I realize that this may be considered cheating by some blogging purists, but I'm sick. Below you'll find the press release that I just received about Arizona Restaurant Week coming up here very soon. It's a great time to get out and try some of the places you might not otherwise. I'm really looking forward to it!

So enjoy the press release, and contact the folks listed if you have any questions!

-Kevin (TFD)

Arizona Restaurant Week to Showcase Tucson Restaurants

Tucson, Ariz. (September 10, 2009) – The many celebrated chefs and restaurateurs in Tucson are anticipating the Old Pueblo’s debut in the second annual Arizona Restaurant Week.

The eight-day culinary event, which runs from September 19 through September 26, 2009, is designed to spotlight the diverse culinary scene throughout the state of Arizona. Each restaurant will offer a three-course dinner menu of signature dishes for $29 per person, excluding beverages, tax and gratuity. In addition, a few restaurants will be offering three courses for two diners for $29. Dining enthusiasts can try a new restaurant they otherwise might not be able to afford or visit their favorites.

Over 30 restaurants are participating in the Tucson market serving a plethora of signature dishes, like Pastiche Modern Eatery’s Baked Mac and Cheese or NoRTH’s Flank Steak with Warm Tuscan Kale dishes, with the aim of attracting both new guests and frequent diners.

However, several restaurants are taking a more adventurous approach to the prix-fixe menu. At the midtown gem, Feast, Chef and Owner Doug Levy will offer his entire menu of international flair during the acclaimed Restaurant Week. Guests can favorably choose any appetizer, entrée and dessert combination to create their own three-course dinner.

Or at Jax Kitchen two diners can each enjoy a three-course dinner for $29. The menu of classic comfort foods features a variety of seasonally-fresh salads and sandwiches with Jax’s signature baked cookies and bourbon-spiked milk for dessert.

Sullivan’s Steakhouse changes up their traditional chop shop menu of family-style side dishes for Arizona Restaurant Week. The modern steakhouse will offer both asparagus and mashed potatoes – normally at an additional cost – with its entrées of either steak, chicken, salmon, or crab-stuffed shrimp, as the second course of the prix-fixe menu.

The entire list of participating restaurants, prix-fixe menus and links to book online reservations can be found at www.ArizonaRestaurantWeek.com. Restaurant Week updates can also be found on Twitter @azrestaurantwk.

Advanced reservations are encouraged during Arizona Restaurant Week, as dining availabilities will fill up quickly through the eight-day event.

For more information contact Sara Anderson, marketing and events manager of the Arizona Restaurant Association, at 602.307.9134.

Arizona Restaurant Week is an exciting event developed to showcase the outstanding culinary scene throughout the state of Arizona. Playing off huge success in 2008, Arizona Restaurant Week will include both the Phoenix Metro and Tucson markets in 2009. The Arizona Restaurant Association, in partnership with Absolut Vodka, US Foods, Crescent Crown Distributing, Coca-Cola, Brown-Forman Wines, The Scottsdale Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, azcentral.com, The Arizona Republic, Phoenix Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, 99.9 KEZ, Phoenix Magazine, OpenTable, Fox Restaurant Concepts, Olson Communications, Many Hats Advertising, Tucson Newspapers, Tucson Lifestyle, KVOA TV, The Mountain, KNST Radio, have come together to create this event, which will showcase Arizona as a premier dining destination for food lovers.

Arizona Restaurant Association is dedicated to educating Arizona’s restaurant industry as the leading resource for information regarding the industry’s latest trends, management techniques and regulations. The Arizona Restaurant Association serves as the legislative liaison for Arizona’s restaurants representing the interests of more than 11,000 food service establishments at the state legislature, county governments and municipalities.

Contact:
Cyndy Neighbors
Many Hats Advertising
520.325.0940
cneighbors@manyhatsads.com

Sara Anderson
Arizona Restaurant Association
602.307.9134
sara@azrestaurant.org

I didn't see this coming at all. I stayed home from work today with stomach issues (sorry if that counts as TMI), and haven't really eaten much all day. As I was getting ready for bed, I was overwhelmed with the desire to eat pepper (as in salt and ___). I went into the cupboard and pulled out my tellicherry peppercorns from the nice folks at Flavorbank. But I also had a peppercorn mixture (also from Flavorbank) in there as well. What to do?

Well, I'm not one to ignore my body - figuring it knows what it needs a whole lot better than my conscious mind. But do I grind the pepper into my hand? Do I mix some with water and drink it? Do I whip up a hot buttered piece of peppertoast?*

After 15 seconds of deliberations, I take a Madagascar pink peppercorn and pop the whole thing in my mouth. I let it roll around for a bit, kind of smacking my lips on it a little before I bite into is and let it sit on my tongue. It's got a papery skin that comes off pretty easily, with a light crunchy interior. The flavor is mild- not too much like typical ground black pepper. It's almost floral, with a hint of sweetness before a very soft pepper bite hits the back of the throat. And then I swallow it on down.

I was sold. I pulled out one of each kind of peppercorn and did the same thing with each of them. I was surprised by how different they all were. I mean, they were all similar in that they tasted like pepper, but the differences in their flavors and textures was a lot more than I expected. Here's a quick rundown of the different peppercorns in the order that I tried them.

Madagascar pink - see above

Muntok white - flavor stronger than the pink, with almost a licorice flavor to it. The pepper flavor was a little more concentrated than I expected.

Brazilian green - another one with a papery outer skin and lighter inside. It was a little brighter than your typical black pepper - not a huge amount of spice but some zip to it nonetheless.

Lampong black - this is probably what I think of when I think of black pepper. Nice spiciness and aroma before I broke it open.

Tellicherry black - highly textured, dense, and tough with a very concentrated pepper flavor and a lot of heat. Almost a smokiness to it. It started to make my tongue numb before I bit into it.

There's nothing groundbreaking here, but I was surprised by just how different all of these were, while they were also all immediately identifiable as being "pepper". Revisiting something that I thought of as so ordinary turned out to be far from it. Now whether or not they help my stomach remains to be seen.

Oh, you should totally click on the picture up at the top of this post. I'm amazed at what my camera can do sometimes.

-Kevin (TFD)
*There's no such thing as peppertoast.
Or is there...