The work of Kyle Jordre

This Saturday is the Downtown Phoenix Festival of the Arts in Heritage Square. Below is some brief, essential info, but I really want to focus on just one of the many events of the festival: an epic paint-off between supreme local talents Kyle Jordre, Gabe Sandoval, Ken Peloke and Taylor Swick. A duel this weighty only comes around these parts when the Spurs play the Suns twice a year at US Airways Center.

Jordre paints wall-sized, splattered, colorific paintings using any number of methods. The results are visually stunning. Then you have Sandoval, who uses aerosol like nobody’s business. Swick’s work is the most diverse, using oil and acrylics on various mediums of all shapes and sizes. Lastly, Peloke, a self-described “hermit” in the art world, has just started showing his work publicly. Will he rise to the challenge or will his nerves get to him? You have to show up to find out.

In the Know: Downtown Phoenix Festival of the Arts

March 20, 2010, 4-11 p.m. at Heritage and Science Park

Benefitting Artlink, the Volunteer Legal Assistance for Artists, First Fridays in Heritage Square and the Rosson House Museum

Admission is $10 presale and $15 at the door. Tickets can be purchased through downtownartfest.blogspot.com.

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

A Downtown Phoenix Painting Duel

Goran Dragic takes the stage at the gala.

This past Saturday, the Phoenix Suns held their annual Suns and Stars Gala at the Sheraton in Downtown Phoenix. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the event this year, and it was quite the swanky affair. Money raised from the event benefited Suns charities.

Every Suns player, from Steve Nash to Taylor Griffin, was in attendance, along with head coach Alvin Gentry and owner Robert Sarver. The event kicked off with fans and media mingling with the Suns players and staff in one of the huge ballrooms inside the Sheraton. For about an hour, fans were allowed to snap photos with their favorite players, as well as get a chance to ask players questions. It was during this time I had a conversation with Suns starting center Robin Lopez about the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. We both agreed that it sucked.

From there, the event moved into an even bigger ballroom where the 1,000 or so people in attendance were treated to a three-course meal. During this time, numerous members of the Phoenix Suns came up on the stage in the ballroom to thank many of the people and charities that make this event possible every year. Attendees were also subject to some skits performed by players, including one involving Steve Nash in which head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson had to rush on the stage to assist Nash with a nosebleed. Another such skit was a video with Leandro Barbosa and the Gorilla introducing Al McCoy to the audience. In the video, the Blur and the Gorilla performed the famous dance originally done by Paul Simon and Chevy Chase in the video for Paul Simon’s hit, “You Can Call Me Al.”

The gala crowd

During dessert, former Suns star Tom Chambers and Suns announcer Tom Leander held an auction for charity. Fans were able to bid on items such as a road trip with the Phoenix Suns to LA for against the much-hated Los Angeles Lakers next season, a slumber party for their child and 14 of their friends at US Airways Center with Jared Dudley leading the way with fun and games or the chance to play a game against a team including Chambers, Dan Majerle and Suns GM Steve Kerr.

The evening concluded with a performance by Kool and the Gang. This is when things got really interesting. As Kool and the Gang played through many of their classic songs, many Suns personalities could be seen getting down on the dance floor. Leander and fellow announcer Eddie Johnson were both toward the front of the stage dancing and singing along to every song. Toward the back, Sarver was showing off his moves. During the band’s performance of “Ladies Night,” Suns players Goran Dragic, Earl Clark, Griffin and Lopez joined the band on the stage to sing along and work the crowd with some dance moves of their own.

All in all, the night was an amazing experience, and I’m quite thankful to the Suns organization for inviting me out. Good times for good cause, what can beat that?

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

Suns Spot | Suns and Stars Gala

Alwun House

The artists in question are our neighbors. They’re Phoenix Elementary School District students, and their legit talent can’t be denied. The 15th Salon des Enfants event showcases nearly 300 total pieces of art, each priced at $20 (100% of profits go straight to the students), sold right off the walls salon style. All works were created by students from fifth to eighth grades, representing 16 schools in the district and 18 art teachers.

The goals are twofold: Students become involved in the local arts community at an early age (priceless, really, when you think of all those budget cuts affecting school arts programs) and are given the self-confidence to keep learning their craft. The hope is by bringing the young artists to the Alwun House, they can be inspired by their peers to work harder, explore further and create often.

Prizes will be doled out — First, Second, Third and honorable mention winners — but the presentation itself is really what matters. Adding to the festivities, the Capitol band, Kenilworth Choir & Band, Bethune music and Folklorico dancers will be on hand to perform.

The show runs from 4-6 p.m. on March 19 only. Alwun House is located at 1204 E. Roosevelt St. in Garfield — 602.253.7887

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

Third Friday: The Kids are All Right

215 N. 7th St. in Garfield

Seeing the colorful banners, neon lights and oodles of noodles at the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, it may be hard to identify it as a historic building. But, like other buildings profiled in From the Arizona Room, its current use was not the building’s original intent.

Though the building has housed the museum since the summer of 2008, it has been standing far longer. Originally the Monroe School, it is one of the largest Neoclassical Revival schools left in Phoenix. It was built in 1914 by Los Angeles designer Norman Marsh. At the time, it was billed the “most modern grade school in the United States.” Even today, the original bones of the building are surprisingly modern for a building nearing the century mark.

Though major renovations — well over $10 million in all — went into the building prior to the museum’s opening, the outer shell remains historically intact. The steel frame, clad in brick, rises two stories atop a raised basement. The signature columned façade, a central pedimented portico with Corinthian columns and projecting end pavilions, was spared. A fire in the 1970s brought severe damage to the original roof, but the original building remains otherwise. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977.

Sources: Phoenix Historic Building Survey by Charles Hall Page & Associates, Inc. Sept. 1979.; National Register of Historic Places

Is there a historic property in Downtown Phoenix you’d like to see in From the Arizona Room? Email me at si@downtownphoenixjournal.com with the address and a brief description.

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

From the Arizona Room | 215 N. 7th St. — Monroe School (Children’s Museum of Phoenix)

The fest is being organized and promoted by local filmmaker Matt Robinson. Robinson went to film school and Scottsdale Community College and currently works at ASU as a videographer. Previously, Robinson helped co-run Free Sushi Records, where he helped book bands and promote shows.

Robinson decided to put together a film festival as a way for upcoming filmmakers to get their work out to the public. He feels that beginning filmmakers don’t have much of an outlet for their work. “They go up on Vimeo, and then that’s it,” Robinson says. “That’s literally it, and it bugs me. It’s too often that there’s never a chance to show your film or something you made and talk to people that watched it, like an audience.”

The two film schools in town, SCC and ASU, each have their own film fests; however, those are for students to attend, and they frequently require entries to come from second-year film students. Unfortunately, not everyone who wants to make a film is a student. “The film festival at SCC is great,” Robinson admits, “but that stinks for all the people that aren’t at SCC.”

When asked about the main goal of organizing the event, Robinson states, “Grand Avenue Film Festival is really just an opportunity to give people I know and filmmakers a chance to get an audience.”

Even students that attend film school rarely get the chance to get a response from a general audience. “There’s nothing more honest that an audience’s reaction,” says Robinson.

The fest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, and will cost just $5. The films will run a little over an hour and time will be allowed after for people to mingle and talk to the filmmakers about their films. Audience members will get to vote on their favorite film, as an audience award will be presented.

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

The Inaugural Grand Avenue Film Festival

Cibo is the quaint little house on the corner of Fillmore and 5th Avenue that manages to overflow the street parking nearly every night. The place is famous for its wood-fired pizzas. If you have experienced these, there is no doubt your mind immediately slips into a pizza-filled dreamland at the mere mention of the name.

So, I decided it was beyond time that I tested the waters on some highly praised dessert. The Nutella Crepe was an interesting option. I mean, since crepes are French and all, I am not a connoisseur of them in the least. I think my unfamiliarity has less to do with their nationality and more with my heritage. After all, the South still orders Freedom fries.

After wolfing down an amazing vegetarian pizza and a splendiferous order of bruschetta, my stomach was ready for the coup de grâce. Enter the sweet, soft, whipped-cream-covered Nutella Crepe. Filled with a nutty chocolate that had to have rained down from heaven, this dessert laid a smack down on my hunger and my ability to move. I only shared one bite, and that was after serious pleading. That’s how good this crepe is. It is soft as heavenly clouds and sweet like a Sunday morning.

So, do not delay in making an evening of devouring everything on Cibo’s menu. From the appetizers to the Nutella Crepe, this place rocks my socks.

Cibo is located at 603 N. 5th Ave. in Roosevelt (light rail station at Central/1st Ave. & Van Buren) — 602.441.2697

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

Sips and Grub | Nutella Crepe at Cibo

Devoured is the new food festival to be held each spring at the Phoenix Art Museum. Though technically it was a brand-new event altogether, Devoured unofficially replaces the previous event held annually at the Midtown museum, West of Western. To say that casual comparisons between the two illustrations of sophisticated, urban food festivals by attuned locals wouldn’t happen, would frankly be naïve. So, thankfully, by all respectable accounts (and the palpable vibe of the crowds on both days), Devoured not only one-upped West of Western, but it also was an honest improvement.

Orchestrated in large part by local advocacy and growing nonprofit Local First Arizona and its supreme leader, Kimber Lanning, Devoured encouraged an agenda-driven undercurrent of all things local and “independently edible.” Though there were definite exceptions throughout, Devoured was also intended to be a weighted showcase of participants located within the loose radius of Central Phoenix — a tip on the local dining scale that usually leans Scottsdale. To those living outside the urban bubble of Central Phoenix traveling inward to attend Devoured this past weekend, it was representation done well.

With a range of interesting guest speakers (former New York Times and Wall Street Journal restaurant critic Raymond Sokolov was a particular big-ticket draw) and cooking demonstrations, as well as over 70 local restaurants and 25 wineries (mostly Arizona bred) taking part, Devoured’s inauguration was a near perfect food-themed storm that would respectfully cater to both food snobs and casual eaters alike.

Though worth the ticket price for both Saturday and Sunday, if one day had to champion the other for ultimate food hierarchy, the latter, Sunday, would have to take the rank. Participating restaurants and chefs jockeyed not only for prime grassy real estate in the Phoenix Art Museum’s beautifully landscaped and spacious sculpture garden, but also for prime scheduling. Sunday unofficially became a magnate for some of the most sought-after eateries in town, and, for the headlining chefs, the most overt flashes of showmanship and craft, as well.

Some of Saturday’s highlights included an exceptional (as expected) charcuterie and cheese selection from Uptown’s Petit Fromage; a standout tuna tartare from the Phoenician’s J&G Steakhouse (one of the best such examples of tartare, of many similar, all weekend), served tightly atop avocado and a bright ginger broth; and Christopher’s Crush’s other-worldly gâteau Marjolaine, a decadent and laborious pressed cake created with, among many other things, layers of almond meringue cake, separated by intermixing levels of chocolate, coffee and vanilla flavored creams. Gallo Blanco Café’s carne asada tacos and Hana Japanese Eatery’s waloo (think Hawaiian butterfish) tataki were both equally confident but simple pleasers.

Sunday brought even more standouts. Former Cowboy Ciao chef Bernie Kantak helmed a booth representing not a specific restaurant, but his own creative, skilled abilities with curried, smoked shrimp and coconut. Shrimp paella from Lola Tapas was another immediate, well-executed sell. Nationally decorated restaurant Kai’s breadth of offerings made an intimidating impression with wild goat machaca and fry bread, seared rib-eye slices over a pineapple-avocado quinoa and two playful (and very popular) additions to their otherwise serious buffet — housemade, decidedly elevated versions of Ding Dong desert cakes and icy, citrus-bright hibiscus push-up pops.

Sweet Republic, with its locally iconic, retro orange Chevy van parked in full view, served an array of ice cream flavors both seen and new — think flavors like bacon, salted butter caramel and white truffle. Different Pointe of View (at Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort) served a near-unanimous crowd favorite: seared, cupcake-sized diver scallops with a creamy, emerald English pea risotto. Honey Moon Sweets‘ collection of perfectly executed dollhouse desserts earned definite points for yum factor (let alone for presentation) with jewel-sized chocolate almond cups, tarragon and strawberry shortcake cookies and a near effervescent blackberry purée folded with homemade whipped cream and garnished with shavings of pistachio. Not to be outdone, easily maintaining one of the festival’s consistently lengthiest lines of hungry visitors, Old Town Scottsdale’s FnB restaurant was on hand with some premium miniature meatballs molded from Arizona-bred beef, as well as its popular shaved fennel salad and a thick butterscotch pudding for a welcomed sugary finish.

Holding a double-day presence, Barrio Café was on hand with its drool-inducing cochinita pibil (slow roasted, citrus marinated pork), crowd-pleasing guacamole and on Sunday only, served its infamous mole.

Besides a couple of liquor outposts and some tasty local brews from SanTan Brewing Company, the majority of alcohol consumption at Devoured belonged to wine. And, with the exception of a few participants, nearly all wineries present were Arizona anchored — another admirable trait of Devoured — like Pillsbury Wine Company, Page Springs Cellars and Arizona Stronghold, among several others.

Cooking demonstrations were also popular at Devoured on both days, with acclaimed chefs like Christopher Gross, Aaron May (Over Easy, The Lodge, Mabel’s on Main), Matt Carter (Nine|05, Zinc Bistro, The Misson), James Porter (Petite Maison), among several others, drawing large audiences. An unofficial climax occurred during Sunday’s few remaining hours when Caffe Boa’s Payton Curry carried a whole pig (head, hooves and all) over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes to the demonstration area, where he cheekily butchered the carcass in front of a highly entertained audience, readying it for preparation and samples. Showmanship at its finest.

There were many, many other participating restaurants, chefs and wineries not mentioned that served great products. The entire crowd was food focused and full of positive, respectful energy. At any given time, circulating eaters could witness firsthand notable local restaurant critics, restaurateurs, off-duty chefs, winemakers, bloggers and food-focused tweeps intermingling, gushing about what they tasted with great energy.

Devoured was easily a success, and this new annual food fête more than delivered on its intended angle that independent and local should always be a diner’s prerogative when out to patronize. Phoenix should be proud — the talent is here, the ingredients are being grown here and finally it seems, the enthusiasm to support it all is here as well.

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

A Weekend Devoured

Nikki F.
Phoenix, AZ
Four-star rating
02.24.10

Let’s face it, Phoenix does not have the most amazing music scene in the universe, and with that we get crappy music venues… although out of the few we have to choose from, the Rhythm Room might be my favorite.

Even though it’s kinda small, they have everything you could ask for in a music venue… great sound system, decent bathrooms — yeah I said it, really cool bartenders and really great drink specials. I actually just saw a Tweet that called their specials “infamous.” Either way, this place is the jam, literally.

Three complaints:

1. It’s hot as balls inside.
2. The door girl has the personality of a napkin and is extremely unfriendly.
3. You can’t take your drinks out to the closed off patio and unless it’s some zoning law or whatever, that’s pretty lame.

Aside from that, I’m a fan! Now if only we could get more bands to stop out here.

The Rhythm Room is located at 1019 E. Indian School Rd. in Midtown — 602.265.4842

The DPJ Yelper of the Week offers honest insight on a Downtown business to help you explore your core. DPJ hopes that by partnering with Yelp to spread the good word about well-loved Downtown spots, you’ll spread your patronage and support local business.

Yelp is a social networking and local search engine that provides the reviews of places and things that matter to you. Simply log in, pick a place and queue up your inner critic. You can write a beaming review of your favorite gelato spot, or a scathing portrayal of that rental car facility you had to use after that curb came out of nowhere. Yelp’s reviews are at once honest, uncensored, wildly hilarious and true. Heck, the site must be doing something right — it had 26 million viewers just last month!

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

DPJ Yelper of the Week: Nikki F. on Rhythm Room

www.artlinkphoenix.com

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

Artlink’s First & Third Fridays

The view at Civic Space Park

For those individuals that are seeking the ultimate urban Phoenix living experience, I can think of no better place than the chunk of Downtown Phoenix that the U.S. Postal Service calls ZIP code 85004.

Virtually everything Downtown Phoenix has to offer can be reached on foot or by bicycle living in this ZIP code. The diversity of “things to do” and “places to go” is overwhelming. In terms of types of dwellings, everything can be found here, including apartments in “luxury high-rise” buildings; recently built loft-style condos and apartments; small, affordable live-work apartments; and even bungalows in historic neighborhoods.

The 85004 ZIP code is bounded by Thomas Road to the north, Buckeye Road to the south, Central Avenue to the west and 7th Street to the east. Within this part of Downtown lies many of our large cultural and sporting venues, such as the Heard Museum, the Phoenix Art Museum, Burton Barr Central Library, the Herberger Theater, Phoenix Symphony Hall, US Airways Center and Chase Field. Wow!

Consider the Downtown arts scene, with an extensive assortment of locally owned art galleries, gift shops, wine bars and restaurants in and around Roosevelt Row. Here is a limited list off the top of my head: Eye Lounge, Made, the Lost Leaf, Conspire, Modified Arts, Nine|05, the Roosevelt Tavern, Moira Sushi, Carly’s Bistro, Revolver Records, Matt’s Big Breakfast, PastaBAR, The Turf, Sens and the Breadfruit.

What’s next? How about shopping at the Phoenix Public Market? Or here’s a good one. People often complain that they would move Downtown if there were a large grocery store nearby. These people must have never driven by the Safeway at 7th Street and McDowell.

Inside a condo at the Summit at Copper Square

Bored yet? Why not take in a movie at the Arizona Center, with its 24 screens, or eat at one of the many restaurants there. Have a friend coming in to town for a conference at the Phoenix Convention Center? He or she can stay at the new Sheraton Hotel, attend their conference and then come visit you, without even needing a rental car.

I almost forgot about our new Civic Space Park across from the Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus. If you attend ASU or the U of A/ASU Medical School, it might be convenient to live in 85004.

I haven’t even mentioned places like CityScape or all of the restaurants in the Downtown core between Van Buren and Jefferson streets. I also haven’t mentioned destinations in the Warehouse District, such as Alice Cooperstown, Coach & Willies, AmenZone Primal Fitness Training and the forthcoming Deuce in the Anchor Building.

Last but not least, in the still somewhat undiscovered Central Park neighborhood, just south of the Warehouse District, lies some varied and unusual housing options as well as eye-candy places like the Bentley Projects.

I will leave the summarization of living in 85004 up to you, the reader. Clearly, there is something here for everyone.

Lyle Plocher is a licensed Arizona real estate broker with the Urban Connection Realty Team at HomeSmart. You can reach him at lyle@downtownphoenixjournal.com.

Catrina, Si and the rest of the staff thank you for reading.

City Dwelling | Living in 85004