Meet The Judges 

The 9th Annual Tucson Culinary Festival, sponsored by the Tucson Originals restaurant group, will be held this October 27th through 30th. In this issue we'll look briefly at the judges for this year's events.

 

Dale DeGroff aka "King Cocktail" brings over 40 years of bartending experience in New York City, including a tenure at the world famous Rainbow Room. DeGroff is the author of "The Essential Cocktail" and "The Craft of the Cocktail" (Random House Books), and winner of: the 2009 James Beard Award, 2009 Nightclub & Bar Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, Tales of the Cocktail Helen David Award, and Cheers Innovator of the Year Award. DeGroff has also appeared on the Rachel Maddow show, Anthony Bourdain, Bobby Flay, Martha Stewart, B Smith, and numerous morning news shows. He is also the founding president of The Museum of the American Cocktail, an extraordinary exhibit of 200 years of the American Cocktail, offering classes in mixology hosted by top experts from around the world.

 

Meridith May, Publisher and Executive Editor of The Tasting Panel magazine. Meridith joined the magazine in 2000 as Senior Editor and advanced to Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. She rebuilt the look and image of the magazine and was responsible for a significant increase in circulation and readership.

Meridith's background in radio (KIIS-FM & KLSX Los Angeles/ KEYT Santa Barbara) and newspaper ( Santa Barbara News Press), combined with her extensive knowledge of food and wine, gives her an edge in understanding the changing trends of the industry.

In April of 2007, Meridith became co-owner of the newly rebranded THE TASTING PANEL magazine with Anthony Dias Blue. 

 

Tucson's own Jennifer English, a James Beard Award winner and KVOA 4 contributor, brings local knowledge of Tucson cuisine and personalities to the judging panel. Jennifer is known for her fast wit, extensive community involvement, and her passion for her pugs Beau Regards & Maurice.

 

Barbara Fairchild, former editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit magazine and now a freelance writer, had been scheduled to appear, has canceled due to travel conflicts. I'll post an update as soon as I find out who her replacement is.

Florizona, 5151 S Country Club (Lazydays RV Campground), 520-240-6433 

The Polish Cottage, 4520 E Broadway, 520-891-1244, on 9/23, see On The Menu for notes on menu

Casa Sanchez, 5601 E 22nd, recently 

Toni's Family Restaurant, 6135 E 22nd, recently

TCC patio - photo courtesy of TCC

Catching up with...Jessica Kraus of Planet of the Crepes 

While visiting the Tucson Farmers' Market at Jesse Owens Park last Friday (September 23), I had a chance to talk with Jessica Kraus, proprietor of the well known food truck Planet of the Crepes. Jessica has to be one of the hardest working persons I'm acquainted with. If you follow her on Twitter (@crepestucson) and Facebook, you know that she is crisscrossing the city on most days, with kitchen in tow, heading to or from a farmers' market, 2nd Saturday Downtown, to Mt. Lemmon in the summers, and or posting up at Camino Principal and Tanque Verde during the winters. Between preparing customer orders, Jessica was gracious enough to answer a few questions:

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On The Menu

This week we feature a special menu from the "downtowns around the globe" series at DOWNTOWN Kitchen + Cocktails, as well as a look at the menu at the newly opened The Polish Cottage.

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Upcoming Events

 Culinary, Restaurant & Food Festivals in Tucson & Southern AZ