Noshing Around: Tucson dining and beyond

SWF Seeks Apple Pie for Memorable Encounter by Karyn Zoldan

Practically all my life I have been searching for apple pie like my bubbie (grandmother) used to make.

I don’t know what made that apple pie so memorable. Both my brother and I have spent our adult lives searching for this apple pie in more modern and glorious settings to no avail. In my grandmother’s capable and experienced hands, she mixed and kneaded the dough laying it neatly in a tin pie pan cutting off the extra.

Maybe apples tasted better than today and perhaps that was the key to apple pie perfection?

Peeled and sliced apples were mixed with just the right amounts of sugar and cinnamon and just maybe a squirt of lemon juice. Since we kept kosher and the separation of meat and dairy ruled, no butter or dairy products were used in the pie’s preparation. Then another crust covered the apples and a fork was used to seal the crust as well as to prick holes in the top crust so it could breathe and steam the apples.

One day I found the recipe and it was just a list of ingredients – flour, Crisco, water, apples, sugar, and cinnamon. Typical of my grandmother and mother’s fashion, there were no amounts listed. So what was the secret?

Today I ate lunch at the B-Line on 4^th Avenue in Tucson and my friend and I shared the apple pie with a teaspoonful of real whipped cream. This slice of pie heaven was the closest I’ve ever come to bubbie’s apple pie.

Some apple pies drown in cloying sweetness but the B-Line’s version lets the taste of crisp apples shine through. And the crust held its heavenly own. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being bubbie’s apple pie – this was an 8. Since most apple pie attempts have never surpassed a 5, the apple pie buck has just stopped here at B-Line.

The B-Line is located at 621 N. 4^th Avenue; Tucson, (520) 882-7575.

10 Tucson Restaurants that I Frequently Patronize by Karyn Zoldan

Here are some of my favorite everyday Tucson restaurants that I enjoy and hope to keep enjoying through 2005.

Most restaurants don’t have very good coffee but the Cup Café at Hotel Congress serves Arbuckle Coffee and really good omelets and other egg dishes. If you’re not too hungry the slice of bread with an egg in the middle satisfies.

Beyond Bread also has a $3.75 breakfast before 10 a.m. where you can get an egg sandwich on artisan bread or an omelet served with potato pancakes and more delicious bread. I usually ask them to omit the potatoes and I’m still more than satisfied. Coffee is unlimited and decent.

For a country Japanese meal I go to Yoshimatsu. I so enjoy their ginger tofu bento box ($6.50) served with brown rice and other vegetable sides. Sometimes I order a Japanese beer or glass of plum wine. One of these days I'm going to try their Japanese pizza.

Sushi Ten also has a ginger tofu bento box of sorts but it’s different yet still delicious. I think the tofu is more fried at Sushi Ten. Either way, it’s a good way to eat more tofu but I wish Sushi Ten served brown rice, the low glycemic rice.

Once some guy wrote to me thru my Tucson Weekly address and we got into a discussion about Mexican restaurants. Apparently he travels to Tucson on business and likes the Mexican variety. Being from Chicago, he praised Rocco’s for as good as it gets Chicago-style pizza. I don’t eat pizza too often but one of my former East Coast friends raves about Rocco's pizza and I've watched her devour an entire pie. I have enjoyed their antipasto salad and a side of meatballs washed down by cheap Chianti on many occasions.

In 2005 I’m going to try to drink more tea and so I’ve started going to Seven Cups. I think I’ll work my way thru the menu. It’s a bit pricey for a pot of tea but the setting is restful as long as people don’t talk on their cell phones.

My favorite coffee joint is Raging Sage. Roger Sliker and family do it right from the free trade expertly roasted coffee to the creative menu of pastries. Nobody does a scone better than Raging Sage. My only wish is to come further east.

Although I think most of McMahon’s restaurants are pretty mundane, I do like Firecracker for happy hour. They do Pacific Rim fairly well and with half-priced appetizers and $1 or $2 off drinks, it’s a steal of a deal. Bamboo Club has a similar offer but sometimes going to Park Place is a hassle and I prefer the intimacy of Firecracker to the stupendous din of Bamboo Club.

Make a bee line to the B-Line on 4^th Avenue. It’s a neighborhood kind of place that I wish were in my neighborhood. When my food writer friend was visiting from Boston we ended up at B-Line and she raved, no make that RAVED about their cherry pie. Everything is priced just right-on. My favorite is the tortilla soup with half tuna salad sandwich ($6.50) and a glass of good wine. I think Food TV’s Rachel Ray liked their cherry pies too.

Back to my neighborhood or near enough and back to Feast. I haven’t gone that much until recently and I like it and want to go more often and maybe it can be my hangout of sorts where I can just go alone sometime, sit at the captain’s table and enjoy a comfortable dinner or a beautiful golden setting. Their new addition was definitely worth waiting for.

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Charity Begins at Home with Tucson Originals by Karyn Zoldan

Having lived in Tucson for slightly over four years, I am still amazed at how altruistic the community is. Here’s an example of what the independent restaurant association contributed:

What Primavera Cooked - 2004

The third annual summer Primavera Cooks grossed $75,084 and netted over $51,000. Funds were raised by 13 sponsors, 44 apprentice chefs, 18 auction winners, wine sales, and over 400 diners. The five-month series of culinary events were hosted by 11 Tucson Originals independently-owned restaurants: Janos, Café Terra Cotta, Feast, Cuvee, Fuego, Bistro Zin, Pastiche, The Grill at Hacienda del Sol, Kingfisher, and Jonathan’s Cork. The chef of each restaurant collaborated with apprentice chefs from the community to create a menu, prepare, and execute 11 memorable gourmet wine-paired dinners. Apprentice chefs paid $175 and diners $100.

This money can do so much for the homeless, impoverished, and working poor community served by Primavera Foundation. For example: Primavera can operate the Casa Paloma Women’s Center, providing drop-in emergency relief for 20-40 unaccompanied homeless women, and temporary housing for nine women, for five months!
OR
Primavera can cover the cost for 50 men to receive emergency shelter services including sleeping accommodations, food, and case management for a 90-day period at the Men’s Emergency Shelter.
OR
Primavera can run a six-person sheltered, supervised, work crew with on the job training and employment for six months through Primavera Works.

The Primavera Foundation promotes economic and social justice while working to build a future in which all people are assured basic human rights, a livable income, and safe, affordable housing. The Foundation does this through community education and advocacy while providing a continuum of services that address homelessness and poverty.

Eat, Drink and Be Happy Hour

A short guide to Tucson happy hours

I love happy hour: After being slumped over a keyboard trying to surf for a living, I yearn to share fabulous food and drink at affordable prices with good friends. It’s that time of day when I want to relish in my accomplishments or file away failures. Happy hour bridges the joys of cocktails with promising value-driven fare consumed in lieu of a traditional dinner.

Fortunately, Tucson’s cup runs over with happy hours. You can still find free food at Kon Tiki and Macayo’s but my angle is on dining well beyond buffalo wings, crunchy bar mix and institutional cheese sauce from a giant tub. Ambience, attentiveness, alcohol and action or lack of, are duly noted.

Heart Five has the least amount of curbside appeal but don’t let that stop you. Once inside, H5 radiates seduction with an imposing bar and a rope-lit dazzling display of liquor bottles ready for action. Gauzy strips of cloth and butterfly mobiles languish in the air as Norah Jones croons in the background. Chef Joseph Sotomayor, formerly of Lumé Trattoria and the Arizona Inn, prepares an extensive selection of $5 plates of gourmet food like ceviche served in a martini glass and the sublime Portobello panini. As bartender Eric recited the drink specials, he introduced us to some of the regulars. I thoroughly welcomed a soothing sour apple martini while Ginger inhaled her cosmopolitan and then a martini for a grand total of $19.

Heart Five - 61 E. Congress, 903-0911, weekdays 4-8 p.m.

Bob McMahon reigns as the unequivocal king of happy hours. Except for Smokin’, the Metro Restaurant Group offers happy hours everyday from 4-7 p.m. McMahon claims that he was first to start the half-priced appetizer trend about five years ago. He initially ran it as a special but the demand became so great, he continues to satisfy customer expectations.

I’m cannot afford to eat dinner at McMahon’s Steak House, so we tried it for happy hour instead. M&M, Ginger and I each ordered an appetizer: Juicy shrimp resembled a ballet of swans dancing over a chilled goblet filled with horseradish spiked cocktail sauce. Fire-roasted chiles stuffed with goat cheese and cilantro mirrored sophisticated chile rellenos. Stuffed shrimp wrapped in smoky bacon served with sauce remoulade and the ahi carpaccio ranked as favorites. We each savored a glass of buttery house chardonnay. At 6:55 p.m., our server Helen asked if we wanted anything else because the Cinderella hour of eating-and-drinking-for-less was ending. Now that’s service worth writing about! We split $41.80 four ways and left feeling pampered.

No one wanted beef or we could’ve savored baby beef Wellington for $5. And for you true epicureans, foie gras is on the appetizer menu and escargot and caviar will be added soon.

McMahon’s Steak House - 2959 N. Swan Road, 327-2333

Gee’s Garden Bistro really needs signage facing busy Alvernon Way alerting, “Half-priced appetizers and drinks every day from 4-6 p.m.” Although a parade of people came and went with takeout orders, we had the bar to ourselves. Gee’s could be the perfect solution for couples who go out to eat but fail to communicate. With two televisions at the bar, each with its own remote, they can have it all over BBQ spareribs and spring rolls. We watched the Food Network and learned how to make roasted plantain pie while eating exquisitely fried calamari with sea salt and spicy drums of heaven, washed down with a large bottle of Sapporo beer ($9.35 total). Try a Sex on the Beach or ripe mai tai for a change of pace.

Gee’s Garden Bistro - 1145 N. Alvernon Way, 325-5353

Kingfisher Bar and Grill is about as close as you’re ever going to get to a Tucson Cheers. Show up three times in a row and the bartender will know your name and preferences in the clubby and intimate bar. A few of the seafood appetizers are half-priced, Pacific Northwest oysters are a buck plus $2 discounts on beer, wine, and well drinks. We opted for a half-dozen chilled and grilled Gulf shrimp with condiments and a bowl of steamed mussels in Vietnamese red chile fish broth. The former was good but the latter swept my taste buds away on an ambrosial wave. Herb bread nicely soaked up the sensual juices. Include a sunshine wheat beer with lemon slice and glass of chardonnay for $18.50.

Kingfisher Bar and Grill - 2564 E. Grant Road, 323-7739, weekdays 4:30-6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.-midnight

Sakura on Oracle proved to be the liveliest venue with plenty of women or men with their daughters (sic). The huge room with a round bar that opened to the patio boasted big televisions screens and a personable bartender. Here weekdays between 4 to 7 p.m. a dozen half-priced appetizers and drink specials prevail. We ate an ample portion of vegetable tempura and a less than satisfying salmon wheel (thinly sliced smoked wild salmon stuffed with fly fish caviar, cream cheese and capers) along with a pink martini for me and a dirty one with extra olives for Ginger totaling $16.

Sakura Teppan Steak and Sushi West - 6091 N. Oracle Road, 297-5555

Sakura Teppan Steak and Sushi - 6534 E. Tanque Verde Road, 298-7777

Honorable mention also goes to busy Bamboo Club with a special discounted appetizer menu (try the wonton nachos and grilled chicken with dipping sauces) and $1 off martinis and mixed drinks. The miniscule bar at the downtown El Charro Café already teems at the rafters with post-work revelers and local artists. A selection of discounted appetizers (the cheese crisp practically floats off the plate) and half-priced drinks are renowned. Only on Fridays, La Cocina hosts an all-you-can-eat fajita or enchilada buffet complemented by $2.50 margaritas in the courtyard of the Old Town Artisans. The action begins at 3 p.m. and remains open until restaurant employees begin to outnumber the customers.