It all started, two weeks ago, when my best friend Madelaine was looking for a restaurant to celebrate her upcoming Twenty-First birthday. Something "fabulous" and "light". The winner was a Mediterranean restaurant called Casablanca, located in downtown Tucson. It sounded so classy and adventurous, that I could already picture myself walking into a candle-lit room, like in those old-time black and white movies, where the people drank martini's, smoked cigarettes, and winked at the guy playing the grand piano in the corner, saying in a raspy, sexy voice, "Play it again, Sam."
We were all set. We would dine in good old-fashioned glamour and dance the night away at Level, Tucson's most exclusive club where patrons were not allowed to wear sneakers or torn jeans (finally, somebody was able to perfect the natural selection and thin out the herd of the unwanted...it was bound to happen in our little city, sometime). Then something tragic happened. The day before the party, I found out, through Alice's friend Jaz, that Casablanca was not a sanitary place to eat. Up until a few days before, Jaz was the bartender at Casablanca, but quit her job after she realized she was the only one who used soap when washing the dishes. It was just not a sanitary place to be.
I didn't know what to do. If I told Madelaine, then she'd have to find a new place to hold her party and as everyone knows, trying to find a new restaurant during graduation weekend is like trying to find humor in a Jamie Kennedy movie. On the other hand, if I didn't say anything, well…isn't there's something, anything, to say for stomach-pumping stories?
With less than 24 hours to the party, Madelaine was in panic mode and I being the good friend that I am had to help find a last minute restaurant. We went through restaurant guides and newspaper reviews, reading all about the fascinating and delicious foods that Tucson had to offer, other than the Mexican food were so well known for. Who knew there was such a vast selection? We eventually settled on an Asian fusion restaurant but then, through a series of unfortunate events, that could only happen to a couple of twenty-something’s like us, everything changed and we ended up celebrating Madelaine's birthday nuptials at Applebee’s. Eh. At least they had a half-off happy hour.
At a little past eight, I was dressed to the nines and ready to hang ten and have some fun. Everyone had called me and text me earlier that day to remind me to wear dressy shoes and not sneakers, because being turned away from Level would be just too humiliating. As if. Like I didn't know how to dress. Granted at the last formal affair I went to, I wore a skeleton pirate T-shirt with dirty denim jeans, but still. I learned from that experience, and went to the party wearing a grey Banana Republic goodie underneath a dress jacket, a look inspired by Justin Timberlake and Adam Brody, but perfected by me. Then it turns out, Level's natural selection process was on high alert and potential party-goers were being turned away, left and right, making the club an exclusive place where half of Tucson went to see if they could and or would be selected to join the worthy few. We already knew where we stood on the list (accepted, of course) and ended up spending the night in a little, crowded Mexican nightclub, El Charro, dancing and getting drunk until we could no longer say the word, "Margarita."
All in all, the birthday night wasn't a total disaster, because what came out of it, was an interest to go out and try new restaurants and new food. Maybe it was because I read so many different entrée's from so many different menus. Or maybe it was the fact that my dear blog friend Carrie had recently just written a post about her top five restaurants in Ottawa, Canada. Or maybe it was because, being a fan of the Rachel Ray show, $40 A Day, I've always wanted to go to new, far away places and enjoy three meals a day with only $40, but I figured since there were a lot of restaurants in my own city that I've yet to try. Whatever the reason was, the person who couldn't agree with me more, was none other than Colette. She had recently discovered a restaurant called NoRTH and couldn't get over the amazing cuisine that they served. And so, on five different days, during the past week, Colette invited me to five different restaurants, each pricier and more delicious than the last. Thus began the ritual known from here on out as, The Five Dinners.
1)NoRTH - Taking its cue from an Italian trattoria, NoRTH offers a contemporary approach to Modern Italian Cuisine. The carefully thought out menu highlights unique antipasti which reflects the best of the season, wood fired pizzas, inventive pasta dishes and secondi that feature many wood roasted and grilled dishes. My selections? The Prosciutto and goat cheese pizza and the salmon entrée with roasted squash and sweet onions.
2) Elle - Set in the historic Broadway Village building, designed by famed Tucson architect, Josias Joesler, Elle is a beautiful restaurant with a beautiful menu to match. The restaurant is a simple, yet tasteful place to be. Just like the food. By itself, the ingredients are simple, but together they create something spectacular. Organically-produced, locally-grown items are featured year 'round, including over forty different types of wine that give the delectable dishes an added je nais se quois. Colette and I shared the fried brie with spiced green apple chutney and roasted garlic cloves and for the main course I had pan-seared ahi tuna with a terrific pineapple-cilantro sauce.
3) Café Terra Cotta - Somewhere in the marvelous Catalina Mountains, is a marvelous restaurant that considers itself as Arizona’s first introduction to Southwestern cuisine. It combines fundamental ingredients native to the American Southwest and northern Mexico (chiles, corn, tomatoes, squash, and beans, etc.) with dishes that are normally found deep in Mexico, especially to the Yucatan, central Mexico, and Oaxaca, where the sauces are more robust, complex, and balanced, and presented in a classical French contemporary cooking techniques and presentation style. It’s really unique and really different than the Mexican food I'm used to. I had the Chef's special, which was herb-roasted quail with a pesto glaze and a garden vegetable medley, and it would have been one of the most perfect meals of my life, had I not seen a quail family run across the parking lot as we were leaving.
4. Café Poca Cosa - Hidden underneath a parking garage is a fantastic restaurant called Café Poca Cosa. In its place is a sweeping, stylish dining room with objects of Mexican art, on display, as if in a museum. I’ve raved about this restaurant in posts before, because it is simply one of the best and most satisfying Mexican restaurants in town. The menu, which seems to be inspired by Laura Esquivel’s novel, Like Water for Chocolate (side note, it’s one of the few, really great books that I think would make a terrific movie…), doesn’t feature traditional Mexican food, like tacos, burritos or enchiladas, but has a fresh selection of chilies, spices, vegetables, that Chef Susana Davila changes, several times a day. Because of the constant change, it is hard to recommend a dish. However, there is one thing that does stay the same and that is The Café Poca Cosa plate, which is a selection of three, mouth-watering entrée’s, selected by the chef, who decides what gets to go on each plate. Like a snowflake, no two plates are the same. My plate came with a breast of chicken, covered in a cream sauce made of red chile, chocolate, and wine, a grilled, shredded beef with a jalapeño chile and tomatillo sauce and a corn tamale pie, topped with a mango and cinnamon puree.
5) Montana Avenue - The menu is a delicious blend of updated comfort foods, taking its cue from the rich culinary traditions of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California. A well chosen wine list will reflect a boutique selection from some of the finest American wineries and a unique specialty cocktail menu will feature one of a kind creations. The Rainbow trout and macaroni and cheese with the andouille sausage is simply to die for. At least that’s what I hear. I don’t remember.
Now, you’re probably wondering how two twenty-something’s without high-paying executive jobs could afford such places. And actually, I wondered about that too, since I didn’t pay for anything. Colette, wouldn’t let me. This was her idea, therefore, according to her, it was her tab to worry about. But still. It made me wonder how she could afford such an extravagance. That’s when she finally told me. We were at Montana Avenue, when Colette confesses that she was a stripper.
Colette had only been working as a topless performer for two weeks. It started after she quit her job at Vitamin World. Her boss, who used to be a local radio DJ, invited her to go see Spiderman 3, after closing the store one night, and Colette went obligingly. It wasn’t until the next day, that Colette regretted her decision. Her boss told her he had a great time and Colette knew he was hitting on her. So, before he could hit on her and sexually harass her, she quit. With no job and more than several bills to pay, Colette needed money. And fast.
The classifieds were chockfull of audition ad’s for strip clubs and topless bars. Sure it wasn’t as glamorous as Hollywood made it out to be, but it did help keep bread on the table and off the streets. That’s when Colette remembered that our mutual acquaintance, Devona Monet, who worked at TD’s West Club. She went in and immediately Devona got Colette a job as a waitress. Sure it wasn’t as much as Devona made, but it was a living. And the best thing was that Colette liked it. That’s when her boss took notice of her and asked Colette if she would like to try her hand at performing on stage. She was guaranteed at least $600 for one night, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So was the possibility that there could be anything romantic between us. At least I think so. After Colette confessed how she came into so much money, I didn’t know what to say. My silence reeked of confusion, disapproval, and judgment. I felt bad. And besides, it's not like The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette didn’t have any pointers when a person confessed that they removed articles of clothing for strange people.
After dinner, my friend Maria called me up and suggested we go for a midnight snack at In N Out. After I told her everything about Colette and the fancy dining we had done, I realized, you can rave all you want about rich, fancy food, but when it comes to plain, good eating, there’s just nothing in the world like a simple restaurant like Applebee's or a simple meal, like a cheeseburger, French fries, and a strawberry shake.
We were all set. We would dine in good old-fashioned glamour and dance the night away at Level, Tucson's most exclusive club where patrons were not allowed to wear sneakers or torn jeans (finally, somebody was able to perfect the natural selection and thin out the herd of the unwanted...it was bound to happen in our little city, sometime). Then something tragic happened. The day before the party, I found out, through Alice's friend Jaz, that Casablanca was not a sanitary place to eat. Up until a few days before, Jaz was the bartender at Casablanca, but quit her job after she realized she was the only one who used soap when washing the dishes. It was just not a sanitary place to be.
I didn't know what to do. If I told Madelaine, then she'd have to find a new place to hold her party and as everyone knows, trying to find a new restaurant during graduation weekend is like trying to find humor in a Jamie Kennedy movie. On the other hand, if I didn't say anything, well…isn't there's something, anything, to say for stomach-pumping stories?
With less than 24 hours to the party, Madelaine was in panic mode and I being the good friend that I am had to help find a last minute restaurant. We went through restaurant guides and newspaper reviews, reading all about the fascinating and delicious foods that Tucson had to offer, other than the Mexican food were so well known for. Who knew there was such a vast selection? We eventually settled on an Asian fusion restaurant but then, through a series of unfortunate events, that could only happen to a couple of twenty-something’s like us, everything changed and we ended up celebrating Madelaine's birthday nuptials at Applebee’s. Eh. At least they had a half-off happy hour.
At a little past eight, I was dressed to the nines and ready to hang ten and have some fun. Everyone had called me and text me earlier that day to remind me to wear dressy shoes and not sneakers, because being turned away from Level would be just too humiliating. As if. Like I didn't know how to dress. Granted at the last formal affair I went to, I wore a skeleton pirate T-shirt with dirty denim jeans, but still. I learned from that experience, and went to the party wearing a grey Banana Republic goodie underneath a dress jacket, a look inspired by Justin Timberlake and Adam Brody, but perfected by me. Then it turns out, Level's natural selection process was on high alert and potential party-goers were being turned away, left and right, making the club an exclusive place where half of Tucson went to see if they could and or would be selected to join the worthy few. We already knew where we stood on the list (accepted, of course) and ended up spending the night in a little, crowded Mexican nightclub, El Charro, dancing and getting drunk until we could no longer say the word, "Margarita."
All in all, the birthday night wasn't a total disaster, because what came out of it, was an interest to go out and try new restaurants and new food. Maybe it was because I read so many different entrée's from so many different menus. Or maybe it was the fact that my dear blog friend Carrie had recently just written a post about her top five restaurants in Ottawa, Canada. Or maybe it was because, being a fan of the Rachel Ray show, $40 A Day, I've always wanted to go to new, far away places and enjoy three meals a day with only $40, but I figured since there were a lot of restaurants in my own city that I've yet to try. Whatever the reason was, the person who couldn't agree with me more, was none other than Colette. She had recently discovered a restaurant called NoRTH and couldn't get over the amazing cuisine that they served. And so, on five different days, during the past week, Colette invited me to five different restaurants, each pricier and more delicious than the last. Thus began the ritual known from here on out as, The Five Dinners.
1)NoRTH - Taking its cue from an Italian trattoria, NoRTH offers a contemporary approach to Modern Italian Cuisine. The carefully thought out menu highlights unique antipasti which reflects the best of the season, wood fired pizzas, inventive pasta dishes and secondi that feature many wood roasted and grilled dishes. My selections? The Prosciutto and goat cheese pizza and the salmon entrée with roasted squash and sweet onions.
2) Elle - Set in the historic Broadway Village building, designed by famed Tucson architect, Josias Joesler, Elle is a beautiful restaurant with a beautiful menu to match. The restaurant is a simple, yet tasteful place to be. Just like the food. By itself, the ingredients are simple, but together they create something spectacular. Organically-produced, locally-grown items are featured year 'round, including over forty different types of wine that give the delectable dishes an added je nais se quois. Colette and I shared the fried brie with spiced green apple chutney and roasted garlic cloves and for the main course I had pan-seared ahi tuna with a terrific pineapple-cilantro sauce.
3) Café Terra Cotta - Somewhere in the marvelous Catalina Mountains, is a marvelous restaurant that considers itself as Arizona’s first introduction to Southwestern cuisine. It combines fundamental ingredients native to the American Southwest and northern Mexico (chiles, corn, tomatoes, squash, and beans, etc.) with dishes that are normally found deep in Mexico, especially to the Yucatan, central Mexico, and Oaxaca, where the sauces are more robust, complex, and balanced, and presented in a classical French contemporary cooking techniques and presentation style. It’s really unique and really different than the Mexican food I'm used to. I had the Chef's special, which was herb-roasted quail with a pesto glaze and a garden vegetable medley, and it would have been one of the most perfect meals of my life, had I not seen a quail family run across the parking lot as we were leaving.
4. Café Poca Cosa - Hidden underneath a parking garage is a fantastic restaurant called Café Poca Cosa. In its place is a sweeping, stylish dining room with objects of Mexican art, on display, as if in a museum. I’ve raved about this restaurant in posts before, because it is simply one of the best and most satisfying Mexican restaurants in town. The menu, which seems to be inspired by Laura Esquivel’s novel, Like Water for Chocolate (side note, it’s one of the few, really great books that I think would make a terrific movie…), doesn’t feature traditional Mexican food, like tacos, burritos or enchiladas, but has a fresh selection of chilies, spices, vegetables, that Chef Susana Davila changes, several times a day. Because of the constant change, it is hard to recommend a dish. However, there is one thing that does stay the same and that is The Café Poca Cosa plate, which is a selection of three, mouth-watering entrée’s, selected by the chef, who decides what gets to go on each plate. Like a snowflake, no two plates are the same. My plate came with a breast of chicken, covered in a cream sauce made of red chile, chocolate, and wine, a grilled, shredded beef with a jalapeño chile and tomatillo sauce and a corn tamale pie, topped with a mango and cinnamon puree.
5) Montana Avenue - The menu is a delicious blend of updated comfort foods, taking its cue from the rich culinary traditions of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California. A well chosen wine list will reflect a boutique selection from some of the finest American wineries and a unique specialty cocktail menu will feature one of a kind creations. The Rainbow trout and macaroni and cheese with the andouille sausage is simply to die for. At least that’s what I hear. I don’t remember.
Now, you’re probably wondering how two twenty-something’s without high-paying executive jobs could afford such places. And actually, I wondered about that too, since I didn’t pay for anything. Colette, wouldn’t let me. This was her idea, therefore, according to her, it was her tab to worry about. But still. It made me wonder how she could afford such an extravagance. That’s when she finally told me. We were at Montana Avenue, when Colette confesses that she was a stripper.
Colette had only been working as a topless performer for two weeks. It started after she quit her job at Vitamin World. Her boss, who used to be a local radio DJ, invited her to go see Spiderman 3, after closing the store one night, and Colette went obligingly. It wasn’t until the next day, that Colette regretted her decision. Her boss told her he had a great time and Colette knew he was hitting on her. So, before he could hit on her and sexually harass her, she quit. With no job and more than several bills to pay, Colette needed money. And fast.
The classifieds were chockfull of audition ad’s for strip clubs and topless bars. Sure it wasn’t as glamorous as Hollywood made it out to be, but it did help keep bread on the table and off the streets. That’s when Colette remembered that our mutual acquaintance, Devona Monet, who worked at TD’s West Club. She went in and immediately Devona got Colette a job as a waitress. Sure it wasn’t as much as Devona made, but it was a living. And the best thing was that Colette liked it. That’s when her boss took notice of her and asked Colette if she would like to try her hand at performing on stage. She was guaranteed at least $600 for one night, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So was the possibility that there could be anything romantic between us. At least I think so. After Colette confessed how she came into so much money, I didn’t know what to say. My silence reeked of confusion, disapproval, and judgment. I felt bad. And besides, it's not like The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette didn’t have any pointers when a person confessed that they removed articles of clothing for strange people.
After dinner, my friend Maria called me up and suggested we go for a midnight snack at In N Out. After I told her everything about Colette and the fancy dining we had done, I realized, you can rave all you want about rich, fancy food, but when it comes to plain, good eating, there’s just nothing in the world like a simple restaurant like Applebee's or a simple meal, like a cheeseburger, French fries, and a strawberry shake.
Gwen kicks it off (and takes it off...) with The Sweet Escape
