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What's New in Tucson
Tohono O'odham Community Cafe. Every dish at the new Desert Rain Café is healthy and delicious and features at least one traditional Tohono O'odham food. Sugar-dusted popovers are NOT on the menu, but you will find tepary bean and short rib stew, fire-roasted ears of corn, sautéed squash enchiladas, grilled chicken glazed with prickly-pear sauce, agave lemonade, and other Sonoran Desert native foods priced from $1.95 to $7.95. Desert Rain Café is located off the beaten track in Sells, 60 miles south of downtown Tucson, and is open weekdays for breakfast, lunch, and takeout, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. See the menu at www.desertraincafe.com. Nearby is the Tohono O'odham Cultural Center and Museum, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except Sunday. For museum details, call (520) 383-0211, or visit Finding Local & Heritage Foods. The boom in farmers' markets and organic food sales are signs that consumers are hungry for local and place-based foods. Locavores in Southern Arizona have a new resource for finding fresh, local produce. The new Local & Heritage Foods Directory: A guide to producers, grocers, restaurants and farmers' markets throughout the Santa Cruz Valley and southeastern Arizona lists locations and schedules of regional farmers' markets, and a seasonal availability chart for the Santa Cruz Valley (Pima, Santa Cruz, Cochise, and Graham counties). Also included is information about local heritage foods, such as mesquite pod meal, prickly pear buds, and tepary beans-traditional staples of the indigenous Tohono O'odham people's diet. The guide is available free online at www.SantaCruzHeritage.org/Directory or for $5 through the Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance at (520) 429-1394. A Bevy of Beads at Fall Gem Shows. Beads of all shapes, colors, sizes, and compositions will be on display at The Best Bead Show, September 11-13, at Kino Veterans Memorial Community Center. The Best Bead Show is the only open-to-the-public show of Tucson's five Fall Gem Shows, which run September 10-13 at five locations in town. Learn more about this show at www.bestbeadshow.com. For a list of all Tucson's Fall Gem Shows, visit the Metro Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau website at www.visitTucson.org/gemshow. Book Signing for Famed Photojournalist. Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Jose Galvez will return to his roots in Tucson's Barrio Viejo for the launch of his new photo-essay book, Shine Boy, on September 20, 3 p.m.- 6 p.m. at La Pilita Museum. Copies of Galvez's book will be for sale and he will be available for signing. Galvez grew up in Tucson's downtown-area barrio neighborhoods and earned money by shining shoes after school. While shining shoes at the Arizona Daily Star office, he became acquainted with a camera and, with encouragement from newspapermen mentors, earned a journalism degree at the University of Arizona. During his 40-year career, Galvez has used black and white film to create an unparalleled historical record of the Latino experience in America. Photos from the book will be on exhibit and for sale at the museum's The Photography of Jose Galvez exhibit, Sept. 21-Oct. 16. Learn more at http://www.lapilita.com/. Food, Glorious Southwestern Food. Fall is prime time for celebrating Southern Arizona's bounty of cuisines and restaurants, with three major food festivals taking place. Arizona Restaurant Week kicks off the season, Sept. 19-26, with over 30 outstanding Tucson-area dining venues showcasing their finest fare at unbeatable, prix fixe prices. Visit www.arizonarestaurantweek.com for more information. Now in its seventh year, the Tucson Culinary Festival, Oct. 1-4, presents an opportunity to discover the region's fresh, local flavors at events such as the World Margarita Championship, and a cooking technique seminar led by spice guru Jennifer English. Learn more at www.tucsonculinaryfestival.com.The first Southern Arizona Food and Wine Festival, Oct. 17-18, has activities for all ages, including more than 200 food, wine, and culinary-themed art vendors, live music and dance onstage, a pie-eating contest, and cooking demonstrations by some of Southern Arizona's best-known and admired chefs. For more information, visit http://www.saaca.org/events-foodandwine.html. Girls' Night Out at the Theater. Girls (and guys!) can enjoy a series of nights at the theater with friends for a special package price. Arizona Theater Company's 2009-2010 season "Girls' Night Out" packages include tickets to a series of either three or six plays, with pre-show parties before AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' on December 3, [title of show] on January 8, and THE SECOND CITY DOES ARIZONA on April 8. The private parties include spa treatments, delicious cocktails or desserts, luxury extras, and socializing before the curtain goes up. Three-play packages start at $105 per person. Six-play packages start at $147 per person. Find out more by calling (520) 622-2823, or visit http://www.aztheatreco.org/. Tie-dye Optional at CosmoPop Fest. On 165 acres of organic gardens and farm fields near the historic Tumacacori Mission, south of Tucson, a three-day music festival will be staged October 23-25. The Sacred Global CosmoPop Concert and EcoFest at Avalon Gardens will include live music, independent film screenings, activist theater, eco-conscious speakers, an eco-village experience, kids' activities, ethnic foods, and vendors of all sorts. The CosmoPop concert will feature Gabriel of Urantia and his 11-piece Bright & Morning Star Band as well as varied rock, pop, jazz, folk, Celtic, and country-western music acts. Admission is by donation, and proceeds will benefit teen and young adult rehabilitation programs and Avalon Gardens programs. To reserve a camping spot or obtain more festival information, call (520) 603-9932 or visit http://www.cosmopopfestivals.org/. Winter Weddings Without the Snow. Planning a winter wedding in Tucson? For a relaxing, outdoor affair without the headaches of elaborate planning, consider Tohono Chul Park or Tucson Botanical Gardens. At Tohono Chul Park, couples can exchange wedding vows under a magical canopy of night sky and half a million twinkling lights. Learn more about holiday weddings at one of the world's ten best botanical gardens (Travel + Leisure) online at www.tohonochulpark.org. The always lush and cool Tucson Botanical Gardens is perfect for a small, quiet wedding and outdoor reception. The historic Porter House has wood floors, beamed ceilings, decorative fireplace, and a lovely glassed-in porch. Trees, a water feature, and a vine-covered gazebo surround an adjacent outdoor patio. For more information about one of America's Best Secret Gardens (Reader's Digest), call (520) 326-9686, or visit http://www.tucsonbotanical.org/. Gila Monsters Lead the Way, Downtown. New, directional public art pieces have been permanently installed around the Tucson Convention Center (TCC) downtown to welcome and help convention and event attendees quickly locate their convention or event site. Each 14-foot metal sculpture incorporates solar-powered lighting and features a giant Gila monster lizard image. Tucson artist Alex Heveri used steel as a medium because it provides a solid base and frame for the lighted feature of her sculptures. For more information, call the Metro Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, 1-800-638-8350. # # # |
