Picture this: Stepping through the front doors at HUGO’S ON THE HILL, your eyes fall upon blackjack and poker tables manned by vested dealers, their bodies erect and alert; well-dressed food servers plowing through the swank seating areas to take drink and food orders from 16 lanes full of happy bowlers; music videos (which can be requested) playing above the lanes and music blaring over the dim hang-out area. Under the black lights, the bowling balls were glowing.
It felt like some space station-Las Vegas orbiting near the rings of Saturn.
And that’s just the top floor. Down below, the lounge has booths lining one wall, couches and coffee tables on another.
On the menu, the Fried Onion Tanglers, available with tartar, garlic and parmesan or prosciutto and bleu cheese ($5-$9) are eye-grabbing. I went cheap and got them with tartar. What came out was a mass of thinly-sliced onion rings, wrapped and snarled around each other in pile of greasy, golden deliciousness. Other toothsome starters include tapanade and bruschetta, feta and sunflower seed flat bread and gourmet sliders.
The veggie burger ($9) sported a full portobello mushroom cap, fried expertly and covered in bleu cheese crumbles standard burger fixins. My date went for the pizza: half margherita, half pineapple-and-jalapeno. The pizza didn’t stack up as well as the burger, but luckily my entree was big enough to satisfy both of us.
On tap, the lounge had Bud and Kokanee along with Widmer Hef, Northern Lights Amber, Longhammer IPA and Blue Moon, as well as a large collection of bottled beers ($3.75-$5.25). There’s a full bar, a martini menu ($7.50) and a small wine list.
Leaving, we found ourselves back in the parking lot. In Spokane. Nowhere near Saturn. — NICHOLAS DESHAIS
Hugo’s on the Hill, 3023 E. 28th Ave., serves food every day from 11:30 am to midnight. Visit hugosonthehill.com or call 535-2961.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Now Local, From Scratch
The Coeur d’Alene Casino isn’t playing games when it comes to food. The latest phase in their $75 million expansion includes bringing their food service under the oversight of exactly one man.
“We do all the events, on site and off,” says executive chef Adam Hegsted. That’s close to 36,000 food customers per month spread among the Sweetgrass Café, the High Mountain Buffet & Grill, the Nighthawk Lounge and the Twisted Earth Grill inside the Circling Raven Club House — including catered events, room service and food service for nearly 1,000 employees daily.
Friday night buffet? How about 1,200 customers in five hours gobbling down 2,500 pounds of crab, and hundreds of other food options, now mostly made from scratch?
It’s all in a day’s work to Hegsted, the deceptively boyish-looking engineer of what is a near-complete overhaul of the casino’s food operations. Having served such Idaho venues as Black Rock Country Club, Cedars, Brix and the Beacon, Hegsted was up to his chef’s hat in Le Piastre, his first and unfortunately now defunct restaurant in downtown Coeur d’Alene when the casino called last year. Since then, the pace has been whirlwind.
“We broke ground on the new hotels and two new restaurants,” he explains. “They remodeled the whole kitchen, and in that was the café,” which was closed for a bit. While new construction continues outside — a steakhouse, pub, martini bar and spa are slated for completion in 2011 — Hegsted is busy inside training staff on his paradigmatic shift in vision.
“The biggest thing is: Now most of our food is homemade. We work really hard on putting out really high-quality products — not just rip open a freezer box and throw it into the steamer or oven,” says Hegsted. “We have incorporated small farms into our buffet and cafe, and have worked hard on sourcing a lot of great products,” says the chef. (He likes to use local products.)
Sweetgrass Café, for example, balances what Hegsted calls down-home food, like the country-fried steak ($7) with healthier fare like the lemon thyme-roasted Idaho trout ($9).
A staff of 60, including six sous chefs, prepares everything to order in small batches. “We have red-wine braised short ribs, prime rib, done the same way I did at Cedars. We just started doing sushi on Saturdays, and it has been going over really well. It’s just really great seeing the whole place evolve.”
The sample menu reads like the United Nations: enchiladas with charred tomatoes, baked penne pasta with prosciutto, roast maple-ancho squash, pot stickers, General Tso chicken, seafood paella, and Yankee pot roast.
The Casino’s investment in the food program is just one part of an overall healthier outlook. A fitness center will be included in the 105-room hotel expansion. The roof of the nearby Stensgar Pavilion features a man-made prairie of native grasses, part of a larger greening program for the resort, including a new water-treatment facility, the restoration of natural habitat and drought-resistant landscaping.
Now if they’d only do something about all that smoke. — CARRIE SCOZARRO
Each restaurant has its own unique (persnickety) schedule. Visit www.cdacasino.com/restaurants.html for details or call (800) 523-2464.
“We do all the events, on site and off,” says executive chef Adam Hegsted. That’s close to 36,000 food customers per month spread among the Sweetgrass Café, the High Mountain Buffet & Grill, the Nighthawk Lounge and the Twisted Earth Grill inside the Circling Raven Club House — including catered events, room service and food service for nearly 1,000 employees daily.
Friday night buffet? How about 1,200 customers in five hours gobbling down 2,500 pounds of crab, and hundreds of other food options, now mostly made from scratch?
It’s all in a day’s work to Hegsted, the deceptively boyish-looking engineer of what is a near-complete overhaul of the casino’s food operations. Having served such Idaho venues as Black Rock Country Club, Cedars, Brix and the Beacon, Hegsted was up to his chef’s hat in Le Piastre, his first and unfortunately now defunct restaurant in downtown Coeur d’Alene when the casino called last year. Since then, the pace has been whirlwind.
“We broke ground on the new hotels and two new restaurants,” he explains. “They remodeled the whole kitchen, and in that was the café,” which was closed for a bit. While new construction continues outside — a steakhouse, pub, martini bar and spa are slated for completion in 2011 — Hegsted is busy inside training staff on his paradigmatic shift in vision.
“The biggest thing is: Now most of our food is homemade. We work really hard on putting out really high-quality products — not just rip open a freezer box and throw it into the steamer or oven,” says Hegsted. “We have incorporated small farms into our buffet and cafe, and have worked hard on sourcing a lot of great products,” says the chef. (He likes to use local products.)
Sweetgrass Café, for example, balances what Hegsted calls down-home food, like the country-fried steak ($7) with healthier fare like the lemon thyme-roasted Idaho trout ($9).
A staff of 60, including six sous chefs, prepares everything to order in small batches. “We have red-wine braised short ribs, prime rib, done the same way I did at Cedars. We just started doing sushi on Saturdays, and it has been going over really well. It’s just really great seeing the whole place evolve.”
The sample menu reads like the United Nations: enchiladas with charred tomatoes, baked penne pasta with prosciutto, roast maple-ancho squash, pot stickers, General Tso chicken, seafood paella, and Yankee pot roast.
The Casino’s investment in the food program is just one part of an overall healthier outlook. A fitness center will be included in the 105-room hotel expansion. The roof of the nearby Stensgar Pavilion features a man-made prairie of native grasses, part of a larger greening program for the resort, including a new water-treatment facility, the restoration of natural habitat and drought-resistant landscaping.
Now if they’d only do something about all that smoke. — CARRIE SCOZARRO
Each restaurant has its own unique (persnickety) schedule. Visit www.cdacasino.com/restaurants.html for details or call (800) 523-2464.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tequila and tacos
When I heard that the owners of the Elk had opened a new Mexican spot, I wasted no time. EL QUE, located in the former Cabin Coffee space in Browne’s Addition, did not even have a sign up yet, but the warm lighting and cozy interior beckoned me in. The orange and lime green walls, along with pink and mint-colored bar stools, give the place a hip, Latin feel. Votive candles with images of Mary glow softly and paintings of Jesus watch over the beer at the bar.
Past the religious décor, El Que is a serious tequila bar. In addition to the 20 different tequilas listed on the menu, the shelves behind the bar are lined with mason jars of house-made flavored tequilas.
Tequila infusions include flavors such as jalapeno-honeydew, pineapple, beet, vanilla bean, Serrano chile, cilantro and strawberry. “It’s amazing how much the flavors come through,” says manager Marshall Powell. El Que also serves wine, several cocktails and a good selection of Mexican beer.
If you’re not a tequila fan, El Que is worth a visit for the food alone. While the menu is fairly short, the dishes are long on flavor and at $3-$6 each, a night out won’t break the bank. The sopa de tortilla ($3 for a cup) is perfect for a cold night, with its slightly spicy chicken stock rich with avocado chunks, crunchy tortilla strips and fresh lime. Add a banana leaf tamale ($6), with chicken, roasted tomato sauce and poblano chiles and you’ve got a great, light dinner.
The menu also includes several kinds of tacos, a guajillo chili Caesar salad, and Vietnamese guacamole with fresh mint.
With a great neighborhood feel, interesting food and reasonable prices, it looks like El Que is set to mirror the success of the Elk in its own unique way.— KIRSTEN HARRINGTON
El Que, 141 S. Cannon, is open 4 pm-late, 7 days. Kitchen closes at 11 pm, 12 pm Thurs-Sat. Call (509) 624-5412.
Past the religious décor, El Que is a serious tequila bar. In addition to the 20 different tequilas listed on the menu, the shelves behind the bar are lined with mason jars of house-made flavored tequilas.
Tequila infusions include flavors such as jalapeno-honeydew, pineapple, beet, vanilla bean, Serrano chile, cilantro and strawberry. “It’s amazing how much the flavors come through,” says manager Marshall Powell. El Que also serves wine, several cocktails and a good selection of Mexican beer.
If you’re not a tequila fan, El Que is worth a visit for the food alone. While the menu is fairly short, the dishes are long on flavor and at $3-$6 each, a night out won’t break the bank. The sopa de tortilla ($3 for a cup) is perfect for a cold night, with its slightly spicy chicken stock rich with avocado chunks, crunchy tortilla strips and fresh lime. Add a banana leaf tamale ($6), with chicken, roasted tomato sauce and poblano chiles and you’ve got a great, light dinner.
The menu also includes several kinds of tacos, a guajillo chili Caesar salad, and Vietnamese guacamole with fresh mint.
With a great neighborhood feel, interesting food and reasonable prices, it looks like El Que is set to mirror the success of the Elk in its own unique way.— KIRSTEN HARRINGTON
El Que, 141 S. Cannon, is open 4 pm-late, 7 days. Kitchen closes at 11 pm, 12 pm Thurs-Sat. Call (509) 624-5412.
Pizza on Perry
Pizza is the most primal and ancient of foods: flat bread cooked on a hot stone, covered in just about anything that’s handy. It’s easy to imagine our cave-dwelling ancestors stuffing their pie holes with mammoth and pineapple pizza, washed down with some accidentally fermented yeasty concoction.
So remember that when you’re at the new SOUTH PERRY PIZZA, chomping on their already amazing pizza and connecting with your inner caveman. “This good,” you’ll think. “Want more!”
But there’s nothing old or too rote at South Perry — the latest landmark in the neighborhood’s resurgence. Across the street from the Lantern Tavern, which opened in April, South Perry Pizza took over a former storage space with two large garage doors and somehow transformed the forgotten building into a swank, and welcoming, pizza joint.
“Our goal is to be for friends, family, neighbors,” says Pat Kautzmann, who opened the restaurant with wife Sue and daughter Krista. “We’re a neighborhood place.”
Large windows line the building’s west side, looking out on to Perry Street, and inside is an open, warmly industrial dining area. Behind the bar sits the oven, the stainless-steeled pizza machine manned by the restaurant’s cook, Christopher Deitz.
The menu is uncomplicated, featuring eight pizzas, four salads and some appetizers.
“We wanted to keep things really simple,” says Krista. “There’s a lot of things that are complicated in life. Pizza shouldn’t be.”
This doesn’t translate to boring pizza. The dough, which took the family six months to perfect, bakes into a thin crust that is both crispy and chewy.
And check out the Sopressata. This pie’s main attraction is the Italian dry-cured salami, which is supported in its scrumptious fame by basil, mozzarella and a delicate tomato sauce. Of course, the old stand-bys are there for the habitual: pepperoni, margherita and cheese.
The restaurant also has a bevy of topping options, from mascarpone and Beecher’s cheese curds to prosciutto and arugula.
You don’t have to be a hunter-gatherer to get behind that. — NICHOLAS DESHAIS
South Perry Pizza, 1011 S. Perry St, is open Tues, Wed, Sun 4 pm-9 pm, and Thurs-Sat 4 pm-10 pm. Call 290-6047 or visit southperrypizzaspokane.com.
So remember that when you’re at the new SOUTH PERRY PIZZA, chomping on their already amazing pizza and connecting with your inner caveman. “This good,” you’ll think. “Want more!”
But there’s nothing old or too rote at South Perry — the latest landmark in the neighborhood’s resurgence. Across the street from the Lantern Tavern, which opened in April, South Perry Pizza took over a former storage space with two large garage doors and somehow transformed the forgotten building into a swank, and welcoming, pizza joint.
“Our goal is to be for friends, family, neighbors,” says Pat Kautzmann, who opened the restaurant with wife Sue and daughter Krista. “We’re a neighborhood place.”
Large windows line the building’s west side, looking out on to Perry Street, and inside is an open, warmly industrial dining area. Behind the bar sits the oven, the stainless-steeled pizza machine manned by the restaurant’s cook, Christopher Deitz.
The menu is uncomplicated, featuring eight pizzas, four salads and some appetizers.
“We wanted to keep things really simple,” says Krista. “There’s a lot of things that are complicated in life. Pizza shouldn’t be.”
This doesn’t translate to boring pizza. The dough, which took the family six months to perfect, bakes into a thin crust that is both crispy and chewy.
And check out the Sopressata. This pie’s main attraction is the Italian dry-cured salami, which is supported in its scrumptious fame by basil, mozzarella and a delicate tomato sauce. Of course, the old stand-bys are there for the habitual: pepperoni, margherita and cheese.
The restaurant also has a bevy of topping options, from mascarpone and Beecher’s cheese curds to prosciutto and arugula.
You don’t have to be a hunter-gatherer to get behind that. — NICHOLAS DESHAIS
South Perry Pizza, 1011 S. Perry St, is open Tues, Wed, Sun 4 pm-9 pm, and Thurs-Sat 4 pm-10 pm. Call 290-6047 or visit southperrypizzaspokane.com.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Americanized
A steaming plate of pork fried rice, beef with broccoli swimming in sauce, a big bowl of egg drop soup and, of course, the ubiquitous egg roll, thick-skinned and fried to a golden brown. While it’s laughable to call this Chinese food—most of us wouldn’t know authentic Chinese food if it poked us in the eye with a chopstick — it’s still plenty popular with Americans.
Regardless of whether you’re in Illinois or Idaho, the Chinese restaurant experience is often uncannily similar. Offerings include comfort foods like fried meat and abundant, affordable, satisfying starches — basically variations on the rice/noodles theme. Savory sauces. Just enough esoteric and vegetarian offerings to keep the purists happy. Huge helpings. Determine your own spiciness from blah to blistering. (For a head cold, you can’t beat the curative powers of Chinese mustard or hot-and-sour soup.) Dine-in or to-go. And a décor that blends culture and camp — zodiac, paper lanterns, etc. — in an ethnically exaggerated yet endearing way.
That’s why Wah Hing will likely succeed in its new Rathdrum, Idaho, location that formerly housed a quick succession of meat-and-potatoes places in this cozy prairie town of nearly 7,000 people. Good food. Predictably familiar dishes from chicken chow mein ($8.50) to Szechwan veggies ($9) to sweet and sour pork ($9.50). Fast service. Reasonable prices, like lunch combinations for $6-$7 and dinner from $8-$12.
The Rathdrum Wah Hing is the third of the Hing’s empire of family restaurants; it marks the midway point between Spokane’s Division Street store and the oddly placed Kellogg, Idaho, branch. The parking lot has been full to overflowing since the place opened this fall, so either plan on a bit of a wait or get there early.
While some may cringe at the idea of how wildly off-the-mark the Americanized Chinese restaurant is, others merely smile with a mouth full of Moo Shu and ask for a to-go box while popping open the fortune cookie that comes with your bill. At least in the world of Chinese-American dining, the future is always certain. — CARRIE SCOZZARO
Wah Hing, 15512 N. Hwy. 41, Rathdrum, Idaho, is open Mon-Sun 11 am-9 pm. Call (208) 687-1688.
Regardless of whether you’re in Illinois or Idaho, the Chinese restaurant experience is often uncannily similar. Offerings include comfort foods like fried meat and abundant, affordable, satisfying starches — basically variations on the rice/noodles theme. Savory sauces. Just enough esoteric and vegetarian offerings to keep the purists happy. Huge helpings. Determine your own spiciness from blah to blistering. (For a head cold, you can’t beat the curative powers of Chinese mustard or hot-and-sour soup.) Dine-in or to-go. And a décor that blends culture and camp — zodiac, paper lanterns, etc. — in an ethnically exaggerated yet endearing way.
That’s why Wah Hing will likely succeed in its new Rathdrum, Idaho, location that formerly housed a quick succession of meat-and-potatoes places in this cozy prairie town of nearly 7,000 people. Good food. Predictably familiar dishes from chicken chow mein ($8.50) to Szechwan veggies ($9) to sweet and sour pork ($9.50). Fast service. Reasonable prices, like lunch combinations for $6-$7 and dinner from $8-$12.
The Rathdrum Wah Hing is the third of the Hing’s empire of family restaurants; it marks the midway point between Spokane’s Division Street store and the oddly placed Kellogg, Idaho, branch. The parking lot has been full to overflowing since the place opened this fall, so either plan on a bit of a wait or get there early.
While some may cringe at the idea of how wildly off-the-mark the Americanized Chinese restaurant is, others merely smile with a mouth full of Moo Shu and ask for a to-go box while popping open the fortune cookie that comes with your bill. At least in the world of Chinese-American dining, the future is always certain. — CARRIE SCOZZARO
Wah Hing, 15512 N. Hwy. 41, Rathdrum, Idaho, is open Mon-Sun 11 am-9 pm. Call (208) 687-1688.
Steaks on low
Two years ago, Bill Alles had plans to turn his Spokane steak restaurant, Churchill’s, into a chain extending into Idaho and California. Now he’s just hoping to get the first location back on its feet.
In July 2008, a fire destroyed a neighboring business, Dorian Studio. Nine hours at 5,000 gallons of water per minute later, Churchill’s was still structurally sound but a complete mess.
Water and smoke damage shut down the restaurant just 11 months after its opening.
Then came waiting on the fire investigation, waiting on insurance companies — both of which Alles finally resolved last summer — and sorting out building plans. “It’s been a long struggle,” Alles says. “It’s been a difficult struggle to get from there to here.”
Reconstruction began in September, with Alles initially estimating a December opening date. Now he has reset his goal — he’d like to be open for the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which begin on Jan. 14. His contractor, however, is estimating an end-of-January completion date.
When Churchill’s finally gets around to reopening, it will continue to brand itself as a high-end steakhouse. Expect to spend between $25 and $55 on a USDA prime steak entrée. Amid economic concerns, however, Alles will extend his price points downward.
“This time around, we’ll probably have some items around that are lower in price so that they’re more approachable, but we’ll still focus on our prime steak reputation in what we do,” he says.
That will include a “casual-focus” bar menu with steak sandwiches and burgers.
“There was the genuine air of elegance to the place before,” says Alles. “We used to have a grand piano as you walked in. It was immediately in front of you when you walked in, with someone playing the piano seven days a week.”
Alles hopes to recreate that atmosphere and iron out a few kinks in the process.
“The chairs I had before were so big, you could fit a suburban family of six in one,” he says. The new ones, he says, are a little more slick.
The entryway piano won’t be back, but there will be live Dixie-style New Orleans jazz played on a piano downstairs in the bar. — ERIKA PRINS
Churchill’s Steakhouse, 165 S. Post, will re-open in mid- to late January. Hours: 11 am-midnight.
In July 2008, a fire destroyed a neighboring business, Dorian Studio. Nine hours at 5,000 gallons of water per minute later, Churchill’s was still structurally sound but a complete mess.
Water and smoke damage shut down the restaurant just 11 months after its opening.
Then came waiting on the fire investigation, waiting on insurance companies — both of which Alles finally resolved last summer — and sorting out building plans. “It’s been a long struggle,” Alles says. “It’s been a difficult struggle to get from there to here.”
Reconstruction began in September, with Alles initially estimating a December opening date. Now he has reset his goal — he’d like to be open for the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which begin on Jan. 14. His contractor, however, is estimating an end-of-January completion date.
When Churchill’s finally gets around to reopening, it will continue to brand itself as a high-end steakhouse. Expect to spend between $25 and $55 on a USDA prime steak entrée. Amid economic concerns, however, Alles will extend his price points downward.
“This time around, we’ll probably have some items around that are lower in price so that they’re more approachable, but we’ll still focus on our prime steak reputation in what we do,” he says.
That will include a “casual-focus” bar menu with steak sandwiches and burgers.
“There was the genuine air of elegance to the place before,” says Alles. “We used to have a grand piano as you walked in. It was immediately in front of you when you walked in, with someone playing the piano seven days a week.”
Alles hopes to recreate that atmosphere and iron out a few kinks in the process.
“The chairs I had before were so big, you could fit a suburban family of six in one,” he says. The new ones, he says, are a little more slick.
The entryway piano won’t be back, but there will be live Dixie-style New Orleans jazz played on a piano downstairs in the bar. — ERIKA PRINS
Churchill’s Steakhouse, 165 S. Post, will re-open in mid- to late January. Hours: 11 am-midnight.
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