Located at the corner of Highway 2 and Division, DISH is a quintessentially Sandpoint restaurant — funky and family-friendly, with a little play area for kidlets, open seating, lots of light, and bright walls of lime, teal and avocado. There’s a good buzz about the place, which focuses on “affordable gourmet dining for the whole neighborhood,” according to owners Gary and Laura Peitz.
The menu holds a mix of traditional American comfort foods and unexpected spices from Cajun to curry, all served with gourmet panache.
Breakfast reflects the southern stylings of Chef Gabe Cruz (formerly of Café Trinity and Chimney Rock), with dishes like crawfish etouffee benedict ($10), served with a heap of homefries. The Almost Joe’s features sausage from local Woods Meats, as well as herbed mushrooms, spinach and Asiago cheese ($8.45). Pancakes Banana’s Foster ($9) — topped with a sauce made of orange juice, brown sugar, Myers rum, bananas and butter — will appeal to your sweet side while house-made organic granola ($5) packs plenty of energy.
For lunch, make friends with the Rachel — hot, thin-sliced turkey breast with melted Fontina cheese on grilled rye with slaw ($8.45). Salads range from traditional Caesar ($5) to the JFK ($10), with dried cranberries and apricots, toasted walnuts, Stilton cheese, red onion, bacon and baby mixed greens. Both the curry chicken potpie ($9) and capellini pesto ($10) include Dish’s rotisserie chicken, which will be featured in the dinner menu slated to come online later this spring.
Many breakfast and lunch items are available at the drive-thru, which opens at 6 am daily and features Doma coffees served by a proper barista, not some fly-by-night coffee-cutie in your average drive-up window. There’s also a to-go menu, giving new meaning to the idea of “home-cooked” as your family will be impressed with the gourmet meal you were clever enough to pick up on your way home.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
Dish, at 1319 Highway 2, Suite A, Sandpoint, Idaho, is open daily 7 am-2 pm; drive-thru opens at 6 am. Visit www.sandpointdish.com or call (208) 265-6100.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Downtown burritos
We’re not sure how we missed this for so long. Our California-Style Burrito Sensors are usually carefully attuned to the proximity of tightly packed meat and beans. (We rejoiced with the arrival of Taco Del Mar at River Park Square, then went nuts when De Leon’s opened a satellite bistro on Lincoln last year.) But on Jan. 22, a new burrito joint slipped in under the radar at the old Taste of Asia/Zip’s on Third Avenue.
ATILANO’S is spacious, in more ways than one. Take a look at the menu. There are 75 items on there — burritos, tacos, tortas, tostadas, combos, specials, kids’ stuff — plus 14 side orders, including (strangely) tater tots and French fries. There are even seven breakfast burritos choices, like machaca, chorizo and bacon. And it’s all cheap as hell. Lunch with a giant paper-wrapped burrito and a medium horchata will run you just a little over $6.
“Have you ever been to San Diego?” a guy in line asks me. I tell him I went to college in southern California. “These are the closest I’ve had to what they make down there,” he says.
Patricia Gonzalez doesn’t put a regional tag on the food they serve. Just Mexican, she says. The 19-year-old is one of three employees at Atilano’s, which is owned by Atilano Gonzalez, who operates Atilano’s I in Coos Bay, Ore. (The Spokane store is Atilano’s III; the second store, also in Oregon, closed.) Patricia commands the counter while cousin Efrain and another man work the kitchen and tend to the steady clanging of the bell at the drive-thru window. “Almost everybody is family, except for the guy in the back,” she says. “But we treat him like he’s part of the family.”
Patricia says they’ll need two more employees before they can live up to the ambitiously optimistic hours printed on their take-out menu: Fridays and Saturdays, open until 3 am. As it is, they’re staying open until midnight seven days a week. Patricia says it’s often busy.
At least there’s plenty of seating. The dining room is weirdly huge, with 40 chairs and five benches. All look like they were bought used from some fast-food stop in the mid-’80s — pink, turquoise, stiff, uncomfortable. In between are acres of empty space. One small chair/table combo sits all alone. Elsewhere, two chairs are arranged side by side, facing a wall.
The mise-en-scene is a little disjointed, but it works as it recalls so many of the little family-owned burrito joints that dot places like southern California. “This place has to survive,” says the guy from the San Diego, as he steps up to the counter.
Atilano’s, 725 W. Third Ave., is open Mon-Sat 6 am-midnight, Sun 8 am-midnight. Call 838-7677.
ATILANO’S is spacious, in more ways than one. Take a look at the menu. There are 75 items on there — burritos, tacos, tortas, tostadas, combos, specials, kids’ stuff — plus 14 side orders, including (strangely) tater tots and French fries. There are even seven breakfast burritos choices, like machaca, chorizo and bacon. And it’s all cheap as hell. Lunch with a giant paper-wrapped burrito and a medium horchata will run you just a little over $6.
“Have you ever been to San Diego?” a guy in line asks me. I tell him I went to college in southern California. “These are the closest I’ve had to what they make down there,” he says.
Patricia Gonzalez doesn’t put a regional tag on the food they serve. Just Mexican, she says. The 19-year-old is one of three employees at Atilano’s, which is owned by Atilano Gonzalez, who operates Atilano’s I in Coos Bay, Ore. (The Spokane store is Atilano’s III; the second store, also in Oregon, closed.) Patricia commands the counter while cousin Efrain and another man work the kitchen and tend to the steady clanging of the bell at the drive-thru window. “Almost everybody is family, except for the guy in the back,” she says. “But we treat him like he’s part of the family.”
Patricia says they’ll need two more employees before they can live up to the ambitiously optimistic hours printed on their take-out menu: Fridays and Saturdays, open until 3 am. As it is, they’re staying open until midnight seven days a week. Patricia says it’s often busy.
At least there’s plenty of seating. The dining room is weirdly huge, with 40 chairs and five benches. All look like they were bought used from some fast-food stop in the mid-’80s — pink, turquoise, stiff, uncomfortable. In between are acres of empty space. One small chair/table combo sits all alone. Elsewhere, two chairs are arranged side by side, facing a wall.
The mise-en-scene is a little disjointed, but it works as it recalls so many of the little family-owned burrito joints that dot places like southern California. “This place has to survive,” says the guy from the San Diego, as he steps up to the counter.
— JOEL SMITH
Atilano’s, 725 W. Third Ave., is open Mon-Sat 6 am-midnight, Sun 8 am-midnight. Call 838-7677.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Spring wining
March can be a miserable month, with weather that makes us wonder why we choose to live in this little corner of the world. Ah, but this March is also Washington Wine Month, we hear, and that’s enough to perk up even the most die-hard curmudgeon. Even though the month is nearly gone, we still have a couple of good opportunities to celebrate the occasion.
At the LUNA WINE CELLAR DINNER on Sunday, they’ll be drawing Washington vintages from the restaurant’s extensive cellar to pair with five courses (plus dessert) created by Chef Anna Vogel. The 2007 white blend from Walla Walla’s Buty Winery — Semillon, sauvignon blanc and muscadelle — leads off, paired with seared diver scallops, a potato and green onion cake, and watercress foam. And that’s just the first course. Selected wines include Barrister’s Rough Justice (a blend of cabernet sauvignon, syrah, merlot and cabernet franc) and Robert Karl’s 2006 Horse Heaven Hills Merlot. Northwest mushrooms, roasted lamb and kobe beef all have a place on the menu as well.
On Monday, Vino! teams up with 360 (the former Fugazzi) for a WINE DINNER featuring the vintages of Walla Walla’s Pepper Bridge Winery and its sibling, Amavi Cellars. Pepper Bridge focuses exclusively on cabernet sauvignon and merlot grown in the Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills vineyards; Amavi also offers a cab, along with syrah, Semillon and a rosé. Both estate wineries are owned and operated by members of the Goff, Pellet and McKibben families; partner Ray Goff will be on hand to discuss the wineries and the wines served. Three Spokane chefs — Jeremy Hansen of Santé, Mike Jones of Mizuna, and David Lee, the newly appointed executive chef of 360 — have joined forces for a six-course extravaganza, and each course will be paired with a wine from either Amavi or Pepper Bridge. Salami made at Santé, plus seared duck breast and a rosemary-smoked grilled ribeye are among the highlights, along with a dessert course of made-from-scratch ice creams.
It’s enough to make you wish that March would last a little longer.
— ANN M. COLFORD
The Wine Cellar Dinner at Luna, 5620 S. Perry St., is Sunday, March 29, at 6 pm. Cost is $65 per person plus tax and gratuity. Reserve via credit card at 448-2383.
Pepper Bridge and Amavi wine dinner at 360, 1 N. Post St., will be Monday, March 30, at 6 pm. $95 per person. Reserve through Vino!; call 838-1229.
At the LUNA WINE CELLAR DINNER on Sunday, they’ll be drawing Washington vintages from the restaurant’s extensive cellar to pair with five courses (plus dessert) created by Chef Anna Vogel. The 2007 white blend from Walla Walla’s Buty Winery — Semillon, sauvignon blanc and muscadelle — leads off, paired with seared diver scallops, a potato and green onion cake, and watercress foam. And that’s just the first course. Selected wines include Barrister’s Rough Justice (a blend of cabernet sauvignon, syrah, merlot and cabernet franc) and Robert Karl’s 2006 Horse Heaven Hills Merlot. Northwest mushrooms, roasted lamb and kobe beef all have a place on the menu as well.
On Monday, Vino! teams up with 360 (the former Fugazzi) for a WINE DINNER featuring the vintages of Walla Walla’s Pepper Bridge Winery and its sibling, Amavi Cellars. Pepper Bridge focuses exclusively on cabernet sauvignon and merlot grown in the Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills vineyards; Amavi also offers a cab, along with syrah, Semillon and a rosé. Both estate wineries are owned and operated by members of the Goff, Pellet and McKibben families; partner Ray Goff will be on hand to discuss the wineries and the wines served. Three Spokane chefs — Jeremy Hansen of Santé, Mike Jones of Mizuna, and David Lee, the newly appointed executive chef of 360 — have joined forces for a six-course extravaganza, and each course will be paired with a wine from either Amavi or Pepper Bridge. Salami made at Santé, plus seared duck breast and a rosemary-smoked grilled ribeye are among the highlights, along with a dessert course of made-from-scratch ice creams.
It’s enough to make you wish that March would last a little longer.
— ANN M. COLFORD
The Wine Cellar Dinner at Luna, 5620 S. Perry St., is Sunday, March 29, at 6 pm. Cost is $65 per person plus tax and gratuity. Reserve via credit card at 448-2383.
Pepper Bridge and Amavi wine dinner at 360, 1 N. Post St., will be Monday, March 30, at 6 pm. $95 per person. Reserve through Vino!; call 838-1229.
Browne's addiction
“Hello. My name is M.C., and I am addicted to caffeine.”
That’s the first step, I hear. But my addiction hasn’t been a problem — although now that TULLY’S newest location is walking distance from my apartment, it might be. They’ve got bags of whole beans for my grinder and pods for my Keurig, including one of my fair trade favorites: the nicely balanced Evergreen Blend ($14 for 24 pods).
Dave Tawney owned Cabin Coffee, across Cannon Street, but he jumped at the opportunity to open a Tully’s franchise in the space adjacent to Pacific Avenue Pizza, which he also owns. “It’s just better coffee,” he says.
And Tully’s is not your classic franchise, he says. It’s not publicly traded, it’s a regional company rather than an international corporation, and the beans are still hand-roasted in small batches in Seattle. Comparing Tully’s to a certain ubiquitous Seattle-based coffee company, he says, is “like comparing Two Wheel Transit to General Motors.”
Ginny Tawney, Dave’s mother, manages this location, though the family owns and operates two other Tully’s locations as well. She appreciates the atmosphere of the new location, including a gas fireplace: “It’s warm and cozy,” she says. “Cabin was cozy, but you could hear everyone’s conversation.” In the new location, a larger room accommodates more intimate conversation along with the smooth jazz.
Her favorite? “That would have to be the vanilla mocha breve. Iced,” she says. (That’s an iced mocha made with half-and-half instead of milk.) “I’ve been drinking it for years — I can’t get away from it.”
She also got me hooked on my new favorite drink: an iced mocha, made with regular milk then topped with a touch of half-and-half rather than whipped cream. Both drinks are rich, sweet and addicting.
In addition to the coffee drinks, you can get a healthy-sounding fruit smoothie like “The Antioxidant” ($4.25, venti), made with yerba mate, acai, blueberry and pomegranate. It’s low in caffeine and loaded with vitamins, minerals and — yes — antioxidants.
If Pacific Avenue Pizza isn’t open yet, there’s the Breakfast Sandwich ($3) — a sausage patty with egg and cheese on a croissant — and other sandwich options, plus a selection of pastries from Sweetwater ($2-$3), such as the pumpkin bar and cinnamon-swirl loaf.
Writing this has been great fun, but I’ve got to go to Tully’s. I need my coffee. Now.
— M.C. PAUL
Tully’s Coffee House, 2001 W. Pacific Ave., is open Mon-Fri 6 am-9 pm, Sat 7 am-9 pm, Sun 7:30 am-7 pm. Visit www.tullys.com or call 747-3088.
That’s the first step, I hear. But my addiction hasn’t been a problem — although now that TULLY’S newest location is walking distance from my apartment, it might be. They’ve got bags of whole beans for my grinder and pods for my Keurig, including one of my fair trade favorites: the nicely balanced Evergreen Blend ($14 for 24 pods).
Dave Tawney owned Cabin Coffee, across Cannon Street, but he jumped at the opportunity to open a Tully’s franchise in the space adjacent to Pacific Avenue Pizza, which he also owns. “It’s just better coffee,” he says.
And Tully’s is not your classic franchise, he says. It’s not publicly traded, it’s a regional company rather than an international corporation, and the beans are still hand-roasted in small batches in Seattle. Comparing Tully’s to a certain ubiquitous Seattle-based coffee company, he says, is “like comparing Two Wheel Transit to General Motors.”
Ginny Tawney, Dave’s mother, manages this location, though the family owns and operates two other Tully’s locations as well. She appreciates the atmosphere of the new location, including a gas fireplace: “It’s warm and cozy,” she says. “Cabin was cozy, but you could hear everyone’s conversation.” In the new location, a larger room accommodates more intimate conversation along with the smooth jazz.
Her favorite? “That would have to be the vanilla mocha breve. Iced,” she says. (That’s an iced mocha made with half-and-half instead of milk.) “I’ve been drinking it for years — I can’t get away from it.”
She also got me hooked on my new favorite drink: an iced mocha, made with regular milk then topped with a touch of half-and-half rather than whipped cream. Both drinks are rich, sweet and addicting.
In addition to the coffee drinks, you can get a healthy-sounding fruit smoothie like “The Antioxidant” ($4.25, venti), made with yerba mate, acai, blueberry and pomegranate. It’s low in caffeine and loaded with vitamins, minerals and — yes — antioxidants.
If Pacific Avenue Pizza isn’t open yet, there’s the Breakfast Sandwich ($3) — a sausage patty with egg and cheese on a croissant — and other sandwich options, plus a selection of pastries from Sweetwater ($2-$3), such as the pumpkin bar and cinnamon-swirl loaf.
Writing this has been great fun, but I’ve got to go to Tully’s. I need my coffee. Now.
— M.C. PAUL
Tully’s Coffee House, 2001 W. Pacific Ave., is open Mon-Fri 6 am-9 pm, Sat 7 am-9 pm, Sun 7:30 am-7 pm. Visit www.tullys.com or call 747-3088.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Neighborhood Flavor
I first heard about the MAPLE STREET BISTRO sometime last year but somehow didn’t get there to check it out until recently. I felt even more sheepish when I learned that the sweet little cottage-y café has been open since August 2007, serving sandwiches, salads, smoothies and sweet treats to north-side travelers cruising Maple between Francis and Wellesley. Fortunately, owner Henry Cohrs is a forgiving sort.
“The building has been here for about five or six years,” he says with a shrug, “so a lot of people don’t know we’re new.”
Cohrs runs the place with his wife, Dezy, and a team that includes several family members. The light and airy café felt cozy on a cold rainy day, but the pergola-covered patio holds the promise of warmer days to come.
The menu appears on chalkboards that hang above the kitchen area, high up near the vaulted ceiling. Breakfast items include sandwiches ($4.79) and a wrap filled with ham, bacon, cheese and vegetables ($5), plus fruit-and-yogurt parfaits and fresh-baked sweet treats. All of the baked goods — including scones, cookies, oat-fruit bars and oversized cinnamon rolls oozing with thick icing — are made from scratch right there, says Cohrs, who holds a culinary arts degree from Spokane Community College. My cinnamon-vanilla scone had a good crumb and crust, while the chocolate chip cookie — about 4 inches around — was slightly soft and filled with mini chips.
Both treats had the unmistakable flavor of butter, and neither was overly sweet.
“All of our baked goods are made with real butter, real cream,” he says. “That’s one of our personal goals — to make sure that the food we serve is not only good but healthy at the same time.”
For lunch, you’ll find tossed salads (including Cobb and Asian chicken), deli sandwiches and panini sandwiches ($4.79, half; $7.79, whole), served with pickle or pepperoncini and chips. Everything is prepared and assembled to order, and all menu items are available all hours.
Cohrs strives to buy local — bread from Petit Chat, seasonal produce from Dan Jackson, coffee from Anvil — and really be part of the neighborhood. After all, he lives right around the corner and walks to work every day.
“We consider it more of a family-run community store,” he says. “It’s been a growing process, a sense of involvement with our customers. It’s never been about just us trying to run a business.”
— ANN M. COLFORD
The Maple Street Bistro, at 5520 N. Maple St., is open Mon-Fri 6 am-6 pm, Sat-Sun 7 am-5 pm. Fax 479-0264 or call 443-3129.
“The building has been here for about five or six years,” he says with a shrug, “so a lot of people don’t know we’re new.”
Cohrs runs the place with his wife, Dezy, and a team that includes several family members. The light and airy café felt cozy on a cold rainy day, but the pergola-covered patio holds the promise of warmer days to come.
The menu appears on chalkboards that hang above the kitchen area, high up near the vaulted ceiling. Breakfast items include sandwiches ($4.79) and a wrap filled with ham, bacon, cheese and vegetables ($5), plus fruit-and-yogurt parfaits and fresh-baked sweet treats. All of the baked goods — including scones, cookies, oat-fruit bars and oversized cinnamon rolls oozing with thick icing — are made from scratch right there, says Cohrs, who holds a culinary arts degree from Spokane Community College. My cinnamon-vanilla scone had a good crumb and crust, while the chocolate chip cookie — about 4 inches around — was slightly soft and filled with mini chips.
Both treats had the unmistakable flavor of butter, and neither was overly sweet.
“All of our baked goods are made with real butter, real cream,” he says. “That’s one of our personal goals — to make sure that the food we serve is not only good but healthy at the same time.”
For lunch, you’ll find tossed salads (including Cobb and Asian chicken), deli sandwiches and panini sandwiches ($4.79, half; $7.79, whole), served with pickle or pepperoncini and chips. Everything is prepared and assembled to order, and all menu items are available all hours.
Cohrs strives to buy local — bread from Petit Chat, seasonal produce from Dan Jackson, coffee from Anvil — and really be part of the neighborhood. After all, he lives right around the corner and walks to work every day.
“We consider it more of a family-run community store,” he says. “It’s been a growing process, a sense of involvement with our customers. It’s never been about just us trying to run a business.”
— ANN M. COLFORD
The Maple Street Bistro, at 5520 N. Maple St., is open Mon-Fri 6 am-6 pm, Sat-Sun 7 am-5 pm. Fax 479-0264 or call 443-3129.
Positive Pizza
"Upbeat" is a good word to describe the atmosphere at MACKENZIE RIVER PIZZA, located at Highway 95 and Canfield in Coeur d’Alene. Mackenzie might even give the nearby Olive Garden a run for its money.
MacKenzie offers a well-dressed package, typical of its parent company, Glacier Restaurant Group (which last year brought Ciao Mambo to Hayden). Expect a clean, semi-bright urban lodge: raw pine and brick, dark greens and browns, images of fly fishermen, suspended lighting, a perimeter of well-partitioned booths and open high-top seating along the handsome bar.
Although it looks like a chain, it feels friendly and almost local, with an abundance of servers and a family-friendly, boisterous vibe.
“The training to get in here was intense,” says server Brittany Wilson. Indeed, Glacier’s restaurants are known for their service, which was excellent the night we visited.
“We expect our employees to have an upbeat approach to life, and to come to work filled with positive energy,” intones MacKenzie’s Website. “Our guests can feel the difference.”
MacKenzie ups the ante with a range of sandwiches, salads and pasta like the Broadwater Bag — roasted chicken, basil-marinated tomatoes, prosciutto, garlic chunks and herbed olive oil over bowtie pasta ($12). Starters range from wings ($8) to Lodgepoles, their version of breadsticks ($3.75), to Rollino ($6.50) — pizza crusts of pepperoni, basil and mozzarella, served with marinara.
The Maverick sandwich ($8.50) features MacKenzie’s trademark bread — warmed sourdough or natural grain — topped with sliced beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms and provolone. Panini sandwiches like the chicken pesto ($9) or turkey pear ($8.50) sound good, too.
But how is the pizza? The Athenian (garlic, spinach, sliced tomato, roasted red onion, Kalamata olives, feta cheese) was full of flavor. Options range from the traditional Stockman (beef, pepperoni, bacon, sausage) to the Southwest-influenced Bell Ranch (fajita chicken, barbecue sauce, black beans, onion, jack cheese) to the outlandish Jamaican Jerk Chicken. All 21 standard pizzas and the create-your-own offering are available in small or large ($6.50-$15.25), with a slight upcharge for thin crust.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
MacKenzie River Pizza Company, 405 W. Canfield Ave., Coeur d’Alene, is open daily 11 am-9 pm (Fri-Sat until 10 pm). Visit mackenzieriverpizza.com or call (208) 772-5111.
MacKenzie offers a well-dressed package, typical of its parent company, Glacier Restaurant Group (which last year brought Ciao Mambo to Hayden). Expect a clean, semi-bright urban lodge: raw pine and brick, dark greens and browns, images of fly fishermen, suspended lighting, a perimeter of well-partitioned booths and open high-top seating along the handsome bar.
Although it looks like a chain, it feels friendly and almost local, with an abundance of servers and a family-friendly, boisterous vibe.
“The training to get in here was intense,” says server Brittany Wilson. Indeed, Glacier’s restaurants are known for their service, which was excellent the night we visited.
“We expect our employees to have an upbeat approach to life, and to come to work filled with positive energy,” intones MacKenzie’s Website. “Our guests can feel the difference.”
MacKenzie ups the ante with a range of sandwiches, salads and pasta like the Broadwater Bag — roasted chicken, basil-marinated tomatoes, prosciutto, garlic chunks and herbed olive oil over bowtie pasta ($12). Starters range from wings ($8) to Lodgepoles, their version of breadsticks ($3.75), to Rollino ($6.50) — pizza crusts of pepperoni, basil and mozzarella, served with marinara.
The Maverick sandwich ($8.50) features MacKenzie’s trademark bread — warmed sourdough or natural grain — topped with sliced beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms and provolone. Panini sandwiches like the chicken pesto ($9) or turkey pear ($8.50) sound good, too.
But how is the pizza? The Athenian (garlic, spinach, sliced tomato, roasted red onion, Kalamata olives, feta cheese) was full of flavor. Options range from the traditional Stockman (beef, pepperoni, bacon, sausage) to the Southwest-influenced Bell Ranch (fajita chicken, barbecue sauce, black beans, onion, jack cheese) to the outlandish Jamaican Jerk Chicken. All 21 standard pizzas and the create-your-own offering are available in small or large ($6.50-$15.25), with a slight upcharge for thin crust.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
MacKenzie River Pizza Company, 405 W. Canfield Ave., Coeur d’Alene, is open daily 11 am-9 pm (Fri-Sat until 10 pm). Visit mackenzieriverpizza.com or call (208) 772-5111.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A new roast
Here one day, gone the next. That’s not unusual in the restaurant business, even more so in challenging economic times. It happens to the best of places, even RUSTLER’S ROOST, which has stood at Hayden Avenue and Highway 95 in Hayden, Idaho, since 1991. It was the second of two locations for owner Daren McEvers and his brother Woody. The original downtown Coeur d’Alene location (opened in the ’80s) closed some years back, but the Highway 95 location and the catering business continued, flourishing as a local favorite.
So when the owner of the Hayden building announced plans to sell, the brothers considered their options. Buy and renovate, or build new? Nothing penciled out, though, says Woody McEvers, who is also a Coeur d’Alene city councilman. Then the opportunity arose to relocate just across the parking lot from the old location, giving travelers on Highway 95 reason to do a double take as if the Roost just up and… uh, flew the coop.
Although they no longer have banquet facilities, says McEvers, working with the developer allowed them to maintain the rustic feel of the old place while installing all new, more efficient kitchen equipment. They reused or rebuilt most of the old furniture, carrying over all the western antiques and saloon-style decorations.
The familiar smell of Market Spice Tea — from Seattle’s Pike Place Market, and available for purchase, along with Rustler’s own brand of barbecue sauce — will entice you. On a Sunday, bring the paper and sip your coffee as you wait for a booth or seat along the counter. It’s a low-key locale that’s big on service and making you feel at home.
Down-home style is their specialty. The “famous country breakfast” is served all day ($5-$10), with names like the Rawhide or Wrangler (three eggs, four bacon strips, home fries, biscuits and gravy) and tasty eggs benedict atop slow-cooked pit ham. Lunch is burgers, sandwiches, house-made soup or chili, salads and platters of home-style treats like meatloaf or roast turkey (most $6-$8). The only change you will see someday soon is the return of dinner service several days a week, with items like the popular barbecue ribs — served up with a smile, of course.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
Rustler’s Roost, 9627 N. Highway 95, Hayden, Idaho, is open daily 6 am-2 pm. Visit www.rustlersroost.com or call (208) 772-6613.
So when the owner of the Hayden building announced plans to sell, the brothers considered their options. Buy and renovate, or build new? Nothing penciled out, though, says Woody McEvers, who is also a Coeur d’Alene city councilman. Then the opportunity arose to relocate just across the parking lot from the old location, giving travelers on Highway 95 reason to do a double take as if the Roost just up and… uh, flew the coop.
Although they no longer have banquet facilities, says McEvers, working with the developer allowed them to maintain the rustic feel of the old place while installing all new, more efficient kitchen equipment. They reused or rebuilt most of the old furniture, carrying over all the western antiques and saloon-style decorations.
The familiar smell of Market Spice Tea — from Seattle’s Pike Place Market, and available for purchase, along with Rustler’s own brand of barbecue sauce — will entice you. On a Sunday, bring the paper and sip your coffee as you wait for a booth or seat along the counter. It’s a low-key locale that’s big on service and making you feel at home.
Down-home style is their specialty. The “famous country breakfast” is served all day ($5-$10), with names like the Rawhide or Wrangler (three eggs, four bacon strips, home fries, biscuits and gravy) and tasty eggs benedict atop slow-cooked pit ham. Lunch is burgers, sandwiches, house-made soup or chili, salads and platters of home-style treats like meatloaf or roast turkey (most $6-$8). The only change you will see someday soon is the return of dinner service several days a week, with items like the popular barbecue ribs — served up with a smile, of course.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
Rustler’s Roost, 9627 N. Highway 95, Hayden, Idaho, is open daily 6 am-2 pm. Visit www.rustlersroost.com or call (208) 772-6613.
Freshly pressed
The clientele at PRESS is a mixture of pharmacy students, medical students and hospital staff — Grey’s Anatomy is a running joke — plus, depending upon the time of day, journalists, moms, business types, book clubs and symphony goers. It’s a broad slice of Spokane’s population reminiscent of the Central Perk of Friends fame.
The French press service of freshly ground Doma coffee comes with a four-segment plate with sections for raw sugar, cinnamon sticks, shaved chocolate and whipped cream for your mixing and matching pleasure. The largest size ($10) serves four in fun black and white pinstriped mugs. There’s a full espresso menu, too.
If caffeine is not your drug of choice, martinis range from the traditional ($8, double), made “wet” or “dry” to suit your mood, to the espresso-based, such as the Caramel Macchiato ($8), made with Stoli Vanil vodka, Bailey’s Caramel, Bols Butterscotch, Doma espresso and cream. If you prefer fruity drinks, there’s the Press original Grapefruit Tini ($9, double), with fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, Finlandia Grapefruit vodka and a dash of Cointreau. A dozen beers and even more wine selections round out the drink menu.
The food currently comes from a variety of local sources including White Box Pies, Luna, Fery’s and Rocket Bakery, but co-owner Marianne Guenther is also considering renting a kitchen “to have my mother — who is a chef by trade — make some of her award-winning desserts.”
If you’re looking for something savory, consider the three quiche choices, assorted Rocket sandwiches and mini muffalettas from Luna for your noshing pleasure.
The former oil-change shop has been converted to an urban-industrial motif; the space next door, currently under construction, will be Spokane’s first Samurai Sam’s, opening “hopefully before mid-May,” according to Guenther. This franchise features Japanese-style favorites such as teriyaki, grilled vegetables, and rice and noodle combos. Visitors to Press will be able to order meals from Samurai Sam’s as well.
As the weather warms, more changes and additions will be coming, including a five-bike rack, newly painted parking spaces, a small “sustainable farmers market” in the parking lot on Sundays mornings, and — as soon as Samurai Sam’s opens — a hybrid car plug-in.
All this variety is just what the doctor-to-be ordered.
— M.C. PAUL
Press, 909 S. Grand Blvd., is open daily 5:30 am-2 am. Visit www.presspokane.com or call 747-7737.
The French press service of freshly ground Doma coffee comes with a four-segment plate with sections for raw sugar, cinnamon sticks, shaved chocolate and whipped cream for your mixing and matching pleasure. The largest size ($10) serves four in fun black and white pinstriped mugs. There’s a full espresso menu, too.
If caffeine is not your drug of choice, martinis range from the traditional ($8, double), made “wet” or “dry” to suit your mood, to the espresso-based, such as the Caramel Macchiato ($8), made with Stoli Vanil vodka, Bailey’s Caramel, Bols Butterscotch, Doma espresso and cream. If you prefer fruity drinks, there’s the Press original Grapefruit Tini ($9, double), with fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, Finlandia Grapefruit vodka and a dash of Cointreau. A dozen beers and even more wine selections round out the drink menu.
The food currently comes from a variety of local sources including White Box Pies, Luna, Fery’s and Rocket Bakery, but co-owner Marianne Guenther is also considering renting a kitchen “to have my mother — who is a chef by trade — make some of her award-winning desserts.”
If you’re looking for something savory, consider the three quiche choices, assorted Rocket sandwiches and mini muffalettas from Luna for your noshing pleasure.
The former oil-change shop has been converted to an urban-industrial motif; the space next door, currently under construction, will be Spokane’s first Samurai Sam’s, opening “hopefully before mid-May,” according to Guenther. This franchise features Japanese-style favorites such as teriyaki, grilled vegetables, and rice and noodle combos. Visitors to Press will be able to order meals from Samurai Sam’s as well.
As the weather warms, more changes and additions will be coming, including a five-bike rack, newly painted parking spaces, a small “sustainable farmers market” in the parking lot on Sundays mornings, and — as soon as Samurai Sam’s opens — a hybrid car plug-in.
All this variety is just what the doctor-to-be ordered.
— M.C. PAUL
Press, 909 S. Grand Blvd., is open daily 5:30 am-2 am. Visit www.presspokane.com or call 747-7737.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Kitchen wishes
It’s not often that we have the opportunity to grant someone’s wish — especially while sampling great food and wine. But that’s the plan during TASTE SPOKANE, the third annual fundraiser for the Wishing Star Foundation. Several wineries from across the region — including Hogue Cellars, Arbor Crest, Whitestone Winery, Latah Creek, Vintage Hill and newcomers Dry Falls Cellars of Moses Lake — are joining local breweries and restaurants for the gala event at Northern Quest Casino.
Here’s how it works: With your admission, you’ll get five taste tickets, which you can exchange for nibbles and sips from the food-and-drink purveyors. Additional taste tickets are available for $2 each, or you can get 20 taste tickets for $30.
Wishing Star Foundation, founded in 1983, grants wishes to children ages 3 to 21 who have life-threatening illnesses. In its history, the foundation has granted more than 1,100 wishes to children in Eastern and Central Washington and Idaho. Among the 51 wishes currently in the works include requests for trips to Disney theme parks, for celebrity meetings and for one-of-a-kind things like a bedroom makeover and a tree fort.
“We just had a princess party, and that was really fun,” says the foundation’s Sarah Carpenter. “And we just had a child go to the Daytona 500.”
Participating restaurants include Steam Plant Grill, C.I. Shenanigans, Mamma Mia’s, Jimmy’Z, Sawtooth Grill and Taste of India. Dry Fly Distilling will be on hand, as will dessert makers Desserts by Sara, Marcells Cakes and Desserts, and Ellie’s Edibles. Jazz Attack will provide the music, and there will be raffles and silent auction items to bid on. And it all helps those kids who wait — and wish — in the wings.
Taste Spokane, at the Northern Quest Casino, 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights, Wash., is Friday, March 6, from 5-9 pm. Tickets are $25 at the door, or $20 in advance. Call 744-3411.
You know what they say about one person’s trash being another’s treasure? The Spokane River chapter of Slow Food is putting the principle of recycling to good use and trying to raise a little cash along the way with their SECOND CHANCE KITCHEN SALE. The group has solicited donations of “gently used” items for the kitchen and garden, and they’re having a sale on Saturday at the Thomas Hammer Coffee roasting plant in downtown Spokane. Admission is free, and proceeds from the sale will benefit local Slow Food events and the group’s work toward developing a “good, clean and fair” local food system. There will be espresso drinks available (of course!) and other refreshments. And if you’ve been cleaning the cupboards, you can still donate your own kitchen goods to the cause — drop them off by Friday at 5:30 pm at the Book Parlor (1414 W. Broadway Ave.).
The Second Chance Kitchen Sale, at Thomas Hammer Coffee, 210 W. Pacific Ave., is Saturday, March 7, from 9 am-2 pm. Admission is free. E-mail lavenderlaver@hotmail.com or call (509) 209-2851.
- ANN M. COLFORD
Here’s how it works: With your admission, you’ll get five taste tickets, which you can exchange for nibbles and sips from the food-and-drink purveyors. Additional taste tickets are available for $2 each, or you can get 20 taste tickets for $30.
Wishing Star Foundation, founded in 1983, grants wishes to children ages 3 to 21 who have life-threatening illnesses. In its history, the foundation has granted more than 1,100 wishes to children in Eastern and Central Washington and Idaho. Among the 51 wishes currently in the works include requests for trips to Disney theme parks, for celebrity meetings and for one-of-a-kind things like a bedroom makeover and a tree fort.
“We just had a princess party, and that was really fun,” says the foundation’s Sarah Carpenter. “And we just had a child go to the Daytona 500.”
Participating restaurants include Steam Plant Grill, C.I. Shenanigans, Mamma Mia’s, Jimmy’Z, Sawtooth Grill and Taste of India. Dry Fly Distilling will be on hand, as will dessert makers Desserts by Sara, Marcells Cakes and Desserts, and Ellie’s Edibles. Jazz Attack will provide the music, and there will be raffles and silent auction items to bid on. And it all helps those kids who wait — and wish — in the wings.
Taste Spokane, at the Northern Quest Casino, 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights, Wash., is Friday, March 6, from 5-9 pm. Tickets are $25 at the door, or $20 in advance. Call 744-3411.
You know what they say about one person’s trash being another’s treasure? The Spokane River chapter of Slow Food is putting the principle of recycling to good use and trying to raise a little cash along the way with their SECOND CHANCE KITCHEN SALE. The group has solicited donations of “gently used” items for the kitchen and garden, and they’re having a sale on Saturday at the Thomas Hammer Coffee roasting plant in downtown Spokane. Admission is free, and proceeds from the sale will benefit local Slow Food events and the group’s work toward developing a “good, clean and fair” local food system. There will be espresso drinks available (of course!) and other refreshments. And if you’ve been cleaning the cupboards, you can still donate your own kitchen goods to the cause — drop them off by Friday at 5:30 pm at the Book Parlor (1414 W. Broadway Ave.).
The Second Chance Kitchen Sale, at Thomas Hammer Coffee, 210 W. Pacific Ave., is Saturday, March 7, from 9 am-2 pm. Admission is free. E-mail lavenderlaver@hotmail.com or call (509) 209-2851.
- ANN M. COLFORD
Corner burger
You don’t eat the décor. Remember that when you visit the CORNER STORE DELI AND ESPRESSO, inside the Price Rite grocery store on the corner of Garland Avenue and Post Street.
Price Rite is owned and operated by the Lee family and until recently contained a teriyaki restaurant. Penny and Matt Pfeiffer have lived in the Garland neighborhood for more than seven years and shopped regularly at the store.
“Mr. Lee is a really good friend of ours,” says Penny. “He knew that I was a server and Matt was a really good cook, so he asked us to take over [the restaurant space].”
Suddenly they had their own business, but also a mess that included odd paint on the walls, beer signs, burglar-proof bars covering the windows and a giant wok — which they don’t use — taking up space in the kitchen.
“It had a reputation of being a dirty little dive... it looked scary,” says Penny, who spent the first several weeks “just scrubbing everything.” All that hard work is reflected in an immaculately clean dining space and kitchen and an espresso station that is slowly being transformed.
The food is good quality and affordable; two can eat well for less than $15.
My regular burger ($4) starts with a non-seeded, grilled bun (baked locally by Alpine Bakery) and a flame-broiled, one-third pound patty that’s 100 percent Angus beef. Default toppings are crispy chopped lettuce, a thick tomato slice, dill pickle chips, sliced onion and mayo. I added bacon ($0.75 for two smoky, crispy-thin slices), American cheese ($0.50) and a side of hand-cut Jo-Jo potatoes — weighing about a pound — made from peeled Russets that Matt breads and fries to order ($1).
The massive “Big Daddy” ($21) version of this burger is modeled after the Effie Burger, famed specialty of Effie’s Tavern in Lewiston, Idaho. (The Pfeiffers hail from Lewiston and Clarkston.) Made with a two-pound patty and served on a humongous bun, the Big Daddy feeds four to six people.
A small flattop grill allows for a selection of nine hot sandwiches, including the Reuben ($6) — corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss and Thousand Island dressing on marble rye — and a yummy-sounding turkey melt ($5), with deli turkey, provolone, bacon and tomato. You can also “build your own” cold sandwich ($6, whole; $4, half). All sandwiches are served with your choice of chips.
Salads range from the almond-chicken salad — romaine, grilled chicken, onion, sesame seeds and shaved almonds with sweet Asian vinaigrette dressing ($6) — to a dinner salad with roll ($3).
Along with refashioning the space inside and out, the Pfeiffers also have a breakfast menu in the works — but first, that wok has to go.
- M.C. PAUL
Corner Store Deli and Espresso, 773 W. Garland Ave., is open Mon-Sat 11 am-7 pm. Call 327-1025.
Price Rite is owned and operated by the Lee family and until recently contained a teriyaki restaurant. Penny and Matt Pfeiffer have lived in the Garland neighborhood for more than seven years and shopped regularly at the store.
“Mr. Lee is a really good friend of ours,” says Penny. “He knew that I was a server and Matt was a really good cook, so he asked us to take over [the restaurant space].”
Suddenly they had their own business, but also a mess that included odd paint on the walls, beer signs, burglar-proof bars covering the windows and a giant wok — which they don’t use — taking up space in the kitchen.
“It had a reputation of being a dirty little dive... it looked scary,” says Penny, who spent the first several weeks “just scrubbing everything.” All that hard work is reflected in an immaculately clean dining space and kitchen and an espresso station that is slowly being transformed.
The food is good quality and affordable; two can eat well for less than $15.
My regular burger ($4) starts with a non-seeded, grilled bun (baked locally by Alpine Bakery) and a flame-broiled, one-third pound patty that’s 100 percent Angus beef. Default toppings are crispy chopped lettuce, a thick tomato slice, dill pickle chips, sliced onion and mayo. I added bacon ($0.75 for two smoky, crispy-thin slices), American cheese ($0.50) and a side of hand-cut Jo-Jo potatoes — weighing about a pound — made from peeled Russets that Matt breads and fries to order ($1).
The massive “Big Daddy” ($21) version of this burger is modeled after the Effie Burger, famed specialty of Effie’s Tavern in Lewiston, Idaho. (The Pfeiffers hail from Lewiston and Clarkston.) Made with a two-pound patty and served on a humongous bun, the Big Daddy feeds four to six people.
A small flattop grill allows for a selection of nine hot sandwiches, including the Reuben ($6) — corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss and Thousand Island dressing on marble rye — and a yummy-sounding turkey melt ($5), with deli turkey, provolone, bacon and tomato. You can also “build your own” cold sandwich ($6, whole; $4, half). All sandwiches are served with your choice of chips.
Salads range from the almond-chicken salad — romaine, grilled chicken, onion, sesame seeds and shaved almonds with sweet Asian vinaigrette dressing ($6) — to a dinner salad with roll ($3).
Along with refashioning the space inside and out, the Pfeiffers also have a breakfast menu in the works — but first, that wok has to go.
- M.C. PAUL
Corner Store Deli and Espresso, 773 W. Garland Ave., is open Mon-Sat 11 am-7 pm. Call 327-1025.
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