Noshing Around

This Year in Food

THE YEAR IN FOOD

So, 2015 is amongst us. In the spirit of the new year, I thought I would take a page out of the VH1, E!, etc., playbook and do a good ol' "The Year That Was, Top Ten" list. Yes, it is very cliché, and completely subjective to my opinion, (limited) memory, etc. With that being properly prefaced, here are my top-10 Tucson food events of 2014:

#10 - Tucson Tamale rapid expansion. The quaint little tamale shop opened a location on the east and northwest side of town within the last year, at least tripling their masa-stuffed goodness reach in town.

#9 – Sanar Pop-up restaurants. Dave Valencia, Brian Smith, and Bri Grateron truly were on full "young guns" display this year with their 10 (plus) course menus.

#8 – Salsa Tequila Competition. So many innovative salsas and tequila drinks were had. Everyone was there. Bravo to the winners, but everyone in attendance on either side of the table had a blast.

#7 – Metzger roller coaster. One thing you have to say about Metzger Family Restaurants' year in 2014 is that it was an interesting roller coaster ride. We lost Jax and Abbey, but we gained Poppy and Jackson.

#6 – Greek Festival returns. We need this festival, and I was happy to see it return to full glory.

#5 – Downtown Kitchen and Cocktails, Across the Globe. Such a unique set of cities/regions visited, and executed perfectly. Plus, sitting down with Janos and eating dinner during Singapore week, would be #1 on my personal list any year.

#4 – Prep & Pastry opening. Who knew the humble Amelia Grey's tea room would morph into an immediate Tucson classic treasure so quickly? With rampant rumors of expansion in the future, P&P is here for the long haul.

#3 – Bianco Pizza comes to the Old Pueblo. Famous friends, rock star reputation, James Beard Award, and killer pizza. Of course we celebrated the arrival of Chris Bianco.

#2 – Tucson Weekly's 100 Essential Dishes. Whether you agreed with the list in part or not at all, this list gets people talking. More importantly, it opens a lot of eyes to dishes/restaurants that might be left unexperienced, and that would be a shame.

#1 – Viva La Local food festivals. Farmers market, meets food truck round up meets concert meets beer festival meets wine festival meets tons of local restaurant tents with food ... Oh yeah baby! This is what heaven looks like to foodies.

Happy 2015. any more food moments to come!