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Art & Life with John Panza

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Today we’d like to introduce you to John Panza.

John, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I am an Arizona native, born of Lebanese/Italian descent. My upbringing helped forge my love of food, as most family gatherings were centered around the dining room table. I learned a lot about the importance of food from an early age and cooking became a passion of mine. Food has always been a huge part of my life and my calling. I studied Culinary Arts at Scottsdale Community College. One of my first professional ventures was my role as Executive Sous Chef with Phoenix’s longest-tenured, Four-Diamond restaurant, “Different Pointe of View” at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort. I diversified my career when I traveled to San Diego where I worked as the Chef de Cuisine of Vela at the Hilton San Diego Bay Front Hotel. There I was able to expand my culinary knowledge and experience. I later returned to Arizona where I worked as Executive Chef of Capital Canyon Club in Prescott. I helped establish the most prestigious private golf course clubhouse in Northern Arizona by implementing a modern food and beverage program, unique to Prescott. I met my wife, Cassandra. After a year of working at the club, she and I realized the need for something new in Prescott.

With “Pop-Up” Dinners being the fastest growing culinary trend to date and so many unique places to see in Prescott, Cassandra and I decided to bring these dinners to Northern Arizona. Together we created SENSES, a unique restaurant concept. We found great success in these dinners but knew we needed a place to call “home,” a brick and mortar restaurant. Alongside our “pop-up” dining venture, Cassandra and I worked at BiGA, a local hotspot that focused on a home-style fare. We hosted one of our popular “Restaurant Takeovers” at BiGA one night when they were normally closed. The owners of the restaurant saw the passion and skills we exhibited that evening and were blown away. They were already planning on selling their business and decided we were the ones they wanted to sell it to. After eight months of dealing with the bank, we were finally signed the paperwork for our VERY OWN restaurant!!

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I have always loved expressing myself through food, ever since I can remember. I have worked in four-diamond restaurants with upscale menus and big box hotels feeding 500 people for Sunday morning brunches. That, in and of itself, was gratifying and a triumph not to be diminished; but there is something to be said about creating your art and making even a small difference in the community where you live, where your kids go to school, where your friends and work-family thrive. I have a new found appreciation for my field, and while I always knew produce was seasonal, there is nothing quite like having to create a menu based on the ebb and flow of the seasons themselves. I use the highest-quality, locally-grown ingredients from around Prescott, and other surrounding Arizona businesses. We believe that by supporting fellow small businesses, we are doing more of a service to our local economy, rather than using what’s cheapest and will yield the highest profit margins from who knows where. We create a dining experience like nothing else around. I create my dishes to draw people into our space to celebrate the amazing foods grown in our very own town and bring communities together. I have always been proud to be a Chef, but this is a whole new sense of pride.

Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
Television has made it easier to be appreciated as an “artist” in the kitchen, glamorizing the life of a chef on shows like Top Chef, but, in a lot of ways, it has made it more difficult. These shows depict the fast-paced nature of kitchen life and success stories but make no mention of the real hardships that go into being a chef and restaurant owner. They don’t show the long, arduous hours, the missed holiday celebrations with family, the missed opportunities to read bedtime stories to your kids – the daily grind that can be so stressful and exhausting, and for little profit. It’s the passion that drives us, and for me, it’s devastating when someone doesn’t like their meal. It’s not all about the money lost; I’m more concerned about what went wrong on the plate. We hope one day people realize all the love and elbow grease that went into their dish. While we understand that art is subjective and beauty is in the eye of the beholder it’s still unfortunate when there are those instances that a guest will dine with us and even go so far as to come up and shake my hand after a meal but still go home and write a scathing review online. We can’t fix something we don’t know is broken. We appreciate feedback but feel most people are too nice to mention that something was amiss with their meal. The last thing we want is for someone to walk away with a bad taste in their mouths for our restaurant.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I own and operate BiGA in Prescott, Arizona. We are open Monday thru Saturday from 11 am until 9 pm and occasionally Sundays for special events such as our Farm-to-Fork Family Suppers.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Blake Bonillas of Awe Collective
Brooke Stevens-Patrick of Brooke Photography
John Panza of BiGA

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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