Longtime friends join forces to open new Italian-American eatery in Tucson | Caliente

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Mat Cable, left, and Devon Sanner are opening Zio Peppe at 6502 E. Tanque Verde Road sometime in April.

Isaac Stockton / Off Kilter Photo

Tucson-born Mat Cable and Devon Sanner had tossed the idea of ​​a culinary collaboration for a couple of years, and as luck would have it, the time and circumstances came together last fall that had never seemed right – at their height the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April, the two long-time friends open the Zio Peppe on East Tanque Verde Road, an Italian-American restaurant borrowed from Cables Fresco Pizzeria & Pastaria and Sanner’s 15 years in Janos Wilder’s kitchens.

But lest you think this is a redux from Fresco, consider the couple’s plan to add what they call Tucson terroir to the menu. In-house pasta, pizza, and bread are made with native mesquite flour and heritage and local grains such as Sonoran white wheat, Pima Club wheat, and Fife red wheat. Sausages and other sausage products are made in-house.

The idea is to combine “typically Tucson” with Italian cuisine, from the loaded Elote Arancini with coriander and lime aioli to the creamy Masa Polenta with smoked cheddar and green chillies or the Lasagna Sonorense with homemade chorizo, chilli Colorado, queso fresco and queso Oaxaca.

The classic Margherita pizza is made with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella and a calzone is filled with homemade fennel sausage, mozzarella and ricotta and tagliatelle Bolognese. Pastas are served in focaccia bowls that are baked in-house.

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