Devoured Lives Up to Its Name: The Saturday Edition

Categories: Events

Arrogant Butcher Devoured.jpg
Erica O'Neil
Arrogant butcher's jambalaya and caper-topped salmon dishes.
Green Devoured.jpg
Erica O'Neil
Green's delightful cones of rice-ball goodness, tossed in a sweet Asian glaze.
Cibo Devoured.jpg
Cibo's adorable tureen of Italian goodness.
Green certainly surprised us with its creative offering this year, a pretty cone filled with what we were told was rice, but looked like tiny scallops. Given that Green is a vegetarian restaurant, we indulged in the mystery rice balls and were pleasantly surprised at their springy texture and spicy sweet glaze. The look on some festival-goers face as they bit into the non-traditional rice dish was just as sweet.

Another pizza-heavy contender that left the 'za at home was Cibo. Its nutella crepes more than made up for the lack of pizza (probably pretty hard to do good wood-fired pizza on the fly), and we were big fans of the fregola e polpettini. Served in a pretty tureen, the toasted pasta went great with cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, kale, ricotta and a one-bite meatball.

El Chorro Devoured.jpg
Erica O'Neil
Trio of comfort food: ceviche, granita, and sticky buns.
North Devoured.jpg
Erica O'Neil
North's ahi tuna and tiramisu. 
Roka Akor Devoured.jpg
Erica O'Neil
Roka Akor's hearty, meaty offering.
North's tuna sashimi was delicious paired with crispy fried capers, while its tiramisu was one of our favorite desserts at the event. The meatballs, however -- let's just say they weren't ready for prime time. A bit too dense and nothing to write home about.

One of the big bummers of Devoured was Davanti Enoteca's running out of food about halfway through the fest. It was tucked in the far corner of the art museum's courtyard, and by the time we arrived to sample Davanti's pesto and prosciutto dish, it was too late to indulge. We'll have to make a special visit to the restaurant to right that wrong.

Roka Akor surprised us this year by leaving the traditional Japanese cuisine behind and deciding to go with a roasted cauliflower and short rib bite. We also enjoyed watching the chefs grill up pounds and pounds of cauliflower on their huge open grill, which provided a little bit of warmth on a chilly March day.

St. Francis' strawberry cocktail was delicious, but its summery salad, while bright and a much-needed break from all the richness, didn't compare to last year's glacier lettuce. It was still, as always, impeccably, done and the wildflowers atop each salad made us feel extra special when horfing it down.

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4 comments
Jazzerr
Jazzerr

The only thing that would /could have made the event better was either a larger space or smaller crowds. The food was the BOMB and I couldn't have been more pleased, but when there is no place to stand or eat it made it somehow less the experience.

Charge a bit more, limit the numbers and perfection will be the operative word.

Travis Kenneth Nass
Travis Kenneth Nass

FYI the Ceviche and the cachaca punch was us at Lon's not El Chorro.

Marshall Shore
Marshall Shore

Vegetarian plotting to eat at Devoured, with Catherine Slye

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