Lowes Ventana Canyon Resort’s executive chef Ryan Clark and food and beverage director Ken Harvey are inviting foodies to their summer’s end celebration.
The Maven’s Oath Paella Party at the Canyon Club and Bill’s Grill Patio paella meal.
Dinner will be paired with Lowes Ventana’s exclusive wine label, Maven’s Oath.
“Paella is great,” Clark said.
“There is a lot of technique to it and a lot of great sourcing that goes into a good paella. It starts with really great rice, bomba rice, a good base of sofrito, different style broths, depending on what type of paella you’re making.”
Bomba rice is a dense, short-grain rice that comes from Spain. A sofrita, made with onion, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil, is the flavor maker for a paella.
The trickiest part comes at the end.
“As that dish starts to come together some of the most important parts are creating a socarrat at the bottom, that crispy rice and then having everything come together so it finishes and everything is perfect at the end,” Clark said. “It’s a challenging thing but fun to watch it come together.”
A socarrat is the crispy, caramelized layer of rice on the bottom of the paella.
The alfresco dining evening will feature cooking stations so guests may chat with the chefs and watch them work their food alchemy. Clark and about a dozen other chefs will man the grills.
Filling out the meal will be tapas, olives, breads with olive oil so guests may dip their pieces, aioli, curated meats and cheeses, marinated chicken a la plancha (grilled, thinly sliced pieces of chicken) and Spanish desserts.
Sourcing supplies is ongoing, but the food prep will begin three days prior to the actual event.
Harvey knows his way around a wine bottle. He and two staff sommeliers selected the wine pairings from Maven’s Oath.
“What Maven’s Oath is, is a wine that was built for Lowe’s hotels,” Harvey said. “Think of this as elegant house wine built with a purpose. House wine is so understated. It’s really a designed wine for our guests to enjoy.”
The wines for Maven’s Oath Paella Party include these Maven’s Oath wine: sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir and a cabernet. Also on the docket: housemade sangrias and kalimotxo, both made with Maven’s Oath cabernet. Harvey said chardonnay and cabernet are popular. His favorite?
“What I think is the best Maven’s Oath is pinot noir because we personally selected a master blender from Oregon and her focus in Oregon was pinots,” he said. “I think our pinot is phenomenal.”
Maven’s Oath wines are only available at Lowes Ventana. Bottles will not be available to buy.
For those who are driving or do not partake, Harvey said they will serve fizz cocktails/
“Fizz cocktails are all non-alcoholic cocktails,” he said. “It’s focused on soda guns and purees and local ingredients that we fuse into non-alcoholic cocktails. If you’re a guest at this event and you drink or don’t drink, we’re going to have an option for you.”
The hotel is also offering a package that allows guests to attend the party and then stay overnight. Check online for details.
Clark and Harvey promise an evening filled with luscious flavors and aromas and topped off with the hotel’s special wine blends. More than anything, it’s an opportunity to be part of the Lowes Ventana family.
“Paella is like a family, bring-people-together, kind of dish,” Harvey said. The hotel beverage team and chefs enjoy collaborating and creating the event but “it’s really like honoring the community as family and doing something we love so think of it like a family meal or like cooking from the heart.
Maven’s Oath Paella Party
WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28
WHERE: Canyon Club and Bill’s Grill Patio at Lowes Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive, Tucson
COST: Tickets start at $130
INFO: resy.com
This article appears in Aug 7-14, 2025.