Emerging Leaders and DeSoto Central Market bring you this year’s 7 Chef Series event, “Rock Out!” Enjoy 80’s rock-inspired menu items prepared by more than fifteen of the Valley’s top chefs and mixologists, and rock out to live music and entertainment all night!

Proceeds from the 7 Chef Series Rock Out! benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital and the Condition Critical campaign to build a new Emergency Department and Level 1 Trauma Center.

Rock Out! takes place on Saturday, October 15th from 7pm-10pm at DeSoto Central Market, with an “Encore” After Party to follow. Tickets include all you can eat food and cocktail tastings, two drink tickets, music from DJ Mr. Phoenix, a live 80’s cover band and one raffle ticket for a chance to win some incredible prizes- including your very own Fender electric guitar!

So, basically, I’m gonna have to go run about 10 miles and swim another 3 to off-set the calories I’m gonna inhale at this event.

But what a great time to start enjoying the beautiful Phoenix evening weather.

And, of course, the question is: if you could name a dish after a 90s rock song, what would it be? Frankly, I’m stumped. I can’t think of what combination of foods would warrant being named after “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears.

The Local First Fall Festival is taking applications for vendors now.

We like to drop by every year. The Local First Fall Festival has food, gifts, services and a beer garden.

You had me at beer garden.

It happens this year on November 5th and they are expanding. In previous years, they located in the little strip of land at Portland and Central. This year, they are taking over Margaret T. Hance Park.

So, I think that means they will expand their footprint a bit. It will be nice to have a little more space between the vendors so I can stop at more without worrying that I’m in anybody’s way.

From what we hear, the organizers are now taking applications for vendors. Check in with the Local First Festival here.

Our friend Matthew Steinkamp of Sundawg Media tells me about his new project, which will be at the Phoenix Film Festival. It is called “Play – A Documentary. See a list of screenings at this link, and pick up a pair of tickets here.

The documentary will be at our local film festival, and hopefully more around the country.

Phoenix seems to be generating its own home-grown film industry. Earlier in the year, we hosted the premier of Durant’s Never Closes at our January Get Your PHX.  We are so proud of our local film makers.

What makes us particularly impressed with this film is that it is a crowdsourced film about music, passion and education. With so many critiques of education in Arizona, its nice to see a film that honors arts education.

Congratulations to the whole crew.

Phoenix’s Historic Downtown Baptist Church is getting the long overdue resurrection is so desperately needs. The church, affectionately dubbed “The Monroe Abbey”, is transforming into a new hub of bustling active space for downtowners and visitors to enjoy.

“This was finished in 1929, just before the depression. It was a big church; 1,400 or more were here for services. It was designed for chorale singing and mass choirs,” former Arizona Attorney General and First Baptist Church advocate, Terry Goddard, explains.

In 1968 The First Baptist Congregation held its final church service at the 3^rd Avenue Church, and relocated to its new facilities on Glendale Avenue, leaving the building vacant.

In 1982 the Church is added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1984,the sanctuary went up in flames and burned for two days, causing the roof to collapse completely.

In 1992 the Church is declared a hazard and was set for demolition.  Saved from the wrecking ball by Terry Goddard and other local heroes.

Although the fire left the church in disrepair, the open-air cathedral has had a renaissance of nature over the last twenty years with an unruly “secret garden”, zillions of birds, and about thousands bees making the space their home.

Architects at Jones Studio along with Patry Building Co are taking on the heavy lifting to transform the Abbey into a multi-tenant, mixed-use space while keeping both the integrity of the structure and working the majestic beauty of the natural growth into the development.

The new four-story space will be activated with a black box theatre, restaurant, office space, gallery and even a speakeasy. There’s even enough space in the center courtyard for performances and events.

Join us on April 21^st for tours inside the palatial property with Katherine Patry as well as a special update on the Welnick Bros. development just down the street.

As always, please RSVP below.

Date: Thursday, April 21^st
Time: 5:30PM – 7:30PM
Location: Monroe Street Abbey: 302 W. Monroe St.
RSVP: Click Here
Click here to follow us on Facebook!

Thanks again to Tim Bishop, Ryan Jerrell and Jessica Brining for hosting a beautiful event at DIG IT Urban Garden. The weather was perfect, the lighting was elegant and everybody had a great time.

March is looking to be another great event. Satisfy your curiosity this month as we explore Phoenix’s finest oddities shop, Curious Nature, at their new home on Camelback and Central.

Oddities, curiosities and eclectic collections fill every inch of space at Curious Nature making it one of the most interesting shops you’ll ever step into. Specimen jars and jawbones line the display shelves while walls hold pinned moths, butterflies, and mounted animal heads. Owner Mason Conway modeled the shop after history’s iconic cabinet of curiosity, (also called “wonder rooms”), where extraordinary objects tell a visual story of the wonders of the natural world.

Conway has always been a fan of the Victorian Era and began collecting at a young age, “Collecting natural specimens was a very popular hobby at that time, and I was looking for a new career path. The opportunity to open the shop presented itself, so I jumped at the chance.”

Conway’s contacts in the collectors world affords him opportunities to bring in great pieces by local artists like Heather Grimes Dream Wings jewelry collection, which works with 100% harm-free wings, bones and snakeskins to create incredible necklaces sold in store.

Mason’s passion for sharing his knowledge with others encouraged him to launch his own business. With the new space, Conway’s now able to expand the class sizes for etymology and taxidermy, which sells out quickly! Next up is a class on Taxidermy with rats in early April.

As Conway puts it, “I just wanted to share the things I love with Phoenix. I love teaching and I love learning. This is a great opportunity to share my interest in the beauty of science and nature in a unique way. It’s like a museum, but you can take it home with you. I encourage people to pick things up and touch them.”

Meet Mason and the crew of Curious Nature this March with us and enjoy tours and small bites till 7:30PM. As always, RSVP below.

Date: Thursday, March 24th
Time: 5:30PM – 7:30PM
Host: Curious Nature: 5032 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, 85012
Note: Free to attend, free raffle ticket at entry!

RSVP HERE

SAVE the DATE: Thursday, March 10, 2016

Artlink, City of Phoenix, Downtown Phoenix Inc., and Hance Park Conservancy invite you to the “Art d’Core Gala”

NEW Co-Host and Venue!

Y’all know that the arts is an economic driver, especially in downtown Phoenix. Art is a big reason why so many people want to live in Cenpho.

I plan to be there!

Held under–and among–the stars in Hance Park, this fourth annual celebration spotlights the significant contribution that arts and culture plays in creating a dynamic urban core.

The Art d’Core Gala is hosted by Artlink Inc., the City of Phoenix, Downtown Phoenix Inc., and Hance Park Conservancy. The festivities will include music and dancing; fabulous food and drink; a special toast by Mayor Greg Stanton; and an eye-popping virtual tour of the Hance Park Master Plan.

Please RSVP Here

Have we really been hosting Phoestivus for six years now? What kind of madness is this? Every year we celebrate locally-owned businesses and raise money for Community Food Connections, the folks who run the downtown open air farmer’s market.

Plus, it simply gives us a chance to show of our true goofy credentials with our Pheats of Strength, the Phoestivus Pole and the Airing of Grievances. This is also the second annual Zero K race. Now, that’s got you intrigued, right?

I, personally, get most of my shopping done at one place. Could it be that I’m avoiding the mad rush of them malls and chain stores? Or, maybe I’m just lazy and prefer knocking out all the shopping with a Phoestivus Ale in my hand. Who knows?

December 10th and 17th
721 N Central, Phoenix

Please save the dates for Phoestivus 2014. This year we have plans to open up the beer garden to entire event. We will have more than 100 locally-owned vendors, a dozen food trucks, the annual raffle and loads of new sponsors.

Local ride share company, Ruby Ride, will be our official transportation this year. Yep, we are big enough to have official things like that. 

SRP will be on hand to demonstrate new, energy efficient LED Christmas lights. 

And, of course, we will have the airing of grievances, the feats of strength and the Phoestivus Poll.

If you are a locally-0wned vendor, you might still have time to apply for a booth at phoestivus.com. 

Its gonna be a big year. We are looking forward to seeing you out.

Thank you to Chef Chris McKinley and Adam Hargett of The Local for hosting what was probably the highest attended summer Get Your PHX event in our 5 and a half year history.

And, as usual, thank you to Local First Arizona Localists for all that you do to support and organize Get Your PHX events while I was out pounding the pavement this summer. Helene, Kendall and Chrisal, you make it happen!

This month, Get Your PHX is unwinding uptown at The Newton!

Our good friend, Cindy Dach, has kindly offered to extend happy hour pricing on drinks for Get Your PHX!

We are checking in on all of the progress and additions since The Newton’s much-lauded opening before the summer hit us like a hot side of beef.

Formerly the iconic Beef Eaters restaurant and named in honor of its owner, Jay Newton, the new mixed-use space has been generating some serious buzz since opening in May.

All under one roof, visitors can read, shop, gather, and eat thanks to Changing Hands Bookstore, First Draft Book Bar, and Justin Beckett’s Southern Rail restaurant.

Beckett continues to wow diners with his savory southern style restaurant featuring down-home favorites like gumbo, sweet tea tart and po’boys. (You just can’t help but add a long southern drawl when reading the word ‘po’ boys’.)

Also joining The Newton bunch is Southwest Gardener and business consulting/leadership development team, Christofolo||Schermer. 

Lynn and Amy of Southwest Gardener opened their shop to showcase the extensive beauty desert plants and seasons have to offer. ”We treat the garden as high art,” the two proclaim. Lynn and Amy will hang an open sign in their new space this month.

The highly anticipated arrival of Changing Hands Bookstore to Phoenix comes with the added perk of the First Draft Book Bar. (Maybe they’ll take a note from the London Time’s and pipe in the sound of clacking typewriters to get the creative juices flowing.) 

This new destination was made possible through the vision and patience of Venue Project partners, Lorenzo Perez and Jon Kitchell, who scooped up the building, which lay vacant since 2006.

Like any construction overhaul project, there were some snags and setbacks along the way, including roof damage that wound up delaying the opening date. But patience prevailed and The Newton is finally here.

Kitchell remarks, “This is the nature of an adaptive reuse project. No matter how much you study, investigate and plan a building for an adaptive renovation… This makes them challenging, yet rewarding.”

Join us later this month for a gander at The Newton, Phoenix’s newest destination. As always, please reserve your spot using the Tickets link right here (“tickets” are free).

See the Facebook Page here for updates.

What: September Get Your PHX
Where: The Newton
                  300 W. Camelback Rd.,
                  Phoenix, 85013 (Map It)
When: Sept. 18th, 5:30 to 7:30
Specials: FREE Raffle, drink special, & complimentary snacks
Why: Because (don’t ask questions)