Sheraton Phoenix Downtown recently announced a partnership with Bentley Gallery that explores the “intersection of art and culinary” with a new rotating Artisan Palate Series. In collaboration with the hotel’s on-site eatery, Carcara, Executive Chef John Marchetti and world-renowned artist Andrés Anza invite guests to embark on a journey of the senses through a private exhibit of Anza’s work paired alongside a five-course dining experience. The first event in the series will launch on November 3 – mark your calendars now!
“Sheraton Phoenix Downtown takes pride in showcasing the full richness of the destination through a variety of dynamic partnerships and versatile guest experiences,” Director of Sales and Marketing William Stratton said. “Our collaboration with Bentley Gallery allows us to continue celebrating downtown Phoenix’s vibrant art and cultural scene and show our guests the unexpected ways in which different art mediums can evolve into a one-of-a-kind exploration of creativity.”
Anza is the 2024 winner of the prestigious Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, an international competition that considers more than 3,900 artists from 124 countries. Based in Monterrey, Mexico, Anza uses ceramics to create sculptures that are abstract, monochromatic, and intentionally ambiguous. With titles like “Portrait,” “Unknown Body,” and “Stalagmite,” the pieces suggest references to the human, animal, or natural world, but instead blur the lines between abstraction and realism, organic and inorganic.
The forms often appear to droop over the edges of their pedestals and feature hidden folds and openings under a surface blanketed in small spikes, the high-relief texture creating a sense of both invitation and guardedness. Anza’s exhibit at downtown Phoenix’s Bentley Gallery will highlight these amorphous ceramic sculptures.
On November 3 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., the Artisan Palate Series will debut with a cocktail reception at Bentley for a viewing of Anza’s exhibit, immediately followed by a five-course dining experience at Carcara, crafted from the talents of Chef Marchetti and his culinary team.
Guests can expect a menu inspired by the artist where “abstraction, distraction, and satisfaction will take center stage.” The dishes are named after several of Anza’s exhibits, including the “Cinco de Uno,” a first course that showcases multiple bites on edible spoons; a seafood course that evokes a play on Anza’s exhibit titled “De Adentro Hacia Afuera la Marea” meaning from the inside of the tide – with ocean-based ingredients, and “Alce y Zanahoria Amorfa,” that will integrate ingredients like pinon, elk, mole and huckleberry.
The final course will feature a ceramic mold designed by Anza and transformed into a focal point of the dessert from Chef Marchetti. Whimsical cocktails and eclectic wines native to the Coahuila and Zacatecas Regions of Mexico, Anza’s home region, will also be paired alongside each course.
“We conceived ‘Artisan Palate’ as a conversation between two creatives, artist and chef. It really began with a simple yet ambitious premise: transforming the visual language of art into a gastronomic dialogue,” Craig Randich, Director of Bentley Gallery, said. “During a first meeting, Anza and Marchetti shared their passion for their respective crafts and translated some of the underlying concepts and aesthetic approaches of Anza’s artwork into exciting culinary ideas.”
Tickets are $200 per person and are available to purchase here. Additional dates for the Artisan Palate Series in 2025 will be announced later this year. For more information, visit sheratonphoenixdowntown.com.
