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| - I would have given this event four or five stars the last two years that I have attended, and minus one star would have been simply for the fact that tickets are priced fairly steep at about $100 per person for one day. I thought that price was outrageous my first time, but tried it anyway based on family recommendation. Not only did I feel it justified the cost in 2016, I returned a second time in 2017, and we eagerly planned for 2018 with our biggest family group ever, 10 people total, including family from out of town who came in specifically for this event.
The previous two years it was crowded, sure, but no wonder - it was an amazing production that deserved the hype! It was a terrific experience past years at the Phoenix Art Museum.
This year, it was moved to the Botanical Gardens and I was happy to give this new venue a chance. I've been to the Botanical Gardens a couple of times previously, and knowing how huge and sprawling it is, I figured they would concentrate the vendors into the more open areas near the front of the entrance, and then allow people to wander further out and enjoy the beauty of the gardens if they so chose.
Instead, the new format had ten "zones" randomly plopped at various spaces in this 1-2 mile long loop. Keep in mind two in our party have mobility issues and have a handicapped placard, and we were notified upon entry that a lot of the handicapped spaces were taken. While we easily found handicapped parking, that told me that our party was not the only group that would have found this much walking to be a challenge. Usually at the Art Museum we found a table right away for our less able members, and would help them out by bringing back samples to their table, but this new food tasting / hiking combo meant that perhaps should have worn athletic shoes instead of cute sandals with my dress.
We set out on our epic Journey of 10 Zones, finding huge crowds at the first 3 Zones featuring food, but as we carried on, we found Zones 4 and 5 were only for VIP Members? Zone 6 and 8 had several restaurants, all with incredibly long lines.
We left one those crowded zones to wander towards Zone 9, hoping to find shorter lines, only to find a lonely single (albeit good) food sample in that entire zone, despite the fact Zone 9 was easily accessible and close to the entrance.
Then we wasted even more time staring at the map and wandering about trying to find the mythical Zone 10 until we were notified that was nonexistent on Saturday. So, we turned around, and had to hike back to Zone 8. One of our party joked that if we added the kids it would have felt like Disneyland (walking long distances, standing in lines all day) except with wine samples. Most food was in the back, the garden's distant "Adventureland".
I almost gave this one star, except I have to give credit for a few highlights. There were outstanding dessert selections offered again by Doc's Ice Creams and the amazing Toasted Mallow in Gilbert, as well as other fantastic desserts featured (a sweet basil panna cotta stood out to me in particular, but they were so bombarded with people I wasn't able to pick up a card to give them credit.) And yes, the wine and alcohol tastings were extensive.
Another aspect that seemed to be overlooked by many but I really liked was the performance artists - lovely models in eclectic costumes that were posing like living mannequins in various areas. If you are OK spending $100 on a ticket to wander around a desert garden and sample wines and desserts, I guess this would be the event for you.
However, compared to the previous years, which featured extensive entree selections, actual food was difficult to find. Lines at the places that featured savory bites, such as Aioli Gourmet Burgers, were so long that to get a sample would require waiting 10+ minutes. Combine the wait times with bumbling around to find the next "zone" and hot Arizona sun beating down on your head the whole time - overall I feel like if you want a similar experience head over to a food truck festival. Might be cheaper, and you could end up with more food perhaps?
Yesterday, several of our party who chose not to stand in line at Aioli Burger when the crowds were thick, hiked back to that "zone" later to find they were out of samples, and were discussing stopping at In-N-Out Burger on the drive home because they were still hungry. That seems really sad, considering our experiences in past years we left so stuffed that we couldn't even think about food for the rest of the night.
There were a total of 10 people in our party, and we all decided that for a collective $1000 we could do a lot better. None of us will be returning to the event in 2019. It's very sad considering how much we adored our past years, but as the saying goes, "You don't know what you've got until it's gone." Adieu, "Devoured". I feel extremely fortunate to have experienced you at your best. You will be sorely missed!
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