This month the Scottsdale Culinary Festival comes back to town for its 30th season of celebrating the culinary arts in Arizona. As usual, we are involved in several events beginning with Food & Wine Magazine's "Best New Chefs Reunion Dinner" at the new BLT Steak, and ending with one of the festival's most prestigious dinners, the "Best of the Fest." In addition to "Cooks and Corks" at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Hotel Valley Ho has partnered with Bacardi Rum and will be hosting "On the Rocks," an interactive cocktail reception, on the roof of the hotel!

With all the excitement surrounding the festival, let's not forget about the two Monday Night Chef's Tables this month. Summer is synonymous with white wine. Not the tart, green-appley sauv blancs that cut through fat like a hot knife through butter, but the smooth, clean, balanced whites that you sip on the patio in the late afternoon while contemplating the shapes of the clouds in the crimson sky. For our dinner April 7, we've designed a menu to complement these ice cold icons of summer.

Speaking of warm weather, our friends at the Four Peaks Brewing Company are returning for their second Chef's Table with several of their outstanding beers. You can taste the care and passion that they put into their product. If you have not been to their brewery in Tempe, it is definitely worth a visit. In the meantime, join us on April 21 to taste these finely crafted beverages partnered with beer-friendly cuisine.

We are thrilled to be involved with such a vibrant, diverse event as the Scottsdale Culinary Festival. Celebrating 30 years, the festival has helped define the Valley of the Sun as a culinary destination. I'm grateful to all of you who support the festival and our local independent restaurants. Here's to an amazing Arizona springtime, and to your next experience at ZuZu!