Food for Thought

Who says you can’t plan a vacation around what you eat and where you dine?

In Arizona, it’s easy. The state’s three largest cities — Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff — each present a unique culinary character all their own, and to much national acclaim, while even the smallest towns in the state offer noteworthy dishes you’ll remember long after you’ve returned home.

Where to begin? Let’s start with Tucson, a place so notable for its esteemed Mexican restaurants as well as its preservation of heritage food traditions that it was named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy — the first and only one in the United States.

Or there’s the Phoenix and Scottsdale metropolitan area, a melting pot (pun intended) of cuisines, and a haven for brilliant chefs whose talents have been recognized by the James Beard Foundation, among others. Plus: Alfresco dining amid desert vistas galore.

Flagstaff and Sedona boasts their share of award-winning talents in the kitchen, too, and some of the best brewpubs in the state.

In Arizona, you can tuck into a meal on famed Route 66 or savor dinner in a restaurant perched at the edge of the Grand Canyon. You can bite into the best burrito of your life served hot from a food truck or reserve a table for an eight-course culinary extravaganza. You can eat homemade pie at mom-and-pop eateries, nosh on farm-to-table fare at an actual farm and discover hole-in-the-wall favorites where locals gather.

So what are you hungry for?