2 UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy Every Food Lover Should Visit
From Tucson’s Sonoran Desert flavors to San Antonio’s rich culinary heritage, these destinations tell their stories one unforgettable bite at a time
If food is a big part of your vacation, you’ll want to build your next trip around a specific UNESCO designation. The UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy program recognizes cities where food culture runs through the whole community, not just a handful of “hot” restaurants.
There are more than 50 UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy around the world, and North America is home to five. Here are the two US cities that deserve a spot on your culinary bucket list.
Tucson, Arizona
In 2015, Tucson became the first US city to earn the UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation because its restaurants, home cooks, and farmers are still cooking with ingredients cultivated by local farmers and gathered from the desert itself. Indigenous ingredients such as tepary beans, mesquite, chiltepín, cholla buds, and prickly pears have been harvested for millennia, while White Sonoran wheat and heirloom fruits were introduced more than 300 years ago.
“You can literally taste 5,000 years of desert farming and foodways in a single day here,” says Jonathan Mabry, executive director of Tucson City of Gastronomy.
To taste that history, start at Tito & Pep, where bright dishes are built around Sonoran ingredients and cooked over a mesquite-wood fire, including grilled pork chops with a smoked chile glaze and celeriac-crushed potatoes.
At Barrio Bread, James Beard Award-winning baker Don Guerra mills heritage grains from regional farmers into everyday loaves, including the Heritage loaf decorated with a saguaro pattern. Other bakeries, including La Estrella Bakery, keep the Mexican panadería (bread shop) tradition alive. And drought-resistant tepary beans from San Xavier Co-op Farm and Ramona Farms move from farm to farmers market to dinner plate, sometimes all in the same day.
Consider planning your trip around the city’s food events, especially Terruño. Held annually in early November at Tohono Chul, a botanical garden in the Sonoran Desert, the one-night celebration of desert flavors brings together top chefs and winemakers for creative collaborations.
The Global Flavors Fall Festival at Tucson Village Farm is what Mabry calls “local soil, global cooks, and a community farm in the middle.” Chefs from the Gastronomic Union of Tucson and refugee cooks partner to create something beautiful from whatever is in season on the farm.
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio joined the UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy network in 2017, and its food reflects centuries of culture. Spanish, Mexican, German, African American, and Native American culinary traditions have all thrived here since before Texas was even a state. The result is a food culture that doesn’t fit neatly into any one category.
For a taste of that culinary mix, head to Pearl, the vibrant 22-acre neighborhood along the River Walk that has become the city’s dining hub. Its chef-driven restaurants, casual eateries, and weekend farmers market showcase the region’s flavors, while the Culinary Institute of America’s San Antonio campus has helped shape the next generation of local chefs.
One of the city’s highlights is Mixtli, a AAA Five Diamond restaurant that also has a Michelin star, where chefs Diego Galicia and Rico Torres craft multicourse tasting menus inspired by the regional history of Mexican gastronomy. Nearby, Michelin-starred Isidore celebrates Texas terroir through locally sourced ingredients and a menu rooted in the state’s farms and ranches.
For a more everyday treat, breakfast tacos are a must-try. The warm flour tortillas filled with eggs, chorizo, carne guisada, or bean and cheese are a San Antonio staple.
Plan your visit around the annual Barbacoa & Big Red Festival in October, one of the city’s most beloved food events. The name is a nod to the local pairing of slow-cooked barbacoa with Big Red soda. If you’re in town for the weekend, plan a stop at the Pearl Farmers Market, where every vendor is located within 150 miles of San Antonio.
How to plan a UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy trip
Both Tucson and San Antonio were built on layers of culture and culinary heritage, earning UNESCO recognition for the way their histories are told through food.
To fully experience each city, take your time. Follow the locals, try something you wouldn’t normally order, and if you don’t recognize an ingredient, order it anyway. Browse a farmers market in the morning, and then look for those same ingredients on a dinner menu that night.
And while the acclaimed restaurants are worth the reservation, don’t skip the neighborhood favorites and street carts, where some of the city’s best stories are served.