17 minute read
FEATURES
TheFoothillsFocus.com | @TheFoothills.Focus /TheFoothillsFocus For more features visit thefoothillsfocus.com
BY FOOTHILLS FOCUS STAFF
The semiannual Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market returns to WestWorld in Scottsdale Friday, Sept. 17, to Sunday Sept. 19.
In its 10th year of business, the market offers vintage, local and handmade items. The September market will host more than 130 vintage curators and handmade artisans from across the country.
“This is our 10th year of hosting Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market, and it’s amazing to see how the market has evolved,” said Lindsey Holt, co-founder of Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market.
“Each market brings fun and fabulous finds but also a community of vintage and home décor lovers that make the event truly special.”
While shopping is the main attraction, the market provides fun for the whole family, with games for the kids, food trucks, and live music.
“We continually strive to make each market unique and enjoyable for everyone who attends,” said Coley Arnold, Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market co-founder and owner. “The market offers a place to shop for those one-ofa-kind items you can’t find anywhere else, in a fun and entertaining environment. It’s a place everyone can enjoy.” Coley Arnold and Lindsey Holt celebrate 10 years of bringing all things vintage, local and handmade to the Valley through Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market, held this weekend at WestWorld.
(Photo courtesy of Junk in the Trunk)
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VIP, early entry and general admission tickets are available at junkinthetrunkvintagemarket.com; tickets will also be available for purchase at the gate.
Since 2011, Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market has welcomed more than 200,000 shoppers through its doors across Arizona and California. In that time, the small backyard market has evolved into an event for 1,500 small businesses.
The market has long partnered with local Young Life chapters to send high school and junior high kids to camp, as well as other nonprofits to bring forth the greater good.
Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 17, to Sunday, Sept. 19 WHERE: WestWorld, 16601 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale COST: $8 to $40; military discount at the gate only; $10 parking INFO: junkinthetrunkvintagemarket.com
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Saddlecreek Coff ee operating partners Heather Evanoff , left, and Rachael Cebalt explained that the Cave Creek company advocates for quality ingredients and community-driven initiatives.
(Photo courtesy of Alyssa Machin)
Shop champions coffee and community service
BY JORDAN HOUSTON Foothills Focus Staff Writer
Two words come to mind when describing locally owned Saddlecreek Coffee Company — community and coffee.
Saddlecreek, located at 28212 N. Tatum Boulevard, Suite D6, Cave Creek, strives to offer more than just a quality blend of locally sourced coffee beans. The popular spot, largely owned by entrepreneurs Jim and Julie Prendergast, champions giving back, Saddlecreek Coffee operating partner Heather Evanoff said.
“Saddlecreek, on its simplest level, is a community-based organization designed to cater to the community, support the community and be a place to gather for the community,” explained Evanoff, who manages the day-to-day operations with fellow operating partner Rachael Cebalt.
“That’s what was always intended.”
The coffee shop exists to “serve (our) community” and is branded as a “social enterprise focused on making people feel great and giving back to those in need.”
The company has partnered with numerous nonprofits, as well as other mission-driven local businesses. Saddlecreek has donated to the Cave Creek American Legion silent auctions, volunteered at the Horses Help annual fundraiser and hosted a backpack drive for AZ Helping Hands.
“We’ve worked with schools. We’ve worked with churches and other nonprofit organizations,” Evanoff said. “We always try and be there any time some-
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THE FOOTHILLS FOCUS | THEFOOTHILLSFOCUS.COM | SEPTEMBER 15, 2021
Mirage mirrors Fleetwood Mac’s talents
BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Foothills Focus Executive Editor
Michelle Tyler of the Fleetwood Mac tribute act Mirage has heard the words many long to hear: Stevie Nicks would like to meet you.
Tyler, who was playing in the Nicks-only band Belladonna, was performing acoustically with her husband when a woman approached her backup musicians backstage.
She said her husband was Steve Real, Nicks’ vocal coach, and she was so impressed that she was hoping to get Tyler on the phone with the legendary singer. Unable to get to Tyler, she recorded Belladonna with her phone and sent it to Nicks.
“They flew my husband and I up to Reno and we went backstage during a
see CONCERT page 20
Mirage is, from left, Bob Weitz as John McVie, Keith Foelsch as Lindsey Buckingham, Annie Boxell as Christine McVie, Richard Graham as Mick Fleetwood and, seated, Michelle Tyler as Stevie Nicks. (Photo by Tyler Weitz)
SADDLECREEK from page 17
one needs something. We allow our space to be rented out for small-business owners who need a place to gather.”
Community efforts aside, Saddlecreek’s menu is equally a crowd pleaser.
The coffee shop boasts tasty treats from breakfast items, including omelets, Nutella crepes, burritos, pressed paninis and bagel sandwiches, to lunch dishes featuring cobb salads, herb marinated chicken wraps, lunch burritos and turkey bacon sandwiches.
Saddlecreek, of course, also serves espresso, coffee and tea.
In April, North Valley Magazine — the Foothills Focus’ sister publication — voted Saddlecreek the Best Coffee Shop in the North Valley, describing it as a go-to spot to snag a “caffeine boost, breakfast to start your day, or lunch.”
Evanoff’s counterpart and close friend, Cebalt, added that Saddlecreek strives to source local and organic ingredients.
“We try to source as much local and organic products in terms of our food service,” Cebalt said.
She noted that Saddlecreek’s emphasis on hospitality is also what sets itself apart from the competition.
The coffee shop’s staff prides itself on getting to know customers on a personal level, Cebalt continued.
“Like 75% to 85% of people — we know their names and their life story,” the operating partner said. “We know what they drink and where their kids go to school — not in a creepy way. It’s about personal relationships — that’s what makes us stand out.”
Evanoff echoed her partner’s sentiments, saying their employees “learn about your life, (we) cheer you on when there is something to celebrate.”
Both operating partners’ morals and eagerness to connect stem from their backgrounds as front-house servers, they explained.
“Rachael and I both have hospitality backgrounds,” Evanoff said. “We knew what made our jobs enjoyable. It’s when you get to know somebody. It’s fun to take care of someone. We call it a ‘server’s heart.’
“When you take care of people, the profit will follow.”
The company was established around 2013. Jim and Julie Prendergast purchased the coffee shop in 2014 before donating it to their church, the Scottsdale Bible: North Ridge Campus.
When the church could no longer dedicate the time and resources to run Saddlecreek, the Prendergasts repurchased it and recruited Evanoff as a manager.
“I genuinely just had that gut feeling,” Evanoff said of her decision to work with Saddlecreek.
Cebalt, who was working a “9-to-5 desk job” at the time, shortly followed suit.
“I missed being on my feet, talking to people and seeing people face to face,” Cebalt said. “I wanted to be a part of it in seeing the growth, so I asked to become a partner and here we are.”
Despite the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the operating partners agreed Saddlecreek came out on top.
“It’s been showing so much growth over the last four or five years,” Evanoff said. “It has been received so well. We worked our butts off. We’re not perfect, but we try to respond perfectly — that matters.”
Saddlecreek recently launched a wine, beer and cocktail menu, expanding the company’s credits as a multidimensional coffeehouse.
The new menu items were a result of the “demand” from community members, Evanoff explained.
“As a coffee shop that operates at a deficit without a drive thru, we have to be a little more creative,” she said.
Saddlecreek is offering a list of four beers, four wines and four cocktails. Although the beverages have not yet been added to the menu, the company is beginning to campaign the products on social media.
Saddlecreek Coffee is open 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays to Fridays; and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
For more information, visit saddlecreekcoffee.com.
THE FOOTHILLS FOCUS | THEFOOTHILLSFOCUS.COM | SEPTEMBER 15, 2021
FEATURES 19 ••
Arizona Restaurant Week returns with in-person, takeout options
BY CONNOR DZIAWURA Foothills Focus Staff Writer
Arizona Restaurant Association President and CEO Steve Chucri has seen the broadening of local palates and growth of the food scene firsthand.
“I always had this kind of running joke that I was born and raised here and for me we had two kinds of food — we had Mexican food and then a different type of Mexican food,” said Chucri, an Arizona native. “Now we have all of these culinary options that really, if you look, Arizona — in many ways because so many people are transplants here — is kind of a melting pot, which you see across the country.”
The Arizona Restaurant Association highlights that diversity with its Fall Arizona Restaurant Week, which returns from Friday, Sept. 17, to Sunday, Sept. 26, with a panoply of restaurants spanning the state — including Cave Creek — showcasing special menus.
As part of the 10-day event, many local restaurants will introduce threecourse prix fixe menus at price points of $33, $44 or $55, the latter a new tier. Each restaurant’s specifics vary, with some offering individual meals and others crafting selections for couples or groups. Some restaurants may offer wine pairing selections at an additional cost. Standard menus won’t be affected.
“Some of your favorite and most wellknown restaurants are on sale here in Arizona for 10 days,” Chucri explained. “And it gives people the opportunity to try a restaurant they may not have tried. It creates this enthusiasm about the culinary opportunities here and throughout the Valley that, you know, is exciting to have happen twice a year.”
More than 120 restaurants have signed on so far, with the event’s website allowing patrons to search menus by categories such as cuisine type, location and price, even accounting for vegetarian/gluten-free options and takeout.
Among the choices is the Tonto Bar & Grill in Cave Creek, which is offering a $44 dine-in-only package. Taxes and gratuity are not included.
The menu includes a choice of three appetizers: cup of golden corn chowder with Applewood bacon, pulled chicken, fresh thyme and Yukon gold potatoes; tortilla-crusted crab cake with fresh jicama and roasted chile slaw and smoked ancho chile aioli; or compressed arugula salad with manchego, candied Arizona pecans, sun-dried cherries, tart green apple and pistachio vinaigrette.
The entrée choices are Mediterranean grilled salmon with tzatziki sauce and pickled red onions, Israeli couscous tossed with sauteed spinach, cherry tomatoes, mint and basil; coffee and port braised boneless short rib with brown butter whipped white yams, heirloom carrots and shallots, parsley and a port wine jus lie; or the manana veggie nosh with roesti potato cake, roasted heirloom cauliflower, charred broccolini, sauteed patty pan squash and housemade tomato jam.
Dessert features chocolate fudge brownie cake or lemon lime prickly pear meringue tart with an almond graham crust, lemon lime curd filling, prickly pear Italian meringue, lime coulis, lemon curd, almond Florentine twist and fondant bumble bee.
“Arizona is becoming more and more of a foodie-type place and venue, and I think what the restaurant week does is try to trumpet that to our guests and patrons around the state,” Chucri said.
Since it was founded 14 years ago, Arizona Restaurant Week has grown from a once-yearly event every fall to a biannual event also hosted in the spring, increasing along the way from roughly two dozen restaurants in its first year to now well over 100 per event.
New this year, the Arizona Restaurant Association is raising funds for the HonorHealth Desert Mission endowment
see RESTAURANT page 20
CONCERT from page 18
meet and greet,” Tyler recalled. “I said, ‘Hi, Stevie. I’m Michelle Tyler. I think you heard me on a phone call?’ She put her hands on my shoulders and said, ‘We tried so hard to get that call through. It was great to hear somebody doing a good job with my music.’ She then leaned in and said, ‘I’ll tell you what. Anytime you want to take over, you just let me know. I’ve about had it.’”
The two shared a laugh, and that was the first of a handful of meetings.
“She’s been very supportive, and her backup singers have said imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” she said. “That’s the only endorsement that Stevie would give anybody. They’re not a band that goes around and does that. Saying I could take over at any time, that was a pretty good pat on the back.”
Fans can see what Nicks admires when California-based Mirage plays a number of shows in the area: Saturday, Sept. 18, at Harold’s Cave Creek Corral; Sunday, Sept. 19, at PebbleCreek in Goodyear; and Wednesday, Sept. 22, at Anthem Golf and Country Club.
Mirage sticks with the “Rumours” era of Fleetwood Mac.
“We’re very authentic,” she said. “Everyone plays an actual role. We play the very biggest hits, the best of Fleetwood Mac. We have a lot of visuals going on.
“If the venue permits, we have a synced multimedia show. Otherwise, we still do a 90-minute show with a lot of costume changes. It’s a high-energy show. We like to get the audience involved. It’s good for all ages and families.”
Before Mirage, Tyler helmed Belladonna, which focused on Nicks’ solo career. After 15 years, Tyler and her musicians transitioned into Mirage.
“I’ve been playing Stevie Nicks for almost 20 years,” she said. “In Belladonna, I was the only one dressing up and portraying a character. Belladonna is still on our books. It’s a big show. It’s an eight-piece band with backup singers and two guitar players. It’s hard to take on the road. It’s more expensive. “But we focus on Mirage now.”
Her husband, Bob Weitz, plays the role of John McVie and music director. His day gig is as a Warner Bros. engineer who won an Academy Award for designing equipment. They started their career playing the bar and nightclub circuit but evolved into tribute acts.
“Becoming a famous rock star is like winning the lottery,” she said. “There are so many talented people out there on any given day, at any club in LA. There are singer-songwriter showcases, and you can hear phenomenal people. You’re wondering why they play there for no money.
“It’s luck, timing and talent in that order. Talent is the last thing. Anyway, I was asking myself, ‘Am I going to be a rock star?’ Eventually, it became a career.”
Tyler explained she does not ever tire of the music. She loves her job and the music. Plus, meeting Nicks is a bonus.
“When you meet somebody — whether they’re a movie star or rock star — you have a certain perception. None of us really know these people. We only know what we see.
“You hope they’re nice people. They’re warm. I’ve met strangers and a lot of people. She was actually warm and friendly and down-to-earth. She made me feel like I was the one who was the star. She sent me to make me calm.”
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to support those who are underprivileged, experiencing homelessness or affected by the pandemic.
Billed as the “Dine In. Help Out.” program, Arizona Restaurant Week is accepting donations through its website and QR codes provided with bills at participating restaurants. Funds will benefit Desert Mission programs and services, such as its food bank, early childhood learning center and adult day program.
“It’s a really unique event that diners have just come to love, and that’s what makes it worthwhile for us,” Chucri explained of the growth of Arizona Restaurant Week.
Due to the pandemic, Chucri acknowledged that the Arizona Restaurant Association was forced to quickly adapt. Moving to takeout options last year is one such way, though the event is now allowing in-person and takeout options. However, this varies from restaurant to restaurant.
“Restaurateurs, fortunately we’re getting back into our regular cycle, which is a good thing,” Chucri noted. “People have missed restaurants, which we’ll always be grateful for, and so we have seen our places fill up quite more than we expected them to.
“And so, you know, we’re still trying to help people — those who still aren’t comfortable to go into a restaurant — to still be able to take out, but at the same time, I think we’ll probably, come next year, we’ll likely just go back to our original platform, which is just dine in the restaurant.”
But first, Chucri has high hopes for this year’s fall event. He recommends people plan ahead and seek out reservations when possible, as demand tends to increase with restaurant week.
“The Spring Restaurant Week went well, actually,” he recalled. “We had a great turnout. … And so we’re optimistic. I mean, we’re getting more and more restaurants every day participating, and I anticipate that to continue.”
For more information, go to arizonarestaurantweek.com.
Mirage
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18 WHERE: Harold’s Cave Creek Corral, 6895 E. Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek COST: $55 to $450 INFO: haroldscorral.com
WHEN: 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19 WHERE: PebbleCreek’s Renaissance Theater, 16666 Clubhouse Drive, Goodyear COST: $30 INFO: pebblecreekhoa.org
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22 WHERE: Anthem Golf and Country Club, 2708 W. Anthem Club Drive, Phoenix COST: Call for info INFO: 623-742-6200
