The Scottsdale Culinary Festival: Chocolate & Wine Experience
Xocolatl Confections (all photos by Jenelle Bonifield of Food & Lifestyles)
On January 22nd, a sold-out crowd of 500+ gathered at the Musical Instrument Museum for one of the more popular annual events of the Scottsdale Culinary Festival line-up: The Chocolate and Wine Experience. Held in April last year, this year's January date is part of a new schedule for the Scottsdale Culinary Festival. Guests could wine and dine, dance to live music under the stars, and attend select gallery exhibits. All net proceeds raised from the $60 tickets went to support the Scottsdale League for the Arts.
The menu included sweets from Chocolate-Spirited Artisan Chocolates, Salted Serenity Sweets, Bouchee Chocolate, Pomegranate Cafe, and EVO, and cheese from Arizona Farms Cheese and Yancey's Fancey. There was also cherry-chocolate risotto with almonds from Talking Stick:
Colorful chocolate works of arts by Xocolatl:
Fantastic orange-cardamom toffee from NutWhats:
And creative blends by Zak's Chocolate:
Another popular table was the Capital Grille, who offered dinner and dessert: Kona coffee-rubbed steak with caramelized shallot butter and mashed potatoes, and flourless chocolate espresso tarts.
Beer was served by SanTan Brewing, and Frank Armanetti of the Armanetti Group made sure Real Russian Vodka was mixed up in crowd-pleasing Chocolate Martinis.
Pouring wine were Wilhelm Vineyards, Aridus, Su Vino, PRP Wine, and Vintner's Circle, along with the ever-entertaining Sam Pillsbury of Pillsbury Wine Company.
Corrado Battai flew all the way from his winery, Tenuta Le Velette in Umbria, Italy to introduce Arizonans to his wine.
Frank and Donna Armanetti of the Armanetti Group with Corrado Battai of Tenuta Le Velette
Sassy and the Sneak Attack entertained the crowd, who could also partake in activities such as painting with chocolate.
Mark your calendars for the 2017 event, which takes place on Friday, January 27th at the Saguaro Hotel. More information can be found here.
