rconnelly

I totally agree with this. It seemed unreasonable to have the judges eat in the height of service at the diner, and then stroll into the Italian restaurant after everyone else had been served. I would have been really annoyed if they axed Cliff based on his FOH shortfalls without giving consideration to their own timing. ← Yeah, but, you still acknowledge guests, especially if they're judging you. Stopping by the table for one minute would've earnied a lot of points.

FYI J-Bar is not at Loew's but at La Paloma. And Alan Zeman's Fuego is no longer....sad to say a chain will take its place.

I couldn't sleep last night so I turned on FC and guess who was on? Miss Ray touring Boston. i watched only because I just got back from there. She supposedly knows the area quite well. Why then did she continuely call Cambridge Boston and said it was the home to universities like Harvard, MIT And Cambridge?????? Yes on the first two, but no, no, no on the last.

and to be honest, the road show I liked the best was "Best of" which of course had no big names and is no longer in production.

I thought the new chef at Loew's was the Executive Chef of the property not of the restaurant? ← I'll research and get back to you all.

U.E., I understand completely a spot does not have to be ritzy to be good. As far as El Corral, the quality of the meat, IMO, is around the Outback level. El Torero is definitely in that category. What I mean by pedastrian is that they are owned by a restaurant group that seems to tailor their offerings to "safe" cuisine. Look at their menus, I do not think you will find anything unique in there. There are neat breakfast spots in Tucson and some of them have been covered in the threads. Hel313 ← Do you mean pedestrian? Anyway, What do you mean "around Outback level", i've never eaten at Outback so I wasn't sure/ If the traveler is looking for more worldly menus as someone suggested, they may be disappointed. But the part about traveling is eating what the locals eat, experincing the city - any city - in what makes it unique. While ZIn and Wildflower may have "safe" menus, the service there is usually tops. R

Tucson: El Corral for greatr prime rib & steaks - you must order the tamale pie rather than potato El Torero in South Tucson for Mexican The Grill at Hacienda del Sol for fancy eats Also Janos for uptown food. Bistro Zin or Wildflower for great lunches. Terra Cotta and Cafe Poca Cosa just because they get so much press. All these are locally owned, which is an important issue here in Tucson.

For fancy eats: The Grill at Hacienda del Sol For great Mexican: El Torero off og South 4th Avenue El Sur on 22nd st just east of Craycroft Micha's del Norte on Prince Road A great prime rib or Steak: El Corral Loew's has a brand new chef, so I'm not sure what his food is like. Cafe Poca Cosa is no longer on Broadway. They moved about a year ago to the corner of Pennington & Scott Streets. Decor is way different. Food is still delicious although pricier than anything on 4th Ave.

The question is: "Who would you want to be your boss?" That is what a Top Chef is, isn't it? And then if you've ever worked in a kitchen, yelling isn't rare. It's actually pretty common, but if you like your chef, yellingisn't a big deal. I think Marcel's attitude is what bugs people. He really thinks he's the best. You don't see him congratulating the winners. I thing last week when he acted all pissy, when they won irked even calm Ilan.

Another one bites the dust: Chef Alan Zeman has closed Fuego. The building will soon be home to an English Pub type restaurant. Too bad! Fuego was a long-time Tucson fave.

Marcel is like that little brother who bugs you until you scream and then your parents yell at you! The kid might have some skills but he does the lack maturity to be a "top" chef. Give foor or five years and he'll do it on his own. As far as Ilan's behavior, I think he's just feeling the pressure....up until now he's been pretty quiet. So let's cut him some slack. Betty is gone and in spite of her temperment, it's a shame to see another woman pack her knives. I love Elia, but not sure whether she has the intenstinal fortitude to last.

Who inspired you most in your decision to write of food? I've always wanted to be a professional writer and fortunately I am doing that although not full time. I love food so this is a natural outlet for me. Lori Colwin is one of my inpirations although the wish was there long before I read her. What is it particularly that you write of within the wide-varied subject? Doing restaurant reviews and other food related articles for Tucson Weekly. When did you take up the pen? In 4th grade...professionally about 20 years ago Where do you wish to publish your writings? Do you have any specific magazines/journals or publishers that you have an urge to present your work to for acceptance? To write for the "Bigs" one day. Have had some bites, but so far nothing has panned out, Why do you wish to submit your work to these particular outlets? Because they're there! How do you hope to have your writings affect the world of food and people? I like to encourage people to eat locally and I get a bang out of people telling me that reading my stuff makes them hungry.

I found Danny's book to be fabulous! And even though I am a restaurant critic I took little offense.... Of course, I've had my fair share of pissed off retaurant owners. One place I did awhile back - the food was awful, the service worse and the room was freezing - had seven owners; each of which emailed me with all sorts of abuse (although they did not all identify themselves as the owners) from questioning my ethics - they said I was malicious!!!!!! - to telling me I should get a job shoveling horseshit. It only hurt for about one second.

I too will miss this amazing fellow. If it is any consolation I have it on good authority - a friend who spoke with Apple when he found out he had cancer - is that Johnny wasn't sure he'd make it. WIth the way he lived his life, it is good to know that he had the chance to choose how the last months would be...I only wish I could've been at the memorial service last week.

Nantucket was always one of my faves too. It closed ages ago. But the building is now the hoome of Fuego! whose chef and owner Alan Zeman has been well-loved chef around here for years. One of the chefs at Nantucket - Chef Galo - now has his own place up the road called Galo's. It is fabulous! Sadly, the Solarium burned to the ground about seven years ago, arson I believe. They caught the guy, thank goodness! We used to love that place as well. Check out my article in the Weekly's archives. The Solarium was one of the places I mentioned. www.Tucsonweekly.com

The Big A and The Mexico Inn were two regular spots for me here in Tucson. But that was a long time ago. I wrote a short piece for the "Tucson Weekly" awhile back called "Gone but Not Forgotten". It featured five popular spots that had closed their doors. I received really great feedback and actually got to meet the owners of one of the restaurants - The Iron Mask. Rita and Doug Marvin had us over for lunch and wonderful conversation! It was great fun and I learned alot. A real kick happened just this week. I was finishing up a review on a steak/Mexican joint in town and when I went to do follow up, I discovered the place had changed names, menus etc!!!!! In a week's time mind you! Worked it all out somehow. The owners are the same, they just flet they needed to bring in more people during the day so they expanded their taquieria from the Southside of town to midtown. Ah, the perils of running a restuarant.....