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#WeekendCoffeeShare, Yuletide Edition

December 24, 2016 — 8 Comments

Inn of Gingerbread

Arizona Inn Dining Room

If we were having coffee today I would invite you to quench your thirst with some fresh grapefruit juice. Our ruby-red grapefruit tree is yielding fruit that we will harvest from now until March. It is bright red in the spirit of Christmas, and delightfully tart. Citrus season is generous, bright and cheerful. We have a calamondin tree which bears heavily all winter too. It is a very tart lime flavored small fruit. I am going to town by scenting the air with mandarin and lime oils in the gingerbread house diffuser. I am serving a selection hot teas and coffee for your drinking pleasure. I am even on a citrus jag with tea, loving the roiboos lemon cloud flavor. It does make me feel like I am on a cloud for a few minutes when I drink it. Help yourself to your favorite beverage, and you can feel free to add a splash of alcohol if you are arriving at happy hour in your time zone.

Here in Tucson it is 7:45 am and 46 degrees F. It will be warm and sunny all day, so soak up some rays and the beauty of the desert before you leave. We are going to the Arizona Inn, very close to home, for our Christmas Eve lunch. Our 1:30 reservation for the main dining room is the perfect plan for this couple. I am vegetarian and Bob is not. At home he has to keep kosher, which means no meat in the house. When he dines out he likes to have super excellent carnivore cuts. The Arizona Inn has fabulous selections for me, and outstanding dishes for him. He might eat a duck today, and that is fine with me. We are going there for the elegance, the service, and the superb cuisine. They will prepare and serve our dinner in a highly sophisticated style we just can’t replicate at home in our condo. We have no chef at home, and more importantly, no dishwashers. They never disappoint. They go over the top so we don’t have to make such an effort. I look forward to this traditional lazy holiday.

They will have a glorious flower arrangement in the center of the room, and a fire in the adobe fireplace. The Inn has all the trimmings for a fancy over the top holiday experience. All we have to do is Uber on over and enjoy the day. We take Uber when we want to cocktail, and we do plan to cocktail this afternoon. The car service adds an element of luxury our daily lives do not normally include, and that is fun too. Our driver will deliver us to the front door of the Inn, where the doormen (plural) will welcome us. We will take our traditional photos next to the decorated tree in the library before taking our table in the dining room. For me it is the best no fuss no muss way to celebrate this holiday weekend.

I have plenty of time this morning to hear about your holiday (or not) plans. What kind of celebration will happen where you live? Drop in on Diana to share your comments or a post of your own. Diana keeps the party going from New Orleans, but this is a world wide event. Share coffee with some very cool writers from all over the world. Cheers, all!

Inn of Gingerbread

Arizona Inn for Innovative Cuisine, Who Knew?

January 1, 2016 — 1 Comment

We went out to eat in our neighborhood today to celebrate the new year. I was thinking of eggs Benedict but we arrived after the breakfast menu had been retired. Much to my delight the lunch menu had been updated since our last visit to include many new dishes that are right up my culinary alley. The Arizona Inn is a very classy place to dine, stay, or do just about anything. I used to take my mother there all the time because she loved the ambiance. I am also a fan of the reserved, quiet atmosphere and the historic style. In Tucson nobody really needs to put up a Christmas tree at home because the Inn provides a fabulous super tree in the library every year for all of us to enjoy. They keep the wood fire going and the charm flowing for hotel guests, so off the street visitors are treated to the same upgraded style. We love the dining room, but the Audubon Bar is adjacent which has a patio where the full menu is also available. The entire space is elegant and designed for classic leisure. I am not sure if many remember classic leisure, but it includes well designed surroundings, croquet, and fabulous service.

I was surprised to see the jackfruit Korean tacos so I ordered them. My starter of vegetarian spring rolls was fresh and delicious. The salad on which the rolls were served was the most sumptuous part of the dish, adding texture and another layer of flavor to go with the dipping sauces. To be honest I would have been satisfied after that course, but the tacos arrived and they really excited me. I finished my soba noodles and two of my tacos, which took me past the point of sensible portions. I am guilty of overeating on New Years Day!! Well, I made no resolutions, so I guess I did not break any. Bob was not able to finish his paella after his starter of corn and cauliflower chowder. I tasted the chowder, another vegetarian item, and really like it too. Bob ordered take out dessert, so the experience lives on in the fridge as two kinds of cake.

Our service was delivered with impeccable precision and grace by Mike Yaugor who has worked at the Inn for six years and likes it. I try not to hound waiters with my lacto-ovo vegetarianism by asking too many questions, but I need specificity. Mike was proactively ready to serve anyone, even vegans. He knew everything about everything on the menu. When Bob ordered paella, which normally is served after 5 pm, he proactively found out that the kitchen could accommodate the order at lunch time. Mike is my kind of guy, a happy, attentive, detail oriented server, comfortable with his colleagues and his guests. He did not mind asking the chefs to don the toques to come out for kudos on camera. Nathan Brown and Mathew Patton were holding down the kitchen on 1 January, 2016. They kicked out a lunch that made our celebration special and memorable. We are both impressed with the innovative new twists to the offerings. We’ll be back! This is, by far, the best restaurant in my neighborhood at the moment.