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W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 | 9 5 Our group settled down for a tasting of their range of milk flavors, including mocha, strawberry, Arizona orange and the classic chocolate. ere was even an opportunity to taste butter made with Danzeisen milk, whipped up right before our eyes. I was taken by surprise of the wonderful flavors, the rich and creaminess of drinking fresh milk that tasted nothing like the sort you might buy in a supermarket. eir milks are all naturally flavored and col- ored, and the strawberry milk, colored with beet juice, tasted exactly like creamy strawberries picked straight from the plant. I purchased bottles of my favorite flavors, intent on sharing them at breakfast with the other chefs and colleagues who had visited other farms. Our third stop was Abby Lee Farms in Phoenix, where all four acres of their crops are grown under poly houses, to keep the summer heat waves at bay. We walked among the rows and rows of thousands of tomato plants crawling up towards the ceiling along the vine, sampling the different varieties in a spectrum of brilliant reds, greens, yellows and a particularly startling purple and green ombre Indigo tomato that changes to a dusky color as it ripens. We enjoyed a lunch prepared by Chef Michael Cairns, sitting among the rows of tomatoes, eating dishes using produce from local purveyors, including a fresh Caprese salad from the tomatoes growing next to us. Eating local fruits and vegetables grown right next door is an experience I oen take for granted as native Californian, but to have that kind of access in a state like Ari- zona was an eye-opening realization about the wonderful produce that is grown here. Our last farm was Arizona Microgreens, a small company that produces more than 15 types of microgreens. Located in a community green- house next to a school that oen holds classes about growing and gardening in the greenhouse, brothers Joseph Martinez and David Redwood started the business to provide local microgreens to local restaurants, store and farmers markets in Arizona. e microgreens are grown in flats and we sampled the varieties of microgreens and were struck by the dif- ference in flavor between these growing shoots and their mature siblings. e cilantro microgreens consisted of a subtle, tangy flavor, and the pea shoots were light, clean and sweet. e following day we were treated to master culinary classes by four of the chefs and a seminar on Chilean wines by Master Sommelier Fred Dexheimer. While Chilean wines may seem like an unlikely partner in Arizona, in 2015, Omni Hotels & Resorts joined with Wines of Chile to create a dinner menu and wine list that reflected the flavors of the country. e aernoon was spent watching the chefs create different dishes reflective of their per- sonal cooking style, oen utilizing ingredients they had procured from our visits to the farms the previous day. e evening concluded with a Sonoran Showdown benefit, in which the five chefs and Chef Michael Cairns split into two teams to have a friendly cook-off, and the proceeds going towards the James Beard Foundation. It was a hyper-local event, with most of the ingredients being supplied by local producers, and the beer and wine were all from local breweries and wineries. Everyone we had met from the farms was there to join in the celebration, and it was a great reflection of the local culinary scene that we had been lucky enough to experience in Arizona. e next morning, on the way to the airport, I looked out the car window at the flat and dry landscape, and thought about all the verdant and abundant produce and food that I had discovered this weekend, and how easy it was to find in Arizona, if you just knew where to look. Chef Joe Magnanelli of CUCINA Urbana in San Diego, Chef Joey Beato of Community Tavern in Chicago, Chef Brian Luscher from The Grape Restaurant in Dallas, Chef Brandon Foster of Vesta Dipping Grill in Denver, Director of House Programming for the James Beard Foundation Izabela Wojcik, local artist Peggy Pettigrew- Stewart, Executive Sous Chef of Omni Scott- sdale Marcos Seville, Executive Chef of Omni Scottsdale Michael Cairns and Chef Jason Porter of Alyeska Resort in Alaska. COURTESY OF OMNI MONTELUCIA JESSE HOM-DAWSON Center: Rows of toma- toes at Abby Lee Farms in Phoenix, Arizona. Top right: Owners and brothers Joseph Martinez and David Redwood of Arizona Micro- greens. Bottom right: Danzeisen owners Kevin Danzeisen and his parents Gail and Clay. COURTESY OF ARIZONA MICROGREENS IDEAS COLLIDE 3. Abby Lee Farms 4. Arizona Micro- green ■cr COURTESY OF OMNI SCOTTSDALE