-9:30 AM; 10:00-11:30 AM MST; and 11:30–12:30 PM – first come, first served. The Chefs will be signing autographs, selling cookbooks and promotional items. To learn more about “Top Chef: The Tour” visit www.bravotv.com/thetour.

Local Chef James Porter from Tapino Kitchen and Wine Bar www.tapino.com will be at the Market this Saturday, July 26 as part of the Top Chef event at 9:30. He will be making luscious fruit smoothies on a bicycle the Bravo Network has created especially for this purpose!

In addition to the whole chef thing happening, there will also be some Gardening Classes happening.  Check www.downtownphoenixpublicmarket.com for details.

The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel is looking for any assistance with our fundraising effort.

The organization we are supporting is the UMOM New Day Center located at 3320 E. Van Buren, Phoenix, AZ 85008

UMOM’s mission is to provide homeless and low-income families with food, shelter and tools to build a bridge to self-sufficiency.  New Day Centers offers emergency housing for homeless and low-income families for up to 120-days, transitional housing for families and single women for up to two years (the three nutritious meals a day and a variety of life-enhancing educational and motivational programs and activities). In addition New Day operates the Winter Overflow Emergency Shelter in collaboration with the City of Phoenix November through March, serving more than 3300 homeless men, women and children. This will soon be year-round.

Our commitment to UMOM is to raise enough funds to provide 200 children with new shoes that they can proudly wear to their first day of school.

I have attached the details of the event and organization for your reference.

To our Phoenix Neighbors, thank you again for facilitating our support of UMOM.; together we will make a huge difference.

Warm regards,

The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel Team  

* To assist in our fundraising efforts please contact Jenna Fanning at 602.262.2500 or by email at jenna.fanning@sheraton.com

Longtime Beatle drummer Ringo Starr will bring his All Star Band to the Dodge Theatre in Downtown Phoenix on Thursday, July 31st.  Also appearing with Ringo's Band will be Edgar Winter brother of famous blues guitarist Johnny Winter of 60's fame.

Doors open at 6:30 PM, show starts at 7:30 PM

Info and Tickets online

Well, that didn't take long to hear from one of our readers about one of their downtown Phoenix dining experiences:  Here's what Brent had to say about the Bread Fruit Jamaican Grill at 108 E Pierce St.

I wanted to write to compliment the folks at the Breadfruit for introducing a unique, delicious style of food to the downtown area. I had heard about their recent opening and decided to give this place a try during a recent trip to the downtown area.

Its a small cozy place with a somewhat industrial feel and our waitress was very attentive and friendly. I tried their most popular dish, the Jerk Chicken with coleslaw, roasted corn, roasted pineapple, and a piece of coco bread. Contrary to how it may sound, the portions were actually very reasonable and not overwhelming. The chicken was very spicy with a fruity kick to boot. The bread was very hearty and the pineapple, corn and coleslaw were nicely portioned. I also had a tasty D&G pineapple soda to wash it all down. For dessert, they have a fun Grapenut ice cream which is topped with cherry jello. The dessert was delicious and was a great finish to a great meal.

Along with many of the dishes being quite healthy, there are alot of tasty choices for vegetarians. They serve a curried tofu dish as well as a green salad medley or a veggie pattie sandwich with coco bread. Prices for this place are very reasonable. I only needed 20 bucks for a full meal, drink, dessert, and tip.

So please, try this place out. I promise, you will not be sorry. Check out their website at www.thebreadfruit.com for hours and a full menu. Its restaurants like this that excite me and so many others about downtown's resurgence.

I recently mentioned that we were looking for someone to blog about their Downtown Phoenix dining experiences on this website.  I guess I should have elaborated on that posting a bit more, as I did get some inquiries about the post.  The Downtown Phoenix Journal is really a "community service kind of website" and as such, we aren't looking to add "paid professionals" to our staff.  Maybe what we should do at this stage in the life of this Blog, is ask for you, our readers, to send us an e-mail from time to time if you would like to share a "downtown Phoenix dining experience" with us.  You can reach us through the "Contact Us" tab on the front page of the site or if you see a previous review from one of our readers, you can certainly comment on that. 

Our ground rules for submission are pretty simple.  If you have something good to say about a "local business" we want to hear about your experience and to share that with people.  If you want to be negative about an establishment, we would prefer not to hear from you as that establishment will probably self-destruct without your help if it's really that bad.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Lyle P.

According to a story today at azcentral.com by Angela Deligiannis, the Burton Barr Library in Downtown Phoenix will get it's own Coffee Shop called The Open Book Cafe, opening in the Spring. 

The coffee shop will be on the first floor of the library at 1221 N. Central Ave., near the entrance on the west side of the building, facing Central Avenue.  Construction is now under way

Open Book Café will offer wireless Internet access, outdoor seating and areas for studying and relaxing.

read the whole article

One of Phoenix based, renowned Architect Will Bruder's latest creations has risen in Central Phoenix, just north of the Phoenix Country Club.  A 10 unit Urban Home development complete with secured entrance, 2 car carports and a Community Garden is completed and ready for occupancy. 

Mezzo's exterior features include 3 story masonry construction with bold exterior colors, steel shrouded balconies and interesting architectural angles.  5 of the homes have semi-private front yards.

The interior features include exposed masonry walls, wall to wall windows, real wood or stone flooring, stainless steel appliances & European style, cherry cabinetry. The floor plans provide for 2 bedrooms plus a study and 2 1/2 bathrooms.

To help promote and maintain the sense of community, the parking was designed for carports and not garages and of course the Community Garden will encourage interaction and collaboration.

Priced from $395,000 to $420,000, special 96% financing is being offered.

To find out more about Mezzo or arrange a personal viewing, contact Lyle Plocher with Urban Connection Realty at 602 373 3725 or lyle@urbanconnectionrealty.com

Listing is Courtesy of Keller Williams

July 23. Improv comedy troupe The Light Rail Pirates will have your sides splitting every Wednesday night at Tom’s Restaurant & Tavern. Check out their swashbuckling comedy styles as you enjoy Tom’s famous food and happy hour specials. This low-impact workout will include 12 ounce and pint curls. Wednesday nights at 5:30 pm, doors open at 5pm. Admission is $5.

For more info visit www.tomstavernphoenix.com