By Anthony Costello, Nov. 6, 2014.
For the third consecutive year, the Human Rights Campaign’s COOK Phoenix, one of the most diverse local food exhibitions, returns to the Valley Nov. 22.
From cooking demonstrations and appetizing samples to live entertainment and local businesses, COOK Phoenix will bring a festive atmosphere for a good cause to Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix.
The purpose of COOK is to embrace the local community and provide an environment that brings a sense of pride to restaurants and chefs while raising money for HRC.
“COOK raises funds to help fund HRC’s efforts to ensure a nation where every citizen is treated equally, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” according to hrc.org.
Natalie Cianciola, the event’s co-chair, explained that the idea for the event originated when an Arizona HRC committee member attended COOK Orlando three years ago and saw the potential of bringing the concept back to Arizona.
Following in Orlando’s footsteps, Cianciola said COOK Phoenix is the only second of its kind in the nation and with each passing year the event has grown and evolved. Cianciola added that 400 people are estimated to attend this year’s event.
This year’s event is similar to last year’s, in terms of format, except for a few entertainment and participating restaurants changes, she said. The popular craft beer garden returns this year with products from Hensley along with retailers and vendors — including HRC — selling merchandise.
The event’s entertainment line-up will feature several local performers, including What’s the Big Idea, a jazz band that will provide background music throughout the event; Tucson band The Borderline Sound; and DJ Musa Mind, who will be wrapping up the four-hour event.
This year’s celebrity chef is Barrio Café owner and Mexican cuisine connoisseur Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza.
“I have the opportunity to preach my Mexican culture and say this is a diverse cuisine,” she said. “It’s a cross-cultural event … for me food is an art.”
The two-time James Beard Award nominee, who will host two cooking demonstrations, said her initial thought was to do a couple dishes per presentation, but admitted she may end up serving full-course meals.
Though the details remain to be decided, Esparza definitely plans on serving chiles en nogada, which is poblano chiles filled with picadillo and topped with pomegranate seeds, with a side of guacamole.
Esparza said she firmly believes in HRC’s purpose in uniting and giving back to the community, and that’s why she has yet to miss a COOK Phoenix event.
“HRC is very near and dear to me because it represents me, and advocates for me,” Esparza said. “Community comes first and with success comes responsibility.”
Among the other food vendors returning this year is Harley’s Italian Bistro which will be serving two dishes: traditional veal meatballs with homemade marinara sauce and polpette alla romana, a prosciutto parmesan meatball covered in a savory gorgonzola sauce.
Established in 1950, the former cobbler shop is now co-owned by Charolette Kimerly and continues to support several local organizations, including one n ten, Mulligan’s Manor, Aunt Rita’s Foundation, HERO and the Joshua Tree Feeding Program.
Harley’s is a staunch supporter of LGBT issues and holds a monthly Brunch with Benefits event that benefits different charities, Kimerly said.
“We’re a local business, and we don’t get a lot of street visibility. Most of our business comes from word of mouth,” Kimerly said. “We support every gay issue that has come about … we like to show our camaraderie with our members [of] the community.”
With supporters like Esparza and Kimerly, Cianciola believes COOK Phoenix will to continue to grow.
“I can see it being one of the top foodie events in the future,” she said, “It could definitely happen one day.”
Esparza hopes that more members of the LGBT community, including businesses and restaurants, participate in the event in the future.
“In the community we need to support ourselves, and this is another event that puts us at the forefront for equality,” Esparza said. “I really hope the HRC brings out the Valley as a whole to show unity for all … and I mean all!”
The out-and-proud chef added that the event is a vital connection between Barrio Café and the LGBT community.
“Fear of the unknown is scary for people, but the more we’re in the light instead of the shadows, the more acceptance we’ll gain,” Esparza said, “They say love conquers all and I believe it.”
COOK Phoenix tickets are $25 and include admission, unlimited food samples and an annual HRC membership or membership renewal for existing members.
Membership benefits in-clude a subscription to Equality Magazine, invitations to HRC events and volunteer opportunities. All proceeds go to the HRC and are used to continue HRC’s work in guaranteeing a nation where everyone is treated equally regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Human Rights Campaign’s third annual COOK Phoenix
Noon-4 p.m. Nov. 22
Margaret T. Hance Park
1202 N. Third St., Phoenix
Tickets: $25
Celebrity Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza Announces New Restaurant Plans
Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza announces plans to open Barrio Urbano inside The Yard in Uptown Phoenix.
Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza has done it all.
As a child she shared a table with Cesar Chavez in her uncle’s bakery in Delano, Calif., and in Arizona she worked alongside Dolores Huerta to protest SB1070.
She’s one of the activists who founded “Calle 16,” a vital and growing cultural district located on and around 16th Street in Phoenix (the area is also home to Barrio Café, her first restaurant, which opened in 2002).
She was inducted into the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame in 2004 and was nominated for James Beard Awards in 2011 and 2012. She’s been named a top Latino chef as well as one of the Valley’s most inspirational women.
And on Nov. 22 she will rock a new title: Celebrity Chef at the Human Rights Campaign’s COOK Phoenix, one of the Valley’s most diverse local food exhibitions.
Esparza will host two cooking demonstrations, during which she said there’s a good chance she’ll debut some new dish concepts she’s preparing for her latest restaurant concept: Barrio Urbano.
“I am happy to announce that we have applied for a construction permit for the property located inside The Yard in Uptown Phoenix,” she said. “We hope to get things rolling fairly fast and open as early as December if all goes well.”
Esparza added that the atmosphere of the new restaurant — in the space that was formerly Lola’s — is going to be “very gay” and that she’s looking forward to bringing her Barrio brand to the gayborhood.
“I am excited that Barrio Urbano will feature something I feel is missing in the Valley, Mexican Breakfast. Plus the fact that I am finally going to be in the gayborhood-proper,” she said.
Barrio Urbano will showcase the style and concepts that earned Esparza local and national recognition.
Esparza has dedicated the past 40 years perfecting Mexican cuisine. And, in 2001, she spent two years touring Mexico learning and experimenting with traditional Mexican recipes.
“It was an experience of a lifetime,” Esparza said. “Mexican food is generation after generation of recipes.”
During her travels, Esparza spent six months perfecting her acclaimed cochinita pibil recipe, which is pork that is marinated and then roasted while wrapped in banana leaves, that a native Mayan family taught her.
Esparza said her love of food, her culture and her community are what drive her.
“The Mexican and gay community is who I am and what I fight for,” she said. “Food knows no economic division, it just brings people together.”