After a year of construction, Union Public House is officially open at St. Philip's Plaza. The restaurant held its first event on Halloween and officially opened to the public Tuesday.

It occurs to me that many might be sick of me going on and on about how great this new restaurant will be, so I'll stop short of doing the same this time. But I am looking forward to hearing back from those of you who get the chance to eat there soon.

You can check out the menu over here.

The new store Alfonso Gourmet Olive Oil and Balsamics is open. It's located at St. Philip's Plaza and, as you have likely figured out, sells a large selection of fine olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

What makes this store special, however, is how you get to sample the wares before you buy. Owner Tom Alfonso says the store is set up with small vats of oil that allow for tasting. This is apparently de rigueur at fine olive-oil stores across the world, but I'm pretty sure it's one of the first instances of such a thing here in Tucson.

There's more on the store over here.

Based on his American television persona, you'd probably assume that there isn't a sensitive side to celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey, but you'd be wrong. Just like R. Kelly, he's a man that doesn't see nothin' wrong with a little bump and grind, as evidenced by this exceptionally edited sex advice video.

[HT: Eater]

Union Public House, the new restaurant going in at St. Philip's Plaza, is throwing its first event on Halloween. There's a costume contest as well, with a $500 prize for the winner. More on all that over here.

I'm not certain that this is the place's grand opening, but it will be a great chance to check out what Grant Krueger and Jason Anderson have done with the former Acacia at St. Philip's location. Having seen the menu and spoken with the team behind this restaurant I can say that it is going to be a welcome addition to the Tucson dining scene. Frankly, it's one of the most exciting new things to hit town, dining-wise, in some time.

There's a bit more on the restaurant here.

Green Gourmet is a great little restaurant that opened a few months ago in the Dunbar School Project at 325 W. Second Street. It's a small outfit but everyone who eats there seems to fall in love with it, and it now serves breakfast.

This restaurant has the highest of aspirations, in that the people operate it want to use it to help teens get a foothold in the food business. The chef - who is a former personal trainer and a former employee of Anthony's in the Catalinas - has an amazing command of fresh, local ingredients; the prices are affordable; and the portions are more than generous.

You can find more information on the restaurant over here.

Sahuarita High School's culinary arts program is holding a cooking competition this Saturday called Iron Chef Pecan. The event pairs students with area chefs to see which team can make the best pecan-themed appetizer and dessert.

I was a judge at a smaller version of this event last year, and the student chefs at Sahuarita High School are a force to be reckoned with. I was most impressed with one student's pork-rind-crusted chicken fingers, which pretty much stole the show from most of the other entries.

Plus, the kids wear their awesome chef suits and have a lot of fun at these events, and the money made goes to culinary arts scholarships. The event takes place at the Quail Creek Clubhouse, and tickets are $20. You really should go. I'll post the press release after the jump.

I’ve gotten several interesting e-mails in the last week implying that Tucson is inching ever closer to having a food truck festival of its very own.

The first speaks of a couple that owns property near downtown. They want to develop it to facilitate food trucks, and from the sounds of things they mean business. They’ve already approached a number of official city folks about making it happen, and say the property is zoned properly and that they’ve already started prepping the site.

The second was from a local shopping center that is planning a food truck festival for sometime in February. They haven't put out the official announcement yet — they’re still hammering out details and are looking into making it a fundraiser — but more information should be available soon.

There’s also word that several new food trucks are in the works, including a kabob truck.

Tucson may not be super-food-truck-savvy like some cities, but we’re getting there. We'll let you know the moment one of these plans becomes a reality.

What a horrific week for longtime Tucson restaurants! First we hear that three well-known Mexican restaurants are on the chopping block, and now we've confirmed that the Furr's Family Dining restaurant at Oracle and Wetmore roads has closed.

The Furr's on St. Mary's Road, however, remains open.

That Furr's on Oracle and Wetmore had been there for some 30 years. Can you imagine how many of those tiny dishes of canned green beans and Jell-o salad it served in that amount of time? It boggles the mind.

The truck takes its name from Caborca, a Mexican municipality located in northern Sonora, and the food takes its cues from the culinary traditions of that area. The salsa bar is decent; the blaring Mexican pop music drowns out the growl of downtown perfectly; and prices top out at $5.50.

If upon your arrival there is a paper sign taped to the truck offering “Really Good Dirty Tacos,” you would do well to order that. Grilled sirloin steak, bacon, chorizo, chiles, onion, tomato and cilantro are piled high on a tortilla and handed over for $1.50. They are best when topped with the jalapeno-heavy salsa, and three make a very fine and affordable lunch.

KBORK parks outside of the Joel D. Valdez Main Library from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., weekdays.

There's something of a perfect storm happening for a number of well-known Mexican restaurants across Tucson.

Inside Tucson Business reported Tuesday that El Parador Restaurant at 2744 E. Broadway and La Fuente Restaurant at 1790 N. Oracle Road will be sold at auction in January. And this morning there's news that Casa Molina at 6225 E. Speedway Blvd. is facing foreclosure as well.

All three of the restaurants have operated in some capacity for about 50 years. Talk about a harsh week for longtime Tucson Mexican restaurants.