COPPER & COTTON “Foraging is something I have been doing since I was a kid—it’s just this natural sense of place, knowing what’s around you and understanding the seasons. Cactus should be the state food; it’s everywhere and we have so many different varieties, from prickly pear to barrel cactus to cholla.” – Tamara Stanger, Executive Chef, Tempe Tamara Stanger at Copper & Cotton, Tempe OLD COUNTY INN “Pine, Arizona has always been a special place for me. With less than a two-hour drive from central Phoenix it was always my personal hidden gem. So about five years ago, I decided to drop the cor-porate chef gig and take a leap of faith to open shop here with Old County Inn. We really take pride in local ingredients, and working in such a small space forced us to keep things simple and fresh. Our only freezer on-premises is for the local artisan ice cream we use. We love local, fresh herbs, honey and lavender from Pine Creek Canyon Lavender Farm just down the street. One of our signature cock-tails is the Lavender Drop made with the Pine lavender, local honey simple syrup and house-made lavender sugar rim. You can’t go wrong with the Lavender Drop or our Rim County Bloody Mary, garnished with a slab of our house bacon and freshly made pickles.” – Michael Dahling, Chef/Owner, Pine PLAY VIDEO Stephen Paul at Hamilton Distillers, Tucson HAMILTON DISTILLERS “I’m a desert boy. Growing up in Baja, Arizona, I’ve always been intimate with mesquite trees. In the ‘80s I started employing the spectacular grain of mesquite into custom furniture at our long-time custom furniture company, Arroyo Design. That was out of pure love of this place. In the mid-2000’s, while barbecuing mes-quite scraps from Arroyo Design, my wife had the idea to malt barley over a mesquite fire for a true Sonoran Desert single-malt whiskey. That became Whiskey Del Bac. I’m blessed to know this desert. It gives me spiritual sustenance.” – Stephen Paul, Founder, Tucson 22 VISITARIZONA.COM TOP TO BOTTOM: OLD COUNTY INN; COPPER & COTTON; HAMILTON DISTILLERS
Arizona Official State Travel Guide Arizona 2020-21: Page 22
