12th Annual New Times Best of Phoenix A’Fare

we attended this food event last night in the old Borders at Biltmore Fashion Square. the line to get in at 7:30 was insanely long, but it moved quickly. luckily my wife brought her online ticket receipt, as they didn’t have us on the list.
we hit the Stella booth right off the bat. very nice to have a full glass of beer in a real glass! there were several drink booths scattered throughout offering beer, wine, and mixed drinks. however, by 10:30, all of them had run out of water! for real?
there weren’t as many food options as i expected, however, if you were a meat eater, you would have been satisfied. plenty of BBQ and chicken dishes. there were only a few we could eat. the cheese enchiladas from Los Olivos (good) and the green chille tamales from The Tamale Store (excellent), the lobster mac-​n-​cheese from The Private Rack (we didn’t like it), and a pizza booth with cheese pizza (pizza is always good, even if mediocre).
the deserts were plentiful though and Sprinkles cupcakes were my favorite. the free «psychic» readings sounded as if they were regurgitating a daily horoscope (they got everything wrong about me), but it was amusing in any case.
it was OK i guess. i left with a weird belly feeling.

Last night we attended this event for the first time. It seems like the location changes year to year and for 2011 it took place in the closed Borders in Biltmore Fashion Square. The location itself was a good size for the event, but still had the old bookshelves strewn around, reference signs clinging from the ceiling and, only one small restroom… perhaps a little decorating effort?
Getting in the door was chaotic, the line was long and the check in table disorganized. I had purchased tickets online and was hoping they would be at will call. They weren’t. Good thing I brought my receipt as back-​up because my name was not listed.
Once inside the music was great, and it was nice to start off the evening with a full-​sized Stella Artois in a real glass, thank you for that. Although the coupons the booth were handing out for Rula Bula were expired…
There were some restaurants we have been to and some we’ve been wanting to go to. All the food really looked amazing and staff at the booths seemed enthusiastic and friendly. Being vegetarians we found our choices sort of limiting. The green chile and corn tamales were our favorite, followed by the cheese enchiladas. The desserts were pretty fantastic, especially Sprinkles cupcakes, where they let us sample all three flavors.
Drinks were a good variety too, offering beer, wine, cocktails and some signature cocktails-​our two favorites were the signature punch and fig drink on the second floor.
The crowd at the event was a nice mix of people. Tables around the venue allow you to mingle and discuss the food and everyone seemed to have a good, fun attitude. Love that!