The Sonoran Desert is the thread that binds Tucson, in all of its enchantment, together. Pops of color from cactus blooms, ingredients plucked from the desert, and clarity of vision from the crisp desert air: they’re all part of the city’s deeply felt sense of place.
Read MoreTucson is emerging as one of the most creative culinary cities in the U.S. following its designation as a UNESCO Capital of Gastronomy in 2016.
Read MoreIn 2015, Tucson was designated a World City of Gastronomy by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), becoming the first city in the United States to receive the designation. How did it earn such an honor?
Read MoreWhen UNESCO named Tucson, Arizona a World City of Gastronomy in Dec. 2015, the first U.S. city so named, it put this small desert city on the global map. It also gave a boost to one of its top chefs, Janos Wilder.
Read MoreWhen Tucson was named a City of Gastronomy in December 2015 — the first in the United States — it was an opportunity to introduce to foodies ingredients and cooking techniques unique to the Old Pueblo.
Read MoreTo learn a city’s best dishes, you need a local guide. The Arizona Office of Tourism and the Arizona Restaurant Association recently launched website Expedition Foodie to help out-of-towners plan their culinary adventure in Arizona.
Read MoreThis Arizona hotspot, designated a Unesco ‘world city of gastronomy’, is fast becoming an essential foodie destination with its unique Baja Arizona and Sonoran Mexican cuisines, and unusual desert-grown ingredients.
Read MoreAs it basks in the light of international recognition, Tucson has upped its game in the culinary world.
Being labeled North America’s first “City of Gastronomy” by UNESCO in December 2015 not only created pressure to live up to the hype, but it also increased competition between local chefs.
Read MoreEver since Tucson became the first city in the North America to be designated a World City of Gastronomy by UNESCO, the world has taken notice of how much this southern Arizona town has to offer in terms of food, flavors, dining, and culinary history.
Read MoreIn 2015 Tucson joined a pretty prestigious list of more than a dozen cities from around the world to become the only place in the U.S. designated a “City of Gastronomy” by UNESCO.
Read MoreSome people eat just to live. For others, colloquially known as foodies, eating is the reason to live. Foodies’ lives are enriched by the act of eating great food. Some love to cook gourmet meals, while others like to go to sit-down restaurants and have gourmet meals prepared for them.
Read MoreWhoa. Hold on there, partner. Them’s fightin’ words. Who would dare designate dusty, sleepy Tucson as the best place to eat in Arizona over Phoenix, the state’s largest city and capital? How could it be better than the budding, quirky culinary community in Flagstaff, too?
Read MoreORTILLA FLAT, Ariz. — It’s just a roadside burger joint, but it may have the most expensive wallpaper in America.
Every wall in this rural restaurant at a former stagecoach stop in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains is plastered with American bills. They range from $1 to $20 and new bills get stapled to the walls nearly every day.
Read MoreImagine walking into a market with shelves stocked full of food products labeled as made in Baja Arizona. There’d be packages of velvet mesquite pod flour, beer made with White Sonora wheat, whiskey made with barley malted over mesquite wood smoke, sourdough bread made with heritage grains, olive oil smoked with pecan wood, and soup mixes with dried cholla cactus flower buds and tepary beans.
Read MoreTucson, Arizona is host to a rich agricultural history as well as a rapidly expanding local culinary scene, helping earn the city of more than half a million people the coveted title of UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2015. But what makes Tucson unique is how their thriving food scene came to be—by leveraging the efforts and innovation of community members from all parts of the food system and building from the ground up.
Read MoreTUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Over 100,000 people are expected this weekend at a uniquely Tucson food and folk festival known for its wide range of international cuisine, art and performances.
Tucson Meet Yourself was founded in 1974 and has grown so much that it’s at about capacity at its downtown location. It started Friday and runs through Sunday.
Read MoreThe City of Gastronomy designation shines a new light on Tucson’s food scene. Independently owned food businesses are the largest-growing sector in Tucson’s economy, from food trucks to independent restaurants to salsa makers. The food industry accounts for 14 percent of all jobs in the city. But launching a successful food business takes more than just a good recipe, especially for low-income entrepreneurs.
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Read More“To an outsider, Tucson’s star turn may be a bit of a head scratcher,” states yesterday’s New York Times feature “Tucson Becomes an Unlikely Food Star.”
It’s a conversation I’ve had countless times regarding the UNESCO designation, which many mistakenly believe is primarily tied to Tucson’s restaurant scene. That’s not to say we don’t have amazing chefs and restaurants doing great things. It’s just a lot more comprehensive than that.
Read More“Coaxing a vibrant food culture from this land of heat and cactuses an hour’s drive north of the Mexican border seems an exhausting and impossible quest. But it’s never a good idea to underestimate a desert rat. Tucson, it turns out, is a muscular food town,” says the New York Times in another disbelieving article about Tucson being named a Unesco City of Gastronomy.
También. Cactus?
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