At SAVOR this year, Tucson’s living food heritage was celebrated through flavor, tradition, and community, with GAP Ministries named the People’s Choice Heritage Dish winner for their thoughtfully crafted birria tamale and mesquite-prickly pear dessert.
Jonathan Mabry, Ph.D. has been hired to be the first Executive Director of Tucson City of Gastronomy, and the board has elected new officers. The non-profit took these steps to build upon its progress in developing programs, conducting outreach, and exchanging best practices with other members of the Creative Cities Network.
Here is quick guide to a few organizations that work towards a strong Tucson food system!
Tucson City of Gastronomy sent Chefs Erika Bostick (Seis Kitchen) and Devon Sanner (The Carriage House) along with Felipe Garcia (Visit Tucson) to Macao, China to represent Tucson in the International Gastronomy Forum 2019 in January. Erika presented on the main stage, cooking for chefs from our sister cities of gastronomy from around the world! We asked our Tucson delegation to share photos and anecdotes from their trip to the other side of the world!
Most people who live here have a favorite annual food or drink festival they always look forward to, such as the long-running Tucson Meet Yourself (since 1974), Tucson Greek Festival (since 1975), and Great Tucson Beer Festival (since 1986). But, based on a recent inventory conducted by the non-profit Tucson City of Gastronomy, our options are expanding fast.
Author Gary Nabhan has announced the release of his two newly published books, Food from the Radical Center and Mesquite: An Arboreal Love Affair, which will be released this September of 2018. We have a exclusive sneak peak into the experiences and history of mesquite…
Don Guerra is the owner and Master Baker of Barrio Bread, and represented Tucson as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy at the Days of Bread Festival. His work to build Barrio Bread, promote Tucson’s local food movement, utilize heritage grains, and teach in a variety of contexts has earned him a reputation as an elite baker, educator, and promoter of community collaboration. Don has also worked with bakers from around the world as he explores the complexities of baking world-class bread. He is recognized as one of the top ten artisan bakers in America.
We asked Don to reflect on a few questions about his experience…
