Eight's Check, Please! Arizona Festival

In its second year Eight’s Check, Please! Arizona Festival delivers a renowned celebrity chef lineup showcased in wine seminars, cooking demonstrations and a rare discussion panel by Arizona’s James Beard Award winners. 

Plus, the festival adds more culinary hotspots in preparation for the food and drink transformation to hit CityScape, closing down Central Avenue in the heart of downtown Phoenix.

The event is set for Sun., March 30, 2014, 11am-3pm; and a special ticket rate of $59 is available now through March 1.  Tickets are $69 after March 1 and $79 at the gate.

After enjoying the festival’s first year, celebrity chefs and restaurateurs return with great pleasure to participate in cooking demonstrations, wine seminars and the foodie favorite, the James Beard Award winner discussion panel. Three stages will set the scene for the scheduled showcases, the SubZero/Wolf Chef Demonstration Stage, the Safeway Grill Master Stage and the Chow Bella Stage.

Celebrity chefs include: Check, Please! Arizona host and James Beard Award winner Robert McGrath, who will moderate the discussion panel and share his unmistakable charm and culinary insight in a cooking demonstration; James Beard Award winner and chef, Nobuo Fukuda is also set to participate in the discussion panel and deliver his exotic cooking knowledge sure to impress every food lover; as well as James Beard Award winner and chef, Christopher Gross who is also participating in the discussion panel as well as a wine seminar, showcasing his more than 40 years of experience in the wine and food world.

In addition to celebrity chefs offering a number of unprecedented insights, more than 30 of Arizona’s favorite independent dining spots are set to dish out their specialties, in addition to wineries and craft breweries.  

Restaurant Lineup to Date. Among the more than 30 participating restaurants in this second year are:

• Cowboy Ciao
• Durant’s
• Citizen Public House
• Flancer’s
• Havana Café
• Red, White & Brew
• Tarbell’s
• Frasher’s Steakhouse and Lounge
• Salt Cellar Restaurant
• Centurion
• Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe
• Cucina Tagliani
• Salerno’s Restaurant & Pizzeria
• Sofrita
• Phoenix City Grille
• Vogue Bistro
• MacAlpine’s Soda Fountain
• D’vine Bistro & Wine Bar
• The Vig Uptown
• America’s Taco Shop
• Hob Nobs Coffee House
• Thee Pitts “Again”
• Betty’s Nosh
• Cornish Pasty Co.
• Yupha’s Thai Kitchen
• Rancho Pinot
• Lon’s at the Hermosa
• Last Drop Bar at the Hermosa
• Bertha’s Café
• Tasty Thai
• The Wild Thaiger
• Date: Sun., March 30, 2014, 11am-3pm at CityScape

• 30 Restaurants, plus Wineries & Craft Beer

  $59 through March 1

  Tickets at www.AZPBS.org/CheckPlease

  Chef Robert McGrath | Chef Christopher Gross | Chef Nobuo Fukuda