Third Annual Eight’s Check, Please! ArizonaFestival

Set for Sun., March 22, 2015, 11am-3pm

Tickets at www.azpbs.org/CheckPlease/festival/

Show-Inspired Event Delivers Eclectic Collection of Independents all in one place

Phoenix, Ariz. (Feb. 18, 2015) – While the Emmy Award-winning television hit, Eight’s, Check, Please! Arizona continues unabated, its culinary cousin, Eight’s Check, Please! Arizona Festival continues on its own glorious path for a third straight year of pleasing fans of local, independent eateries, celebrated once again, Sun., March 22, 2015, 11am-3pm at CityScape in downtown Phoenix.

Check, Please! Arizona is one of the most popular locally produced programs on Eight, Arizona PBS. And Eight will again transform CityScape into a haven for food adventurists, a one-stop exploration of Arizona’s independent restaurant collective that ranges from every-day hamburger haunts to five-star gourmet establishments.

In its third year, the event is crowned with a gathering of Arizona’s James Beard Foundation award-winners, among them, Emmy Award-winning host of Eight’s Check, Please! Arizona Robert McGrath, plus Christopher Gross, Chris Bianco, and Nobuo Fukuda.

In addition, as Arizona’s culinary scene continues to advance in global sophistication, the 2015 version of the event will also showcase overlays by Arizona’s chef talent, including a second panel of top Valley chefs, in addition to a lineup of cooking demonstrations by local chefs on two stages, provided by SubZero/Wolf, and a tour of favorite wines by Chef Christopher Gross, including tastings and tips for food pairings.

The festival also will be adding several new restaurants to the lineup this year from Check, Please! Arizona’s five seasons on-air, as well as featuring many returning favorites, to date including:

Switch Restaurant & Wine Bar

The Wild Thaiger

Salerno’s

Haus Murphy’s

Frasher’s Steakhouse & Lounge

The Salt Cellar

Flavors of Louisiana

Rancho Pinot

Cowboy Ciao

Jewel of the Crown

Cucina Tagliani

Tarbell’s

San Tan Brewing Company

Thee Pitts “Again”

Hob Nob

Phoenix City Grille

Red, White and Brew

Betty’s Nosh

Avanti Restaurant

MacAlpine’s Restaurant & Soda Fountain

TEXAZ Grill

TICKETS. Tickets are available at www.azpbs.org/checkplease/festival. General admission in advance is $79; at the door tickets are $89. Tickets include food, wine and beer sampling as well as panel discussions, cooking demonstrations and guest lectures. NOTE: Last year, the event sold out.

For more information on sponsorship and participation opportunities with Eight’s Check, Please! Arizona Festival, please contact Chelsea Fox at R Entertainment Co., 480.657.7333 ext.15 or email Chelsea@r-entertainment.com.

Save the Date! Check Please Arizona Tasting Tour- January 20, 2015

You like to eat correct?  I'm assuming you also have a soft spot in your heart for public broadcasting and the good folks behind Check Please! Arizona. Well we have got the event for you.

Follow this link and be whisked away on a splendid culinary journey the likes of which will clearly surpass whatever else you were planning on doing the week of January 18th.

Bitesized Approved Activities: Sur La Table

You eat enough great meals around town and you start to wonder if you could possibly create your own culinary masterpiece.  Sound possible?  Don't know where to start?  Thankfully for us there are places like Sur La Table that offer dining aficionados the chance to strap on the apron.

Leading figures in Phoenix and all part of the Taste America event!

We recently attended the James Beard Taste America event at the Sur. The weekend was a veritable 'who's who' of the Phoenix culinary scene.  Our session featured famed L.A.baker Sherry Yard and she opened our eyes to the majesty and diversity of Challah. 

To say that the session was tasty and informative was an understatement.  Sherry knows how to educate and engage an audience.  But just as important it opened our eyes to the myriad events like this in town that are accessible to dining inclined.

Looking for a good place to start?  Take a look here at the current Sur la table calendar. Date night just became a little more interesting.