5 cool things you can still do in Tucson this weekend (December 17-18)
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Get a good dose of family fun this Saturday with the City of Tucson's annual Parade of Lights downtown.
This event is held during the holidays and features floats and costumes decked-out in the finest colors.
The Downtown Clifton, located along the parade route, will be holding a viewing party, but you don't need special seating for this cool event.
The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. Find out more on the Parade of Lights website.
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If you missed SantaCon down on North Fourth Avenue last weekend (or perhaps the British SantaCon from 2012 featured above), here is your chance to make things right.
Main Gate Square is promoting a Santa Crawl this Saturday, an event that encourages Tucsonans to dress festively in Santa and elf costumes and hit all of University Boulevard's finest establishments (Gentle Ben's, Frog & Firkin, Red's Smokehouse, the recently reopened No Anchovies, Fuku Sushi and the Auld Dubliner) for drink specials and revelry.
More info on the crawl can be found on the Facebook event page.
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Legend has it that Pink Floyd synced up their album "Dark Side of the Moon" perfectly with the 1939 Judy Garland film, "Wizard of Oz."
Band members have long debunked those theories, but you can decide for yourself at Casa Film Bar, 2905 E. Speedway, on Saturday.
The movie house/watering hole will be playing the movie AND the album to see if the theory holds water.
The film starts at 7 p.m. Find out more on the event page.
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Island Plate Lunch is a brand new spot at 5575 E. River Road that adds to Tucson's Hawaiian/Pan-Asian culinary profile.
Bonus: It's open seven days a week.
Star reporter Kristen Cook wrote the following about the restaurant:
Every week day, chef Renee Eder would go to school with her grandma who worked in the cafeteria. When her grandma took her home in the afternoon, Eder would climb onto a stool alongside her to help cook the family meal.
Eder doesn’t need the stool anymore, but she’s still cooking. Her new venture — with her husband of 23 years, Justin — is Island Plate Lunch, which held its grand opening Saturday.
The casual eatery, at the intersection of River and Craycroft roads near Whole Foods, serves up Hawaiian and Pan-Asian specialties, the kind the Eders ate as kids.
Both grew up in Hawaii — Renee in downtown Honolulu and Justin on Kauai — and Renee studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas, going on to work in different restaurants as well as Michel Richard’s Central.
The French-born chef took Renee under his wing, but when the Eders decided to open their own place it wasn’t classical French cuisine they felt drawn to, but that taste of home, the quintessential Hawaiian plate lunch.
The Eders — who relocated to Tucson two years ago to be near their kids studying at the University of Arizona’s medical school — have created a small, casual, well-lit space that serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner. Diners can start off the day with taro pancakes or Spam with eggs and rice.
Many of the products — check out the sweet Maui onion-flavored Hawaiian kettle-style potato chips by the register — are imported from the islands, Renee said.
Of course you’ll find Kalua pork and loco moco on the lunch and dinner menus, but the island plate lunch also offers a poke bowl, which — Renee said — is not to be missed, along with Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, all built around pork belly.
“I love pork belly,” Renee said.
She’s even got a PB and J pork belly banh mi on the menu.
“It’s kind of unusual,” she said, “but I’m not normal.”
One thing you must know if you’re headed to Island Plate Lunch:
Be ready to eat. The portions are mighty.
“We’re from Hawaii,” Justin said, smiling. “We like to eat.”
- Updated
Cirque Roots, the community organization known for their aerial acrobatics, juggling, stilt-walking and other forms of circus arts, is holding a Cirque Affair Variety Show at their homebase, 901 N. 13th Ave. on Sunday.
The troupe promises a "holiday season variety show," but details are scant beyond those included on the Facebook event page.
The events starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5-$10.
Get a good dose of family fun this Saturday with the City of Tucson's annual Parade of Lights downtown.
This event is held during the holidays and features floats and costumes decked-out in the finest colors.
The Downtown Clifton, located along the parade route, will be holding a viewing party, but you don't need special seating for this cool event.
The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. Find out more on the Parade of Lights website.
If you missed SantaCon down on North Fourth Avenue last weekend (or perhaps the British SantaCon from 2012 featured above), here is your chance to make things right.
Main Gate Square is promoting a Santa Crawl this Saturday, an event that encourages Tucsonans to dress festively in Santa and elf costumes and hit all of University Boulevard's finest establishments (Gentle Ben's, Frog & Firkin, Red's Smokehouse, the recently reopened No Anchovies, Fuku Sushi and the Auld Dubliner) for drink specials and revelry.
More info on the crawl can be found on the Facebook event page.
Legend has it that Pink Floyd synced up their album "Dark Side of the Moon" perfectly with the 1939 Judy Garland film, "Wizard of Oz."
Band members have long debunked those theories, but you can decide for yourself at Casa Film Bar, 2905 E. Speedway, on Saturday.
The movie house/watering hole will be playing the movie AND the album to see if the theory holds water.
The film starts at 7 p.m. Find out more on the event page.
Island Plate Lunch is a brand new spot at 5575 E. River Road that adds to Tucson's Hawaiian/Pan-Asian culinary profile.
Bonus: It's open seven days a week.
Star reporter Kristen Cook wrote the following about the restaurant:
Every week day, chef Renee Eder would go to school with her grandma who worked in the cafeteria. When her grandma took her home in the afternoon, Eder would climb onto a stool alongside her to help cook the family meal.
Eder doesn’t need the stool anymore, but she’s still cooking. Her new venture — with her husband of 23 years, Justin — is Island Plate Lunch, which held its grand opening Saturday.
The casual eatery, at the intersection of River and Craycroft roads near Whole Foods, serves up Hawaiian and Pan-Asian specialties, the kind the Eders ate as kids.
Both grew up in Hawaii — Renee in downtown Honolulu and Justin on Kauai — and Renee studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas, going on to work in different restaurants as well as Michel Richard’s Central.
The French-born chef took Renee under his wing, but when the Eders decided to open their own place it wasn’t classical French cuisine they felt drawn to, but that taste of home, the quintessential Hawaiian plate lunch.
The Eders — who relocated to Tucson two years ago to be near their kids studying at the University of Arizona’s medical school — have created a small, casual, well-lit space that serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner. Diners can start off the day with taro pancakes or Spam with eggs and rice.
Many of the products — check out the sweet Maui onion-flavored Hawaiian kettle-style potato chips by the register — are imported from the islands, Renee said.
Of course you’ll find Kalua pork and loco moco on the lunch and dinner menus, but the island plate lunch also offers a poke bowl, which — Renee said — is not to be missed, along with Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, all built around pork belly.
“I love pork belly,” Renee said.
She’s even got a PB and J pork belly banh mi on the menu.
“It’s kind of unusual,” she said, “but I’m not normal.”
One thing you must know if you’re headed to Island Plate Lunch:
Be ready to eat. The portions are mighty.
“We’re from Hawaii,” Justin said, smiling. “We like to eat.”
Cirque Roots, the community organization known for their aerial acrobatics, juggling, stilt-walking and other forms of circus arts, is holding a Cirque Affair Variety Show at their homebase, 901 N. 13th Ave. on Sunday.
The troupe promises a "holiday season variety show," but details are scant beyond those included on the Facebook event page.
The events starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5-$10.
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