• From the Chef's Kitchen and Catering Facebook page.

The food truck Chef’s Kitchen and Catering makes its debut next Friday, Nov. 30, outside the Tucson Federal Credit Union on the corner of Speedway Boulevard and Alvernon Way.

Chris Cryderman, the main man behind the operation, says he recently moved back to Tucson after stints in Detroit and Colorado. He originally intended to put his more than 40 years of culinary experience to work by opening a small deli, but after negotiations with the potential landlord soured he turned his sites to opening a food truck instead.

We have been following the “nanobrewery”, Ten Fifty-Five, for a while now patiently waiting to see what they brew up. Well per their Facebook page they are finishing up brewing some test batches, and have received their Certificate of Occupancy to boot.

I spoke with them on the phone and told me they are planning to run a few more test batches, and do some sample tasting events over the next month. They are shooting for a grand opening sometime shortly after the first of the year. The time is ticking on when we can start drinking the goods and I for one, am watching the clock intently.

The fine folks over at Gizmodo know that, after a while, simply roasting a turkey is boring. And after a while, the novelty of deep-frying a bird fades like so many clear bills of cardiovascular health from your physician.

So what do you do then? Well, if you've got an Antares-class rocket engine, you do this:

Here's an excerpt from the article at Gizmodo:

What you need:
One turkey.
One Antares-class sounding rocket
Extra fuel

One structure of brick or stone to protect the bird and store heat, as well as the possibility of placing your turkey offset from the main stream (unless you want to solve the problem of distributing bits of cooked turkey to a broadly dispersed audience as quickly as possible.)

Instructions
1. Get the turkey in the protective box.
2. Fire the rocket engine for 1:45 hours. That's it.

For the rest of ideas collected from NASA personnel by Gizmodo, head over here post-haste; and if you happen to cook your turkey in an incredible (yet safe!) way this Thanksgiving, let us hear about it—or if you're feeling generous, let us watch the footage—so we'll have something to enjoy and share while we recover from our feasting.

Stella Java, the slick little cafe located in the Medical Plaza building next to St. Mary's Hospital, is moving into a space at Mercado San Agustin at 100 S. Avenida del Convento.

Stella Java uses coffee roasted locally by eXo Roast Co., which we wrote about a few weeks back, describing their commitment to quality coffee thusly:

For Stella Java, the roasting process is a personal one. Each coffee is unique, and we develop a specific roast profile to bring out the finest aspects of its character- the jasmine florality of a good Guatemalan, the forest earthiness of a Sumatran, the citrus or berry fruit notes of an Ethiopian. To reach this flavor potential, every Exo roast is manually craft-roasted in small batches on a beautiful gas-fired German Probat roaster by one of the company owners. No button pushing, no computer programs.

Mercado San Agustin is already a great place to dine or just hang out thanks to the various restaurants located there, and this bumps that greatness up quite a bit. Stella Java's new location is expected to open sometime this month.

Union Public House, the gastropub in St. Phillip's Plaza on the corner of Campbell Avenue and River Road, is holding its first beer dinner on Monday, Dec. 3. The restaurant started taking reservations today and if the event turns out to be as popular as the various other dinners the place holds, you might want to score a spot early.

The dinner will feature five courses paired with beers crafted by New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire, Trippel and many other beers. Tickets are $50 and can be reserved by calling 329-8575.

In other beer-paired dining news, keep your eye out for a series of beer dinners up at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. We went to their first beer dinner this last weekend and it was truly something to behold. Multiple chef stations overflowing with everything from fine cheeses to lamb sliders smeared with spicy harisa, and beers by Dragoon Brewing Co. to wash it all down with.

Executive Chef Ken Harvey said the resort will be holding more of the dinners in the coming months. If you like fine food and great beer you should go. That is all.

• Wilma Wildcat helps cook up a smashburger at today's grand opening

The wait is over: Tucson's first Smashburger location opens today at 4821 E. Grant Road, bringing yet another burger option to the growing number of choices here in the Old Pueblo.

What defines a Smashburger? The media packet sent out by the company puts it like this:

At Smashburger, the secret is in the smash. It starts with 100-percent—fresh, never frozen, Certified Angus Beef and is smashed on a 400 degree flat grill to sear in the juicy flavor. To further the “better burger” experience, the delicious burgers are served on a toasted artisan bun and topped with a selection of the freshest produce, real cheeses, and highest-quality condiments.

Smashburger also serves milkshakes made with Häagen-Dazs ice cream, salads, French fries seasoned with garlic and rosemary, among other things. There's more on the restaurant over here.

THE OUTLET- Cafe and Innovation Centre Crowd-Funding Video from Daniel Kirk on Vimeo.

In Tucson, we're pretty good at giving each other a hand. We promote local businesses, we encourage people to invest in local products, we're proud of local artists, we're into EVERYTHING local.

Well, here's your chance to live up to that and lend a hand to these 20-something, up-and-coming local entrepreneurs. Danny Kirk and Victor Alvarado are looking to open up a café and innovation centre by the name of The Outlet. But, much like everything in life, they need some cash. Here's what they have in mind for the place...

Mission
We will provide a 24/7 café + innovation centre to branch the gap between coffee shop ideation and collaborative implementation. Our café will offer high quality coffee and espresso drinks, beer + wine and a limited food menu and will have a light-hearted atmosphere. Our innovation center will offer all the resources needed to collaborate and implement ideas and projects.

Description
The Outlet will be, the first of its kind, cafe and innovation centre. We will be ending the search for the ultimate workspace by providing all the great aspects of a coffee shop, co-working space and your home, all in one. This space will be 24/7, centrally located to downtown and UofA and will aim to foster a more innovative and entrepreneurial Tucson.

So cash, that's where everyone else comes in. They've released a Kickstarter drive to plead everyone to invest in The Outlet, even if it's a couple of dollars. They've got a little something for everyone who decides to help out, from T-shirts to an exclusive work space at The Outlet. Check out their Propel Arizona site for more info on that.

This is an opportunity to support a local business since its beginning stages.

Fatdogs, a local hot dog cart known for serving seriously delicious Sonoran dogs, is opening a location at the food court inside the Tucson Mall at 4500 N. Oracle Road.

Fatdogs is also known for serving massive oversized hot dogs that should be a hit with mall shoppers looking for a filling meal on the cheap. The most recent word was that the new location would be open in mid-November, which is now, so it should be any day now.

You know what covering the food beat for four years has taught me? That cooks and many other people involved in the world of food are artists, and not in the sense that they make things that are nice to look at, although they do that as well.

What I mean with that comparison is that the world of food is packed with people who work out of the sheer joy of what they are doing. They seem driven by an internal fire that can only be quenched by the edible things they create, and I love them for being like that.

An e-mail received this morning reminded me of this. It was from one Kelly Dewey, who started the small Tucson business Rex's Perogies last year.

"I started this business on my own and work extemely hard to provide quality yummy Perogies to Tucsonans!" writes Dewey. " I hand make every single one from the dough to the fillings and make 100's a week! We make 4 types Potato & Cheese, Potato, cheese & Roasted green chile, Sauerkaut & onion and Mushroom & onion."

Check in at Rex's Perogies website for more information on where to find these delicious Polish dumplings.

A new place called Public Brew House and Coffee Shop, which the Weekly's David Mendez wrote about some weeks ago, took another step toward becoming a reality yesterday.

The coffee shop and nano-brewery project met it's goal of raising $37,000 through fundraising website Kickstarter yesterday, with only minutes to spare. Will this mean more coffee and beer for Tucson soon? All signs point to "yes."

From a description of the new brewery:

Our goal is to open up a community oriented nano-brewery and specialty coffee shop in downtown Tucson, Arizona. We intend to create a space and experience around specialty coffee and craftbeer, with priority given to creative endeavor and community contribution.