I finally put up a Facebook page for the Noshing Around column, a move that is so tragically late that I’m a bit embarrassed to even admit it.

Anyway, if you want to see how much I have to eat to pull off covering food in this fine city, be my friend! You’ll also be among the first to get updates on the most recent restaurant openings and all the other food-related things that cross my desk each week.

So far, it’s been fun, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you all. Who knows? If this works out, I might even get a cell phone.

Mondays suck, but they’re better with shave ice!

Actually, everything’s better with shave ice, which is why I’m headed over to the new Shoobie’s Shave Ice at 3701 W. Ina Road, Suite 102. We’re a long way from Hawaii, but this shop is bringing a little slice of island life to town with its wide array of flavored ice treats. They serve ice cream, too.

If you’re down in Sahuarita, you can enjoy a shave ice down there, too. Or, if you want to feed the corporate monster, you can duck into any 7-Eleven today and score a free seven-ounce slurpee.

But we suggest the shave ice. It’s softer, holds the flavor better, and the people who sell it are cooler.

But with such an abundance of choices, one must employ certain screening techniques. This is how I do it: Turn off the air conditioning, and open the windows. Focus on the air coming into the nostrils. When the proper smell drifts by, point the bumper in that direction. Park. Eat. Repeat.

Which is how I ended up at El Ta’Comiendo shortly after 8 a.m. this morning with a surprisingly large group of breakfast diners. What started as a simple food-truck adventure turned into a cultural “ah-ha!” moment when I realized many people favor tacos and tortas for their morning meal, whereas most people I know insist on eggs and potatoes or something sweet for their early-day repast.

Falling in step, I ordered a big asada burrito and loaded it with finely chopped cabbage and cilantro. Smoky red hot sauce amply applied, and lime squeezed, I dug in.

We know absolutely nothing else about the restaurant, but a couple of the employees sitting outside said it will serve Mexican food, and is expected to open Monday, July 11.

Elisha Wintch, who owns and operates the trailer with husband, Phil Wintch, says the idea for the trailer stretches way back to her hometown of Moroni, Utah, where she had a “glorified lemonade stand” as a teenager. She eventually left the small town — population 1,200 — and traveled to Hawaii, where she had her first shave ice.

Phil Wintch — who is currently working on a master’s degree in social work — is usually behind the counter, although you’ll also find Elisha there when she’s not at work as a school psychologist in Sahuarita.

DaKine Hawaiian Shave Ice has 12 flavors to choose from, but you can mix and match, too. There’s even a separate menu of flavor hybrids with great names like “Tiger’s Blood” and “Peach Razmatazz,” both of which were sampled, both of which were delicious.

Prices are $4 for a large, $3 for a medium and $2 for a small. You can add a plastic contraption to catch drips to your order for 50 cents.

Judging from the vibe at the food trailer, selling shave ice for a living is happy work.

"Everyone's happy when they get a shave ice," says Elisha Wintch.

"The best part is hearing people say, 'Mmmmmm, that's so good,'" says Phil Wintch.

You can check in with DaKine Hawaiian Shave at their website here, or on Facebook over here.

Imagine, if you will, a Tucson food-truck festival where hot dogs, carne asada, crepes, Hawaiian shave ice, gourmet cheese steaks, raspados and all sorts of other delicious foods danced together while live music filled the air.

Other cities are doing it, and the response has been great. One of my personal favorites is the Off the Grid program in San Francisco, which amounts to a mobile food court where all sorts of small-time food vendors set up.

I know it would work. Look at the annual Tucson Meet Yourself festival, where people stand in line forever at food trailers, many of which only come out once a year. It’s an absolute blast, and joy of that caliber should not take place but once a year.

A couple local groups are talking about doing it—David Aguirre of Dinnerware Artspace has expressed the most serious commitment to it so far—and I for one can’t wait until something concrete emerges.

The name Noel Patterson may not be familiar to many foodies, but he’s one of the key background players in a number of exciting projects around town. A former sommelier for the now-defunct VinTabla, his name chiefly pops up when people start talking about local-foods and gardening, and how restaurants are integrating both into their business plans.

Patterson’s name came up again today while Brian Metzger was discussing how the chef’s garden for jaxKitchen is coming along. Metzger says the garden that Patterson, who also does the gardening for popular downtown hotspot 47 Scott, designed for his restaurants is flourishing, and that he’s expecting a bumper crop of Armenian cucumbers, okra, chiles, squash, heirloom eggplant, tomatoes and basil around the first week of August.

It’s doing so well that Metzger plans to start holding special three-course meals featuring produce from the garden in early August. Chef Ginny Wooters—who also oversees operations at the Metzger’s other restaurant, The Abbey Eat + Drink —will present a special garden-themed dinner every Wednesday, says Metzger, who expects the price tag to come in around $35.

Anyone interested in the dinners is encouraged to sign up for the restaurant's newsletter via jaxKitchen's website.

Metzger also said he’s put house-made pasta back on the menu at jaxKitchen, which gives him a chance to use even more of the veggies in those dishes. “This is more about trying to have fun, nobody’s getting rich,” said Metzger, adding that Patterson has also been dropping off deliveries of homegrown hen eggs, honeycomb and other things he grows in his own garden downtown.

Metzger said he’s been ramping up the cocktail program at jaxKitchen as well, adding more infused liquors and playing with different cocktails. Liquors infused with cucumber, pineapple, apple and other fruits have made it into the rotation recently.

I love the new version of Mother Hubbard’s Café (read Jimmy Boegle’s review of the joint here), and have eaten there frequently during the past couple of months. It’s the only place in town brave enough to add red chiles to the biscuits-and-gravy, and the quirky little details they layer on traditional diner fare keeps me coming back for more.

This week, the quirky little detail is the addition of Cheerwine, which, if you haven’t heard, is quite the rage these days. Once only available in the Southeast, this cherry-flavored beverage has garnered a cult following in recent years, and Mother Hubbard’s Café is the only place in the state that currently has it on tap.

Even Krispy Kreme is in on the Cheerwine craze, and recently started filling doughnuts with syrup flavored like the beverage.

• Flankenstein's: R.I.P.

One of our best local food trucks, Flankenstein’s, is no more, and our roadside food scene is all the worse for it. From a July 3 post on the truck’s Twitter feed:

Flankensteins is closed due to unforeseen occurrences. Thank you for your support tucson

Having spent some time speaking with Pastor Guy and Alonso, I can tell you that their intentions were golden. They wanted to make good barbecue. They wanted to feed the homeless. They did it all humbly and with a little shout-out to their respective religious beliefs, which could’ve been sort of weird, but somehow, seemed to work.

But the restaurant business is a high-stakes game — even if your restaurant is on four wheels — and a slow summer can truly do you in.

Here’s wishing the Flankenstein’s guys the best of luck in whatever they do, and I hope we see your magnificent barbecue sauce slathered on some meat again soon.

I stopped in at Tork’s Café and Grocery at 3502 E. Grant Road this weekend—only to discover that the place is in the process of changing hands.

I was on a lunch date with my honey and had to stop short of conducting a full interview, but I did chat with the owner for a minute or so. He said the uproar in his homeland of Libya has made it difficult for him to travel back and forth to visit his family, so he’s selling the place.

The new owners are from Kenya, and they’ll be adding a few items from their country as things progress. They say the menu will largely stay the same, though, and that they’re not going to change the name for a while, either.

I’ve had many wonderful experiences at this little café, which opened in the mid-1980s. It’s not uncommon to hear three or four different languages going on at once, and the food is always sincere and well-made. Tork himself once dragged me into the kitchen to teach me how to make a proper pot of Turkish coffee, and the experience is one of the crown jewels of my culinary adventuring.

So good luck to you, Tork, and thanks for adding a little North African spice to Tucson all these years.