Food for Ascension Cafe knew how to make vegan food, using local, organic ingredients to craft wholesome dishes that were expertly spiced. Unfortunately, though, the restaurant, which was located on Seventh Street just west of Fourth Avenue, announced via Facebook that Saturday, August 1 was their last night of service at that location.

According to the post, the support for what the cafe was seeking to accomplish wasn't enough to keep the restaurant running.

We discovered that there just is not enough understanding of the true meaning of "slow food" to support what we were doing in the Café in Tucson to justify the time and energy we were putting into it.

The post goes on to say that the current location will become an extension for the Sea of Glass Center for the Arts. However, that isn't the end of the story for Food for Ascension either. The restaurant plans to open another location in the Tubac area at Avalon Gardens. While a date for that opening wasn't announced, you can stay up to date with more information by following Food for Ascension on Facebook.

The post finished by thanking the farmers, staff and customers that made the cafe what it was, as well as the founders Gabriel of Urantia and Niánn Emerson Chase. Since Tubac is just a short jaunt down the I-19, Tucsonans can look forward to the new iteration of the cafe, in their words, "with great expectations for the ever-expanding future."

You might go there for the award winning cast iron baked eggs, the bloody mary bar, a Cuban sandwich or a piece of pie, but no matter which way you slice it, Hotel Congress' Cup Cafe (311 E. Congress St.) has become a Tucson institution over the past 25 years. Now it's time to celebrate.

On Saturday, August 1, the Cup Cafe will be throwing a free party in honor of its 25th birthday which will include live music, raffles, glass blowing demos and food and drink specials. Best of all, a massive 25 layer cake will be served at the event, which you won't want to miss. Drink specials include red and white sangria and the award-winning El Santo's punch and will run throughout the evening from 6 until 8 p.m.

Three dishes will be revived from Cup menus past for the event, but the good times don't stop on Saturday. During the entire month of August, Cup Cafe will be serving the following throwback menu specials because everyone knows a birthday month is better than just one day:

August 1 - August 9:

Breakfast: The Bennies Burrito (flour tortilla, scrambled eggs, spicy black beans, sprouts, jack cheese, green chiles, black olives, sour cream and salsa)
Lunch: Curried Chicken Salad Sandwich (curried chicken salad on a croissant with lettuce, tomatoes and sprouts)
Dinner: Borracho Pork Tenderloin (tequila and chipotle marinated pork tenderloin with a sweet potato gratin, country green beans and red onion marmalade)

August 10 - August 16:
Breakfast: R/R Crossing Croissant (a Rachael Ray favorite with two eggs, ham and swiss cheese on a croissant served with roasted red potatoes)
Lunch: Maximlian (roasted turkey melt with asadero cheese, avocado, chipotle lime crema and New Mexico green chiles on a croissant)
Appetizer: Goat Cheese With Artichoke Crostini (broiled French baguette with goat cheese, roma tomatoes, artichoke hearts, fresh thyme, garlic and parmesan cheese)
Dinner: The Herb Shroom (portabella mushroom stuffed with herbed goat cheese and pine nuts, roasted garlic white bean puree, sautéed spinach and red bell pepper coulis)

There's still some time left to try out Downtown Kitchen + Cocktail's limited time Around the Globe menu foray into Moscow, but, in case you didn't get your fill of unique Russian fare in that menu tasting (or if you mess up and miss it completely since it ends on August 3), you should head over to Kalina Russian Cuisine and Tea House on Friday, August 7 for a tasting menu of both Russian food and beer.

While the food menu for the night is all Russian, with dishes like pellmell with ground lamb (Russian ravioli) and stroganoff over mashed potatoes, the beer will sample brews from Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine. 

Here's the full menu:


The five course tasting menu is $33 all inclusive at Kalina (8963 E. Tanque Verde #210) beginning at 6:30 p.m. You can make reservations online through the restaurant's event page.

In case you missed it, Tucson's craft beer scene is still on a seemingly unstoppable trajectory. Arizona Beer House is opening on July 24, bringing craft beer to the east side, and it seems locally brewed beer is cropping up in every Tucson neighborhood. If you're in the Ironhorse neighborhood, for instance, you might have noticed something new coming in on Hoff Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets and that something new is Public Brewhouse. 

For the bar's soft opening, co-owners and brewers Mike Gura, Cody Van Haren and Don Rubino are offering six of their own beers on tap, as well as their house nitro coffee and Sarsaparilla. Although craft beer can definitely get pricy, Public is offering all pints for $5, half pints for $3 and tasting flights for $6. The opening line-up, which kicked off on July 22, includes a Saison (6.8 percent), Saison Noir (7 percent), Dino the Dog Nitro Chocolate Stout (6.3 percent), Public IPA (7.6 percent), Pale Ale (5.8 percent) and Slumlord English Pale Ale (3.9 percent).

The Saison, which Van Haren says is his favorite to brew, is a great place to start sampling what the brewery can really do. It's flavorful  but not overtly flavored and Gura says that's just he brews. 

"My brewing style is yeast forward," he adds, explaining that rather than adding flavoring elements and spices, he manipulates the yeast's natural qualities in the fermentation process to achieve that effect. 

Gura comes from a science background with a degree in physics and two masters degrees. However, it wasn't until he had trouble buying good craft beer while living in the booze-restrictive Utah that he began homebrewing. Once moving to Tucson, Gura met Van  Haren while both men worked as EMTs.

"Cody and I just work well together," Gura says. 

It was a long road to open and begin serving their locally-brewed beer at 209 N. Hoff Ave. in the courtyard behind the also recently opened craft beer and wine bar Ermanos. A crowdfunding campaign wrapped in 2013 to fund what became Public Brewhouse, and, after about three years of changing locations, working through zoning issues and more, Gura says the brewery has finally cleared all of the hurdles. 

"The mayor is interested in working with grassroots businesses but  there is this entrenched bureaucracy," Gura says.

Cutting through the red tape, Public Brewhouse will celebrate their  grand opening on Saturday, August 1. The event will feature beer specials, a food truck, live music and, of course, the Public brews from noon until 2 a.m.

After that, the crew at Public are planning to stay focused on brewing. The bar itself has large wooden community tables, shuffleboard and a Centipede arcade game to keep guests entertained and the space is zoned for live acoustic music, which Van Haren says will be incorporated down the road. 

Van Haren says the bar has the capability to fill up 20 taps eventually and and each of the men have plans for how to fill them. In the future, Rubino will expand his soda offerings and even include homemade kombucha on tap. Van Haren and Gura already are looking to dive into the increasingly popular sour beer category and make use of the large barrels in the brewery to begin aging beers. 

"We'll be making a whiskey cream ale that uses mesquite flour and a Belgian abbey ale—it's the kind of beer monks drank regularly," Gura says, adding, "They'd drink the Quads when they wanted to see God."

Gura is also planning on making fresh hopped brews using hops from Yakima Valley, Washington. He compares this brewing style to young wines like beaujolais nouveau or vinho verde. 

Overall, Public Brewhouse simply seeks to be a neighborhood bar with a strong line-up of one-of-a-kind beers. The planned hours, at this time, are Wednesday through Friday from 4 until 10 p.m. and Saturday from noon until 10 p.m. 

According to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month, Arizonans are not eating their veggies—or fruits for that matter. The sampling of 3,269 Arizona-based adults uncovered that only 12.5 percent of those studied were eating enough fruit, which boils down to seven-eighths of the population not getting adequate daily nutrition. 

While our state had higher rates of fruit consumption than many southern states like Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, Arizona was still behind 23 other states. The state leading the way in daily fruit consumption was California at 17.7 percent, which, let's be honest, is still not great. 

When it comes to vegetables, things are even bleaker. Arizona was at 9.8 percent of the sampled population eating the daily requirement of veggies with just ten states ranking higher. Mississippi rated lowest at 5.5 percent and California leading the pack again at 13 percent.

For more of the CDC's findings, you can check out the study yourself on the organization's website. But, before you do that, put the Cheetos down and grab a carrot.

Summer eats are ripe with fresh, bright flavors and prominent among them are tomatoes and basil. This weekend, you'll get two opportunities to celebrate the tasty union of these two foods when Heirloom Farmers Markets celebrates the abundance of the season with live music, demonstrations and, of course, plenty of basily and tomatoey wares for purchase. 

From 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, July 18, you can peruse tomato and basil concoctions like basil and sun-dried tomato bread, chilled gazpacho, tomato jams and basil-infused soaps and olive oils at the Oro Valley Farmers Market (10901 N. Oracle Road).

Then on Sunday, July 19, the Rillito Park Farmers Market (4502 N. First Ave.) will present all of those goods and more for market visitors. Live music, courtesy of Paige Anderson & The Fearless Kin (CA), will keep crowds entertained while special chef demonstrations, beginning at 10 a.m., will teach you how to make the most of your newly bought, local tomatoes and bunches of basil. The Rillito Park Farmers Market also runs from 8 a.m. until noon.

Now all you need is a fresh ball of mozzarella and you've got yourself a caprese...

Gone are the days of cheap drinks and a packed dance floor at the Wildcat House. Since it closed in 2012, the former college bar staple has sat vacant, but brothers and third generation Tucsonans John and David Aldecoa are seeking to preserve its legacy while building something new in the space at Stone Avenue between Grant Road and Speedway Boulevard.

While keeping some of the building's key features like the large bar, cedar planks and some of the large decorative medallions on the wall, the building itself is in the middle of a massive overhaul. Switching from swamp cooling to air conditioning, installing a new roof and repaving the parking lot are some of the more basic changes, but the future of the space will be completely different from any of those fuzzy memories you might still have from its old days. John Aldecoa, who the bar and restaurant is named after, admits he has a few of those from his own days at UA.

He also says his idea for Brother John's is really at least three concepts in one. First, there's the barbecue, which will be overseen by chef Nate Eckhaus. Aldecoa assures that Eckhaus will bring a love of every barbecueing region in the states. That's because Eckhaus spent nine months touring and training in the ways of different barbecue styles all over the country, including at Texas' The Salt Lick, before helping open Blue Smoke in New York City with prominent restauranteur Danny Meyer.

The serious barbecue operation will focus on the cook of the meat to provide flavor because taking "great care" and spending the necessary time are they keys to good barbecue for Aldecoa. He says they will have barbecue sauce, but he's hoping guests won't even use it. The two large smokers will be able to produce up to 6,000 pounds of smoked meats per day, which is good because the restaurant itself will be able to seat about 300 at any given time. The restaurant will also have a private dining area called the Wildcat Room where many of the former bar's memorabilia will be displayed.

Sitting down to experience the most recent iteration of Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails' Around the Globe menu series, which gives diners the chance to experience some of the flavors of Moscow, the general consensus seemed to be one of both excitement and, honestly, a little confusion or trepidation. While the American culinary zeitgeist grows to include more and more cuisines and cultures, it seems like overall Slavic food is still largely left out. Finding a good pierogi in Arizona is hard enough.

So, although in the past the menu has gone from Buenos Aires to Hanoi to Mexico City and, most recently, Istanbul, it seems both chef Janos Wilder and chef de cuisine Devon Sanner agree that tackling a Russian menu was one of the less straightforward choices. Like any cuisine, though, quality ingredients, meticulous preparation and a little (or a lot) of R&D will get you started on the right path.

Sanner has been working on the Moscow menu for about three months. As a former Russian literature major turned chef, Sanner speaks Russian and has visited the country in the past, but even with that experience, he had to hit the books, so to speak.

What resulted was a three course menu with your choice from three appetizers, three entrees, two desserts and optional additional cocktails or wine. The menu also includes, of course, a vodka tasting flight with rye, wheat and potato vodkas to sample, showing off the more subtle variety in the white spirit. On the cocktail side, black currant, vanilla and blueberry add some richness to vodka in the Moscow Black and Blue.



Starting off, you have your choice of a simple sour cream soup with beet puree, radish, dill or salmon roe, a three-part Barrio rye bread based open faced sandwich (or zakuski) with smoked and marinated fish and crispy pork torchon medallions with cherries and expertly spiced and brined beets. The latter of the three is a play on the traditional kholodets, which is a meat in aspic dish that Sanner compared to "meat ambrosia salad."

Wilder and Sanner both agree that translating a cuisine to suit palates stateside takes a little more than a strictly traditional reading. Rather than forcing diners to eat jellied meats they probably won't like, both chefs opt to incorporate the flavors and spirit of a cuisine, without limiting themselves with a completely literal menu. After all, Sanner says the Russian cuisine is kind of having its own identity crisis as it tries to bring itself into a more modern setting, while appealing to visitors and locals alike. 

The main courses feature offer three very different experiences. The street food inspired beef shashlyk with red wine and pomegranate marinated beer shoulder, flatbread from Caravan, grilled vegetables and eggplant puree is a hearty, humble dish. On the other hand, the Chicken Croquette Pozharskij (one of the few Russian dishes to be named after a Russian chef, Sanner adds) offers a more decadent experience with marsala and porcini cream. Finally, a griddled rainbow trout gets kicked up with a bacon and braised cabbage filling with buckwheat piaf, housemade farmer's cheese and a tart cherry sauce.

To finish, velvety vanilla custard with accompanying berries and tea cookies or a warm, light apple cake with blueberry buttermilk ice cream will end the unique meal with something sweet.

Working as the opposite of Wilder's popular Sense of Place menu in the winter, which gives visitors and locals alike the opportunity to try a taste of something truly Sonoran, the Around the Globe menu is a chance for locals to go on a culinary excursion without having to pay for travel. After all, travelling is really about the food anyway, right?

As with Wilder's whole take on his Downtown restaurant, the menu is affordable at $33 or $36 for three courses, depending on which entree you have. The menu can also be served a la carte. The Moscow menu at Downtown (135 S. Sixth Ave.) will run until August 3 when a Jamaican-influenced menu by way of Kingston will take over the restaurant. 

For reservations or more information, call 623-7700.

The wait for a downtown grocery store is almost over because according to Johnny Gibson's Downtown Market co-owner Christi Cisek, the new store will be opening to the public on Monday, July 13. After passing the final inspection for the space on July 8, Cisek says the long road to opening the market was finally fully in the owners, which include her husband Paul, herself and Ron and Kelly Abbott of Rincon Market.

"Once it's finally in our control, and it is now, the opening will be very fast," Cisek says, citing bumps along the way such as loan and bank issues and the challenges involved in renovating the building. "We have a cot up here (on the second floor) where we can get some rest. We're working non-stop."

On Monday, you can stop into the market to catch the first glimpses of all of their hard work, amounting to the beautifully renovated historic building stocked with fresh, local and organic produce, a deli counter and cafe, a floral department and a bar with 15 local beer taps (and one extra with Pabst) and 8 wine taps. Should you buy too much to carry home, the market will also offer pedicab rides for customers who live within a mile radius. 

Both Paul and Christi Cisek say their grocery items will be affordable, despite the upscale digs and convenient location, comparing the pricepoint to Safeway. 

"I like to say we'll have everything from Kraft macaroni and cheese to caviar and everything in between," she says, adding that once they're legally allowed to, they will also be accepting food stamps.

"We're not looking to exclude anyone," Paul adds. "We really want this to be a place people in the neighborhood can go to."

In terms of vendors, everything from produce to honey and other goods will skew towards the local. Paul says simply that, "If it's local, we're buying it."

The market will also feature an 16-foot salad bar and a cafe that serves hot grilled sandwiches, cold sandwiches and the ability to heat up entrees or even fresh meat and fish from the in-house butcher case.

"People can pick a piece of fresh fish from the case and we'll grill it up for them to eat on the patio," Christi says.

While the meat case won't be ready on Monday, the Ciseks say they wanted to get the community in to see their store as soon as they could. Johnny Gibson's Downtown Market (11 S. Sixth Ave.) will soft open on Monday, July 13 beginning at 7 a.m. until midnight. After that, regular hours will be in place, which is daily from 7 a.m. until midnight. For more information, you can visit the market's website.

If you're looking to take indulgence to the next level, you should head to Agustin Kitchen on Tuesday, July 14 for a special Dinner with Chefs event that's all about pork and scotch. Agustin's chef Ryan Clark will display a range of techniques with nine different tastes of pork prepared in cuisine styles from all around the world. The nose-to-tail pig dishes will come from an entire pig bought from the local pork purveyors at E & R Pork, who specialize in 100 percent locally raised, grain fed, hormone and antibiotic free pork products.

On the scotch side of things, "America’s Spirited Speaker" Russ Kempton will lead tasting through six different single malt scotches, featuring American white oak barrel and sherry barrel aged varieties. Kempton will also answer guests' questions and cap off the night with cigars to take home.


The Pork:

• Pork and miso broth with wonton and kombu
  
• Head cheese with apricot and fennel
  
• Trotter rillette with pickled mustard and balsamic onions
  
• Shoulder and shank sausage with whipped fig cheese and red wine
  
• Brined loin banh mi
  
• Smoked pork cheek mac & cheese
  
• Pig and duck liver pate with pistachio and cherry
  
• House bacon lardons with chocolate cookies
  
• Korean BBQ pork ribs with kimchi
  

The Scotch:

• Glenfiddich 18yr
  
• Bruichladdich Islay Barley
  
• Balvenie 15yr Single Barrel – Sherry
  
• Macallan 10yr Fine Oak
  
• Balvenie 12yr Single Barrel – American Oak
  
• Highland Park 12yr

The dinner will kick off at Agustin Kitchen (100 S. Avenida del Convento) at 6:30 p.m. on July 14. Cost per person is $75 plus tax and gratuity. You can reserve your spot for this decadent dinner event by calling 398-5382.