Chris Danowski
The artistic director for Theater in My Basement and owner of the Basement Gallery in downtown Phoenix is gearing up for a mediated ritual for live performance event this summer. Check out http://timb.org for more details
What'd you eat for dinner last night? Pinto beans, spiced with epazote, cumin and chili powder, with onion and garlic (of course!) and corn tortillas
Favorite food: Linguine with clam sauce (white), chile en nogada (chiles in walnut sauce) and mondongo (soup made with tripe and vegetables).
Least favorite food: Broccoli, haggis.
Favorite dessert: Tembleque (a type of pudding); anything with coconut.
Favorite local restaurant and meal to order there: Barrio Cafe for whatever they have on special. Phoenix Ranch Market (1602 E. Roosevelt St.) for the fish tacos. El Norteño for the burritos. Cibo for whatever they got!
Favorite local bar and cocktail to order there: Oh, I don't drink, thank you. I used to, though. But for a few years, my favorite has been the club soda and lime at Casey Moore's, but that's mostly because I get to hang out with (bartender) Lance and talk trash about girls.
Favorite thing to cook at home: I make this soup every year, around the Day of the Dead, for my muertos (deceased)...it's a Caribbean thing called Metagee, and it's a bunch of root vegetables, including yam and plantain, cooked in a thousand ingredients that include cinnamon, garlic, tomato and onion, with dumplings and coconut milk. It takes hours, and it's worth it. You can taste all the different ingredients, so it's like the spice of life to me, so it makes sense to serve it for the dead and say thanks for the year. When it's really cooked right, it tastes like the smell of the hair of my favorite person in the world.
Favorite memory involving food: Eating fast food with my daughter, and realizing that we were having a conversation, that she was old enough to start telling me stories...and realizing that this was something I'd be able to do for the rest of my life. Just gorgeous to consider!
Recipe or food tip to share: Habanero peppers are the beets of this hemisphere...erleichda (lighten up)!
