Time to rethink that summer trip abroad.
The European Union last week left the United States off its list of countries that could travel to France, Spain, Germany and all points in between.
Canada also is stopping Americans at its borders, all because our coronavirus rates are skyrocketing while those countries are experiencing declines.
But you don’t need to book a flight and go through customs to get a taste of the Europe or Canada. Several Tucson restaurants are bringing the taste from across the pond and the Great White North to the desert.
Here’s a way you can experience the taste of your lost vacation. Most offer takeout and dine-in.
Erin Stockellburg, center, general manager of The Canyon’s Crown Restaurant and Pub, 6958 E Tanque Verde Rd., checks in with Stella and Arthur Tellez about their food on July 1, 2020. The English style pub serves up classic British dishes with beer and other alcohol on the menu.
England
The Canyon’s Crown Restaurant & Pub, 6958 E. Tanque Verde Road, canyonscrown.com, 885-8277.
Jim Lengel used to travel to England quite a bit when he was an engineer with Honeywell, and he was always drawn to the country’s quaint pubs. So much so that when he retired he opened an English-style pub in Tucson, where he serves traditional English fare from hand-battered cod fillets and chips (they are actually good old-fashioned American french fries, but they fill the bill for fish and chips), bangers and mash with traditional Irish sausages and Scotch eggs — boiled eggs wrapped in breakfast sausage, covered in bread crumbs then deep fried.
“It’s comfort food,” said Lengel, who opened the restaurant 13 years ago with his son-in-law, Rich McKnight. “We make our own meatloaf here, we have salmon. Scotch eggs, 23 drafts, including Guinness, Bass and Harp.”
Scotch Eggs is one of the classic British style dishes on the menu at Canyon’s Crown Restaurant and Pub, 6958 E. Tanque Verde Road.
The Canyon’s Crown — “Canyon” pays homage to the neighboring Sabino Canyon while “Crown” speaks to the restaurant’s English flair — is Tucson’s only true English restaurant where you can eat traditional rich shepherd’s pie or the more elusive and decadent Guinness steak and mushroom pie. You can dine in or order to go — takeout is from a separate room accessed via the patio — from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Tuesdays, until 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays and until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Shown in 2012, pierogis filled with beef are one of the many items available at The Polish Cottage in the Midstar Plaza, Tucson.
Poland
Polish Cottage, 4520 E. Broadway, polishcottageaz.com, 777-5407.
This is where you go when you’re craving authentic pierogies, not the frozen variety from the supermarket but handmade traditional Polish dumplings filled with beef, or potatoes and cheese, sauerkraut and mushroom, or sweet farmer’s cheese.
This also is the place to go for sausages crafted the old country way smoked or white; smoked kielbasa slathered in spicy brown mustard and served on a toasted baguette; and sour rye soup or beet soup flecked with pieces of egg.
Everything at Polish Cottage is scratch made and will take you to the streets of Kraków or Gdansk where sour cucumber soup — it’s on the menu as “pickle soup” — is ordered by the gallon and the meat hearty hunter’s stew isn’t just a favorite in the cold winter months.
Polish Cottage is open from noon to 7 p.m. daily for dine-in and takeout.
Salade Nicoise, one of the lunch dishes at Ghini’s French Caffe, 1803 E Prince Rd., on July 2, 2020. The restaurant has been opened since 1992.
France
Ghini’s French Caffe, 1803 E. Prince Road, ghiniscafe.com, 326-9095.
There’s a misconception when it comes to French food, particularly the fare from the South of France, that escargot is the national calling card.
It’s not, said French-trained chef Coralie Satte, and you won’t find the edible snails anywhere on the menu of her 28-year-old Ghini’s French Caffe.
But you will find authentic Southern France dishes including the popular Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur — think grilled cheese made with thin-sliced ham and melty Gruyere cheese — French onion soup made with a provencal-herbed beef stock and adorned with grilled baguettes baked daily or Ghini’s signature eggs provencal — eggs paired with local tomato sautéed with a generous kick of fresh garlic and fragrant thyme.
Errol Moore, line cook, prepares eggs provencal, one of the signature dishes at Ghini’s French Caffe, 1803 E Prince Rd., on July 2, 2020.
“That dish, to me, every time I eat it, it has history of my grandmother teaching me to cook,” she recalled of time spent in her native France as a child. “I think Southern French cuisine is very simple. Tomatoes, garlic, olive oils, salt and pepper and thyme.
“That is a perfect reflection of what Southern France is.”
Ghini’s is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays for dine-in or takeout.
The Paella plate, Spanish rice, shrimp, mussels, clams, chicken and Spanish chorizo, from Contigo Latin Kitchen, 3770 E. Sunrise Drive, Tucson.
Spain
Contigo Latin Kitchen, 3770 E. Sunrise Drive, eatatcontigo.com, 299-1540.
Deborah Tenino might have had a few doubts about the big patio at La Paloma, where she opened her restaurant in 2010, but not now. That patio that pre-COVID could seat 110 is now the main focal point of her restaurant that marries the influences of Latin America and Spain.
But instead of 110 diners, the patio is reduced to eight tables that can handle a socially distanced 60 on a good day, And after just being open for takeout for months, the restaurant is having a lot of good days, she said.
Contigo Latin Kitchen is the go-to for all things Latin, including the flavors of Peru, Brazil, Mexico and Cuba. But it is the Spanish classic paella that is drawing folks in. It used to be that you would have to special-order the dish, big enough for four or more diners. But it has become so popular that you can order it — with a day’s notice, mind you — every day.
Tenino’s paella can be a vegetarian dish or a meat-eaters paradise. You can get it with seafood and shellfish, or go exotic with rabbit.
“It’s one of the original barbecue dishes, so it’s just nice to be outside and enjoying that. It kind of fits the setting” on the patio, she said.
Other bold tastes of Spain include Contigo’s Parillada Platter built for two, a meaty platter of tenderloin, lamb chops, roast marrow, ribeye with Argentinian chorizo and, for good measure, seasonal vegetables. The menu also features a daily gazpacho cold soup and more than a dozen tapas (small plates) meant for sharing including smoked pork-wrapped dates stuffed with Spanish chorizo, Spanish white anchovies, and octopus sautéed with lemon, thyme and capers.
Contigo is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and until 10 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.
Frost co-founders Jeffrey Kaiserman, left, and Stephen Ochoa, right, flank master gelato chef and Italy native Nazario Melchionda, at their gelato shop, 2905 E. Skyline Drive.
Italy
Frost, A Gelato Shoppe, with three Tucson locations including the flagship at 7131 N. Oracle Road in Casa Adobes, frostgelato.com, 797-0188.
In Italy’s bigger cities, gelato shops are on every other corner, and each has its own personality and take on the Italian ice cream. But one thing is consistent for all of them: the decadently creaminess that blows all other ice creams out of the freezer.
Frost was the first to introduce authentic Italian gelato to Tucson when it opened its first shop on the northwest side in 2005. Since then, they have added two more Tucson locations — 2905 E. Skyline Drive in La Encantada and 7301 E. Tanque Verde Road in the Tanque Verde Place plaza — as well as three locations in the Phoenix area, two in California, and one each in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Richmond, Virginia.
In 2013, Kuwaiti businessman Haitham Alghunaim convinced Frost owners Jeffrey Kaiserman and Stephen Ochoa to let him take the shop to the Middle East. Today, Alghunaim owns and operates two shops in Kuwait with plans to open a third early next year in an upscale shopping mall. He also is in the planning stages to open shops throughout the Middle East, he said last week.
But we in the Old Pueblo get the original, from the popular Stracciatella with fine shaved chocolate to the toasted marshmallow and tart limoncello. The variety of flavors is dizzying, and before the COVID era you could go in and ask for a sample of the Honey Lavender, Pear Riesling, Crema Di Biscotti, Cioccolato al Perperoncino or dozens of other varieties. Sadly, samples are no longer available, a manager of the Casa Adobes shop said.
Frost is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Union Public House, 4340 N Campbell Ave., in St Philip’s Plaza, in 2016.
Canada
Union Public House, 4340 N. Campbell Ave. in St. Philip’s Plaza, uniontucson.com, 329-8575.
Remember when we used to have a poutine restaurant on North Fourth Avenue? Yeah, US Fries didn’t last long, but it sure left a lasting craving for poutine — french fries draped in rich brown gravy topped with gooey cheese curds.
“You’ve got the lard group, the cheese group — most of the major food groups are covered there,” said Grant Krueger, whose St. Philip’s Plaza restaurant Union Public House has poutine on its appetizer menu.
A few Tucson restaurants feature the dish, but it’s especially popular at Union, where they crisp up the fries, ladle on the gravy and add the cheese curds with enough time to get a little melty before the dish lands on your table. It’s richly decadent, and although it’s intended as an appetizer or happy hour munchie, it’s rich and filling enough to call it dinner.
“Some people add an egg. Then you have protein to complete the food groups. You could pretty much just live off the poutine,” Krueger said.
Union Public House is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Takeout also is available.
