
The nonprofit Tucson City of Gastronomy (TCOG) is bringing back its pre-pandemic annual “Chefs on a Global Stage” event on Sunday, January 26 from 6 – 8 p.m.
The dinner, happening at the Mountain Oyster Club, will be pretty special because all of the Chef Ambassadors who were sent to other UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy last year — to represent Tucson’s food heritage — will be in attendance.
In 2024, six chefs introduced Tucson’s ingredients, cultural-fusion flavors, and culinary pizzazz to Macao in China, Mérida in Mexico, Parma and Bergamo in Italy, and San Antonio, Texas. At the dinner on January 26, they’ll recreate dishes they made in the cities they visited.
“Our Chef Ambassadors represent the pinnacle of gastronomy in Tucson,” said Janos Wilder, Board President of TCOG and James Beard Award-winning chef. “They are some of our best chefs who were hand-selected and specially trained to bring news of our unique food heritage and desert-adapted crops and wild foods around the world.”
There will be seating and tables to gather around, but this will not be a sit-down, table-service meal. Instead, the chefs will personally greet, serve, and chat with folks at different food stations — it’s a “grazing dinner” designed for mingling and conversation.
The dishes will be accompanied by Southern Arizona red and white wines, and Whiskey Del Bac is also donating its award-winning locally made whiskey for a special cocktail.
Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased online.
The event is also a fundraiser for TCOG’s Chef Exchange Fund.
“This dinner will not only be an opportunity to meet some of our best chefs and experience their culinary creativity,” said Jonathan Mabry, TCOG’s Executive Director. “It will also help us continue to send our Chef Ambassadors and flavors around the globe and to keep bringing top chefs from other UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy here.”
Attendees will also have the bonus of learning about and tasting some of Southern Arizona’s oldest ingredients, which are also foods of the future — they are healthy, pre-adapted to climate change, and flavorful.
“The dishes will present ancient foods with modern technique and sensibility in delicious and educational ways,” Wilder added.
The dinner is being held at Mountain Oyster Club. Tickets for Chefs on a Global Stage are available to purchase at eventbrite.com. Learn more about Tucson City of Gastronomy at tucson.cityofgastronomy.org.
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