LET THE FEAST BEGIN DOWNTOWN AT MAYNARDS

By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com

Located more or less across the street from Hotel Congress, Maynards is known for its elegant cool.

Back in the years BC (Before Coronavirus), we often enjoyed sitting in the shady downtown courtyard of Maynards Market and Kitchen by the railroad tracks, sipping drinks and casually popping open a bowl's worth of tasty mussels as the long trains rumbled by.

It always made me think about being a part of the Old West, somehow.

Then came that fateful day last March when everything collapsed. All the stores and businesses closed, people were advised to start wearing masks in public, nobody knew what to do.

But then Maynards “Virtual” Market announced online it was open for take-out. We checked the website menu and, most wonderfully, there were two entries under “Take and Bake Cuisine” that sounded worthy of Maynards Kitchen – Coq Au Vin and Braised Short Ribs.

The southwestern flavors of Bernice's home give Maynards cuisine its proper setting.

Sadly there were no mussels, but they did have Take & Bake Pizza Kits. By then, we were hooked on the idea of transporting Maynards delicious offerings for a special dinner evening in another candle lit nook of Bernice's home on the northwest side of town.

After ordering both the Coq Au Vin and Braised Short Ribs, she chose a Margherita pizza kit to be the appetizer in place of those missing mussels. Also a bottle of Chenin blanc from Carlson Creek Vineyard, plus some sides of zucchini and a couple of different potato dishes.

We drove down to pick up our curbside stash at Maynards Market then headed back to Bernice's own waiting kitchen, carefully unpacking everything only to discover they forgot to include the stretched pizza dough.

But a quick call to Maynards and within 30 minutes they delivered the missing dough, rolled out into a circle, kept safe in a regular square pizza box – service with a smile.

The Maynards Take & Bake process is meticulously planned and does require a little concentration. Each item comes in its own aluminum foil pan with its own baking instructions. You can also find the same instructions online (hotelcongress.com/family/maynards) if you want to study up a little before ordering.

This Coq Au Vin with roasted potatoes and zucchini had the star power, but those short ribs had a secret weapon.

Chief of the entrees is the Coq Au Vin, redolent with the heady aromas from a wreath of thyme wrapped around the vegetables and chicken prepared in its own deep buttery red wine sauce, already looking too good to eat.

Second only in appearance are the hearty cuts of short ribs covered in another rich wine sauce even deeper in flavor, so deep this instantly became my favorite (not that anybody is judging).

Both entrees are family-sized portions with each one easily serving two hungry bear appetites, maybe more. Both come with seasonal vegetables. Our selections included those potatoes, mushrooms and zucchini.

Knowing the pizza would be along later, we began preparing the food we already had, which was really enough for two meals. There was so much, in fact, we decided to keep the pizza for the next night.

This worked out better, actually, because Bernice could borrow her son-in-law's pizza stone to crisp up the Take & Bake dough. For pizza aficionados this is highly recommended. In fact, Maynards' cooking instructions also mention using a pizza stone.

 For the Margherita pizza you get a circle of stretched dough the size of a platter, separate cups containing a red sauce, three cheeses (mozzarella, smoked fontina and grana padano), sliced tomatoes and basil. With the oven pre-heated to 500 degrees, we applied all the toppings and popped it in.

Looking so innocent with mashed potatoes and zucchini, this hefty braised short rib had the final word in satisfaction.

For our dinner of dueling chicken and beef entrees we wanted our own deep atmosphere of candlelight (which always makes everything taste better) and enticing music from Pandora's “Dave Brubeck” jazz channel.

Everything fit together beautifully. The Coq Au Vin filled the dining room with such a heady aroma of thyme, while the short ribs added a solid flavor base of gourmet goodness that went on forever. The combined pleasures were so satisfying we didn't even think about dessert.

As for that Margherita pizza the next night, Bernice added her own lightly tossed salad, some locally purchased chicken wings and fried zucchini.

Once again Maynards' flavorful sauces ruled the table. The dough became a substantial thin-crust pizza celebrating simplicity with tomatoey herbal goodness without needing the extra hype of additional toppings.

We also learned, even if you order Maynards' pizza and bake it a day later, all that delicious goodness will still be in there.

A well-deserved toast to Maynards "Virtual" Market as ruler of the gourmet sauces for its Take & Bake cuisine.