Have you heard the one about the African elephant, squirrel monkey, giraffe, flamingo, white rhino, and anteater that walk into a bar? A wild time was had by all {enter rim shot here}.

But in this case, premium wine is the foundation of the festivities, and Rancho Rossa Vineyards has just released a wine paying tribute to these six animals to benefit the Reid Park Zoo.

In this week’s Inside Tucson Business, I tell the story behind this Bordeaux blend and reveal which of the six animals I think I personally relate to the most.

Check out my story here and let me know your thoughts!

If you think Sonoran Restaurant Week is only about Mexican food, you may do a double take when you see dishes inspired by Moroccan, Jamaican, French, and Indonesian traditions on display during the annual event.

But fret not, enchilada enthusiasts. As I report in this week’s Inside Tucson Business, classic Sonoran cuisine will take center stage at several of the eateries participating in the September 10-19 fete. But many others will be serving up dishes drawn from other cultures, and that squares nicely with the spirit of the week.

Check out my story here and let me know your thoughts!

On my inaugural visit to The Landing last week, the sister restaurant of the nautical-themed Fini’s Landing, it was clear that Chef Ryan Jones values his home on the range as much as his time on the dock of the bay.

In this week’s Inside Tucson Business, I tell a story about the special place he’s carved out for beef in this sustainable seafood restaurant, with a new Burger of the Week series that features a rotation of some, shall I say, distinctly different selections with a shelf life of seven days.

Check out my story here and let me know your thoughts!

In preparation for my 10th year as a judge at the Nugget Rib Cookoff, dubbed the “Best BBQ Festival” in the nation by USA Today, I sat down with decorated Tucson pit master Brandi Romero as she shared her strategy for wowing judges at similar competitions.

What’s required to score big points in appearance, texture, and taste categories? What should competitors be thinking about if they want to bring home the hardware? It’s all revealed in this week’s Inside Tucson Business.

Check out my story here and let me know your thoughts!

It’s the day over which hop fans like myself swoon, and I’m pleased to report that we’re one week away from National IPA Day on August 5!

According to her great, great nephew, Monica Flin likely spent the first summer at her new El Charro Café making pots of stew and tortillas to feed local construction workers. That was 99 years ago, and summer survival continues to be the hallmark of the season at each of El Charro’s Tucson locations.

In this week’s Inside Tucson Business, I tell a story about how this “fierce and feisty frontier woman” reflected the principles of service, family, and togetherness, and how they continue to guide this local restaurant’s work in getting us all through another long Tucson summer.

Check out my story here and let me know your thoughts!

Raw gets rad when a restaurant has a full-time fish monger/butcher and three employees dedicated exclusively to its raw bar.

But don’t expect to find dishes there associated with a conventional raw bar. I’m talking crudo, a chef-driven program which elevates the raw foods conversation.

In this week’s Tucson Weekly and Inside Tucson Business, I caught up with Chef Kyle Nottingham to get the deets on his crudo at Flora’s Market Run.

Check out my story here and let me know your thoughts!

All it took to connect the Rillito River to the Mediterranean Sea was a shared respect for Old World wisdom and an abiding love of hometown, plus a little inspiration from Uncle Joe.

In this week’s Tucson Weekly and Inside Tucson Business, I reveal the story behind this confluence of culinary cultures now on display at Zio Peppe, a new restaurant co-owned by Tucson natives and longtime chefs Mat Cable and Devon Sanner. The name of the eatery was inspired by Cable’s Uncle Joe, Zio Peppe in Italian, who opened Tucson’s first Sicilian pizzeria four decades ago.

Check out my story here and let me know your thoughts!

It’s been described as a banh mi boom when an information technology executive partnered with a real estate professional last fall to respond to a paucity of local purveyors of Vietnam’s street food staple.

While digging into the story for this week’s Inside Tucson Business, I sat down with Don Vongtheung to learn what’s behind the buzz, not only around the banh mi sandwich in general but around his hot new restaurant Banhdicted.

Check out my story here and let me know your thoughts!

When my cocktail arrived with a corked ampoule of liquor fastened to the glass with a miniature clothespin, I knew there had to be a story behind this spirit riding side-saddle.

In this week’s Inside Tucson Business, I explore the cocktail culture at downtown Tucson’s hot new restaurant, El Mezquite Grill & Taqueria, and the central role that clothespins, teapots, and Mayan totems play in that story.

What?!

Check out my story here and let me know your thoughts!