蜜柚直播 natives Mat Cable and Devon Sanner had flirted for a couple of years with the idea of a culinary collaboration, and as luck would have it, the timing and circumstances that had never seemed right before came together last fall 鈥 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April, the two longtime friends will open Zio Peppe on East Tanque Verde Road, an Italian-American restaurant that will borrow from Cable鈥檚 Fresco Pizzeria & Pastaria and Sanner鈥檚 15 years working in Janos Wilder鈥檚 kitchens.
But lest you think this is a redux of Fresco, consider the pair鈥檚 plan to incorporate what they call 蜜柚直播 terroir into the menu. House pastas, pizza and bread will be made with indigenous mesquite flour and heritage and regional grains including white Sonoran wheat, Pima club wheat, and red fife wheat. Sausages and other charcuterie will be made in-house.
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The idea is to add 鈥渜uintessentially 蜜柚直播鈥 takes on Italian fare, from the loaded elote arancini with cilantro and lime aioli to the creamy masa polenta with smoked cheddar and green chiles or the Lasagne Sonorense with house made chorizo, chile colorado, queso fresco and queso Oaxaca.
The classic margherita pizza is dressed with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella, and a calzone is filled with house-made fennel sausage, mozzarella and ricotta, and tagliatelle bolognese. Pastas will be served in focaccia bowls baked in house.
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鈥淲e鈥檝e got some really unique flavors we want to try to include some history as well as where we are now鈥 in 蜜柚直播 culinary evolution, Cable said. 鈥淧izzerias for the most part are kind of all the same. We are trying to make something different and unique. Our aim is to try and make a multitude of those dishes that are really fun and appealing and make you want to go there.鈥
Sanner said that in addition to tapping into the Native American and Mexican food cultures that have long defined 蜜柚直播, Zio Peppe will incorporate the flavors brought by later immigrants including Chinese and Italian.
鈥淎ll those feed into this concept of 蜜柚直播 terroir, the layering of the flavors of the region, what鈥檚 brought here and what鈥檚 found here,鈥 he said.
Zio Peppe will take over the space at 6502 E. Tanque Verde Road that was most recently home to Fire N鈥 Smoke, CowPony owner Jay Healy鈥檚 inventive barbecue and pizza restaurant. The pandemic prompted the restaurant鈥檚 closing last summer after three years.
Cable said he had been in talks with Healy since late last summer about bringing a new concept to the 2,300-square-foot space. He and Sanner had been spitballing collaboration ideas including developing ghost kitchens 鈥 creating menus and concepts that would be executed by other restaurants in addition to their own menus 鈥 but had not settled on an idea.
Until now.
鈥淭his opportunity came up and we just had to see this鈥 through, Sanner said.
鈥淒evon and I had some pretty grand plans for collaboration before the pandemic hit that were squashed,鈥 Cable added.
Renovation work, including a deep clean of the kitchen, a new facade and a new patio and dining room, is almost finished. The restaurant鈥檚 centerpiece is a unique wood-fired oven with a rotating stone hearth that Cable said was a big selling point for him and Sanner.
鈥淭hat oven was a big part of why we did it. It鈥檚 a very well-built, efficient oven,鈥 he said. 鈥淎s far as wood-fired ovens, it鈥檚 about as efficient as it gets and that鈥檚 appealing because we definitely want to be able to make some pizzas in the place.鈥
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch.
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Cathalena E. Burch
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