Tag Archives: food

Turkey Dinner

08 Wednesday Aug 2012

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Tonight we had dinner at a Turkish mall. 

Let me explain. We’ve booked our lodging through Roomorama, and got a really cheap deal on a room in Istanbul with full use of an apartment that has wifi and laundry. The owner is in Hong Kong for the week, so we have the place to ourselves at least for a few days, until some other guests arrive. About $15 a night per person for our own apartment? Yes, please! 

The other advantage (mostly) is that we’re in a completely residential area of Istanbul, called Mecidiyiköy, which is a couple metro stops away from Taksim Square, on the European side of the city. I’m pretty sure we’re the only tourists around. Our street is rife with burger joints, grocery shops, and locals just doin’ their thang. 

There is also a huge mall, Profilo, about a block away. That’s where we ate dinner last night. 

Why the heck would you eat dinner in a mall in Istanbul? You might be thinking. Not a strange question, as I would probably ask the same myself to any other traveler telling me this story. For good reason! I reply. The locals directed us to it! And I kid you not. 



Like most travelers, Boris & I prefer not to eat in super touristy areas. Prices are better, and usually quality is higher, when you get out of the craziness of the tourist district in any city you’re in. Istanbul is no different. So, being in a normal neighborhood, we asked a lady on the street where she recommended to eat. In broken English, she told us the name of a place that was pretty cheap, and gestured directions. With the name in mind, we turned and went in search of this local eatery, wondering what it would be like.

We stopped a couple times and asked for directions of a group of men sitting in a little convenience store. They gave us a thumbs up when we asked whether this place was good, and proceeded to direct us to the food court of Profilo Mall. And so we went. 

We ate a two-course meal with Turkish apple tea at Otantik, which is a Turkish chain. The prices were good. The food was good. The waiter was nice. And again, we were the only tourists in the place. Apparently there are other locations in more trafficked parts of town, but we were hanging out in the mall in Istanbul for dinner. There was also a KFC in the food court. 

My Favorite Five: Places to Eat in Sonoma County, CA

03 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Northern California is a great place for foodies. Wine country at your fingertips generally means great food to go along with it, and eat well we did! Here are a few places where we got some sweet eats. Check them out if you’re in the area!
Big Bottom Market,Guerneville, CA
This little market has been written up as an up-and-coming eaterie in Food & Wine, and it’s no surprise why. Head in to find a variety of creative and well-crafted sandwiches, homemade biscuits with honey, a great drink section and more! Plus, they’ll pair your sandwich with a wine they carry. Don’t forget to check out their specials, which feature locals! (I had the Ziggy last week, which featured a wine-marinated pulled pork that was out of this world.) How’s that for community building?

Howard Station Café, Occidental, CA
Good advice from Miss Piggy on the wall of Howard Station Cafe! 
Howard Station had been recommended to my mom, and I’m glad it was. We ate there one day for breakfast, and then went all the way back to Occidental for round 2 the very next morning! The laid-back atmosphere and friendly service couple well with the diet-friendly menu: looking for vegan? No problem! Gluten an issue? Fuggedaboutit! Known for their eggs benedict, they’ll serve it up not just traditionally (which they’ll still do), but the cooks at Howard’s get creative. When we were there, they served an Irish eggs benedict, with corned beef, which got great reviews at our table. The waffles are, in a word, perfect: light, fluffy, with a big dollop of homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit. They can be gluten-free, too, and you’d never know the difference!
Best gluten-free waffles!
Campo Fina,Healdsburg, CA
We discovered this new venture on a quest to eat at its big sister restaurant, Scopa. Campo Fina, just around the corner, serves family style Italian antipasti and small dishes, as well as some darn good desserts. Play bocce in the back while you wait for your food, or just enjoy some of the locally grown wines! Keep in mind that it is on the pricier side—the small dishes are delectable, but they don’t go very far, so be prepared to order a lot of them to feed a hungry party. It would be a perfect date place!
Wildflour Bakery, Freestone,CA
Along the highway, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, is a beautiful garden next to a bakery whose name plays with words and whimsy alike. Wildflour Bakery serves up hot bread of many flavors, and the garden that flanks it is full of flower and vegetables. Don’t forget to look for the cool elephant mural when you pay!

Wildflour gardens

Wildflour gardens

In the Wildflour gardens

Elephant mural in the bakery
There’s no place like Home.
A home-cooked meal is often the best way to cure homesickness, to learn a family recipe from a grandparent, or to have a relaxing meal on your own terms. We ate some great meals in the surrounding restaurants, but I come from a family of talented cooks, so I get spoiled at family meals, too. Fresh, local rockfish grilled by my dad (who taught me almost everything I know about cooking), my grandpa’s famous cream cheese scrambled eggs and more all were passed around the table to choruses of “Mmm”s. That is one thing that I will miss the most during my upcoming travels: sharing a meal with my family. Time to make some new friends and share the table with old ones, though!

Thoughts on Wine Tasting

02 Monday Jul 2012

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My freshman year of college I took a fascinating intro linguistics class; one of the articles we read had to do with terminology in the wine world. Granted, it has been about seven years since I read this article, but this is what I remember about it: When a wine is described as having “nutty,” “citrusy,” “tropical,” “hints of cedar,” etc., according to this linguist, it’s all kind of crap. The language used to describe wine by sommeliers or wine experts or foodies or whoever is pretty personal to how they would describe it, but it’s very difficult to capture a common taste and define it.  I truly understood this on my trip to Sonoma County.
After lunch one day, we had headed back to Lytton Springs Road, and made it to Ridge. Their outdoor tasting flight featured a chardonnay, a zinfandel, a blend of 5 wines, and a syrah. Generally speaking, I know how wine tastings are supposed to look. You put your nose in the glass, breathe deeply, try to smell things like dainty rose petals and unicorn blood coupled with a rogue hint of chestnut. Swish it around a bit, make a comment about the “legs” of the wine. Take a swig, swish some more (this time inside your mouth), and again search for that elusive taste of aging hyena or what have you. Well, this time I actually could identify a taste to a smell and it wasn’t totally baloney.

“Fuschia. If fuschia had a smell, that would be it,” I said of the Zinfandel of their Funsten Ranch property. The only way I could describe it was fuschia. And then it hit me—the smell reminded me of those scented crayons, you know, the ones from when you were a kid and maybe took a nibble once, just to see if the snozberries actually tasted like snozberries. Waxy almost, but in a good way. But I’m certain that my father sitting next to me would never in a million years have picked that out as a taste. After I mentioned it, though, he agreed that he could see how the fruity crayons might play a part in my taste. Or maybe he was just humoring me, but I”ll take what I can get.
For the record, I do not make it a habit to eat wax. Or crayons.

A few days later…

The first winery we made it to after a TASTY lunch from Big Bottom Market in Guerneville was Ferrari-Cardano. Modeled like an Italian villa with beautiful gardens, it certainly fit the visual bill for a winery.
My dad and I shared a 4-wine tasting. Being the consummate documenter that I am (not), I forgot to write down the names of the wines we tasted. Definitely one was a Zinfandel. Maybe one was a Sauvignan Blanc. I know for sure we tasted a Gewurstraminer, because I requested it. And a sweet dessert wine called Baci, which was infused with chocolate.
The point of this is less to detail what we drank and when, but I do want to share that I actually tasted—and NAMED—flavors for all of them before reading the description on the tasting menu! Success! One had a hint of strawberries, another had an oaky flavor, and another was crisp. For a regular wine aficionado, maybe this is a small feat. But to me, it was pretty exciting!
We stopped at 2 more vineyards after that, both family owned and operated. The only memorable wine from those two, for me, was a really nice Zinfandel at Wilson Winery. And I usually don’t really like Zin!
Have you ever gone wine tasting? Share your experiences in the comments!

I Heart Tucson: Mercado San Agustin and a Chat with Evan Storey

08 Friday Jun 2012

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Mercado San Agustin

On a recent warm Thursday afternoon, my dear friend Regina and I headed west of I-10 to check out Mercado San Agustin. Thursdays are Santa Cruz River Farmer’s Market days from 4-7 p.m., and the parking slots were nearly full as we slowly inched into our spot along the sidewalk. Tables shaded by tents lined the path leading up to the mercado: the Food Bank, where you can swipe your credit card and receive tokens rather than use cash; a jam & jelly vendor; native flowers and other plants being sold; and farmers with their apricots, tomatoes, cilantro and potatoes.

The sidewalk outside the main entrance to the market. 

We wandered around chatting with farmers (all of whom Regina knew), and making small purchases. Regina got some scapes, I got some sprouts, an onion. We queried a farmer about how long fresh eggs stay good, we chatted with David the beekeeper, who makes delicious honey, which I had bought a few times before at the Tucson Village Farm. He also had some good tips for my travels I’m anticipating in Ireland!

Another tasty treat we sampled was with Gloria from Chilttepica Salsa. Gloria’s one of the folks who uses the community kitchen at Mercado San Agustin; event planners, caterers, food trucks, and individuals jump-starting their culinary careers can apply for access to use this fully-equipped commercial kitchen.

Remember La Estrella bakery? The one I drove so far to get to? Well, you can find it at Mercado, too! Buns, cookies, empanadas, the works. I bought a pack of fresh tortillas and couldn’t help but eat a couple for dinner. Man, I love tortillas. (Side note: as a kid, my absolute favorite snack was a tortilla smothered in butter and honey. If you’re feeling adventurous, add a little cinnamon. SO TASTAY!)

Reg and I got some wonderful handmade soap from Joyce at Dragnass Soap; all her soap is unique in its own little way, as it’s all hand-made. I bought some classic lavender for my mom, and we got a couple samples of watermelon soap. One bar that I didn’t purchase but was tempted to was the Dragnash, which is supposed to be wonderful to get grime out while keeping the moisture in! Joyce is an artist, and she discovered that that particular bar was super effective while cleaning art schmutz off her hands after a long day’s work. She also makes natural deodorant, lip balm and laundry bars!

After a while, as the sun began to set, the vendors also began to pack up. More and more glasses began to clink in the attached Agustin Brasserie, and a jazz quartet began playing inside the restaurant. For more insight into what the Mercado means for Tucson and its community, we sat down with Evan Storey, Director of Operations.

Storey, who’s a native Arizonan born and raised in nearby Casa Grande, had some farming background before coming to work for Mercado San Agustin. He traveled extensively in Spain and Colombia, and his Spanish language skills are impressive; as we wandered through the market and later picked up our drinks, he easily conversed with vendors in both English and Spanish, a skill useful and indeed necessary for this type of endeavor.

Storey’s interest in agriculture really began with the social aspect of the sustainable food movement, and has grown from there. He got involved with the Mercado because he was “passionate about their vision.” When I asked him about that vision and how the Mercado was changing the fabric of downtown, this was his reply:

“Basically we’re taking the fabric of two worlds: downtown–and the trend of urban development, it’s a cool place to be now with the restaurants and the nightlife–and the west side. Tucson’s west side has a long history; it’s one of the longest running sites of agricultural production in the US. We want it to be a district, the Mercado District, with a mix of that downtown urban feel and the historical.

We want to respect and embrace the historical traditions of the neighborhoods. Here, we are developing a future historic district of Tucson.” 

Storey went on to tell us that the new district will be “mixed use.” They want to implement good building practices and create a neighborhood committed to community: the neighborhood construction will be all masonry, preferably LEED certified.  Mercado San Agustin itself is striving to set the example for the burgeoning community there; the Mercado is trying to achieve LEED gold certification by engaging in green practices like using rainwater harvesting and solar energy.

Not only are they making good on their goals of green living, they also are endeavoring to incorporate those historical traditions that Storey mentioned into the market’s events. On June 24, there will be a giant fiesta celebrating El Dia de San Juan, and little more than a week later there will be a 4th of July firework-watching extravaganza. Before both of those events, though, is one perhaps more exciting: the Mercado San Agustin celebrates its very first birthday on June 22. There will be festivities from 6-10 p.m.! Check it out, and don’t forget to do some shopping while you’re there!

If you go:


Mercado San Agustin
Hours for individual businesses vary, check their website.
Farmer’s market every Thursday, from 4-7p.m.

Day 1 in NOLA: Crab Sandwiches & Scary Stories

29 Tuesday May 2012

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After being treated to a wonderful sendoff in Phoenix, including an early morning ride to the airport, Boris and I hopped our flight to New Orleans via Houston. The trip itself went well, other than the continuing realization that you are getting less and less free stuff on flights (example: during beverage service, Boris asked for peanuts or crackers, and all the flight attendant said was, “We don’t do that anymore.”) My aunt picked us up from the airport, and as we began our drive into the city I immediately felt a sense of newness. This place was different from everything I knew home in Tucson. Dorothy said it best when she remarked, “We’re not in Kansas anymore…” Not only was it immediately apparent that the swampy climate of Louisiana was super different from the dry heat of Arizona, the architecture was, the cityscape was, the cultural influences were. As we got a mini driving tour through town to the Garden District where we’d be staying, I instantly fell in love with the architectural elements throughout: the Greek columns supporting every tall home, the intricate ironwork protecting the greenery of front yards. Rockers rocked and porches porched. Beautiful.

One of the houses in the Garden District. I want one!

 Our first order of business was to get some grub. This was another experience I was anticipating with much relish; I’ve never really eaten true Southern fare! We ended up on Magazine at The Rum House, where I had perhaps the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten. Louisiana crab meat, melted jack cheese, a fried green tomato with wilted greens and a red remoulade sauce on a house -baked Cuban roll. YUM. SERIOUSLY. I thought I took a photo of it on my phone, but it turns out I ate instead.

Boris had some tasty fried oyster tacos, as well as a lamb vindaloo taco, jerked vegetables, and coconut mango rice. I won the food-choosing challenge, though. We all agreed. 😉 After a much needed nap, we headed down to the French Quarter for our ghost tour. New Orleans has a rich history, which is really another way of saying there are a lot of ghosts here. At least, according to legend. Whether or not you believe in a postmortem sojourn on Earth, the stories on these tours are usually pretty interesting if you can stomach them. Our tour lasted about two hours, but I’ll share a couple of my favorite stories.

 The Vampire Girls: back when NOLA was still run by France, there wasn’t a huge female population for a while. To rectify this, the Ursuline nuns came and campaigned to bring some demure young ladies to be wives to some of the gents. They arrived late one night wan and pale and their baggage looked suspiciously like coffins (turns out, coffin-style trunks were the cheapest options). This raised eyebrows, as did the (completely coincidental ) outbreak of tuberculosis that immediately followed their arrival and the fact that the windows of the convent where they lived were totally fettered shut (privacy for teenage girls was apparently also strange to the then+residents of the Crescent City). All of these thrown together equaled a lynch mob one night outside the door of the convent urging for the death of the vampiresses. A clever priest volunteered to fix the problem, and “exorcised” the demons from the convent, which really entailed a lot of theatrics to convince the angry crowd that there was no threat and allow the terrified women to escape. Not a real ghost story, but an interesting one.

This balcony belongs to a house that is supposedly haunted by the spirit of a young woman whose love for a boy from the wrong side of town went awry when her father found out…

 The Love-sick Kleptomaniac: on St. Philip St. There was a funeral parlor owned by a man who had a lovely daughter. She fell for a good kid from the wrong side of the tracks, as it were, whose family happened to be no good. Dad got wind of how she had been sneaking out and caught her one night. Some say she slipped shimmying down from the second floor as she had so many tines before to meet her beau, others say her pop pushed her, but in any case she didn’t survive the fall. Now, the house is the presidential suite for a nearby hotel. Guests frequently report jewelry stolen, specifically engagement and wedding rings. If you’re forceful enough with her spirit, she’ll return them. Otherwise, she walks the balcony where she met her demise…

Even the only photo I managed to take of the scariest place on the tour looks creepy! 

 The scariest one of them all involved a rich woman, mistreatment of her help that involved insane human body experiments and a clean getaway…Suffice to say, this place is so haunted that the cops have stopped responding to calls of people witnessing a girl plummeting from the second story.

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Tucson Yum: Allegro Gelato!

17 Thursday May 2012

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Italy has been on my mind a lot this week, for reasons more saddening than anything else. Two friends passed away; one only beginning his adult life, the other guiding young adults like me to become good people like her. I had begun writing this post about Allegro before the news arrived, and I actually think it’s fitting that I finish it sooner rather than later. Gelato is, after all, an Italian dessert with which I associate many happy memories, some of which I shared with those who are no longer with us. I’m going to ride that wave….

When I studied abroad in Orvieto from September to December of 2007, my friends and I all frequented Gelateria Pasqualetti almost every day. Two gelaterie were available to us, both on the way to or near school: one was across from the clock tower, the other next to the duomo. Despite cooling weather as fall arrived in Umbria, we rarely missed our daily dose of gelato. This was good gelato, too. The texture was just the right level of creaminess, and although the flavors themselves weren’t necessarily crazy or creative, they were consistently perfect-tasting. We felt pretty okay about the fact that we were eating it like mad because gelato is arguably less fattening than American ice cream. 
Gelato from a place in Rome with some friends in 2007. Pretty good, but no Pasqualetti.
Cold and tasty snacks have been around for centuries, and many cultures probably cooled off with treats using mountain snow and some sort of flavoring from fruit or even flowers. Italian gelato as we know it, though, was developed in Florence by Bernardo Buontalenti in the 16thcentury, who served it in the Medici court. Gelato traveled with Caterina dei Medici to France, where they were blown away. That says a lot, if the French palates condoned it. Another big player in the gelato game was Procopio Coltelli, a Sicilian who opened one of the first cafes that served his delectable gelato in the 1660’s. His cafe later went on to become a favorite haunt of many Paris literati.

But what the heck is the difference between ice cream and gelato? A very valid question, indeed! Nutritionally, gelato is made with less fat and sugar, so a 3.5 oz serving of gelato has less fat (10% vs. 21%), less sugar (24% vs. 30%) and even fewer calories (230 vs. 325). And those are on the higher end. Sorbet is even more healthful, with 0% fat! Better taste, less guilt! Plus, it’s perfect for those hot summer days in Tucson where all you want to do is go to the movie theatre where they blast the AC so much that you need a sweater. 

Allegro: Il Gelato Naturale. The interior is modern and chic, with neato gelato spinners that are fancy and futuristic. 


Where does one procure such a delectable delight in Tucson? I’ll tell you! Allegro!


Allegro was opened only a couple years ago by Ivan Lucchina (co-owner and Master Gelatiere–yes, you even have to go to special gelato university to get certified!) and Marco Rapella. 

Here are Five Reasons why Allegro Gelato rocks

  1. Ingredients. Allegro gelato is only ever made from the freshest ingredients possible. Period. They don’t compromise in terms of quality on that one; they squeeze and chop and mince and whatever in the gelateria kitchen, rather than using powders or mixes. That may mean that your mint gelato is not green. But guess what–that’s because when mint is actually pressed, it’s not green! A lot of ice cream shops and gelaterie use dyes to make their products “look” the way people expect them to. Allegro doesn’t, and it tastes better for it!
  2. Creative flavors. There is a certain canon, so to speak, of gelato flavors. A traditional gelato shop almost always has flavors like straciatella (kind of like chocolate chip), nocciola (hazelnut), caffe (coffee), and seasonal fruit sorbets. But Ivan gets creative! Another favorite on their menu is saffron (IT IS AMAZING), and the Allegro flavor has a nougat-y/almond-y/tasty combo. Depending on what they feel like doing behind the scenes, there can be anything from lavender to basil & pineapple to balsamic avocado behind the glass. You read it right: BALSAMIC AVOCADO. Whoa! 
  3. Variety. You don’t just have to get gelato. Unlike many gelaterie, where you’re relegated to the standard array of tastes, at Allegro you also can get granite (slush drinks, originally from Sicily), coffee, or blend together your favorite gelato with some milk for a satisfying frappe. 
  4. Enthusiastic customer service. Whether Ivan himself is working the counter or one of the many employees they’ve had to hire in more recent months to keep up with business, you’ll always find that the person helping you seems genuinely excited about what they’re selling.
  5. Old World, traditionally crafted quality. The art of gelato making is just that: an art. Although most gelatieri take pride in their medium, with modern techniques come the temptation to expedite the age-old ways of making gelato. Allegro uses the traditional recipes and it shows in the authentic taste. Trust me on this, I’ve eaten approximately a jillion gelati. Maybe not that many, but I would confidently say I have high standards for gelato, having indulged in quite a lot of it. Not all the gelato I’ve eaten has been good, even in Italy, so to find a place like Allegro which just happened to be close to my house has been thrilling. Let’s just say I’m a big fan of their punch card rewards…
Yes, there are a few other places to get gelato in Tucson. I contend, though, that Allegro is the best, with the best prices, the best flavors, and the most authentic gelato experience. So now that we’re starting our regular triple digit temperatures, go cool down at Allegro! 
Yeah, so I was going to take a photo of this strawberry rhubarb…but I ate it.
If you go:
Open true Italian hours, Sunday-Thursday from 11:30-10:30 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 11:30-11:30.

446 N. Campbell Ave #120, Tucson, AZ 85719



Have you been to Allegro? What’s your favorite flavor?

(A little more than) 36 Hours in Tucson

06 Sunday May 2012

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My Italians came to visit this week! Yes, the same ones whose lights I couldn’t turn off, who have carted me to their country house, who took me on my first moped ride, who have been the most generous and kind hosts I could ever ask for on every visit I’ve made to Italy since I was 16 and I stayed with them for 3 weeks one summer. Other destinations called, however, so they only could come to Tucson for a mere 48 hours, and I could only see them for about 36.  

Rome 2011: Dinner with Esa, Pompeo and Maddalena. Their son, Umberto, was at summer camp in the USA!

So what did we do with Italian tourists in Tucson for such a short time? I’ll tell you!

Tuesday 
6p.m.ish: Pick up Italians from airport. Try to take them to eat at Mi Nidito, one of Tucson’s most famous Mexican restaurants. President Bill Clinton ate there when he visited Tucson. They have since then named the platter he consumed the President’s Plate. Arrive at restaurant to find that it is closed, even though it is Tuesday. People, learn from this: Mi Nidito is closed Monday and Tuesday. Because they can be.

6:15p.m.ish: Call our back-up restaurant, Feast (another one of my absolute favorite Tucson eateries). Find out that they won’t have any openings for a few hours due to a crazy big reservation. Italians have spent 13 hours in flight, and it is about 3 a.m. their time. Need food sooner.

6:25p.m.ish: Take them to Downtown Kitchen instead!  This time, I got the orecchiette with mushrooms, asparagus, braised duck and noticed that they misspelled orecchiette on their online menu…We also devoured the desserts: warm apple & pear crumble, featuring ancho caramel, streusel & cinnamon ice cream and one of the tastiest chocolate cakes I may have ever eaten, Ibarra chocolate cake with Kahlua ice cream & almond candy. 


8:30p.m.ish: Go home, settle in, drink tea, catch up.

10 p.m.ish: Sleep.

Wednesday 


I took the day off work, figuring if an event like this isn’t worth doing so, then few are.

9 a.m.ish: Go to Chez Button, where our guests are residing for their visit. Find that Maddalena is feeling a little out of sorts. Agree to run errands for dinner and sorting out international phone issues while naps occur.

9:30 a.m.ish: Pompeo and I embark on an epic and grueling trek to figure out how to make Maddalena’s Blackberry work in America. Lots of discussion is bandied about regarding GSM, SIM cards, internet settings and network configuration. Something about wifi. Go to 3 different stores. Give up.

10:15 a.m.ish: We continue on this journey to pick up buns for our cookout dinner tonight. My mother has reserved torta buns from La Estrella Bakery.  La Estrella provides some of the finest tortillas and baked goods in the area, but I’ve always ever seen them at stores rather than at the bakery. Unbeknownst to aforementioned mother, said bakery is located very far away, in South Tucson. Pompeo and I kept driving south and south and south, and finally we found it. So worth it. Apart from being a really authentic Mexican bakery, they have super prices. We got a dozen torta buns and I couldn’t resist a pineapple empanada, and it was like $5 for all of it.

11 a.m.ish: Drive all the way from South 12th Ave & Irvington to Prince & Campbell, where we picked up the evening’s dessert: fruit tart from La Baguette Bakery. If you’ve never been there, it’s a part of Ghini’s French Cafe, and was another worthwhile expenditure of gas (after these couple of days, I wouldn’t want to know what my carbon footprint was…).

A palo verde blooming. I had forgotten how vibrant their colors are, and juxtaposed against our clear blue Sonoran sky, they’re quite magnificent.

1p.m.ish: Take the Italians to arguably the most important place if your visitors are only here for a brief time: The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. That’ll get its own entry, as I have many photos and it certainly deserves a detailed heart post. Admire blooming palo verdes, napping mountain lions, and newborn hummingbirds.

4p.m.ish: Nap.

5:15p.mish: Start preparing dinner! Welcoming guests!

6p.m.ish: Take advantage of Tucson weather and grill buffalo burgers in the backyard. Eat them, some fresh, home-made gazpacho, and Mediterranean salad. Drink good wine and relish good company.

9:30p.m.ish: Relax once everyone has left. Figure out how to fix Blackberry with some handy googling! Download WhatsApp, an app that makes it easy–and free–to message internationally so I can keep in better touch with my friends.

10:30p.m.ish: Be sorry that the day is over, but happy that I will be back in Italy soon!

Note: Since our friends didn’t have a flight until the next afternoon, they also liked walking around at the University of Arizona, my alma mater (and also where my mother and Maddalena met 30+ years ago. Go, Wildcats!) and an elegant lunch at the Arizona Inn. 

Overall, it was a marvelous visit. Although Wednesday morning was spent riding around in my car to various bakeries, it was still an adventure during which I got to see more of my own city, and Pompeo got to see more of Tucson. Also, now I know where La Estrella is if I ever am craving the perfect tortilla!

Where would you take guests if they were here for only a couple days? Share in the comments!

Tucson Yum: Raging Sage

15 Sunday Apr 2012

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Tucson has its fair share of locally owned coffee shops. Being a college town, a good number of them are near the U of A and down 4th Avenue, but the proverbial gem is The Raging Sage, at 2458 North Campbell Ave, just past Grant & Campbell.The Sage has basically everything a good coffee shop needs :

Seating, indoor and out. Check.
Lots of windows for natural lighting! (I guess that’s personal preference, but we’re in Tucson, after all, and we have a LOT of natural light…) Check.
Courteous staff. Check.
Fair prices. Check.
A variety of baked goods. Check.
And, of course, delicious drinks! Check!

Special to the Sage, though, are a few things:

It’s sustainable. The folks who run it are dedicated to choosing beans that come from places that respect their workers and their environment, which really means that they also choose the best beans available! Their house blend is award-winning, and you can buy beans by the pound online. Plus, you can feel pretty good about doing it.

Great variety of high-quality drinks. I’m not a big coffee drinker, but I love me some tea–especially chai. Theirs is some of my favorite, especially if you like it spicy; Italian sodas also grace the affordable menu, and they have teas galore, naturally. If you like iced tea, the Gold Rush is quite refreshing.

A.MAZ.ING. BAKED GOODS. Seriously, they’re amazing. Whether it’s the rich pecan bar, the super natural brownie or the cake (oh, the cake!), you really can’t go wrong. And, the scones! Scones were never my thing. To me they were just lumps of dry, baked dough that had little flavor, even when they purported to be “blueberry” or “poppyseed.” Liars! But then I had a scone from Raging Sage. Sweet or savory, I don’t think I’ve met a Sage scone I didn’t love. One morning in February, my honey indulged my sudden craving for a breakfast of scones. We got 4 and were only able to finish 3–they’re pretty big–and here’s part of the destruction.

Next time you’re north of the U of A, consider trying out a treat there!

 

Tucson Yum: Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails

07 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by in Bumbling Bites, Destinations

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Every Monday as we run Maynard’s, we stop outside a patio on south 6th Avenue where they serve us cold water with lemon. Usually the dining room is full of people laughing, eating and drinking. From the outside, the ambiance looks cool and hip, without being intimidating. Every Monday, as we gratefully take the water in hand, I think to myself, “I HAVE to eat here soon!” Finally, I managed to squeeze a dinner in at Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails.

Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails is headed by Chef Janos Wilder. Janos is a Tucson establishment (both the man and his restaurant of the same name), and has been since the early 1980’s, when he opened his first restaurant downtown. With a passion for local ingredients, Janos has used our desert beans, spices, flours and more to become a nationally recognized and award-winning chef.

The catch: If you want to eat top-notch–and top dollar–Janos fare, for years you’d have to go to the restaurant, Janos. I’ve still never managed to eat there, mainly due to the cost. Right next to that restaurant, also with an amazing view, is J-Bar, a more casual and cost effective alternative to the fancy schmancy place. My food experiences there have been a little inconsistent, and the drive in my central Tucsonan mind always brought up the thought, “Ugh. It’s so. Far. Away.” (For the record, it’s not really that far.)

But! Last year! Downtown Kitchen opened! And now we have a great, centrally-located Janos restaurant that features a creative bar menu and some scrumptious dishes. I happened to go on a Saturday night with a large group and we started at the bar. Downtown K&C has an extensive bar menu, featuring cocktails original and classic. I had the Old Man and the Sea ($9), a rum drink with grapefruit, lime and Maraschino liqueur. It was pretty tasty, and I was intrigued by the rest of the drinks on the menu.

Dinner time. The menu changes seasonally, and sometimes they have neat menus that originate in a certain country (I know last summer they did one that was all Argentinian or something). Not a lot of vegetarian options graced the menu, but the one that did was stellar: “Somen noodles with sweet & sour shiitakes, tossed with olive + sesame oils, basil, gai lan, zest, parsley + EVOO.” ($12) It was really flavorful and filling!

I also got to try the Marinated Pork Tenderloin With Rock Shrimp Etoufee, which was melt-in-your-mouth pork. I have issues with the other white meat most of the time, but this was tastay! Some other diners at our table were very happy with their Herb Potato Gnocchi with Braised Duck, too.

Overall, our service was good–they didn’t even hassle us about splitting the checks despite our enormous group size–and we all ate our fill. The atmosphere at Downtown K&C fit the mood of a classy Saturday night; music was good but not too loud, the space was well lit enough to read the menu but still dim enough not to require indoor sunglasses à la Corey Hart.

Not that it’s technically a downside, but the reality is that it’s a little more than I often pay for dinner. With a cocktail, pasta, tax and tip, my bill was around $28. But I got what I paid for: a nice setting, great food, a delicious (and strong) beverage, and good service. I definitely want to go back, if only to try the Cuban Sunset.