Comments on: My 1st (and last) trip to Scottsdale Culinary Festival

By: Gecko

Gecko — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:49:45 +0000

Jess Harter called like it is and pulled no punches. Two thumbs up on his observations.
Anyone who has been around Scottsdale long enough knows what a great event this truly was back in the day. Fundraiser or not, I liken to poo flinging monkeys at the zoo. Someone needs to correct what has gone wrong with this worthy event.

By: Ted

Ted — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:02:10 +0000

Since Mr. Bulkin isn’t concerned about prostituting the Scottsdale League for the Arts reputation in the intrest of fundraising. Perhaps he might consider including wet T-shirt contests and tractor pulls. That should really bring in the money. Personally, I will never go again! It was a big waste of time! I would suggest saving the money and going somewhere else.

By: Daniel Tobia

Daniel Tobia — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:05:02 +0000

My wife and I were visiting from Utah and happened to have heard about and decided to attend The Scottsdale Culinary Festival. What a dissapointment that was. We spent more than we planned on and really didn’t get much out of it. We wished we had spent our afternoon visiting one of the many beautiful areas in Scottsdale instead.

By: Albert Ching

Albert Ching — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:41:43 +0000

The Buffalo Wild Wings tent mistakenly (?) gave me five wings for my two tickets, when they were only supposed to give four. I call that a success.

By: Jess Harter

Jess Harter — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:55:38 +0000

Mr. L — Actually, I did do my research beforehand, and my media pass was mailed to me the week before the festival. But it came with instructions to check in at the media table at the Volunteer tent to receive a media wrist band as well. Apparently both a media pass and a media wrist band were necessary. If there were no wristbands available for media at start of festival, why would they have sent me a pass? If there wasn’t a media check-in person at Volunteer tent, why did they instruct media members to go there to check-in?

As for your contention that parking “wasn’t really that hard to find,” I think that’s news to the thousands of other attendees I saw driving around looking for somewhere to park. And if the festival has nothing to do with trolley, maybe the festival shouldn’t have displayed the trolley route, along with noting a trolley would come by every 10 minutes, on the festival’s official website.

By: Mr.L

Mr.L — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:13:15 +0000

Mr. Harter,
Being a journalist, I would think you would have done your research before writing an article. Parking wasn’t really that hard to find. As for the Trolley never coming, that has nothing to do the Culinary Festival. Complain to the city of Scottsdale, not the non-profit organization that puts on the Culinary Festival. Which brings me to my next point, the SCF is the Scottsdale League for the Art’s annual FUNDRAISER. The Great Arizona Picnic may be a big party but it raises a huge amount of money that they give out to the arts and arts education across the Valley. Sorry, that you didn’t have fun at the GAP, but about 25,000 other people did. If you wanted a more true culinary experience you should have attended one of the 6 signature dinners or Cooks and Corks on Saturday or Sunday. As for the media tent and there being no media liasion and being out of media credentials, my apologies again, but this was YOUR fault. First, there was no media tent at all. There was a Volunteer tent, but you must have just assumed it was a media tent. Second, to receive a media pass, all media was to apply for them on the SCF’s website and the deadline was Monday, April 7th. If you would have done your research beforehand, you would have known this and would have had no problem receiving a media pass. Sorry, that you felt $10 was too expensive, but again, it all goes to charity!!!

By: Peter Delqua

Peter Delqua — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:56:55 +0000

I found this event that is coming to Scottsdale in December. http://www.festivalofthewise.com
It is a Music and Arts Festival but it has a more mature audience and the focus is not getting hammered. Not a replacement for the Culinary event but it will be good to have something fun to do in December.

By: David SB

David SB — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:32:18 +0000

Mr. Bulkin makes a good point in differentiating between the larger Scottsdale Culinary Festival (SCF) and its most popular component, the Great Arizona Picnic (GAP). For all I know, the other components of SCF are still worthwhile, but the reality is that GAP is the visible face of SCF for most of the community, and GAP has clearly changed over the years.

In the ’90s, it was often a cost-effective opportunity to sample foods from interesting, independent restaurateurs. It wasn’t haute cuisine per se, but it did offer a good sample of local chefs’ talents. Sometime in the last decade, however, it has become dominated by chains and a frat-party atmosphere. Given the high attendance levels that persist despite complaints on blogs like this one, it’s obvious that GAP draws a large audience, but it’s no longer the destination for foodies on a budget.

It may be that GAP is in part a victim of its own success, but if it wants to regain culinary credibility, some guidelines focusing on local restaurants and de-emphasizing chains are needed. Otherwise, GAP may be financially successful as a fundraiser, but it’s no longer much of a culinary event and hurts the image of SCF as a whole.

By: Vincent

Vincent — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:49:08 +0000

Get rid of the booze and you’ll have a good culinary festival again.

By: Jack Bulkin

Jack Bulkin — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:25:01 +0000

The Great Arizona Picnic is just that, a picnic. We are a charity and all that we offer other than the picnic is by donation. At the picnic, we mandate that the contributing restaurants cannot charge more than $4 dollars for any item. We receive a major portion of the proceeds. It is not possible to serve the 30 or so thousand guests we entertain at the picnic haut cuisine. I suggest next year you attend our signature events or The Cooks and Corks event at the picnic where many of the restaurants you sought could be found.
Sincerely;
Jack Bulkin, Esquire
President-Elect, The Scottsdale League for the Arts proud sponsor of the 30th Anniversary Scottsdale Culinary Festival.