Five of Tucson's most notable chefs gathered to celebrate corn's cultural roots in the Arizona-Sonoran borderlands, as the city's Gastronomy nonprofit kicked off its fifth annual Pueblos del Maiz celebration with a four-day feast honoring the region's culinary heritage.

The Tucson City of Gastronomy's four-day celebration included an opening dinner at the Tucson Gastro Park, tours at Native Seed Search, cooking demos, an informational panel, Fiesta Del Maiz at Kennedy Park and a closing dinner featuring international chefs honoring the three sister crops of the region: corn, beans and squash.

Diners at the opening reception, Sabores Del Pueblo, enjoyed a menu created by five of Tucson's most noteworthy chefs, including James Beard Award semifinalist Claudia Vindiola.

Vindiola, founder and head chef of La Frida Mexican Grill & Seafood, created the "coctel de bienvenida," or "welcoming corn cocktail," for the event, a blend of Sonoran agave, macerated corn, pineapple and orange, Mexican chiles, lime, salt and a roasted corn tortilla salt rim.

Vindiola's path to the kitchen was not linear. Before cooking, she worked as a stylist for more than 20 years. She enjoyed the creativity that came with styling, a catalyst to opening her first restaurant.

“I have no background in gastronomy, (but) I've always been creative, ever since I was a young girl,” Vindiola said. “Although I enjoyed the time I had being a stylist, when the opportunity to open a restaurant came up, it wasn't going to be just another restaurant.”

La Frida, a restaurant that pays homage to Frida Kahlo, serves elevated, homestyle cuisine, featuring traditional flavors known to the Arizona-Sonoran borderlands while also highlighting flavors from the more southern parts of Mexico. With food made fresh daily and nothing carried over to the next day, Vindiola describes it as an extension of the kitchen in her home.

Raised in that kitchen, Vindiola watched her mom teach cooking classes.

“I absorbed what I learned with my head and with my heart,” Vindiola said of sitting in on the classes. “We cook from scratch (every day). Our food isn't from cans, we don't use microwaves, nothing is left over for the next day. There is nothing that comes out from the kitchen doors that hasn't gone through my hands first.”

Vindiola also prepared two main dishes for the reception.

The first, "chicos," was sun-dried corn kernels cracked in a mill and stewed with red chile, garlic, onion and Mexican oregano, topped with queso fresco.

“(Chicos) is a dish that has a 300-year-old history that was at risk of extinction,” Vindiola said. “Being able to bring it back and revive it, it's a small piece to a larger puzzle of culture, tradition and art.”

The second, "barrio barbacoa," featured slow-roasted beef marinated in dried chiles and Mexican spices, wrapped in a banana leaf, basted with Barrio craft beer and served on a yellow corn tortilla with red and green salsa.

“I feel extremely honored for being a part of this event, it only commits me to my cooking more,” Vindiola said. “I truly feel blessed for the opportunity to express myself through my cooking, and to be able to share my cultural traditions and my roots.”

Zio Pepe chef and co-founder Devon Sanner's path into cooking was also untraditional.

Sanner studied political science and Russian at the University of Arizona, later earning a master's degree in Slavic languages and literatures. He taught Russian, Polish and English composition for non-native speakers, and later middle-school English through Teach for America.

“Long before I became a chef, I had come to understand language as a means of entering another culture,” Sanner said. “Over time, I began to recognize that food could function in much the same way. A shared meal can communicate history, geography, migration, agriculture, identity, cultural exchange, and memory in a remarkably immediate way.”

At 30, he went back to school at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute and received an opportunity to return to Tucson and cook under Chef Janos Wilder, who encouraged Sanner to think beyond Arizona. He cooked at the Cannes Film Festival, restaurants Alinea and Tru in Chicago, and at Momofuku in New York, working with Wilder for more than 15 years.

Zio Pepe grew out of Sanner's friendship with Chef Mat Cable, as the two experimented and developed a menu in Cable's commissary kitchen. After opening in 2021, they applied and were designated one of the restaurants featured under Tucson's City of Gastronomy.

Sanner made the "postre," or dessert, for the opening dinner: a nicuatole, or masa pudding with caramel powder, spiced piloncillo syrup and candied corn.

“What I try to convey (through cooking) is a deep love of people and humanity and all our various forms and cultures and origins,” Sanner said. “What happens when you get cultures colliding … it can also bear some beautiful fruit, and I think, gives rise to tremendous innovation.”

Travis Peters, Sanner's business partner in the culinary collaboration S+P Creative, also prepared a dish for the event, as did James Beard Award semifinalist Jose Contreras, representing Amelia's Mexican Kitchen.

Chef Nick Avaram, head chef and manager of Sawmill Run Restaurant at the peak of Mt. Lemmon, started working as a dishwasher at the restaurant when he was 15.

“I was washing dishes at the time, and I slowly was able to do prep and cook, things like that,” Avaram said. “It wasn't until the general manager slash chef at the time left. I was the person who's been here the longest and was pushed into that position.”

Given the opportunity to lead the kitchen and run the restaurant, Avaram slowly began modernizing the menu to include both the classic recipes the restaurant was known for and different cuisines.

Sawmill Run was recognized as a featured restaurant for Tucson City of Gastronomy this year after Avaram was approached by the nonprofit following his third-place finish in this year's World Margarita Competition in Tucson. The restaurant has also previously placed first in "Judge's Choice: Best Salsa" and second and third for its cocktails in the "Salsas, Tacos, and Tequila Challenge" by Art State Arizona.

The restaurant was recently accepted to compete at the 2026 Shamrock Expo in Phoenix, where chefs faced a 30-minute cooking challenge using a mystery basket of ingredients from Shamrock. Avaram came back to Tucson with the win.

“I was really excited to win that this year,” Avaram said.

Avaram created one of the small bites for the reception: a prickly pear elote featuring grilled and charred corn, a prickly pear reduction, cotija cheese, tajín and a lime crema topped with cilantro microgreens. The dish was previously featured on the restaurant's summer menu for Sonoran Restaurant Week.

“This (was) our first event (with the Tucson City of Gastronomy) and we're super excited,” Avaram said. “I wanted something I knew everyone's going to enjoy … just a little taste of the stuff we do.”

Topacio “Topaz” Servellon is a reporter with Tucson Spotlight. Contact them at topacioserve@gmail.com.

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