Yelp In Bloom at Desert Botanical Garden

Cupcakes and vodka and ceviche Oh my!

Trapeze and botanical gardens and sushi Oh my!

Gelato and Makers Mark and Mamma Mia Oh My!

Full Sail Ale and Session Lager and EaterAZ Oh My!

Petite Maison and Wildflower Bread and Salty Senorita Oh My!

That was an awesome event! Big props to Brian S for reconnoitering the food and reporting back so I knew which ones to nab right away.

Gabi stop already! Your events are going explode the Phoenix social scene and it may never fully recover!

As always, great seeing so many friends - Donald & Carin, Kevin & Marian, Aileen, Amy B & D, Robert & Bacon, Heather & Ryan, Ryan C, Cher, Crystal & Nick, Christine B, Chrissy P, Matthew K, Arik B, Nathan & Moira, Dottsy Z, Joel L, Sarah G...so many more and that doesn't even touch on the new friends we made!

For those of you that were unable to attend or didn't get in...sucks for you. You missed an awesome party!

OMG BEST EVENT EVER!!! FOR REAL!

I love the DBG anyways, because its fun, awesome and pretty. What makes it better, is that I had a lovely time here with other Yelpers. I have also learned that I like Bourbon! A lot!

I got to see everyone, along with meeting a few new people as well. I got to meet Carin's daughter, Tony the light rail blogger, and a few others as well.

There was lots to see, do and eat at this event. Plenty of people to talk to as well, new and old. The food here was amazing as well. Enough samples to try a little of everything, hold down the alcohol and curb the appetite. Great balance there! Lots of cupcakes, dinner items, and appetizers as well. I like that.

Anyways, great times! I love seeing everyone!

Topping this event is going to be a formidable task! One gastronomic delight after another, served by some of the best food establishments of the Valley. Great drinks, wonderful entertainment, seeing many yelp friends and meeting new ones ... on a mild, cool evening in the beautiful Desert Botanical Garden. Sensory overload -- and I loved every minute of it. Kudos to Gabi and all those who put this event together - the best event yet!

Free food, free drink and talented beautiful girls what is there not to like?

The even this evening was great, it started off with a cocktail by the door from Cruz tequila, and it was a good aperitif for this event.

There were friendly helpers who then helped lead me to the next area of the event.

As soon as I entered the second area, I had a great petafour from wild flower bakery and a shot of Carlson's gold vodka with black pepper. It was a unique combo to have the fresh cracked pepper with the solvent of the pepper. It was not bad, not great but it was a way to try to define a spirit defined as "order less and tasteless."

I followed this up with a tasting of Makers Mark Bourbon whiskey. It was quite smooth and sweet as whiskeys go, the scotches may be getting all the buzz these days but there is plenty of flavor, and probably 1/2 the price available from domestic whiskey.

I decided to slow things down and tried a Full Sail limited two. The hostess was friendly but could not fully articulate what made this brew special. It was easy drinking as micro brews go, and had an event balance of hops and malt.

I had beer so naturally, I needed pizza from Mama Mia, It is hard to judge pizza that was not fresh, and it was not their fault that the De Bo Guard did not have a pizza oven. However the Penne with their A la Vodka sauce was great, the bright tomato flavors were balanced by the richness of the cream in the sauce.

Now that I had pizza and beer what else could I need? Oh, yes Girls. In the next area, I saw an amazing modern circus style show with beautiful women performing incredible acts I could not phantom doing myself.

I then tried some of the fresh handmade Guacamole from salty Seniorita's. It was a bit too heavy on the lime and light on the spice for my tastes, however the fresh haas avocados and crisp chips were appreciated.

I skipped the Mexican clam chowder from the mission palms and went inside.

Inside I tried a straight shot of the Cruz tequila resposado. It still had a bit of a bite, I would like to try an anjeo to see if it can smooth out.

Full Sail had another table here that had a 2008 barely wine reserve. this barley wine was only 8%, however it was full of flavor.

With my second beer in hand I trio of bead-based appetizers from Wine something. The hummus was passable but nothing special. The tomato basil and mozzarella was the best of the bunch with the balsamic ruction on top. The artisan bread was great but the thick cut did over power the toppings a bit.

I then approached the table I was really looking forward to from Roka Akoor and it did not disappoint. I started with a maki avocado and hamachi roll. They were good, but the rice did make up a majority of the flavor of them. I then tried an amazing hamachi roll garnished with a seedless Serrano pepper and a touch of wasabi. The flavors danced in my mouth with the green flavor of the chili and spice of the wasabi finishing it off. Their tar tar was also divine.

For desert, I had some gelato from Gelato Spot, I went for all mint chocolate chip. As gelatos go this seemed extra dense and rich which I did like.

It was fun to be a prop in the burlesque show as many of my friends did find me though my guest appearance.

Overall, I had a great time and I would go again. However it was much nicer with the smaller crowd from 6-7pm it be came a bit clumsy after 7.

I will let you know tomorrow if the Res-q water does its job

That was amazing! What a shindig...no, it was beyond a shindig; it reached full-on gala status! It was a celebration of all things food, fun, drinks, and Yelpness. The setting, the people, the spectacle, the libations, the numerous tasty delicacies -- way too many to name...okay, maybe just a few:

*The Roka Akor sushi: perfection
*The Cruz Tequila margaritas: smoooooth...ly intoxicating
*The Gelato Spot gelato: delightful
*The Full Sail LTD brew: delicious
*The Wildflower deconstructed sandwich: savory ...
I could go on and on, but it would take up too much space and I'm pretty sure the English language doesn't contain enough adjectives. It was all very good though. From the whiskey to the ceviche, from the brownies to the vodka, from the meatballs to the bruschetta. Loved it all!

Gabi and Yelp: you outdid yourselves! Yelp in Bloom exceeded my wildest expectations. It was a sensational event. Thank you!!

This was our third Yelp event that we have done with our Snap Booth Photo Booth. Everytime Gabi and her crew make these events even better and more amazing adding more fun vendors and more Yelpers.

We feel so lucky to have been a part of this night and I got a chance to walk around and try the food. My favorite was wildflower bread company. That beef sampler was amazing you can tell they slow cooked it for hours it melted in my mouth. I also loved there sweet tarts they were great.

JJ brownies were really good, and I love gelato it was so good I had the Mint Chip and the Strawberry.

The atmosphere was very relaxed and the decor provided by Kool party rentals was really nice.

We were right next to Jon Ric International Salon & Day Spa and all the crew was a lot of fun to work next to, they all got in the photo booth before starting the event.

Thank you again to everyone for making this night such a great success. If you want to view and download the photo booth pictures for free just add us on face book at www.facebook.com/snapbooth

Thank you Gabi and all the Yelpers, best Yelp event ever!

Scene: Party's rockin in every direction. Like that memorable celebration in Matrix Revolutions when they're slow-mo dry-hump dancing. Hair is flailing. Girls are sweating and they don't even care. Guys have one thing on their minds. No Brad, not mojito cupcakes.

One man stands motionless, stationary, jort-adorned, flock of seagulls-haired, and possibly heroin chic underdosed.

The Party, personified, (played by Alanis Morisette) walks up to our anti-hero.

Party: Hi. Haven't I seen you around?

Dallas: (eyes brighten, jaw drops) "_____________"

Party: Aren't you that poet?

Dallas: (stares with amazed bewilderment) "___________" (tries to form words but no sound emerges)

Party: Hmmm, a poet with no words. (Walks away before he gets her name/number/sign/financials/DNA analysis)

I have no words to describe last night because none would be representationally just. I'm quitting Yelp because it can only go downhill from here.

It's been quite a ride. Fare thee well. Good night. Good luck!

To the tune of "My Favorite Things"

http://tinyurl.com/2kwnxm

Foie gras on toast points and Makers Mark Whiskey,

Add Cruz Tequila (so Carin feels frisky:)

Cupcakes all filled with Bavarian Cream:)

Am I awake or this all a dream?

All the people...all the goodies...it was quite a night!

I must have tried to eat 50 new things...why does that feel so right? :-)

I don't have a clue how Gabi and Yelp keep raising the bar and then topping it with each successive event...But I don't have to understand it to enjoy it:)

This event was so unexpected...I know, I read the event posting along with everyone else, but I just didn't expect this...much!

What a delight! What an abundance! All the wonderful people!

* Foie Gras Station (one of my favorite phrases, BTW...right up there with "Caviar Bar":-)
* Cream Filled Cupcakes
* Southwestern Seafood Bisque
* Brownies
* Pizza
* Gelato
* Hair Styling
* Face Painting
* Acrobats
* Libations of all sorts...flowing like water
* and last but certainly not least...the Desert Botanical Garden...one of my favorite places...gorgeous and all gussied up for the party:)

Honestly, so much was happening and there were so many fantastic offerings...by the end of the evening, I wouldn't have been surprised if Gabi had arranged for a flyover by the Blue Angels:)

The party was just that incredible!

Thanks again, Gabi and Yelp for putting together a beautiful party for Carin and I and approx. 2000 of our closest friends:-)

The only word that I have that comes close to summing up this little soiree is...WOW!

One day out and about 75 five star reviews later... I guess there's not much else to say about the Yelp in Bloom event that hasn't already been said. I think everyone that attended was in the same boat as we were; in that we were expecting to have a good time and munch some good finger foods; but our expectations were EASILY exceeded.

This being our first Yelp event, we were just a tad nervous upon entering... but that nervousness quickly faded when we saw the 'red-carpet' like photo stop at the entrance... seriously; how cool was that?! So after taking a mildly inappropriate candid shot, we made our way through the maze of awesomeness that awaited us. Each little stand was so fun to scope out and try... some of our favorite foods we tried were:

-Bowl o' meat and potatoes from Wildflower Bread Co
-Pasta w/ meatball from Mamma Mia
-Pretty much every brownie/pastry there

We also would have never imagined that they'd have trapeze artists dangling from sheets, awesome music and random glowing shit coursing through the DBG. At one time (please someone tell me they noticed this too!) the DJ even played this funkified version of a Willy Wonka song... it took me saying "that's awesome" about twenty times before I finally calmed down.

All in all... an amazing event with amazing people. The type of people that Yelp attracts are clearly a cut above the rest... everyone just oozed 'class' all night. Thanks to Yelp and all the fellow Yelpers that made this an event to remember. I hope we can all do this again next year, woooo!

P.S.

As we're leaving the event last night this was our short but to the point convo that sums up the night:

"Yelp is f'n awesome"
"Yeah I know... you don't see Facebook doing shit like this"
"Hey Look... gift bags!!!!"
"God I love this"
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" (squeal of excitement)
"Yelp is f'n awesome"

Oh Gabi, Gabi, Gabi.... if there ever was a party, you are the one who threw it! What an incredibly impressive and amazing night this was, even though I got drunk and left my phone somewhere. (BTW if anyone found a Blackberry Storm, I would MUCH appreciate its return!!!)

We have THE best Ambassador on Planet Yelp!

And because I know you are all wondering, I ended up with only two extra drink tickets... thankfully. Any more and I would have missed my flight last night!