Jason Anderson is a smart architect and designer. He's also one of the owners of the new restaurant Union Public House at St. Philip's Plaza. These things appear to be working well together.

Consider, for instance, this stainless steel bar that was just installed at the restaurant. Anderson has said it will include both built-in hooks to hang purses and coats on and outlets where one can recharge computers and cell phones. Like I said, Anderson is a smart designer and he's designed a smart bar and restaurant.

Other interesting details abound as well, such as reupholstered furniture from a Golden Corral; tables made of old-growth Douglas fir and alligator juniper; vintage gas lamps; the list goes on.

After talking with Anderson you realize quickly that the man loves what he does. "I call this 'old school industrial Western chic,'" he says with a smile, before launching into a description of the design for the bathrooms, which he has also paid immaculate attention to.

I can't really explain what he's up to inside that building - a listing of the design ingredients he's employing will not give it proper treatment - so let's just say that it is modern and comfortable, and the kind of place I can imagine spending time in.

So the restaurant is going to look nice, and there's going to be lots of different beers served at a cool modern bar, and one of the guys from Maynard's Market and Kitchen has been brought on as well as other top talent. They've also hired Chris Thompson as general manager (he used to manage Putney's and several resorts).

When you put all of this together and add in some floor-to-ceiling wine racks, an outdoor fireplace, extended patios and probably the best inaugural menu I've ever laid eyes on, you start to get excited, which I am. We hear the opening is expected to happen in the last week of October. It will not be easy to wait that long.

We've just gotten word that The Home Den at 2607 N. First Ave. is reopening.

What more does one need to know? If you ever hung out at the Home Den you know what the place is about (read: hardcore boozing). Back in the day it was tradition to start out at the Golden Nugget next door until Charlie and Tim got you good and sauced, and then sort of meander back and forth until meandering became difficult, if not impossible.

One can only wonder what this version of the Home Den will be like, but we hear the grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 29. We'll let you know when we learn more.

Things you should not do:

1. Spend $28 at a bar, and not leave a tip.
2. Leave the note "You could stand to loose [sic] a few pounds" on the receipt.

Your bartender might post the receipt on the internet. Her friends might track down a ton of personal information about you. Dan Savage might post something about you. Be nice, people. Just because you work at Microsoft and have a girlfriend with a Kate Spade purse doesn't make you special.

Tina from OM Asian Kitchen shows us how to make one of their signature cocktails, The Bollywood.

• Aaron DeFeo is taking cocktails to brand new places.

DeFeo left Congress recently (we also hear his cocktail program at Congress has gone kaput, but haven’t been down there to check) and moved on to Casino Del Sol, where he’s been hard at work getting ready for the big opening of the casino’s new addition in November.

Aside from sort of reworking the casino’s cocktail program, DeFeo is also branching into the world of molecular mixology, a unique branch of cocktailing that focuses on presenting cocktail elements in unusual forms. DeFeo gives the example of adding dry ice to a bottle of Gran Marnier and floating the resulting gas on top of a drink, or creating inventive foams and other wild elements.

DeFeo says he’s worked up at least 30 original cocktails and “tweaked classics” for the casino, as well as barrel-aged drinks. He’s also working on drinks made chiefly from brown spirits such as whiskey and bourbon for the casino’s new steakhouse, P.Y. Steakhouse.

Oh, I loves me an ultra-early happy hour. There's something freeing about tying one on when the rest of the world is waking up, although nursing a hangover before the sun sets can be a drag.

But I digress. Shlomo and Vito’s New York Delicatessen at 2870 E. Skyline Drive now offers happy hour from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sundays, with $5 bloody Marys, mimosas and margaritas. The employee we talked to said there aren’t any food specials yet, but nobody said you had to eat.

Sam Hughes Place Championship Dining at 446 N. Campbell Ave. also offers early-morning drinking starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with a bloody-Mary bar and $3 mimosas. There’s also a pretty decent breakfast buffet available for $7.99.

Diablo’s Sports Bar and Grill over at 2545 S. Craycroft Road also offers breakfast starting at 9 a.m. on Sundays, and drink specials galore. An employee there says a bucket full of bottled beer goes for $15, and there are other specials on rum-and-cokes, bloody Marys and Budweiser bottles.

The Food Conspiracy Co-op will soon have its own signature beer thanks to the guys at Borderlands Brewing Company.

Coley Ward, the co-op's marketing manager, says Conspiracy Beer will be an American ale. They've already settled on a design for the label and are currently working on getting bottle caps and six-pack holders. It will be released at a tasting expected to happen in late October.

"I can guarantee it will be the most affordable beer we sell at the co-op," said Ward.

Ward says other signature co-op items are also in the works, but we've been sworn to secrecy for the time being. We'll have more on that in a week or so.

You've heard about the financial crisis in Europe? Turns out (as long as you ask brewers, and why would they lie?) quite a bit of the problem stemmed from people not going out for beer as often as they should:

Declining beer consumption may be contributing to the European debt crisis — at least according to a study commissioned by those who brew it.

The conclusion is not as preposterous as it might sound. Europeans are saving money by drinking at home rather than in pubs, which is costing jobs in the hospitality industry and depressing tax revenue, according to the study by Ernst & Young, which was paid for by the Brewers of Europe, an industry group.

The shift to home consumption has a disproportionate effect on unemployment, because 73 percent of jobs associated with the European beer industry are outside breweries. They are found instead in bars, hotels and restaurants.

‘‘Obviously, the crisis has had an effect,’’ said Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, secretary general of the Brewers of Europe.

Don't let it happen here. I know things are bad, but that doesn't mean we should retreat into our homes with a 24 pack of Miller High Life. Get out of the house, order a few FOR AMERICA.

Myles Stone said yesterday that the only thing between him and brewing that first batch of beer is getting the electricity turned on, which is expected to happen any day now. In the meantime, artist Joe Pagac is working on the sign for the front of the building while overseeing a mural being painted on the back of the building.

This work with Pagac is the beginning of a partnership between the brewery and local artists that I find fascinating. Tucson artists will design the labels and it has been said that there will be many partnerships between Borderlands and Dinnerware Artspace, which is located in the other half of the building at 119 E. Toole Ave.

Stone says he hopes to have a few kegs ready for the Tucson Beer Festival on Oct. 8. He also says work is underway on the "most kick ass beer garden in the Southwest."

Are you excited? I am.

BONUS CONTENT! Dan Gibson went on the Fook morning show on KFMA to talk about Borderlands and other new local breweries:

New Tucson Breweries! by Fook www.kfma.com

Skinny Girl drink was pulled off the shelves by Whole Foods this week. The increasingly popular "all natural margarita", created by Bethenny Frankel, (used-to-be real housewives of New York cast member), was found to have questionable ingredients.

While some people are whining that the culprit is just "caramel-coloring", Fox News claims the drink contains the preservative sodium benzoate, which apparently can become carcinogenic if you ingest it with Vitamin C. Good thing none of us take that vitamin.

I can't say I'm not a little bummed, having tried the drink before, I was definitely into a margarita that was less that your daily calorie intake. Oh well, guess it's back to good 'ol Jose.