Kings of SIZZLE
Horsemen Lodge Steaks a Claim on an Iconic Meal
Northern Arizona’s Mountain Living Magazine, April 2017
Written by Gail Collins
Steak. The word brings meat to mind. Not just any beef, but a premium, savored experience. While the term steak defines any fast-cooking cut, most of us wouldn’t be so generous. Taste, tenderness and marbling all play a part in making a steak great.
In general, meat is muscle, so the choicest steaks are sliced from lesser-used muscle areas. The loin or backstrap runs along either side of the spine in long, tender muscles outside the ribs. The tenderloin or filet mignon lies on the inside of the ribs below mid-spine. From these two muscles come four ideal candidates for steaks: ribeye, tenderloin, strip and T-bone. In each of these cuts, fine flecks of fat—called marbling—baste the meat with flavor.
Though diners may have preferences, there are a few classic culinary rules for achieving steak nirvana. First, apply generous amounts of coarse Kosher salt to meat left at room temperature for 30 minutes. Brush with clarified butter or oil to prevent sticking and use a smoking hot grill. This shortens cooking time for more tender beef, adding a flavorful crust. Lastly, after cooking, let the steak rest for a few moments to absorb the pockets of juice. Most consider the ideal steak to be an inch-and-a-half ribeye, served medium rare with a pink, warm middle plus sufficient char.
Steak is an iconic meal, and northeast of Flagstaff—a few miles up U.S. 89—an icon has been serving them for more than four decades. Horsemen Lodge Steakhouse opened in 1975 and quickly became a hangout for Babbitt cowboys working on the CO Bar Ranch. The restaurant name pays homage to the ranch lifestyle in its authentic details—Western art, six-shooters, brands, chaps and spurs—and its cowboy-inspired menu, featuring steak. This has won the rustic outpost the Arizona Daily Sun’s Best of Flagstaff Award for Best Steak for two years running. Kudos to majority owner Steve Alvin for rebuilding Horsemen’s status and presence in the community.
Cajun Cuisine Cruising
Satchmo’s and Roux 66 Bring the Bayou Flavors to Town
Northern AZ’s Mountain Living Magazine, March 2017
Written by Gail Collins
Although Mardi Gras may be a revelry in our rear view mirrors, the vision remains vivid. Fat Tuesday, so called for its excess, marks the last merriment before 40 days of piety. The intricate iron balconies of New Orleans are draped in rich purple, green and gold; the gumbo and jambalaya are spicy; the jazz is syncopated; and the bawdiness of Bourbon Street contrast with genteel colonial mansions. The whole of it creates an intoxicating experience. This cradle of culture at the mouth of the Mississippi River blends Native American, African, French and Spanish influences among others. It is especially evident in their language of food, where you can savor sugar-dusted beignets or pork and rice boudin. Mostly, one senses a party—whether it’s a backyard crawfish boil or festival fun—is always just around the corner.
Our olfactory-driven memories are the strongest, and all of this hit me at the door of Satchmo’s. The spicy smells of Creole cooking took me straight back to our days in New Orleans. And I grinned ear to ear. Owner Jamie Thousand is quick to say a Louisianan might turn up his nose to a batch of Satchmo gumbo offered on their turf. Family recipes are strongly respected and guarded. Thousand honors the Holy Trinity of onion, green pepper and celery in his dishes, but they are also wholly his own.
The Date Night
Stepping Up the Romantic Dining Game for Valentine’s Day—and Beyond
Northern AZ’s Mountain Living Magazine, February 2017
Written by Gail G. Collins
Date Night is a newish term for the long term means of sustaining a relationship. The Oxford definition reads: A period when a couple can take time for themselves away from children and responsibilities. Kids and responsibilities acknowledged, as a practical matter, that sustenance should start the minute a couple moves from dating to partnership. There is no quicker way to undermine the love of your life than to take it for granted. Prioritizing and pursuing our lover makes for a woo-nderful life. However, planning is key. Great dates don’t just happen. So what makes for a great date night? Because honestly, who wants a mediocre date night? First and foremost is food—there’s nothing more sensual than sharing a meal. Second is ambience—cue the violins. That’s not necessary; it simply needs to be intimate and inviting enough to catch up on being a couple. Third, make plans for another date night. And when those big moments roll around, like an anniversary or Valentine’s Day, you’ve honed the skills to kick it up a notch.
Cottage Place Restaurant in downtown Flagstaff knows a thing or three about special evenings. It’s been the thrust of their longtime success. Since they opened their doors in 1994, Frank and Nancy Branham have introduced new ways for people to delight in a meal and one another, whether through holiday prix fixe events, a monthly 6-course tasting menu or novel entrees. “It’s a small restaurant, so we think outside the box,” said Frank. “Our upscale, niche wine tasting dinners began in the 90s when no one else was doing it.” Now, some patrons attend each month from Prescott and even Phoenix. As the name implies, the Cottage Place offers cozy seating at tables and banquettes surrounding a fireplace with Northern Arizona scenic landscape art. The demure, familial atmosphere belies the flavor awards garnered. A short list includes: Wine Spectator Magazine’s Award of Excellence for 15+ years, Arizona Daily Sun’s Best Fine Dining and Wait Staff for many years plus Best Overall Restaurant in 2016, as well as Open Table’s Top 100 Restaurants and Best Overall in 2012. Personally, Executive Chef Frank, a culinary graduate of the “hardknocks school,” has been voted Northern Arizona’s Chef of the Year three times.
Marriage & the Mountains
The Work to Woo Couples to Northern Arizona to Tie the Knot
Northern AZ’s Mountain Living Magazine, January 2017
Written by Gail G. Collins
Sitting creekside with autumn leaves strewn like golden confetti around the newly minted bride and groom, it was easy to see what had drawn my nephew, Josh, and Megan to Los Abrigados in Sedona to be married. The Spanish-styled resort with picturesque grounds next to Tlaquepaque Crafts Village—a venue in its own right—created a short-hop destination wedding for the Phoenix pair. But they are among hundreds, who choose Northern Arizona each year. Wooed by stunning scenery, plus the drama of weather and fiery sunsets yielding transcendent photography, their celebrations go from memorable to magical. In addition, these locations hold the bonus of touring for guests and a ready-made honeymoon on site for the couple.
Though the lure of the mountains and Red Rock Country is a natural choice for Arizonans, brides and grooms come from all over the country. “Ninety percent of my couples are not from Northern Arizona,” said designer and event planner Kim Duncan of Kim Duncan Designs. “Often they have a family or personal connection, but many have fallen in love with the area, and they come from as far away as Washington D.C. or Manhattan.” And why not? The region is a world class destination. 
Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte are monumental landscapes. Arizona Snowbowl affords forest and mountaintop heights. Between historic hotels and patio panoramas, couples can have their wedding cake and eat it, too, in stunning style.
A wedding’s foremost functions include planning and shopping. Combining the two is a great kick-start to the decision process. Northern Arizona hosts two show-stopping events each January to entice couples: Sedona Bridal Show and Boot Camp and Northern Arizona Wedding Expo. Vendors, such as Classic Party Rentals and Events by Show Stoppers, sponsor Sedona’s largest and most fashionable wedding planning event where brides find nearly 20 venues vying for attention plus loads of vendors. Northern Arizona Wedding Expo is billed as a “one-stop shop” providing brides, “with all the resources at their fingertips.”
HAPPY HOURS & HISTORIES
The Commerce Blends Its Story of Place with Lively Food and Spirits
Northern AZ’s Mountain Living Magazine, January 2017
Written by Gail G. Collins
In the late 70s, songwriter and entertainer, Peter Allen focused on life’s ageless aspects crooning, “Everything old is new again.” This timely reference point also marks Flagstaff’s decision to preserve its downtown heritage.
First, some perspective. Several years after its namesake July 4th flag planting on the nation’s centennial in 1876, Flagstaff was established as a railway and a lumbering center. The original structures, built from the forests’ ready materials, burned down repeatedly, and many were replaced by brick and native sandstone structures. In 1926, iconic Route 66 ventured west, carrying tourists to the Grand Canyon via Flagstaff, where they stayed overnight at The Hotel Weatherford with its witch’s cap cupola or Hotel Monte Vista, as did film stars.
With modern trends, some buildings, like Babbitt’s Department Store, endured a space-aged, aluminum face lift. Many businesses exited downtown by the 70s, and the city concentrated on regeneration. By 1990, a formal preservation program began, and the aluminum siding came down, revealing carved, red stone on Babbitt’s with others following suit.
Restoration and repurposing has continued, including innovative eateries, such as Proper and Tourist Home Urban Market propping up the south side with The McMillan, north of the tracks. But not everything can be saved, even if built of stone. The Commercial Hotel was devastated by fire in 1975, and The Commerce, a new craft cocktail bar, stands on the former site. Art within the bar commemorates the event.
U.S. Marine Veteran Jerry Waxman and Inveterate Designer
The longtime Katy resident served his country in WWII and helped his community preserve that memory through the Katy Veterans Memorial Museum
Written by Gail G. Collins
“If we build it, the memorabilia will come to fill it,” Jerry Waxman says of the Katy Veterans Memorial Museum. As a member of VFW Post 9182, Waxman had a vision to honor American veterans and preserve any and all items related to their service. The G.I. Joe style military museum resulted, housing artifacts temporarily loaned or bequeathed to the museum.
To War
Born in 1925, Waxman grew up fast and joined the fight to protect the U.S. after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He marched to the recruiting office, passed the tests, and he was in. With his ability to play a few instruments, the recruit discovered it was the Marine Corps band, not the war, he was in. He declined, aiming to fight the Nazis. Waxman was told, “You’re a Marine, and we’re not fighting the Nazis; we’re in Asia fighting the Japanese.”
Next, Waxman boarded ship, headed to Asia, where first-time crossers, called pollywogs, were hazed on occasion. Finally in Asia and ready to fight, Waxman was plucked from the ship and ferried to Pago Pago, American Samoa to finish a mural in the Officers’ Mess. Once aboard ship again, Waxman was surely bound for war. “Nope,” he says with a laugh, “this time I was sent for training in Oregon and worked on the camp newspaper.” After that, Waxman arrived in Quantico, Virginia, where part of his artistic project entailed burning script. He worked on a table protected with butcher paper. Beneath it was a map, outlining possible strategic war plans, which the charring process destroyed. “Fortunately, it wasn’t needed,” he says.
Continue reading “U.S. Marine Veteran Jerry Waxman and Inveterate Designer”
STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE
Some of the Best of Our Local Dishes
Written by Gail G. Collins
It’s no secret anymore. Flagstaff’s culinary scene is now the envy of much of Arizona. For a mountain town that still does not top 100,000 people, this place has dozens of independent restaurants achieving a high level of dining in their respective categories. After a few years of basking in the recent lineup of hotspots, we thought we would pause to reflect on a handful of signature dishes by our new dining places and expanded or reinvented eateries with a look across the foodie spectrum.
Craving Crepes at Streetside Saigon
In a nod to the French, the classic banh xeo, a crepe, is revamped with shrimp and shitake, that’s a hit at Streetside Saigon. The rice flour crisp is vivid with turmeric, filled with bean sprouts plus chive and served with a field of lettuce and traditional herbs. Tear off some crepe, tuck it into a lettuce leaf with mint and cilantro, roll it and soak up the lively dip—light, crunchy, healthy and flavorful. Not up for the crepe? Try the banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich, which boasts French influence in multiple ways. Streetside slathers their softer-than-baguette bun with pate and hose mayo, piles on tender pork meatballs and a layer of livered carrot, daikon and cucumber for a tongue-teasing combination of tastes and textures. streetsidesaigon.com
Roosevelt Alexander’s Lasting Impression
Katy School namesake and education Icon has
made a lifelong career teaching generations of students
Katy Magazine Oct/Nov 2016
Written by Gail G. Collins
Before Roosevelt Alexander graduated high school, he knew educating children was his calling. He answered the call with 35 years of service to Katy ISD. Alexander taught, advanced to assistant principal, and then, served as principal of Katy Junior High School for 12 years. “I have taught a lot of kids in my life and been rewarded by their returning to tell me how much they were helped,” he says.
From a family of teachers
His father died of a massive heart attack at age 36, leaving seven children between the ages of 3 and 14 for his mother to raise single-handedly. Alexander was the youngest and watched four siblings graduate college, earn masters degrees, and teach. With careers in Brookshire, Angleton, Franklin and Hearne, plus Houston, his sisters and brothers tallied more than 140 years of experience between them. Continue reading “Roosevelt Alexander’s Lasting Impression”
Katy Lacrosse
Squaring up the facts on the lacrosse game in Katy
Katy Magazine, Oct/Nov 2016
Written by Gail G. Collins
There are currently two Katy lacrosse clubs: Katy Cavaliers, a Division II team, which merged with other clubs in recent years, and Seven Lakes Lacrosse, playing in Division I. The Cavaliers offer youth programs from kindergarten through high school plus girls’ teams of all ages.
When Kai Knight-Turcan moved from Canada to Texas at age 14, he brought his love of lacrosse with him. Building on seven years of the sport, he continued through high school and went on to play for Southwestern University. “Lacrosse is growing exponentially in Texas and nationwide,” he says.
Kurt Knight-Turcan’s sons play lacrosse and he now oversees fiduciary duties for Seven Lakes Lacrosse. “They love to have a stick in their hands,” he adds. Continue reading “Katy Lacrosse”