Tucson Culinary Festival Features Food, Wine, And National Celebrities

In its third year, The Tucson Culinary Festival is the inspiration of The Tucson Originals, Tucson's leading group of Independent Restaurants (www.tucsonoriginals.com). The festival celebrates the rich culinary spirit of Southern Arizona and presents a unique opportunity to discover the many talents and flavors of the southwest while meeting some of the most talented tastemakers in the country. This year, the Tucson Culinary Festival is pleased to welcome some very special guests including nationally renowned chef/author/television show host Zarela Martinez, her son Aaron Sanchez, one of America's rising star chefs as well as Johnny Apple, Associate Editor of the New York Times, prominent wine authority Elin McCoy and more.

The festival will include three exciting days of activities for food and wine lovers and kicks off on Saturday, November 5th with a special demonstration cooking class and luncheon hosted by Zarela Martinez. Zarela will feature recipes from her latest book, Zarela's Veracruz: Cooking and Culture in Mexico's Tropical Melting Pot, named one of the top 10 cookbooks of 2001. Originally from Agua Prieta, Sonora, Zarela considers Southern AZ her home and is looking forward to visiting with family and friends in Tucson.

The Reserve and Grand Tasting events on Sunday, November 6th will feature extraordinary opportunities to enjoy cuisine presented by some of Tucson's top chefs along with a showcase of first-class wines and to meet a world class lineup of culinary stars. Special guests will include celebrity chefs Zarela Martinez, Aaron Sanchez, Bob Kinkead, Barbara Fenzl, Alex Brennan-Martin and Marge Poore; Tucson notable chefs Donna Nordin, Janos Wilder, and Carlotta Flores; as well as Elin McCoy author of "The Emperor of Wine - The Rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr. and the Reign of American Taste", award winning journalist R.W.(Johnny) Apple author of Apple's America. Book signings will take place throughout the evening.

The "Tres Generations" luncheon on Monday, November 7th will showcase three generations of Zarela's extraordinary family of talented chefs. Guests will meet Zarela, her mother Aida Gabilondo (author of Mexican Family Cooking) and son Chef Aaron Sanchez (author of La Comida del Barrio) and enjoy a lunch featuring dishes from each of their cookbooks.

The "grand finale" of the Tucson Culinary Festival will be a wonderful multi course Chef dinner. Each course will be a work of culinary art created by a nationally renowned chef including, Bob Kinkead from Kinkead's in Washington, DC, Sanford D'Amato from Sanford in Milwaukee, Alex Brennan-Martin from Brennan's in Houston, and Mark Haugen from Tejas in Minneapolis. The participating chefs are members of The Council of Independent Restaurants of America who will be in Tucson for their annual meeting (see www.dineoriginals.com).

A portion of the proceeds from the Tucson Culinary Festival will be donated to The Tucson Community Food Bank. The Tucson Originals are pleased to put food on the tables of those that don't have the opportunity to dine at their restaurants. For additional information visit the website at www.tucsonculinaryfestival.com .