The restaurant industry was left reeling when 47-year-old father and grandfather Jose Mackario Jimenez died in early November. Now, those looking to remember Jose's legacy can drink to him with a beer named in his honor.
He left his mark on the Phoenix culinary community while working with prominent restaurants like Gallo Blanco and Welcome Diner in the Garfield Historic Neighborhood. Most recently, he was employed at Little Miss BBQ in Sunnyslope and Cloth & Flame, an event company that creates pop-up dinners with remote desert backdrops and inside historic buildings.
Jimenez was biking back from a job with Cloth & Flame on November 5 but never made it home that evening. The next day, "just after 8:30 a.m. officers responded to a call of a deceased person in the canal near 7th Avenue and Dunlap Avenue," Sergeant Melissa Soliz, a police spokesperson, wrote in an email to Phoenix New Times. The case was initially labeled a "death investigation," but is now considered an accidental death, according to the Arizona Republic.
The case will stay open until the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office releases a final report in February. Meanwhile, Jimenez's longtime partner Amanda Nash-Jimenez and members of the restaurant community are conducting their own investigation into Jimenez's death.
Members of the community came together to honor Jimenez's life during a December 4 memorial hosted by Cloth & Flame.
Winona Grey Photography
Nash-Jimenez came up with the idea for the IPA to honor Jimenez. She reached out to John Alvarado, a longtime friend of the couple and founder of Arizona Brewery Tours, to help bring her vision to life. She already had a specific brewery in mind.
"North Mountain Brewery was selected because it's a local spot that we supported and loved, both as a couple and individually; we would go there a lot together," Nash-Jimenez says.
Frank Picazo created the illustration for the beer, which was also used for Jimenez's early December memorial.
Frank Picazo
Wayne Coats, who has worked with Welcome Diner, Belly, and Cloth & Flame, also had a hand in making and distributing the beer. Coats worked alongside Jimenez at both Cloth & Flame and Welcome Diner.
Nash-Jimenez suggested that local artist Frank Picazo, another friend of the family, illustrate the artwork for the can. It depicts Jimenez as a character from Bob’s Burgers, one of the couple's favorite TV shows, donning a baseball cap over a bandana. He holds a kitchen knife in one hand and a tray in the other featuring a huge hop, the green cone-shaped flower responsible for the bitterness, aroma, and flavor of his beloved IPAs.
A sign in the illustration reads "#1 pop pop," the name Jimenez's granddaughter Nadia lovingly called him. His blue apron displays a few of Jimenez's favorite things: Spider-Man, a bicycle, and the number 36, both his and Nash-Jimenez's favorite number.
No Way Jose IPA is a single-malt and single-hop West Coast IPA with notes of grapefruit and citrus, and pine aromas, says Robert Berkner, who owns North Mountain with his wife Candy Frogozo. It contains 36 ounces of centennial hops, which create its pine and citrus notes while paying homage to the late cook.
Nash-Jimenez helped in the brewing process alongside Jimenez's daughter, her wife, and Coats.
Nash-Jimenez helped in the brewing process alongside Jimenez's daughter, her wife, and Coats.
"I'm so grateful to everyone involved in helping to make this happen," Nash-Jimenez says. "I wish that Jose was here to celebrate with us and drink his beer."
The brew will also be available at Little Miss BBQ, Welcome Diner, Sin Muerte, a vegetarian eatery that recently opened along Roosevelt Row, and Belly's locations in the Melrose District and Gilbert, says Coats.
"Everyone had their own next thing they would do with Jose. Jose, John, and I were planning to grab a beer together, but it never happened. Creating a beer in his honor allows people like myself and many others to have that one last beer with him," Coats says.
The beer will be available until it runs out with a possibility for a second run. Other bars and restaurants that wish to stock it can reach out to North Mountain Brewing Co. to place an order.
For Nash-Jimenez, it's one more way to honor her late partner.
"I just hope he knows that his love and light are so expansive," Nash-Jimenez says. "I don't want people to forget that."
