In the first weeks that I started writing the Noshing Around column here at the Tucson Weekly, local food was the hottest thing going. But it wasn’t long before I started to smell bullshit in the air when people talked about it, and that smell lingers even today.

It pains me greatly to say that. I grew up on a small farm where we raised and butchered goats, grew our own vegetables, dried chamomile, made cheese and did all the other things that a family must do to feed six kids, two adults and dozens of animals. I learned to respect food because I saw how much it took to create food, and that respect is something I still feel on a visceral level.

That part of me is listening when a new restaurant proclaims a dedication to local food, and that part of me gets more than a little pissed off when I learn that that restaurant is not being forthright about where most of the food it sells comes from. A suggestion to these restaurants: It would be wise to pay the farmers you reneged on and to tell customers what your actual commitment to local food is. They will eventually find out and they are not going to be happy about it.

This is not to discount the great work being done by the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, River Road Gardens, Dos Manos Farm, Sleeping Frog Farms, Food Conspiracy Co-op and the growing number of people raising food, sharing food and working to try to take back some control over what we eat. You are my heroes and I will support you until the end.

But as I was driving back from a 3 to 11 p.m. shift at my other job last night I got hungry and I finally broke down and got an order of French fries from the Carl’s Jr. on the way home. I was tired – like so many of you are after busting your asses just to make ends meet – and it tasted very good and was very cheap. I suddenly felt guilty for this lingering snobbery I’ve been harboring about industrialized, processed food.

Local food is still a privilege of those who have the time to seek it out and the money to afford it, and often it seems like it's used more as a marketing tool than anything. Maybe that could change someday, but it feels very naïve and snobbish to act – and write – as if local food is going to change the world. When working people can order a grass-fed, local burger topped with locally raised lettuce off a dollar menu, maybe, but until then it's more like a ripe apple dangling high in a tree, beautiful to behold but, alas, out of reach.

The local caravan of mobile eateries will descend upon the Lazydays RV at 3200 E. Irvington Road this evening. There will also be beer and margaritas for sale. More on that here.

There's another food-truck event this Friday at the Bookmans Entertainment Exchange on Grant Road at which there will be a screening of a silent movie. More on that over here.

Listen: don't tell people it's "all-you-can-eat" if you don't really mean it. This is America. We don't put up with that sort of falsehood.

Bill Wisth, I don't use the word "hero" very often, but you are the greatest hero in American history. God bless you and your work.

Think of Arizona Restaurant Week as a sort of culinary talent show where area restaurants bundle up their finest offerings into three-course meals for a special price. It starts this Saturday, May 19, and runs through the following Sunday, May 27. That is actually a week and two days, but we're going to overlook that little detail and get right to the food ...

Check out the participating restaurants here. This event went statewide for the first time last year, and we're wondering if it will now be offered twice a year being that the word "Spring" has been added to the title. If so, all the better. There's more on the event here.

Author Gary Paul Nabhan will be in Tucson this Friday to talk about his book Desert Terroir. If you've ever considered getting your mind blown by a storyteller who easily weaves ethnobotany, food, culture, history and humor into one tight fabric, you might want to attend.

Nabhan will speak at 7 p.m., Friday, May 18 at Antigone Books. From a description on the Antigone website:

"Terroir" is a term used to describe how characteristics of the land affect the flavors of the foods produced from it — the "taste of the place." Why does food taste better when you know where it comes from? Because history — ecological, cultural, even personal — flavors every bite we eat. Whether it's the volatile chemical compounds that a plant absorbs from the soil or the stories and memories of places that are evoked by taste, layers of flavor await those willing to delve into the roots of real food. In this landmark book, Gary Paul Nabhan takes us on a personal trip into the southwestern borderlands to discover the terroir that makes this desert so delicious.

The new downtown restaurant Elliott's on Congress at 135 E. Congress St. is open. If eating things like burgers topped with jalapeno bacon and drinking things like flavor-infused vodka sounds nice, you will want to head down there soon.

You can read a bit more on the restaurant here. I'm mainly interested in the Bloody Marys they'll be making with horseradish-infused vodka and the copious use of duck breast and bacon Elliott kept mentioning. I have a feeling the rest of Tucson may be a bit interested in that, too.

We're hearing that Playground, the bar and lounge at 278 E. Congress St., is debuting a new menu next week. The first menu was chiefly small plates and playful items like a bag lunch complete with a juice box, so we're looking forward to checking out what's in store next.

The owner is also tweaking the drink menu and adding more summer cocktails. Again, the first menu had a drink rimmed with Poprocks, so it should be interesting to see what emerges next week.

We should have a bit more on the new menu in next week's Noshing Around column.

The small food trailer Mexico City Kitchen is back in action after a long hiatus. You can read a bit more about the mobile food operation and its inspired fare over here.

For those who made it out to the Tucson Taco Festival, Mexico City Kitchen took home the award for best guacamole. They also crafted the tacos with the strawberry salsa that everybody was talking about after the event.

You can follow Mexico City Kitchen - which has been lingering chiefly around the University of Arizona area - on Facebook here.

(Oh, there's also a food truck gathering at the Shelter tonight. More on that here.)

This is the final menu for Janos, the renowned restaurant at 3770 E. Sunrise Drive that will serve its final meal on Saturday, May 26. Owner Janos Wilder announced a couple weeks ago that he was closing both Janos and the J-Bar. This menu becomes available on Wednesday, May 16:

Appetizers
Soft Shell Crab Tempura and Seaweed Salad
wasabi aioli, pickled cucumber, ginger and furikake $17.00

Roast Lobster Tail Tostada
spicy black beans, cabbage radish slaw, mezcal lime butter and salsa fresca $19.00

Mushroom and Queso Oaxaca Relleno Madeira
beer batter fried in roasted Anaheim chile with street vendor’s corn salad
$17.00

Roasted Beet, Belgian Endive and Pork Belly Salad
sour orange vinaigrette, orange supremes and julienne of romaine $15.00

Steamed Asparagus, Bacon Vinaigrette and Three Minute Egg
shiitake mushroom chips, and mushroom cappuccino $16.00

Soups
Chilled Tomato Water Soup, Horseradish Panna Cotta and King Crab
apples, jicama, radishes and chive oil $13.00

Lobster Cream and Roasted Corn Bisque
brandy-flamed mushrooms, and roasted chiles baked in puff pastry dome
$14.00

Main Courses
Garlic Shrimp and Spanish Chorizo
mascarpone polenta, heirloom tomatoes, basil and early summer corn $30.00

Pan-Seared Salmon with Warm Mussel and Bacon Salad
wild rice, ratatouille vinaigrette and asparagus $32.00

Green Tea Smoked Duck Breast
cinnamon spiced pears, stir-fried vegetables, glass noodles, moo shu pancake and tempura fried scallions
$32.00

Grilled New York Strip, Chili Hollandaise and The Truth About Potatoes
slow roasted red onion, Robuchon potato gratin and spicy red wine reduction $42.00

Lamb 4 Ways from the Heart of Mexico
double chop of lamb rack with chipotle recado and toasted pepitas NS/S Mole; lamb barbacoa tamale; soup from the barbacoa and spicy lamb’s tongue taco $45.00

Double Chop Pork Pibil
with black beans, caramelized pineapple, achiote vinaigrette and street vendor’s corn $30.00

Surf ‘n’ Turf Janos Style IX
Grilled filet of beef tenderloin served on mushroom chilaquiles, spicy red wine reduction, crisp fried avocados and butter roasted lobster tail with mezcal lime butter and chayote squash sauté $50.00

Spicy Braised Tofu
cinnamon spiced plums, pickled shiitake mushrooms, stir-fried vegetables, and glass noodles
$28.00

*Recipe Available in our Great Chile Relleno Cookbook. Ask your server for a copy.

On a side note, during my eternal snooping around I once heard a whisper that Wilder was looking around Downtown for a spot to open another eatery...other than Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails, that is. It was just a mention, but one that was echoed when Wilder was interviewed about closing Janos and the J-BAR. One never knows what that man will do next, but keep your eyes peeled. He's always up to something.

Although the short-lived Jackson's Grille and Gastropub at 8235 N. Silverbell Road has closed, we hear a new restaurant called the Station Neighborhood Grill is opening there soon.

That part of town needs a neighborhood hangout, but this specific location has yet to see a concept with much staying power. But sometimes, as in the case of 47 Scott, which many people said was doomed because the location had never worked well for other eateries, it's just a matter of nailing the right concept at the right time.

We'll be back when we hear when the Station Neighborhood Grill will be open for business.