Tucson Talks: Christina Haynes

(Credit: Andi Berlin/Special to Metromix)

Tucson Talks

Q&As with local luminaries about their favorite Tucson hot...

When she walks into a room, Christina Haynes knows how to make the space pop. The 28-year-old interior architectural consultant has been brightening lives since she moved to Tucson in 2004, coordinating interior design projects from her downtown studio and a marketing company called Many Hats. (Right now, she’s working on a new Beyond Bread location at Oracle and Ina.) Christina also dabbles in event planning, and has even tried her hand at volunteer modeling, showing off a dress made of condoms for a Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation benefit.

Because she’s got such good taste, we invited her out to one of her favorite restaurants, 47 Scott, and picked her brain over a glass of Malbec and a plate of pommes frites. This is what she had to say…

Where do you go to find knickknacks and accessories?
I really like going to antique stores and some small, eclectic stores. I really like Copper Country. … On the weekends, it’s like your grandma’s house times a hundred. All these crazy pieces of furniture and accessories and stuff.

I really like the store Bon. … They’re a very modern home lifestyle store. So you can find gifts and home pieces and jewelry and books and they even have linens and things like that. Of course, there are a lot of places that have really amazing things that are specific to Tucson. There’s a store called Zocalo. ... They have really interesting Arizona-style, Mexican-style, Spanish-style accessories.

Do you have a favorite art gallery?
I go to art shows, most of them are downtown, Fourth Ave., Sixth Ave. … And the most recent one that I went to was a cooperative gallery (Studio 57) that an artist friend of mine invited me to. His name is Sean Cannon. He had an opening, and it was just off of Fourth Avenue, sort of the other side of the bridge. I don’t think it’s actually a formal gallery. It’s just an artists’ co-op space.

The one before that was at a new store in the Lost Barrio called MAST. It’s also a very interesting lifestyle store. They’re four owners whose initials create the word mast, and they all contribute different things. One of the women there takes old light fixtures and refurbishes them, and they also sell jewelries and clothes, pieces of art and furniture.

What’s your favorite place to get a cocktail?
I go to Hotel Congress a lot. I really love Scotch (on the rocks), but it’s not something you can drink very often or very large amounts of. So I drink wine primarily, but last night after the show I had a bloody Mary. But I love a gin and tonic in the summer. So that’s what I drink when I can, although my acupuncturist wouldn’t like to hear me say that.

Where do you get acupuncture?
Acupuncture and Healing Arts of Tucson. Her name is Mary Weigel Spencer. She’s amazing. … The first time I did it, I was so uncomfortable and nervous about it because I think the perception is it’s needles being stuck in your body. But they use these really thin, small needles, and you get so relaxed from it. Amazingly relaxed—moreso than if you get a massage or if you go into the hot tub.

Where do you go when you get a craving for something?
I get cravings for Caruso’s veal parmesan at least once a month. Delicious. Rincon Market roasted chicken is to die for. They make it there and they have this system called wonder roast. It’s basically like a rotisserie chicken. And I have a killer vice for French fries.

What restaurant has the best interior design in town?
I’m a really big fan of what Fox Restaurants have done with their interiors. They’re really forward thinking. I think that they’re comfortable but really exciting for people. … It sounds a little silly probably, but I really like Zinburger a lot. Their wall of mirrors, the wallpaper in the women’s restroom and the bar. … Absolutely kill me, I love 'em. The bar is a glossy white lacquer, and it’s beautiful. … and when you go into the women’s restroom it’s a wallpaper of a paparazzi.

What’s a place that you’re embarrassed that you like?
Getting back to my French fry fetish, I love McDonald’s French fries. They’re so good, and a Dr. Pepper. It’s just the most amazing snack ever. When I’m not, you know, drinking Malbec and eating bread at 47 Scott.