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Five courses of art meets culinary senses

Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, a contemporary destination located in the heart of downtown Phoenix, announces a partnership with Bentley Gallery that explores the intersection of art and culinary with a new rotating ‘Artisan Palate Series.’ In collaboration with Sheraton Phoenix Downtown’s signature food and beverage outlet Carcara, Executive Chef John Marchetti and world-renowned artist Andrés Anza invite guests to embark on a journey of the senses, infusing sight, sound, touch, smell and taste through a private exhibit of Anza’s work paired alongside a five-course dining experience.

The first event in the series launches on Sunday, Nov. 3 with additional events to be announced later this year. 

“Sheraton Phoenix Downtown takes pride in showcasing the full richness of the destination through a variety of dynamic partnerships and versatile guest experiences,” says William Stratton, market director of sales and marketing at Sheraton Phoenix Downtown. “Our new collaboration with Bentley Gallery not only allows us to continue celebrating downtown Phoenix’s vibrant art and cultural scene, but also shows our guests the unexpected ways in which different art mediums, whether it be culinary or ceramics, can evolve into a one-of-a-kind exploration of creativity.” 

Chef mastery showcased through cultural journey

Anza is the 2024 winner of the prestigious Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, an international competition that considers more than 3900 artists from 124 countries. Based in Monterrey, Mexico, Anza uses ceramics as a medium to create sculptures that are abstract, monochromatic, and deliberately ambiguous.

While their titles—such as “Portrait,” “Unknown Body,” and “Stalagmite”— suggest references to the human, animal, or natural world, the rounded sculptures 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.

This duality mirrors human relationships and our perceptions of interiority and exteriority. Anza exhibit at Bentley Gallery will highlight these amorphous ceramic sculptures whose high-relief texture lend the work to different angles of appreciation–familiar yet strange, specimen-like but fantastical. 

Bentley Gallery exhibit debut

On Nov. 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the Artisan Palate Series will debut with a cocktail reception at Bentley Gallery in downtown Phoenix for a viewing of Anza’s exhibit, immediately followed by a five-course exclusive dining experience at Carcara at Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, crafted from the unique talents of Chef Marchetti and the Carcara culinary team.

Guests can expect a menu inspired by the artist where abstraction, distraction and satisfaction will take center stage to find the uncommon and unexpected in food presentation. Aptly named after several of Anza’s exhibits, highlights include dishes such as “Cinco de Uno,” a specialty approach to the first course that provides multiple bites on edible spoons, a seafood course that evokes a play on Anza’s exhibit titled “De Adentro Hacia Afuera la Marea” to mean from the inside of the tide showcasing ocean-based ingredients, and “Alce y Zanahoria Amorfa,” that speaks to the amorphous ecosystems, integrating 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,” says Craig Randich, director of Bentley Gallery. “During a first meeting this summer, Anza and Marchetti shared their passion for their respective crafts,  and thus translated some of the underlying concepts and aesthetic approaches of Anza’s artwork into exciting culinary ideas.”

Details for Bentley Gallery Artisan Palate Series

Tickets are $200 per person and are available to purchase here. Additional dates for the Artisan Palate Series in 2025 will be revealed later this year. For more information on Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, visit SheratonPhoenixDowntown.com or call (602) 262.2500.