Podcast Content


Willamette Valley Wine + Food Tour Reunion

Mark & Tiffany Candelaria Oregon Tour

In this episode Mark gets together with a handful of our past Willamette Valley Lifestyle Tour guests to relive the memories and continue the friendships that were made on this fabulous 5-night trip last August. This is our only tour we do within the country and it is an easy getaway that only takes a few hours to get to, but feels like you are miles away. We take guests to the heart of the Willamette Wine Valley in Central Oregon to explore one of Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Regions of the Year that is truly a hidden gem. This year we are taking 14 guests from June 12-17 - spots are still available! 

Everyday we visit incredible local wineries, tour some of the vineyards and an olive oil mill, learn about the process and of course enjoy food and wine pairings! Every evening we enjoy a multi-course dinner of local, often farm-to-table cuisine and meet the owners and chef. In between eating and drinking, we have leisurely mornings and nights at the lovely Setting Inn. You will wake up to views of the vineyards and lavender fields, and will have the opportunity to take a guided hike amongst 100-year old trees, visit the local boutiques or farmers market, and relax by the Inn's fire pit with a drink and cigar. While there is a daily itinerary of wine tastings and dinners, each day is also relaxing and full of beautiful scenery, fresh air and cool temperatures. 

There are still a few rooms remaining, so we'd love to have you join us! Visit candelariadesign.com/oregon-wine-tour for more info. 

The Inspiring Life and Career of Our 2024 MVP: Pablo Moncayo

Our guest today is Pablo Moncayo, Project Manager here at Candelaria Design since 2018 and our current year’s MVP as voted by the entire Candelaria Design staff. Each year our team nominates and votes for our Most Valuable Player – someone who embodies teamwork, leadership, a willingness to learn and go the extra mile. We talk about what this means to Pablo, how his childhood lead him to architecture, his projects past and present, how he has seen the architectural landscape change here in Phoenix and his goals for the future. 
Pablo moved here from Chihuahua, Mexico in 2001 to live with his Aunt. Later in 2008 he went to undergrad at Taliesin-The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, now known as The School of Architecture and later earned his master’s degree in Architecture there. He has since remained a board member at the School of Architecture. He shares with us his passions, his sources of design inspiration, favorite travel destinations, and his inspiring personal story!

The School of Architecture formerly known as Taliesin-The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture: https://www.tsoa.edu/  

Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona: https://franklloydwright.org/taliesin-west/

Elrod House in Palm Springs, California: https://architectuul.com/architecture/the-elrod-house

Arango Mabrisa House in Acapulco, Mexico: https://archeyes.com/arango-marbrisa-house-john-lautner/

 Las Setas in Sevilla, Spain: https://www.setasdesevilla.com/en/

 La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain: https://sagradafamilia.org/en/

Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias in Valencia, Spain: https://cac.es/en/

Catching Fire with Nick Hogan of Pyro Restaurant

Our guest today is Nick Hogan, Co-Owner and CEO of Flagship Restaurant Group, the team behind the popular new, award-winning restaurant Pyro in Arcadia, next to the Global Ambassador. In addition to Pyro, they have 16 other restaurant concepts spanning across Arizona to Chicago to Nashville! This team has defied the odds of successfully creating and managing multiple restaurant concepts simultaneously and talks about all the risks and luck in this journey.

In this episode we’ll hear about how this restaurant group founded over 20 years ago in Omaha, NE got started with a team of four friends who are still the same group of owners. Since, they have grown to multiple cities and states and over 40 locations and become a success here in Arizona. Just like architecture, this career is a mix of creativity and mathematics and takes a great team and leadership.

Nick will tell us about how Pyro came about and the design and menu creation. Also here in town, be sure to check out the beautifully designed Palma, Cham Pang Lanes and Ghost Donkey in downtown Phoenix and later this year two Blue Sushi Sake Grill locations are coming to Surprise and Tempe and a couple more in the works for 2026!

To learn more about Flagship Restaurant Group visit:

 www.flagshiprestaurantgroup.com 

Kicking off 2024 with Chef Brent Menke of Mick's Brasserie

Mark & Isabel kick-off the episode by sharing highlights from their holiday trip to Lisbon & Fatima Portugal, Lourdes, and San Sebastián, Spain - see and hear more about their trip on our Blog: https://www.candelariadesign.com/lifestyle-blog

Next they share the exciting news that SIX of our Candelaria Design homes are featured in a brand new series on The Design Network called Extravagant Spaces!! The series debuts January 20th and will continue every Saturday for 6 weeks, catch it streaming for free on The Design Network  or on their YouTube page!

Our guest on this episode is Brent Menke, head chef & owner of the Mick Brasserie, an award-winning  French Colonial Brasserie in North Scottsdale that I’ve now had the pleasure of dining at twice. Together we talk about his journey from a yacht deckhand to meeting his French wife, to becoming a chef, and then opening his restaurant during 2020 We talk about his curated food and wine tours to France, monthly themed wine pairing dinners, his favorite chefs and restaurants in town and much more!

Inspired Cooking with Chef & Blogger Giangi Townsend

Our guest today is Giangi Townsend, creator of Giangi’s Kitchen, a top-rated food and recipe blog. Back in the 1980s, Giangi’s desire as a working mom to provide healthy and delicious food for her family has since grown into a full-blown business featuring tons of recipes, an online shop, virtual cooking classes and her favorite cookbooks, including one of her own, Back to Basics – Cooking 101.

Giangi's childhood was spent between Southern Italy in the Summer and Paris in the Winter with her French father and Italian mother, it's no wonder she ended up as a fabulous chef! We talk about the importance of food and gathering for dinner, what led her to become interested in cooking and blogging, her favorite recipes and cookbooks, and tips and tricks in the kitchen and in life!