The taping will take place at 11 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 5, and will focus on the eatery's carne seca, the sun-dried beef cured in the swinging cage above the restaurant. The show will also touch on the restaurant's use of nopales—pads of the prickly pear cactus—to make nopalitos

Tucson is certainly starting to strut its stuff in the national food scene. Man V. Food was here at the end of September to visit Lindy's on Fourth and El Guero Canelo. What do we have to do to get Anthony Bourdain and Guy Fieri to stop by?

I challenge anyone to enter the new Hog Pit Smokehouse Bar and Grill in the old Taco Bron location at 6910 E. Tanque Verde Road without embarking on an eating binge that will leave you sauce-smothered and craving more of what comes out of the magical smoker.

I'm just going to come clean here with how this went down. I typically don't eat meat—I don't enjoy the flavor of it, so I typically order veggie options. Well, that changed this Wednesday when I stopped in the Hog Pit to check it out for the Noshing Around column, only to find myself devouring a pulled-pork sandwich in my car a half-hour later. I almost licked the to-go container too. I am not joking.

It's the smell. The place is absolutely permeated with a smoky scent that is unlike any I've encountered. I felt entranced, intoxicated and mesmerized. It was like one of those cartoons where a scent cloud in the shape of a hand grabs the character and drags him around like a ragdoll.

The pulled pork was amazing, and judging from the happy looks on the faces of the people mowing through racks of baby-back ribs, those aren't too bad either.

Check out their Facebook page here. Call 722-4302 for more info.

• A sample of produce from Sleeping Frog Farm.

The Yum! section comes out next week and in it there'll be all sorts of food stories, including one on Sleeping Frog Farms, a small organic operation not far from the Foothills Mall.

You'll find the whole story in Yum!, but what I'm here to rant about is the produce I recently bought from the farm. The picture above, which shows Sleeping Frog produce harvested earlier this year, is not of the bag of goodness I took home. The picture does, however, give you some idea of what caliber of color, taste and absolute freshness ended up in my frying pan on a recent night. A stirfry of purple peppers and basil mixed with multicolored eggplant was created and devoured. Taste buds danced in delight.

No vegetables I've tried in recent memory can hold a candle to what Sleeping Frog produces. Maybe that's why Janos Wilder and a number of local cooks are gaga over the veggies. Maybe that's why someone was heard telling the owners "Your parsley makes me want to sing!" on a recent morning.

Or maybe it's because Adam Valdivia and C.J. Marks are two knowledgeable, dedicated farmers with a wealth of gardening experience between them, and they absolutely love what they do. Marks and Valdivia are also two of the most hardworking, courteous and friendly folks I've run into in years, and I've got a feeling we'll be hearing more about them as their operation continues to grow.

The produce is available on Thursdays at the Santa Cruz River Farmers Market (corner of Speedway and Riverview boulevards) or Sundays at the market at St. Philip's Plaza (corner of East River Road and North Campbell Avenue). You can also check in with them at their Web site.

And don't forget to check out the story next week in the Weekly's Yum! section.

Here's your chance to launch a career in the sport of competitive eating! El Charro Cafe is looking for contestants in its first-ever tamale-eating competition.

Details from El Charro:

El Charro Café will host the 2009 World Championship Tamale Eating Contest at the inaugural Southern Arizona Food, Art and Wine Festival this Saturday, Oct. 17.

The object of the competition is to eat as many tamales as time will allow. The event, which is set to start at 1 p.m. at Rillito Raceway Park on First Avenue and River Road, is part of a full slate of events at the weekend festival put on by

I've got a free copy of the Field Guide to Candy to whoever e-mails the best candy recipe to noshing@tucsonweekly.com by Saturday, Oct. 31.

The book is a cornucopia of confection information, including recipes for everything from rice-crispy treats to chocolate-covered strawberries that look like they’re wearing tiny tuxedos. My personal favorite is the recipe for chocolate-dipped potato chips, the mere thought of which makes my love handles jiggle with giddy delight.

Entries will be judged by assistant editor Irene Messina and me, Adam Borowitz. I'll mail the book to the winner.

Good luck, and if this contest goes well, we'll be holding more in the near future.

Dan Multhup, director of operations for Metro Restaurants, said the real opening will take place no later than next weekend. So much for Malingering Monday.

Multhup went on to describe what's going on at the new Nimbus: 1,500 square feet of patio, more than 20 beers on tap, 130 more in bottles (most from craft breweries across the country), a menu of favorites from the Nimbus on 44th Street and new items by Metro Restaurants executive chef Michael Brown. A small test brewery and private tasting room have also been added.

"We’re not trying to duplicate what happens over there," Multhup said, refering to Nimbus' industrial warehouse headquarters. "We're going from just beer to a whole bar, from counter service to actual table service; we’re taking it to the next level."

Multhup said other ventures between Metro Restaurants and Nimbus are being considered, but wouldn't elaborate on the matter today.

Lindy's on Fourth, a burger joint at 431 N. Fourth Ave. that is co-owned by and named after former Che's Lounge doorman Lindy Reilly, will be the focus of an upcoming episode of the Travel Network's Man Vs. Food.

The taping is scheduled to take place Friday, Sept. 25.

"I almost cried," Reilly said about the news. "I have busted my ass for so long, so this kind of validation means so much. I’ve sacrificed my health, my marriage, so much. ... It’s kind of like watching your kid graduate, you know?"

The show's star, Adam Richman, will attempt to eat the O.M.F.G.—a three-pound monstrosity made up of 12 patties, 12 slices of cheese and all the fixings.

Reilly said anyone who eats the O.M.F.G in less than 20 minutes gets it for free. He said about one out of every 20 attempts is successful: "There's a high failure rate," he said, chuckling.

This whole thing is great news for several reasons: First off, Lindy is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, and although he's one of the place's owners, it's common to find him flipping burgers right alongside the other cooks. Down-to-earth dedication like that deserves notice, which he'll get plenty of, thanks to this development.

Second of all, this will put one of our hometown eateries on the national map, which is good for Lindy's—and good for our city as a whole.

Reilly, who was trying out a new burger topped with a green chile tamale when we called, said he'll be spending the next two weeks getting ready for the hordes that will descend on the tiny burger joint once the news gets out.

The show is scheduled to air on Wednesday, Dec. 2.

• Bacon Chocolate Cake Is Not Good For You

Articles like this little number on the Arizona Daily Star's Web site are strong evidence that Americans will not stop until every man, woman and child is morbidly obese or able to claim full blockage of at least one major artery. No big deal, though; it’s not like there’s an obesity epidemic plaguing our country or anything.

Not to belabor the issue, but I have to point out that the recipe for bacon pecan caramel ice cream balls at the end of the article tips the scales at 695 calories per serving, and 37 grams of fat. Nice.

If you’re reading this while preparing your “Obama’s Health Care Plan Is Gonna Kill My Grandma” placard for the next town hall meeting, think about making another one that says something akin to “Maybe We Wouldn’t Need to Be Worrying So Much About Healthcare If We’d Exercise and Stop Eating Bacon-Ice Cream Sundaes.” Fair is fair.

Nimbus Brewery is joining up with Metro Restaurants to open a new brewpub on Tucson’s eastside.

The new pub and eatery will occupy what is currently Ristorante Italia at 6464 E. Tanque Verde Road, according to a press release put out by Dan Multhup, director of operations for Metro Restaurants. Ristorante Italia will close Saturday, July 18, with construction on the new restaurant beginning Monday, July 20.

This is the second time this year that Nimbus man James Counts has attempted to join up with another restaurateur to expand the reach of his brewery. Counts had planned to open a sandwich joint and bar with Jay Tolkoff — the former owner of PJ’s Subs and current owner of the T6 Filling Station at 2500 E. Sixth St. — but backed out after the two ran into irreconcilable differences.

Counts has tasked Michael Brown, Metro Restaurants' corporate chef, with creating a menu that will complement his array of popular beers. The design of the new eatery’s interior is being left up to interior designer Jennifer Rothman Teufel and local artist Daniel Martin Diaz.

Operations in the huge 44th Street warehouse that is Nimbus headquarters will not be affected.

Here’s the mini-novel of a press release with more details: