Fresh Foodie Trail

Tours, New Breweries, and Arizona's Only Craftsman Community

From VISIT MESA

VISIT MESA LAUNCHES FRESH FOODIE TRAIL™ PACKAGE TOUR

Skip the long farm table dinner. Instead, grab a hold of the grain, get your hands dirty picking the day's harvest and get into the kitchen and start putting together a menu that makes everyone envious. Just recently, Visit Mesa launched the Fresh Foodie Trail™, a self-guided route that connects many of the culinary-themed attractions in Arizona's third-largest city and Mesa's neighbouring towns. This food-centric experience abandons the long-table dinners and invites visitors to learn why their food choices matter. Pasta-making classes with ancient grains, watching the cold-pressing of fresh olives, foraging for the freshest produce – it's education plus experience that makes these stops on the ultimate foodie road trip memorable – and popular. Visit Mesa has packaged nearly a dozen locations into this foodie tourism product in a new Agritourism Guide to not only promote Mesa's treasured heritage of family farming but also to educate visitors on the in-demand experiences that can only be found in the destination.

The guide maps out each of the attractions and highlights the region's farmer's markets, food truck events, and includes a dining section with restaurants that feature locally-grown items on their menus. Serving as a culinary gateway to Greater Phoenix, the neighbouring farms in and around Mesa are providing a bounty of seasonal goods for visitors to enjoy year-round. Citrus in January, peaches in May, olives in October and even, heirloom wheat in the winter. Travelers can time their visits to experience chef-driven local dinners featuring Arizona winemakers and participate in ice cream making classes on a dairy farm. A dozen culinary-focused attractions and visitor experiences line the Agritourism Trail that winds through Mesa, Gilbert, and Queen Creek, Arizona.

For tour information and schedule, contact DETOURS of Arizona, www.DETOURSAZ.com, or 866-438-6877. For more information, www.FreshFoodieTrail.com; for media information contact Emily Brozewicz, Emily@visitmesa.com or 480-682-3678.

NEW BREWERIES LINE DOWNTOWN MESA'S MAIN STREET AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE CITY

Arizona’s craft beer scene keeps on brewing. Craft beer continues to grow in popularity, so much so that travelers will seek out a local brew while visiting new destinations to get a taste of the area they are visiting. Mesa offers a popular collection of micro-breweries with an array of drafts that are just as unique and refreshing as the city. With breweries in every pocket of the city, picking a favourite will prove challenging. On Main Street, an original cruising roadway from the 1960s, visitors can stop in at the new Oro Brewing Company. This Downtown Mesa taproom and brewhouse are separated by a large glass door and window, providing guests with a peek at the brewing process right from their high-top table. Locals raved about their first brew, Batch #001, which was a mix of an English IPA and East Coast Juicy IPA. Downtown Mesa's first brewery, Desert Eagle Brewing Company, opened its second location in the city. Fans enjoy Desert Eagle's Dunkel, Wheat, and ever-changing Porter collection while taking in the live music or belt out tunes on open mic night. In east Mesa, Lochiel Brewery is brewing up history with their prized collection of Scottish ales and malts based on heirloom recipes dating back 300 years. Barrio Brewing Co., whose home-base is in Tucson, is another newer hangout in Mesa.

Elements of Arizona shine on their craft beer menu that features Arizona citrus in their IPAs and signature Jefeweizen.

For more information on Mesa’s breweries contact Emily Brozewicz, Emily@visitmesa.com or 480-682-3678.

AGRITOPIA ANNOUNCES OPENING OF BARNONE, ARIZONA’S ONLY CRAFTSMAN COMMUNITY

Lauded by New York Times as the leading agri-hood in the United States, Agritopia is a community on the edge of the rural/urban interface. This organic farm was designed to flourish in the urban setting. Instead of a huge field of one crop, you find a patchwork of numerous specialty crops. The same-day harvest is sold at a 24-hour Farm Stand, as well as the being served at the adjacent Joe’s Farm Grill and The Coffee Shop. Their Johnston family homestead has been converted into a 1960’s era mid-century modern diner featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and is surrounded by century-old trees offering year-round shade. The developer Joe Johnston, famous for preserving and breathing life into other historic buildings in the burgeoning Town of Gilbert, will soon open doors to Barnone, Arizona’s Craftsman Community.

This new gathering place is inside a renovated Quonset hut built with steel from WWII planes that served the nearby Air Force base. The structure that has been brought back to life as an innovative artisan collective on Agritopia’s urban agriculture campus. Barnone features 14 resident craftsmen and craftswomen across a wide array of disciplines including Arizona winemakers Todd and Kelly Bostock and their micro-winery Garage East, the 12West nano-brewery, and culinary machinist designing kitchen tools for the serious home chef including coffee roasters, espresso machines and more. Letter Craft, a local much-beloved woodmaker and Prickly Pear Paper vintage printing shop are also part of the offerings. Two restaurants are on-site, Fire & Brimstone featuring hearth-based cooking using locally grown and foraged ingredients, and Uprooted Kitchen, a vegan eatery featuring produce grown steps away in the Agritopia farm.

For more information, www.BarnoneAZ.com; for media information contact Katie Critchley, Katie@agritopia.com or 480-988-1238.

HAYDEN FLOUR MILLS HIGHLIGHTS AWARD-WINNING HEIRLOOM NATIVE GRAINS

Taste Arizona history at Hayden Flour Mills at Sossaman Farms, east of Mesa. This family-owned flour mill has been featured in the documentary Ingrained. Focused on ancient native seeds and growing heirloom wheat with minimal processing, Hayden Flour Mills in Queen Creek offers a full-sensory culinary experience that starts with a tour of their milling operation and gives visitors options to participate in hands-on classes and educational seminars. Here, they showcase flavourful grain and its importance to the American diet highlighting everything from artisan breads, pasta, and wheat berries to Bourbon, craft brews, grain-based oils and more. In 2015, Hayden Flour Mills was the recipient of the Martha Stewart American Made Awards.

For more information, www.HaydenFlourMills.com; for media information contact Emma Zimmerman, Emma@haydenflourmills.com.

NATURAL SPA PRODUCT LINE EXPANDS, QUEEN CREEK OLIVE MILL GOES BEYOND EVOO

Grown at the base of the San Tan Mountains, Queen Creek Olive Mill is Arizona's only family-owned and operated working olive mill and farm where olives are grown and pressed for the production of high-quality olive oil products. Expanding their product line beyond extra virgin olive oils, stuffed olives, and tapenades, the mill's OliveSpa line now offers home and body care items made from olive oil. Skincare products made from olive oil are known for their anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anti-aging properties. The OliveSpa product line offers exfoliating scrubs, foot balms, hand salves, lip balms, body butters, laundry detergent, men's shaving foam, and bar soaps.

For more information, www.queencreekolivemill.com; for media information contact Sydney Rea, srea@queencreekolivemill.com or 480-888-9290.

VISIT MESA ARIZONA MEDIA CONTACTS:

Michelle Streeter, Vice President of Communications

Direct: 480-682-3638 E-mail: Michelle@VisitMesa.com

Emily Brozewicz, Communications Coordinator

Direct: 480-682-3678 E-mail: Emily@VisitMesa.com