Allan Benton lives in Tennessee and makes ham, bacon and other pork products that chefs in New York City go crazy for. University of Mississippi Media Documentary Projects made a film about the craftsman who became a star and it's an interesting look into what can happen when someone dedicated their live to creating something of quality. Plus, it makes me really want some ham.

[HT: Eater]

These Food Truck Round-Up events are growing at an exponential rate. The first one had like a half-dozen trucks and the one this Sunday, Jan. 29, has nearly 20. The organizers are also looking to hold more events near the University of Arizona, Marana and other locations, so be on the lookout for those in the coming weeks.

I must say that Tucson's food-truck fleet has really come into its own. It seems like just yesterday when we were talking about how cool it would be to have a regular mobile-food festival and now they have become a reality. The trucks get more and more interesting with every passing month, too.

Also: Keep checking back here for more Food Truck Diaries entries in the coming weeks. We've got some good ones on the way.

Downtown restaurant 47 Scott at 47 N. Scott Ave. starts serving brunch this Saturday. Owners Nicole Flowers and Travis Reese tell us that Ciaran Wiese from the adjacent cocktail bar Scott and Co. has even created a signature Bloody Mary for the event and that other libations from the bar's amazing drink menu will be available.

This could shape up to be one of the greatest downtown brunches yet. The newish outdoor dining area at 47 Scott is awesome, and Wiese's drinks are some of the best in the city. The restaurant also sprinkles its pomme frites with little chopped up pieces of rosemary at times, which makes for the tastiest French fries I've had in recent memory.

The new brunch takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There's more on the restaurant over here.

We're hearing that the Tucson location of the Chocolate Fox Chocolatier is expected to open in early February. You can read more about the place over here.

The Tucson location is currently under construction in a small spot right next to the new bar and lounge Playground on the corner of Congress and Fifth.

Speaking of which, if you haven't been down to Playground you might consider checking it out. It's fun, very affordable and one of the swankiest new spots in town. Its menu of snack foods is especially clever, and they serve a drink made with Pop Rocks and a bag lunch complete with a Capri Sun juice pouch.

If you like big bubbling pots of curry, sticky rice and other homemade Thai dishes, you'll want to head over to Wat Buddhametta at 1133 S. Swan Road tomorrow. The Buddhist temple and meditation center is holding another amazing all-you-can-eat Thai dinner, which will set you back a paltry $10 per person.

I went to one of these dinners a couple months ago and haven't stopped thinking about it since. I swear I can still smell the coconut-pineapple-curry soup. I'm not sure what they're cooking up for this one, but if it's even close to the caliber of grub at the last one, you will not want to miss it.

The feast starts at 5 p.m. There's more on Wat Buddhametta over here.

We're hearing really good things about the coffee and food up at the new Liv Cafe and Bistro, which opened recently at St. Philip's Plaza. The place puts an emphasis on local and healthy food and is part of a sort of renaissance going on at the ages old shopping center.

There's more on the cafe here, or you can check them out on that Facebook thing over here.

Seriously? Just this morning I listed off the numerous Asian eateries blossoming across Tucson only to discover that yet another has opened: China Pasta House at 430 N. Park Ave.

And while it is certainly of the Asian ilk - perhaps even more so than many Americanized Asian eateries in town - there is something else afoot here. For starters, they do authentic Chinese dumplings (rejoice!). They also do wonderful traditional dishes like warm soy milk and porridges, which make cold evenings like we've had lately into snuggly dinner times. For real.

You can check out the place online here. We're heading down tomorrow for a bite and will be back with a full report before long.

The building where the Bagelry once operated at 2575 N. Campbell Ave. will soon be a Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches, or at least that's what the construction workers doing the renovation told me this morning.

I know, I know: It's not exactly earth-shattering restaurant news, unless you're a huge fan of the chain sandwich joint. But at least it will do away with the boarded-up husk of a restaurant that's been sitting there for month's looking sad and worn with broken windows and graffiti and such.

We are in the midst of a particularly fertile period for local Asian eateries. Consider, if you will, how many have opened, or will open, in the very near future.

Two U Like Buffet locations are opening this year, not to mention the Hibachi Super Buffet over on Speedway and Swan, which should be opening soon. Then there’s the recently opened Koi Sushi Restaurant and the up-and-coming Now Rollin’ that I wrote about yesterday.

Azian at 15 N. Alvernon Way opened a short time ago; the Hidden Wok opened this week at 4955 N. Sabino Canyon Road; Kimchi Time Korean Restaurant is opening later this year at 2900 E. Broadway Blvd.; and food truck MaFooCo is out there on the streets selling Mexican-Asian fusion food to an ever-growing fan base.

Add to that last year’s addition of V Fine Thai Dining, Thai-China Bistro, Impress Hot Pot, Bushi Traditional Japanese and Asian Cuisine, China Boy and the reopening of Takamatsu, and you have a veritable golden age of Asian dining in Tucson.

If your chopstick skills are rusty, this would most certainly be a good time to remedy that. That is all.

A new self-serve frozen-yogurt shop called Josie's is opening in half of the space that used to be Pizza Plus #1 at 914 E. Speedway Blvd.

According to this website the only sweetener the chain store uses is "pure crystalline fructose," which sounds like a controlled substance but is actually a natural substance that's sweeter than table sugar. This allows Josie's to use less sweetener by volume, which ostensibly reduces the calorie count a bit.

Next door, in the other half of what was once Pizza Plus #1, the new sushi joint Now Rollin' is moving in. The concept there is that you choose the ingredients and they roll it up sushi-style. More on that over here.