Chasing Iron Chef, averting a strike and more

AJ Mortazavi set to compete in Iron Chef Tucson finale

Chef Amir Joshua Mortazavi built a winning taco around a photo of the ocean, and on July 18, he'll find out if that instinct is enough to make him Tucson's next Iron Chef.

Mortazavi, who goes by Chef AJ, is executive chef of The Barnyard Crafthouse & Eatery on Tucson's east side. He'll compete against OBON Sushi Bar's Anthony Dromgoole, a two-time Iron Chef Tucson champion, during this year's event.

Mortazavi has competed in numerous culinary competitions throughout his career, saying his focus extends beyond winning a title or first place.

He sees competition as an opportunity to learn from fellow chefs while continuing to grow his craft.

That philosophy was on full display over dinner service last week, as Mortazavi watched from the bar as a pair of diners at a nearby table took their first bites of food, nodding enthusiastically.

"That's what makes me happy," he said, gesturing toward the pair. "Their faces, that's what I get happy about. That, to me, is the most amazing part about being a chef."

For Mortazavi, success isn't about being the best chef.

"It's about winning popular choice," he said. "The customers are the ones that we really want to make happy."

A Tucson native who is half Mexican and half Persian, Mortazavi grew up in a traditional Mexican household, with much of his childhood revolving around his grandmother, whom he called Nana.

"She was always cooking, my grandfather too, always making barbacoa outside," he said. "The more I think about it, we didn't eat out a lot, I always had a warm home-cooked meal."

As a kid, Mortazavi said, his relationship to food was pure enjoyment, not curiosity about technique. He fondly recalled dining on tortillas and pozole made from scratch in Nana's kitchen.

That interest in creating didn't take hold until he got older and moved to Boise, Idaho, in 1997.

After three months working in a restaurant, he moved from prep cook to running the kitchen, with his time in Boise allowing him to work with a team.

Those leadership skills traced back to a lifelong background in athletics, where he learned the concept of teamwork early on.

By 1999, he had made his way back to Tucson and was working for Wildflower and later Zona 78, growing his knowledge and experience.

In 2000, Mortazavi moved to San Francisco to reconnect with his father, describing the city as "the melting pot of diversity."

He said working in San Francisco allowed him to expand his skills beyond his traditional Sonoran style, though after a year and a half, navigating the city grew difficult and pushed him back toward Tucson.

On his way back, a visit to his aunt in San Diego turned into years of culinary growth and self-discovery, with Mortazavi smiling as he recalled San Diego's laid-back vibe.

"It felt like I was playing Bob Marley in my brain all the time," he said.

After unintentionally attending a job fair at Petco Park, Mortazavi accepted a sous chef position at a new restaurant concept before later becoming regional chef.

San Diego introduced him to the vibrant flavors of Baja cuisine, and while his Sonoran roots remained the foundation of his cooking, Baja cuisine expanded the way he approached food.

Mortazavi said he found a freedom working in San Diego that allowed him to grow even more professionally.

Working under an owner who encouraged him to enter culinary competitions led him to consecutive wins at the Taste of Cardiff, a popular annual culinary festival.

When he eventually returned to Tucson, Mortazavi spent several months working at Noble Hops Gastropub before joining The Barnyard Crafthouse & Eatery during its development stage.

He was given the opportunity to build the kitchen around his own vision, creating the menu and training the kitchen staff from the ground up. The eatery's barn-inspired design and open layout left plenty of room for possibilities, and Mortazavi said that when he first walked through the doors, he immediately saw more than a restaurant.

"I fell in love with the potential of the place," he said.

The property reminded him of restaurants he had worked at in San Diego, but what excited him most was the idea of what it could become.

He began imagining farmers markets, pig roasts, taco stations and, eventually, a Tucson-style barbecue concept that would blend the Sonoran flavors he grew up with and the Baja influences he'd come to love throughout his career.

Beyond the Mexican flavors he grew up with, Mortazavi has recently begun exploring the Persian ingredients and traditions that are also part of his identity. He said he's continuing to learn more about Persian cuisine, incorporating ingredients like dates, pistachios and spices into the way he thinks about food.

That same curiosity carries into the kitchen at The Barnyard, where he said they focus on natural ingredients, local farms and better alternatives whenever possible.

"I enjoy cooking the way I eat," he said.

Rather than relying on processed ingredients, he strives to create dishes that feel fresh and scratch-made.

"I am trying to give you a home-cooked meal with an artistic touch," he said.

Every dish reflects where Mortazavi has been, the cultures that have shaped him and the people he hopes to bring together around the table.

That philosophy carried into this year's competition. Having previously competed without advancing to Iron Chef, Mortazavi saw this year's 18th Annual Meet the Chefs competition as an opportunity to do something different.

He built his winning Baja fish taco around a single image: Rosarito Beach, the resort town on Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

"I'm looking at a picture of the ocean and I'm like, 'How can I make it look like that?'" he said.

Every element traced back to that picture in his mind. He wrapped the tortillas in a corn husk to keep them warm, plated them on a banana leaf to make the colors pop, worked in smoked blue sea salt to evoke the ocean, and poured the salsa into a tiny corked bottle. With no fryer available, an equipment limitation every competitor faced, he reached for an air fryer to get the crisp texture he was after anyway.

"I wanted to control all these elements so it'd be the best taco they'd had," Mortazavi said. "So I had to focus on the components."

The attention to detail paid off. Mortazavi won the May 17 Meet the Chefs competition, earning a place in the July 18 main event.

He hopes Iron Chef Tucson will introduce more people to The Barnyard before it launches its upcoming Tucson-style BBQ concept.

Regardless of the outcome, he says every competition is another opportunity to learn.

"Even if I'm in last place, I'm still learning something," Mortazavi said.

Sun Tran drivers approve deal, avert strike in Tucson

Sun Tran drivers have averted a strike after Teamsters Local 104 members voted Sunday to approve a three-year contract that delivers what the union called the most significant operator safety improvements in its history of bargaining with the transit agency.

The July 12 vote ended months of negotiations that centered on concerns about safety and wage increases.

Seventy-five percent of union members who voted supported the agreement. Sun Tran, which employed 579 people in 2025, reported that year it operated 36 routes covering more than 8.2 million service miles and 633,000 service hours.

Sun Tran crafted the agreement following a failed attempt to reach an agreement by June 30, presenting it to employees at union meetings on July 11 and 12 and calling it the "last, best and final" offer for a contract.

"For years, we have raised concerns regarding safety conditions throughout the transit system," Teamsters Local Union 104 said in a Sunday statement on social media. "Those concerns too often have gone unheard, been dismissed, minimized, and failed to result in any meaningful action. Today, we have secured all bargainable safety improvements."

The union said the agreement includes enhanced driver protection barriers for every bus in Sun Tran's fleet, with built-in installation deadlines.

It also allows bus operators to intervene during incidents affecting safety, including intimidation, threats or violence; ensures enforcement and security personnel are present during operational hours; establishes a new emergency alarm and radio communication system for buses; expands safety training for employees; and provides counseling and trauma services for those affected by public safety threats.

The agreement also includes changes to employee pay and retirement benefits, along with an expanded right for the union to review the development and deployment of safety efforts.

The union said this will bring transparency to data on violence and illegal substance exposure, creating accountability and ensuring decisions are driven by data.

“As we move forward, the safety of our employees and the public remains our highest priority,” Sun Tran General Manager C. Mikel Oglesby said in a statement. “We are committed to providing safe, reliable, and dependable transportation every day while continuing to serve the Tucson community with service excellence.”

Mayor Regina Romero expressed her happiness with the deal in a statement, supporting the increased driver safety measures, wage increases and the addition of benefits that she felt were reasonable and achievable for the city while also keeping route services running.

"This resolution is a testament to what is possible when we put our resources where they matter most: safety for our operators, passengers, wage increases the city budget can afford, and food benefits for Sun Tran employees," she said in the statement.

Teamsters Local Union 104 advocated for operator safety during the drafting of the city council's transit safety and security plan, released in December.

Tucson's Department of Transportation and Mobility met with the union in October to discuss safety concerns on public transit and to help shape the transit safety plan. Union representatives reportedly proposed several suggestions to improve driver safety, including panic buttons, code words and radio systems, the last of which was incorporated into the July 12 contract offer.

Additional union feedback included concerns about open-air drug use, a lack of deterrence methods for repeat offenders, and the need for clear signage to inform drivers and passengers about safety guidelines.

Those concerns shaped the union's recommendations for better infrastructure, enforcement and response capacity, and they continue to inform the broader discussion of public safety on Tucson's transit system.

• KVOA's Andrew Capasso reports that the University of Arizona has broken ground on a new dorm called "The Catalina" at the corner of Speedway Boulevard and Campbell Avenue, the former site of the Palm Shadows apartment complex. The nine-story building, scaled down from an original 19-floor plan, will house more than 1,300 first-year students and serve as a social hub for the area. Construction is expected to wrap in 2028.
• Arizona Public Media's Katya Mendoza writes that forecasters expect daily thunderstorm chances through the week, with a potentially "very strong" El Niño pattern later this year raising the odds of heavier rainfall through the rest of the monsoon season. Severe thunderstorms with 80 mph winds battered Tucson and Southeastern Arizona over the weekend. National Weather Service meteorologist Aaron Hardin attributed the intensity to wind shear, an unusual factor for Arizona storms that allowed them to sustain longer than typical monsoon activity.
• KGUN's Don Davis reports that Sunny Haven Farm Animal Sanctuary gives rescued sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and turkeys a permanent home while offering visitors what founder Elizabeth Matthews calls "the healing power that compassion toward animals can have." The entirely vegan nonprofit, a decades-long dream Matthews began saving for as a child, relies on community support and volunteers to cover costly veterinary care, including a recent $2,000 vet bill for one sick turkey. Volunteers and Matthews' family say the sanctuary's impact extends beyond the animals themselves, offering visitors a rare, calming chance to connect with farm animals many rarely interact with.
• The Tucson Sentinel's Bella Week writes that despite Pima County expanding its network of cooling centers to 48 sites since 2023, unhoused Tucsonans say access remains inconsistent due to limited hours, rules around pets and belongings, and staff relationships, with most centers closing by late afternoon and leaving people exposed during still-hot evenings. Last year, unhoused people accounted for nearly one in four heat-related deaths in Pima County despite making up only about one in 500 residents, a risk compounded by a 2025 city ordinance criminalizing camping in parks and washes that offer natural shade.

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