Brilliant Brunch With Amazing Vendors For A Good Cause
The Scottsdale League For The Arts puts on the Scottsdale Culinary Festival but before that, it’s Cooks and Corks and then the Brunch Club. Every event Scottsdale League For The Arts is put together with class and elegance and they’re solidly in our Must-Do category. The Scottsdale Culinary Festival isn’t for a few more months but it’s a weekend long event that every foodie must attend. To start December off right the Brunch Club came to the rescue.
So Many Choices
Whenever you attend an event where there’s a variety of vendors, part of the fun is to find out what your favorite item is and the chance to try places you have never been to before. The Brunch Club at Mountain Shadows Resort was just the type of adventure every foodie loves. Set in a picturesque environment on a typical perfect sunny Saturday, restaurants from all over the Valley participated.
Starting Out
Walking in I was delighted with a mini eggs benedict from Benedict’s Caterers. The eggs benedict were creamy and delicious. They also offered a variety of cookies including gingersnaps!
The Biltmore’s Bomb Offerings
A few feet away a Tito’s Vodka Bloody Mary with green chile salsa ice cubes was beckoning me from the Biltmore. To my absolute delight there was a miniature sample of lobster bisque. OH MY LORD what amazing soup this was. Wright’s at the Biltmore makes sprinkles shredded crab into the bottom of the cup, puts in a piece of crusty bread and ladles out the decadent soup to cover it all. This bisque was divine.
Did You Say Lobstah?
Not only did Wright’s provide Bloody Mary’s and lobster bisque but they also had a 75% almond gateau which translates to a decadent bite of chocolately happiness by executive pastry chef Thierry Delourneaux.
The Scene
So let me set the scene: beautiful people everywhere representing the Hats and Bowties theme, gorgeous sunny day with the desert golf course as a backdrop, 30 seconds after walking out to the lawn there’s an amazing eggs benedict. Walking forward, Bloody Mary in hand, lobster bisque consumed, chocolate cake sampled, I am thrilled. I decided that in their wisdom that whoever made the layout of the event just put the best two booths up front.
I Love It When I Am Wrong
Happily, I was wrong, because there were plenty of other amazing booths to sample. The next setup was from Hermosa Inn’s Lon’s. Lon’s had a cool display. They put everything on a stick. Who doesn’t like eating things off a stick? The first thing that caught my eye was their monkey bread. What’s monkey bread? I haven’t had monkey bread since I was a child. In fact, I pulled out the recipe I copied from my Grandmother. Basically, it’s sweet bread you don’t need a bread knife for because you can pull it apart as it’s just a bunch of little pieces of bread baked together. Lon’s put each piece on a stick with a creamy happy topping. They were delicious but then I got a hold of their bacon.
Who cares about bacon?
Everyone loves bacon. For me, I’m not a fan. I mean, I love it for flavoring and it smells great but I am not ordering a side of bacon if I’m at a restaurant. Prosciutto? Sure. Bacon, not so much. But here are these little slices of bacon skewered standing like soldiers waiting to be sampled. Executive Chef Jeremy Pacheco explained that they make it in-house, covered in some thing maple syrup-y and then they smoke it. This was amazing! Lon’s needs to package that up and sell it on Amazon. If they did all my Christmas shopping would be done.
Off With Your Head
One cool thing that Mountain Shadows did was to chop off the top of a champagne bottle by saber! Boom!! Every party should include sabers and champagne. Oh, and with a DJ! DJ Jen Jones was spinnin with her rhinestone laptop, blonde hair and big sunglasses. Champagne, music and amazing food, what more could you ask for?
A Field Of Amazing
Besides Lon’s, Benedict’s and Wrights, there were many other delights to be discovered. My favorite Jewel’s Bakery was there. Chef Justine Dachel had the clever idea of creating champagne shots! She hand pressed oranges into champagne to make something like a Jell-O shot except with Moet Chandon. Who doesn’t like edible champagne???
Champagne Shots and Sliders
The fabulous and talented Chef Justine also provided sliders. These things were huge and such a hit that they disappeared in an hour. Word to the wise, if you at an event One of the cool things about a lot of these chefs, including Chef Justine is they use a lot of local resources. Her Brunch Hangover Sliders included microgreens from Twisted Infusions, goat cheese from Crow’s Dairy and eggs from Hickman’s.
Stock and Stable
Just like Wright’s, Stock and Stable had three tasty morsels to choose from. The crew at Stock and Stable were really helpful and enthusiastic about their offerings. They’re about to celebrate their 2 year anniversary too! Let’s keep these local businesses in business! They had an amazing seafood thingy which was really tasty but the star of the show was the ham and gruyere pastry with raspberry compote.
Giving Back
The Scottsdale League for the Arts created this event to raise money for the arts. All of the vendors generously donated their time and food and alcohol to make the event a success. Chef Justine from Jewel’s Bakery mentioned a project about she is working with the Restoration Project making Christmas card and care packages for the children in migrant camps. These kids don’t have their parents around and it’s the holidays. So they’re all alone. Chef Justine is trying to raise awareness and money for this project. Stop by on December 25th for their huge 5 year anniversary party and find out more about the movement.
What About The Scottsdale Culinary Festival?
The Scottsdale Culinary Festival happens the second weekend in April. The Festival brings together the many tastes of the Arizona culinary scene at the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall. Although it’s not on their website yet, prior to #scf is the Burger Battle at the Waterfront.
All in all, if you’re a foodie keep an eye on what’s happening with the Scottsdale League for the Arts and check out all their events! You’ll have a good time and meet some fun people. Dress Instagram Pretty!
