The Gastronomic Union of Tucson (GUT) proudly represented the city’s culinary scene at this year’s Devour Culinary Classic tasting event and competition in Phoenix.
Devour took place at Desert Botanical Garden on this past weekend with a panel of judges and 77 participating restaurants. Judge’s scores were calculated based on taste, presentation, degree of difficulty, and creativity.
The GUT chefs took home two awards, actually, from the big event and one of those is a brand-new award called the Heritage Medal. This new award is given to the best dishes with ingredients that are indigenous, heirloom, low-water, desert-adapted, or locally sourced.
The GUT team of champions took home the trophy for their Grilled Picanha Tacos. Additionally, GUT won a silver medal for their Goat Cheese + Benne and Quinoa Tartlet, which is made with tequila, membrillo (quince), and saguaro seeds.
The team of chefs consisted of Kelzi Bartholomaei, Obadiah (Obie) Hindman, Juan Almanza, Roderick Ledesma, Sarah Lamberth, Nohemi Estrada, and Devon Sanner.
“I am so proud of our Tucson chefs for showing up and showing out like this,” said Sanner, GUT chef and co-owner/chef of Zio Peppe. “We also served The Last Monsoon cocktail, which was the TCOG Cocktail of the Year, developed by Alfredo Aguilar for Zio Peppe.”
The four judges at this year’s big event were Washington Post national food reporter Tim Carman, Food & Wine writer Nikki Miller-Ka, Eater SF editor and former Arizona Republic dining editor Lauren Saria, and former Arizona Republic food critic Howard Seftel.
“The team of culinary judges knew going in that eating their way through Devour 2023’s weekend lineup of 70 dishes would require a single-minded devotion to duty,” said Seftel. “They also knew it would take several hours of discussion and debate to hand out the medals. What they didn’t know going in was just how varied and imaginative it was all going to be. But when you get to eat everything from vegan oyster mignonette and veal schnitzel nuggets to peanut butter and jalapeno jelly hamburger and Wagyu beef cheek empanada, it hardly could have been otherwise.”
To learn more about GUT, read our August 2022 article, “A pop-up dining experience with the Gastronomic Union of Tucson (GUT).” For more information about next year’s Devour Culinary Classic, visit devourphoenix.com.
Article written by:
Matt Sterner
More about MattAt a very young age, Matt Sterner was gifted with the artistic ability to masterfully roll a burrito to the highest of standards, but the wrapped medley of delicious innards wasn’t his first love. Matt’s first true love was a combination of reading, writing, and creating. He grew up reading comics, the ingredients list of his shampoo and conditioner bottles, choose-your-own-adventure books, and the Scrabble dictionary — something he found useful when challenging his grandmother to a game.
He attended college at New Mexico State University and graduated with a degree in Digital Filmmaking. One of his favorite classes was screenwriting because he became responsible for the story’s birth before it came to life on-screen. After school, Matt took on numerous positions at a local television station in Tucson. From dealing out stories about heartbreak to producing “fluffier” content for a lifestyle broadcast, he learned what it takes to adapt to the many emotions the world of media can stir. Since 2017, Matt has dabbled in the culinary world of Tucson as well as San Diego, California from time to time.
If you’re in the mood for strange stories, head over to his pride and joy, wonkytimes.com. And in case you’re curious — yes, after all of this time, he still manages to roll a killer burrito.
