That and Hayden Flour Mill news from the City of Tempe Community Development department can be found here.

With all of the headlines about the subprime credit crunch, rising fuel and food costs and overseas food riots, is it any wonder that that the next trend is a turn away from gross consumption? Who wants to be constantly reminded of the lifestyles of the rich and famous, Bugattis and yachts when their Escalade is being repoed and their mortgage is in forclosure? So now we have (as usual I present just prime cuts chopped out for those of yo who have short attention spans):

Yawns: Rich and young, but frugal By Evelyn Nieves,

Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO —
[...] They are a new breed of Gen Xers and Ys, Young and Wealthy but Normal, or Yawns. [...]are socially aware, concerned about the environment and given less to consuming than to giving money to charity. “[...]an extreme form of postmaterialism in the upcoming period.” Could it also be that we are sick to death of buying stuff? [...] Yawns live small, but they already own whatever they want[...] (Second-hand stores are to Yawns what The Gap was to Yuppies.) [...]Yawns hate ostentation.

Tyler Durden returns!

Let’s face it: Fat, salt and sugar make food taste good. Take those things away, and you may–possibly, and by no means with any guarantees– live a few more years…but why? It is always discouraging to meet people who fear their food, whipping out little packets of stevia to sweeten their coffee for fear of sugar calories or ‘carcinogenic’ sweeteners, spouting off about their self-diagnosed gluten intolerance or dairy allergies (I do not deride those few who actually have been diagnosed by a medical doctor). So I was thrilled to see this. (From The UK Daily Express, via Restaurants & Institutions web site.)

DAILY Express celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has shocked food faddists by saying it is okay to use lard in restaurants.Once a staple ingredient of British food, lard has fallen out of favour in recent years because of health concerns. [...]Now Daily Express columnist Mr Worrall Thompson has said: “Restaurants for me are not about watching your figure - they are about having fun and enjoying yourself, for the average member of the public.” [I]n a restaurant, where people are there to enjoy themselves, it shouldn’t matter too much.”[...] A Spanish pig lard called Iberico fat recently won the backing of food magazine Delicious.The magazine’s editor Matthew Drennan said Iberico fat, made from Spanish pigs reared on acorns, gave roast potatoes a perfect finish.[...] John Briffa, a top nutritional doctor, claims that lard has an undeserved reputation and science has shown that it is not unhealthy.He said: “The majority of studies do not show a link between animal fat and heart disease.”

At last, from the Tribune:

Restoration plans for Hayden Flour Mill unveiled

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/112190

East Valley Tribune - Mesa,AZ,USA
Avenue will later build 500000 square feet of offices, condos and shops on the site, though no timeline has been set. Losch said Avenue will lose money on …

Here’s a cool little video tour of Downtown Tempe from Azcentral. We get a little plug (Thanks!):

http://www.azcentral.com/phpAPP/multimedia/flash.php?path=rtmp://azcentral.com/ent/azr/temperevised2_r

The restaurant business is hard enough in this challenging economy without the press throwing handfuls of dirt down from the top of the hole. This week we enjoyed the following keystone-cops sequence from the local press. First this from Azcentral:
Valley restaurants forced to close: Urban Campfire, Twisted

Howard Seftel
Republic restaurant critic
Mar. 26, 2008 08:58 AM
[...]And Urban Campfire, a six-month-old Tempe rib joint, also had to close its doors after barely six months.

Soon after came this, from Jess Harter at the Tribune:

Despite published reports, Tempe’s Urban Campfire still open
March 26th, 2008 by Jess Harter

This morning, the Arizona Republic reported the eight-month-old Tempe restaurant had closed its doors. A few hours later, the Phoenix New Times, presumably picking up the news from the Republic, reported the same thing.

Unfortunately, it appears neither bothered to call the restaurant to check.

(By the way, I commend Harter for urging readers to support local restaurants in this piece.)

Finally, this morning we have a nice review of smoked crow from Seftel:

Urban Campfire not closing
Howard Seftel
“[T]he end isn’t here. Stempkowski and partner Steve Wolff report that they are “still fighting,” and open for business.”

Oh well, I always thought Seftel was the Dr. Kevorkian of food writers, anyway….

http://www.tempefestivalofthearts.com/HomePage.aspx

Spring  Festival of the Arts
March 28-30, 2008
10am to 6pm

Parking Info and Map

From Restaurants & Institutions:
“6. Diner Research: Caught in the Middle
The economy is squeezing the middle class and jeopardizing dining-out dollars. Where and when do middle-income households dine out?”

http://email.rimag.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/m31f0RABDt0DO30Ga5k0FH

Petty tyranny in Pinal County:

The government of this fiefdom south of Phoenix claims that when it approved Dale Bell’s blueprint for his Western-theme restaurant with an outdoor stage in an enclosed courtyard, it assumed the stage would be used for mimes or poetry readings. Mimes in Arizona scrubland?

George Will in the Washington Post. 

Tempe has seen another great citizen pass from this life. Yesterday, funeral services were held for Ray Boles, founder of Ray’s ASU Barber Shop, the great eglitartian civic gathering place of our community.

May I extend the deepest sympathies of the Monti family to the Boles family.

Tribune Obituary and Family Tribute.

Az Republic Article

Ray’s ASU Barber Shop Official Page

Guestbook: http://www.legacy.com/eastvalleytribune/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=105968173