Ambassador for the City of Gastronomy Janos Wilder has always been ahead of the culinary curve. The classically trained chef was one of the pioneers of New Southwest cuisine in the United States. His first Tucson restaurant, Janos, was so successful in applying fine dining techniques to Sonoran Desert ingredients that Wilder won the prestigious James Beard award. He was on the board of directors of Native Seeds/SEARCH, a nonprofit devoted to preserving heirloom crops, long before awareness of heritage conservation became widespread. And the globe-trotting menu at Wilder’s latest restaurant, Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails, showed a prescient focus on a world culinary consciousness that draws on local resources.
Chef Janos Wilder at Travel & Adventure Show in Chicago with the Arizona Office of Tourism
Costilla de ResShah Manish Tacos Apson
PHOTO: PEDRO ROMANO
Pico De Gallo Tacos
PHOTO: PEDRO ROMANO
Sonoran Hot Dog
It’s no surprise then that Wilder was brought in to brainstorm and give testimonials for both UNESCO City of Gastronomy applications – or that he should take full advantage of the successful designation at Carriage House, the new event space and cooking school that Wilder debuted in February with Devon Sanner, his chef de cuisine at Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails.
Downtown Cocktails HeirloomKitchen Farmer +Market Arizona Office of Tourism at the Travel & Adventure Show in Chicago
For a series of City of Gastronomy classes, Wilder and Sanner are partnering with Edible Baja Arizona to bring in instructors who represent the food and the flavors of the region., “Not only restaurant chefs, but also people who work in their homes,” Wilder said. “I want the best tamale makers from Hermosillo, the women who make tortillas that are as big as your arm.” They are also looking to have Tucson Meet Yourself curate a series of classes with some of the local immigrant communities. Wilder already proved to be an excellent City of Gastronomy ambassador. On a trip to the popular Travel & Adventure Show in Chicago with the Arizona Office of Tourism, Wilder prepared a salad of cholla buds and tepary beans for a large audience of potential visitors. Mary Rittman, director of public and visitor relations at Visit Tucson, reported that his presentation was a huge success. “People lined up for the samples and waited while Janos talked about the ingredients and about the Santa Cruz River Valley heritage. Even after they ate, they stayed around to ask question after question,” Rittman said. Looking to the future, Wilder said, “I believe – or at least hope – that the designation will be an impetus for more local chefs to think of themselves as part of the larger fabric of the city.” He plans to work hard to make that happen. “I want to find the people who produce the best goat cheese and honey and put them in contact with chefs, to explore the depth and breadth of the Tucson locavore movement through the prism of the City of Gastronomy. It’s one and the same.”
Biz
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Spring 2016
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