Well, the time has come to move on. That's it. Adios. Buh-bye.

I've packed up and moved all of the stuff here over to www.tucsonfooddude.com

Please head over that way for my latest ramblings, musings, etc. If you are one of the people kind enough to follow my blog here, you can subscribe to my posts over there.

If you have any questions, just leave me a comment here or there and I'll get back to you!

My thanks to everyone who's been stopping by.

Kevin

When I decided that I was going to start compiling information for various things (New Year's Eve, Happy Hours, etc.), I didn't think it through as much as I should have. It turns out that those particular things would work a whole lot better with multiple pages. Can you do multiple pages in Blogger? Why no, you can't!

So I'm packing up and moving over to WordPress. I've been messing with the CSS trying to get the look to be pretty similar to what I've got going here, but that's still going to be something of a work in progress.

If you'd like, you can preview the new site at www.tucsonfooddude.com. If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it. If you have any feedback that comes with the necessary CSS code to make it work I'd love to hear that even more!

Kevin
-TFD

I recently received an email from Marketplace at Acacia with 2 for $20 dinner specials that include dessert. These looked pretty dang good to me, especially considering they're coming from the good folks at Acacia. If it's coming from Chef Albert Hall (no relation, btw), you can be pretty sure it's going to be good.

Besides the dinners, they do breakfast featuring freshly-baked danishes & other pastries Arbuckle coffee. They also do catering and are willing to help out with your holiday needs.

They're located in St. Phillip's Plaza, on the southeast corner of River & Campbell. The Marketplace is open 7am-6pm M-Sat, and 7am-3pm on Sundays. If you have questions, you can call them at 520-323-0124.

Monday

American Garden Salad, Iceberg, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Carrots, Bell Peppers, Ranch or Herb Vinaigrette
Country Style Meat Loaf
Horseradish Mashed New Potatoes, Steamed Baby Broccoli
Pie of the Day

Tuesday

Field Greens with Arizona Tomatoes and Hand Pulled Mozzarella,
Grilled Vegetable Lasagna
Garlic Bread, Tiramisu

Wednesday

Spinach and Napa Cabbage Salad,
Warm Pancetta Dressing
Wood Roasted Pork Chops
with Apricot Chipotle Glaze
Au Gratin Potatoes
and Fresh Green Beans
Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
an Garden Salad, Iceberg, To

Thursday

Caesar Salad
Herb Roasted Chicken, Chestnut-Sage Dressing
and Natural Pan Jus
Chef's Fresh Vegetable Medley
Dessert of the Day

Friday is Pieday

Garden Salad Pie, Herb Vinaigrette
The Chef's Pot pie of the Day
Daily Pie

Saturday

Pineapple Cole Slaw
Barbeque Baby Back Ribs
Baked Beans and Corn on The Cobb
Double Fudge Brownies

I like Lococo's Pizzeria, and I've got some pretty good reasons for it:

• They've got great super-thin crust pizza. I mean, it's really thin. Like tortilla thin. But it's crispy and stands up to their hearty sauce. The cheese actually has flavor and texture, unlike many of the chain places. It's cheap, too. A 16" cheese pie is $12.95. If you want a double crust, add a dollar.
• They've got the cheapest beer imaginable. A 48oz pitcher of Bud/Bud Light will set you back $4.00. Bud too swanky for you? A bottle or can of PBR will set you back $1.25. Still too rich for your blood? A can of Old Style can be had for a buck.
• They're just nice folks. It's a family-run place, and they seem to genuinely want their customers to leave happy.

When you add on free delivery (not to my house, but still), live music on Friday & Saturday (9pm until whenever on Friday and 7-9pm Saturday), and a pretty broad menu, I think you've got yourself a winner.

Lococo's is in the Bashas' Plaza at Thornydale & Cortaro. They're open 11am-9pm Sun-Thurs, Friday 11am until they're not open anymore, and Saturday 11am - 10pm. Got questions? Visit lococos.net or give them a call at 520-744-7136.

Kevin
-TFD

Do you have needs? Do those needs involve pie? I know many of mine do.

My friend Lucinda is a fabulous baker (not to mention an all-around fantastic person). She has her diploma in Baking and Pastries from the Art Institute of Phoenix, and worked as a baker at JW Marriott Starr pass.

This year, she’s offering her amazing homemade holiday pies for sale. All the info you need is below. As soon as I get pie pics from her, I'll post them.

If you’re thinking pies for the holiday, consider one (or two or three!) of Lucinda’s pies. You’ll be glad you did!

Merry Cherry Pie

Traditional Pumpkin Pie

Old Fashioned Apple Pie

Pecan Pie

Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Caramel Apple Pie

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Prices:

$15 for One

$25 for Two

$12 each if you order Three or more

All orders are available for pick-up or delivery. A charge of $5 will be added to your order, if you would like to have them delivered.

Pies will be made fresh and can be frozen up to 8 weeks.

Orders will be filled on a first come-first served basis,

so be sure to get your order in early.

Orders will be accepted through

Wednesday, December 23 at 9pm

To place your order, please email Lucinda Perry at lucindamperry@aol.com

This evening I present to you the third part of the Azul saga. You can find part 1 here and part 2 here. Go ahead and read them. I'll wait.

Caught up? Good. Before I go on to describe the events of the evening, I'll point out that the entire meal was courtesy of the house. Rest assured that if there were things that weren't good I would say that even if we didn't pay for the meal.

One more piece of housekeeping: Kristine & I were a little self-conscious about the whole setup. We were having a hard time balancing wanting to try multiple things on the menu and being worried about the running up a huge tab since we weren't paying for it. Sigh. Maybe next time it won't be so awkward, but this time it was a little.

We arrived for our reservation and were seated right away close to a corner by the windows overlooking the pool area. Our server, Alex, came over fairly quickly for our drink orders. I ordered a glass of the French Maid cabernet and Kristine ordered.... the Spanish Guitar cab/tempranillo? It may not have been called Spanish Guitar, but it was a cab/temp blend. When Alex brought out the wine, he also brought out rustic bread with garlic infused olive oil and a sundried tomato tapenade. Normally, I'm not a big fan of olives, but the tapenade was mild and I really found myself enjoying it.

For our next first course, we ordered the charcuterie for two (pictured up top - $15). This appetizer consisted of ample portions of breseola, speck alto, an herbed goat cheese, piave, olives, pickled vegetables and a couple of breadsticks. Everything was good (I particularly enjoyed the breseola), but the presentation was a little bit lacking. We both agreed that next time we'd probably skip the charcuterie and go with hot appetizers.

We ordered two entrees that sounded good to both of us with the intention of sharing both. We selected the scallop di stagione ($23), which was described as 'seared scallops over sundried tomato and caramelized fennel risotto with toasted pignoli dandelion greens pesto'. When the dish arrived, I was a little disappointed by the way it looked on the plate. It seemed as though it was plated in a hurry without much thought to the final appearance.

As far as taste went, though, it was a success. The scallops were nicely cooked and very lightly seasoned. The risotto was very good, with the rich flavor of the roasted fennel very much at the forefront. All of the components of the dish were nicely executed, but Kristine and I both felt like they could have been tied together a little better.

For me, the real hit of the evening was the special. Jumbo prawns with pearl onions in a lobster cardinal sauce, served with a paella risotto cake (~$27). The head-on prawns were beautifully cooked (and yes, I sucked the heads), the sauce was creamy with a little bit of spice and chunks of lobster, and the paella risotto cake reminded me of a crabcake, but with more delicate flavors. The only thing I could possibly fault would again be the presentation. The whole dish was basically orange/red, but I frankly didn't care because it was so good. Oh, and the wine pairing we did with this one was great. We had a Geode Chardonnay from Santa Barbara, which had great honey & tropical fruit notes that were a nice counterpoint to the rich spicing of the lobster cardinal.

Ok, finally about dessert. In the menu available online, they had listed a chili spiced chocolate torte with chocolate mint sauce and hazelnut gelato. It looks like they reworked that into a chocolate lava cake with hazelnut sauce and hazelnut gelato (~$10). Although I was looking forward to the chocolate/chile combination, the dessert we had was great (especially the hazelnut gelato).

The service from Alex was very attentive without being obtrusive or hover-y (not a word, I know). And when we had the one awkward moment of the evening (when he brought us the check!), he very graciously went off to investigate, coming back to let us know things were sorted out a few minutes later.

So the summary:
Very good food (though presentation slightly off), and very good service make Azul a place that we'll definitely go back to.

You know what we need? We need a good listing of Tucson Happy Hours in one place. Something that includes the hours and drink & food specials.

What do you think? Will you help me out?

Leave me a comment with your favorite place's HH deals and I'll start compiling them in one place. If you've know of a place that's supposed to be good, let me know and I'll check with them to get the scoop.

If we all work on this together we'll have a pretty good selection in no time!

I'll start:

Zona 78: 3-6pm, Monday - Saturday, domestic pints $2, craft pints $3, wines $5/glass, half off all appetizers

Rio Cafe: 4-6pm daily, half-priced apps, 10 wines for $5/glass, $4 wells, $1 off you-calls

Kingfisher: 4:30-6:30 M-F, $2 off wines-by-the-glass, draft beers, & wells, half-off deals on shrimp, clams & mussels, and seasonal oysters for $1/ea

Neo of Melaka: 4-7pm, $4.50 appetizers, sushi rolls under $5, $5 martinis, beer 'discounts'

NoRTH
•La Encantada: Monday-Friday, 3-6pm; 2995 E Skyline Dr; 520-299-1600 520-299-1600
•Select appetizers, wine by the glass, terzo or bottle 50% off; $4 well drinks; bottled & draft beers $2.50

Montana Avenue
•Monday-Friday, 3-6pm; 6390 E Grant Road; 520-298-2020 520-298-2020
•Select appetizers & wines by the glass, terzo & bottle 50% off; $2.50 Draft Beers & $4 Well Drinks.

Blanco
•La Encantada: 4-6pm, Daily; 2905 E Skyline Drive; 520-232-1007 520-232-1007
•All starters, Mexican beers, well drinks & house margaritas 50% off.

Zinburger
•Joesler Village: 4-6pm, Daily; 1865 E River Road; 520-299-7799 520-299-7799
•All sides, draft beer & wine 50% off; Plain & Simple Burger $6.

Wildflower
•Casas Adobes: 3-6pm, Daily; 7037 N Oracle Dr; 520-219-4230 520-219-4230
•Select appetizers, cocktails and wine 50% off; $2.50 Draft and Bottled Beers & $4 select Well Drinks.

Buddy's Grill (Grant & Swan):
3-6pm daily in the lounge only, 1/2 off apps, beer, wine, & liquor.

Ok, folks, what can you add?

-Kevin

Is it too early to be thinking about what you're going to be celebrating New Year's Eve in Tucson? No - start now! Whether you want to kick up your heels at the Cactus Moon's buffet, or get fondue at The Melting Pot, or have a swanky jazz night at JW Marriott Starr Pass, or any of many other options, you might want to start thinking about it soon.

This post is going to be a work in progress. I'll be trying to collect as much info as I can about fun food festivities about town. If you know of any (highbrow, lowbrow, midbrow - that's not really a word) shoot me an email at tucsonfooddude@gmail.com! Here's what I've got so far. I'll add more details as they become available, so check back!

Miguel's
$45 p/p for yummy-looking 3-course dinner (email me if you want the menu), DJ, and party favors. The photo above is Miguel's tequila selection. I hear it's one of the best in town...

Blanco
$35 for two all night (one appetizer, two entrees, two drinks, one dessert) Open New Year’s day 12 to 9pm

North
$55 regular price $35 early bird (4pm to 5:30pm) Open New Year’s day 12 to 12pm

Zinburger
$35 for two all night (one appetizer, two entrees, two drinks, one dessert) Open New Year’s day 12 to 9pm

Montana Ave
$45 regular price $35 early bird (4pm to 5:30pm) Open New Year’s day 12 to 9pm

Wildflower
$55 regular price $35 early bird (4pm to 5:30pm) Open New Year’s day 12 to 9pm

JW Marriott Starr Pass
$189 p/p 4-course dinner, champagne toast, multiple live jazz performers

Azul at Westin La Paloma
$65 p/p 4-course dinner including choice of garlic rosemary studded beef tenderloin, duck breast braciole, or pan seared cod loin in piquillo beurre blanc. Mmmm... The picture is from the Azul salumi bar and was taken by Robin Stancliff

What have I gotten myself into this time?

Matt Russell (@PRceo on Twitter) of AM1330 The Jolt's "On the Menu....Live!" invited me to be on his show this afternoon. I've never done radio. Why would I want to go live on the air and potentially humiliate myself?

Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I suppose. I'll be on 5:10 - 5:16. Check it out - it has the potential to be slightly disastrous!

And by the way, that lovely piece of clipart is supposed to be a microphone. It's not a large cold tablet being kicked for a field goal.

-Kevin