In the Sonoran Desert, over 80% of what grows natively is either edible or medicinal. That’s always blown my mind. This place is alive with flavor and healing.

That’s the spirit behind Desert Magic, a new one-night event we’re hosting after sundown on Monday, August 25 at Tohono Chul Gardens. In partnership with Salus and Local First Arizona, we’ve engaged some of Tucson’s most talented chefs and wellness practitioners to create a unique experience that celebrates both the culinary and medicinal properties of native desert plants.

FOOD

You’ll wander through the gardens, drink in hand, and stop at chef stations along the way. Each chef is creating a plate that highlights native plants growing here in the Sonoran Desert: chiltepín, mesquite, prickly pear, corn, squash, and more. 

While the focus is on the plant, these dishes aren’t entirely plant-based. Chefs will be cooking with all sorts of other ingredients, including animal proteins, but they’ll be sourcing as local as possible.  Each serving will be 2 ounces or more, giving you a full 20 ounces of yummy, healing, and satisfying food by the end of the night.

Here are the chefs and their courses cooking:

• Chef Ryan Clark, Loews Ventana Canyon – brown butter assorted figs with agave, mesquite crumble, fig leaf, and Tucson honey gelato
• Chef David Solorzano, Agustin Kitchen – Mechudo bean soup with Pima corn chochoyotes, purslane, and wild spinach tossed in a bacanora-chiltepin vinaigrette
• Chef McKenzie O’Leary, Tanque Verde Ranch – Desert Magic Salad; huitlacoche marinated wheat berries, saguaro fruit vin, local crows dairy goat cheese foam, mesquite croutons
• Chef Tanner Fleming, the Coronet – Wild Boar Birria Blue Corn Sope (nopal, pozole, pickled cholla bud, chapulines) // Tepary Bean Blue Corn Sope [Vegan] (nopal, pozole, pickled cholla bud)
• Chef Tyler Fenton, BATA – white tepary bean hummus with squash seed tehina, summer squash, and a masa and White Sonora wheat sourdough cracker
• Chef David Marks, Tohono Chul Bistro – pecan-smoked pork and local squash braised in prickly pear juice, with borracho tepary beans, roasted corn salsa, fermented Fresno sauce, and a mesquite flour tortilla
• Chef Pablo Valencia, Scratching The Plate – chuck steak basted in Whiskey Del Bac with fire-roasted sous vide apples and aloe cremeux
• Chef Kelzi Bartholomaei – smoked brisket slider brined in a koji/amazake mixture made with Dragoon Brewery Amber Ale, with alligator juniper sauerkraut, lacto-fermented Sonoran champagne mustard, and five-day fermented pickle chips
• Christian Padilla – cured aloe vera leaf nigiri with pickled habanero salsa, Japanese peanuts with lime ash, and burnt tortilla ash sushi rice; matcha and hierba buena atole with coconut cream, citrus zest, ginger, and mint oil

You’ll also get a botanical welcome cocktail to kick off the evening.

MEDICINE

Our friends in the wellness and herbalism world are bringing hands-on stations and ceremonies where you’ll get to engage with desert plants in unexpected ways:

• Cacao Ceremony with Soul Tribe
• Medicinal Herb Walks with John Slatterly
• Crazy Facts About Sonoran Plants with Jim Koweek
• Energetic Herbal Cleansing with Dr. Angela Wojtowicz
• Desert Flower Essences with Mimi Kamp
• Connecting with Plants with Mimi Kamp
• Encounters with Yerba Mansa
• Make Salves & Tinctures with Sonoran Rosie
• Make Creosote Sachets with Monsoon Mystics
• Vortex Healing by Coach Shelly
• Massage from Brandi Garcia of Healing Spirit Soaks
• Bath Salt Bar by Di Luna Candles
• Geode Cracking with Aquamarine Daydream
• Traditional Matcha Whisking & Samples by Sakura Tea Circle of Tucson
• Somatic Healing with Tesa Mayurga

All experiences are included with your ticket. Additional handcrafted goods including salves, tinctures, body care products, candles, herbal products, art and other items from these practitioners will also be available for purchase.

SOUNDS

The music and sound work are woven into the evening, helping you slow down, tune in, and feel the desert in a different way:

Stage 1
6 p.m. – Healing Chants with Rachel Strong
6:30 p.m. -Sacred Songs from Música Nidito & Vachu Adu
7:30 p.m. – Crazy Facts About Sonoran Plants with Jim Koweek
8:00 p.m. – Sacred Songs from Música Nidito & Vachu Adu
9:00 p.m. – Cacao Ceremony with Soul Tribe

Stage 2 (alternating throughout the night)
Sound Healing with Sonic Journey
Ambient Tunes from Naim Amor

PLANT SALE

If a certain plant captures your heart, you just take one home from Tohono Chul’s greenhouse.

TICKETS

Tickets are priced $44 and include entrance, all food, all workshops and experiences, and a welcome botanical cocktail. Additional alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks will be available for purchase. 

👉 Grab your ticket here

Space is limited and we expect to sell out in advance.

Come spend an evening with us grounding, connecting, tasting, learning, and celebrating the wild magic of the Sonoran Desert.

MAP & SCHEDULE

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