On paper, it might sound a little odd: Fine dining on a forgotten guest ranch miles from Tucson's city lights.
But take a stroll around the historic and fully reimagined Solana Guest Ranch in the middle of the far east-side Tanque Verde Valley and it's not hard to picture guests making their way, cocktails in hand, from the Tack Room Saloon that was once a gathering spot for cowboys wearing a week's worth of desert on their jeans, to the 1930s hacienda where the main course of a seven-course curated culinary tour plays out the final act.
In April, Hacienda Solana at the boutique Solana Guest Ranch, 2200 N. Kimberlee Road off East Tanque Verde Road, will launch its seven-course prix fixe progressive dinners, curated by Chef Kenneth Foy.
Hacienda Solana's RSVP-only Curated Culinary Tours will rotate the menu quarterly to focus on a different geographic and culinary area. For the inaugural tour to Italy, they're going to do fine dining with an Italian attitude, Foy said, noting his fine dining approach to every region.
But the food is only part of the experience. The sense of place is as important as the sense of taste.
"It's kind of a fine dining experience where we take them through multiple acts in different areas of the ranch," said Solana owner John Jacobs.
A koi and turtle pond for guests to enjoy at Solana Guest Ranch, 2200 N. Kimberlee Road. The guest ranch originally opened in 1948. John and Danielle Jacobs bought it in 2023 and invested $7 million into renovating it and turning it into a boutique experience for guests.
The experience begins with cocktails and small bites at the saloon that segues into a guided tour of the ranch's hidden spaces and conversations with Foy and Jacobs. A wine and cheese "intermission" is the bridge to the plated dinner in the hacienda.
Hacienda Solana will introduce itself with a one-night-only culinary event on April 18 featuring Michelin-starred Chef Christian Hunter, chef-owner of the upscale seafood bar Hooligan in Chicago.
The dinner was organized by Jennifer Davis-Paige's Culinary Travels Worldwide, which produces original video programs celebrating Tucson's rich culinary traditions, restaurants and artisans featuring chefs, foodies and culinary experts.
Chef Ken Foy, right, and ranch co-owner John Jacobs talk about Hacienda Solana, a reservation-only, seven-course, three-act progressive dining experience that will be offered at Hacienda Solana at Solana Guest Ranch, 2200 N. Kimberlee Road. "It's kind of a fine dining experience where we take them through multiple acts in different areas of the ranch," Jacobs said.
This will be the first time Hunter, who earned his Michelin star in 2023 with his Chicago restaurant Atelier, has ever cooked in Arizona. Foy, a two-time Tucson Iron Chef and co-owner of Dante's Kitchen and Cocktails, will assist Hunter in preparing the five-course dinner, which will include breads made by Tucson's James Beard Award-winning baker Don Guerra of Barrio Bread.
Foy has overseen the kitchen at Solana since last fall, when Jacobs contracted with Foy's Tucson Catering Company to provide on-site catering for the ranch's guests.
Within a few weeks, Jacobs proposed expanding Foy's role.
"They're like, 'We have a better idea. How about we give you the keys to this'," Foy said.
Hacienda Solana was the final piece of John and Danielle Jacobs' years-long renovation of the guest ranch that the couple bought in 2023.
"It was really, really run down," Jacobs recalled of the Tanque Verde Casitas, originally opened in 1948 as Bar J. Desert Haciendas guest ranch. "The wiring was bad. The electrical was all from the 1940s and '50s. The plumbing was bad. HVAC units were bad."
But behind the unkempt landscape and the desperately outdated adobe guest houses, the couple found a hidden gem in plain sight.
"I grew up here, and I never knew it was here. Most of the folks in Tanque Verde never knew it was here. You just kind of drive by it," said Jacobs, a longtime Tucson businessman whose résumé includes launching 25 companies.
A fire pit and chairs near one of the four Luxury Conestoga Wagons at Solana Guest Ranch. The wagons offer a glamping experience for guests.
Danielle Jacobs' business experience includes starting a menopause supplement company with a partner during the pandemic. Two years later, in 2022, they sold MenoLabs LLC for a reported $35 million.
John Jacobs said the couple invested $7 million in the ranch project, which includes the cost to buy the property, and spent three years completely renovating and reimagining it as a boutique guest ranch. They added pickleball courts and fire pits, updated the resort-style pool and replaced the electrical and plumbing for the six ranch homes that range in size from three to five bedrooms.
They also expanded the footprint from just over 5 acres to 11 acres when they acquired Tanque Verde horseman George Goode's adjacent 5.4-acre farrier school and calf-roping ranch. They converted the small school building into a casita and turned the tack room into a bar.
Not far from the former school's calf roping arena, they set up glamping with air-conditioned Luxury Conestoga Wagons that they began renting out in February. Solana Guest Ranch is the only place in Southern Arizona that has the pioneer-style Conestoga Wagons, which now feature indoor plumbing with enclosed showers and king-sized beds.
Throughout the renovation, the ranch has remained open, hosting families as well as large groups, including men's and women's cycling teams that spent a week at the ranch in February training.
Before Jacobs brought Foy on board, the guests were responsible for their own food service. The on-site kitchen, one of the final pieces of the renovation, has opened up more possibilities for guests and sparked the idea for the Curated Culinary Tours.
Foy said the concept is modeled after the high-end 12-course tasting menus at Binkley's Restaurant in Scottsdale, where guests are served different courses in different areas of the restaurant, from the patio to the bar to the dining room.
"I think the Tucson dining scene has grown up and evolved quite a bit over the last 10 or 15 years. We should have the same kind of options that you have in Phoenix, Scottsdale, here in Tucson," he said.
Fine dining is central to Foy's culinary DNA. The classically trained chef, who spent eight years as Tucson Country Club's executive chef before opening Dante's in 2013, said his favorite times at Dante's were when he hosted special prix fixe dinners.
John Jacobs, co-owner of Solana Guest Ranch, talks about the wood used for the bar in the old tack room.
"For me and the staff, this was our favorite few days of the year where there was no expectations of menu," he said. "We get to kind of drive the bus a little bit. It gave us an opportunity to expand (diners') horizons, have them try things they wouldn't normally experience."
In the kitchen, the special dinners "give the culinary team a real chance to play."
"There's nothing that's off limits. We can do anything from, you know, beef tongue to trotters, and that's the stuff that really invigorates the culinary staff," he said. "They've done burgers and chicken marsala and poppers and stuff like that ad nauseum. They want to stretch their boundaries and their horizons as well as share that with the guests."
Foy said several of his Dante's staffers will be helping out at Hacienda Solana. Dante's, meanwhile, will be rebranded in April and transition away from the chef-driven model to a more casual bar-restaurant.
One of six villas that has several bedrooms at the historic Solana Guest Ranch.
In addition to the Culinary Tours, Hacienda Solana will offer brunch on Saturdays and Sundays with a menu that includes short rib hash, smoked salmon toast and ranch benedict, Foy's twist on eggs benedict.
The inaugural tour to Italy on April 24 focuses on the flavor profile of the Amalfi coast, with "Northern Italian elegance and rustic countryside comfort" that culminates in a plated dinner pairing "classic technique with modern refinement," according to Chef Foy's description on the Hacienda Solana website.
Curated Culinary Tours at $125 per person are open to adults only and will be held on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. In addition to Sunday brunch, Hacienda Solano will host Sunday night cookouts.
To join the waitlist, visit haciendasolana.com.
City of Gastronomy Ambassadors Mat Cable and Devon Sanner traveled to Italy where they showcased Tucson cuisine in a ballroom full of Italian chefs and foodies.
