Closed Except for the Fourth
Agustin Brasserie will be closed for the months of June and July. The restaurant in the Mercado San Agustin will re-open again on Aug. 1, with an expanded menu, new wine list, raw bar, and artisan cheeses. They will still have the 2nd annual July 4 Pig Roast and Festival presented by Mercado San Agustin and the Tucson Food Truck Coalition.
Beginning at 5 p.m. on July 4, guests can enjoy food from some of Tucson's finest food trucks, and a pig-roast presented by Agustin Brasserie will be offered in the courtyard at the Mercado, along with live music and cold drinks.
Wilko's Tiki Tuesdays
Here's another summer special to put on your radar: Tiki Tuesdays. Starr and Garrett of Wilko, 943 E. University Blvd., will be serving up "classic" tiki drinks from 6 p.m. till close. Drinks are bar master's choice, but they are happy to take requests for the spirit. From their Facebook page, "These drinks will be big, boozy, and over-the-top garnished, like your own personal mini rainforest." At $11, they sound like a good time to me.
A Change to Local Rewards Program
Starting on June 15, the "Tucson Originals Rewards Program" will be replaced with the new "Eat Local Tucson" program. If you belonged to the old program all your points and earnings will transfer, but the rewards program will no longer be affiliated with the Tucson Originals. For further information or to see all the restaurants participating, go to www.eatlocaltucson.org.
Summer Hunger
On a serious note, most people donate food during winter holidays, but it is summer vacations, when children are out of school, that put the most strain on families struggling to put enough food on the table.
New "Map the Meal Gap" data recently released showed that almost 1 in 5 Arizonans, or 1.2 million people, were food insecure in 2011. "Food Insecurity" refers to individuals not always knowing where their next meal will come from. This data helps to paint a picture of how many households are struggling with hunger, and highlights how they can be found in both our urban and rural communities.
Complete data, including interactive maps for Arizona and the entire country, can be found at www.feedingamerica.org/mapthegap and at www.azfoodbanks.org.
