Well, I eat a little chicken

Pilgrim’s Natural Market in Coeur d’Alene is nothing if not egalitarian. This Sunday, at 5:30 pm, they’re hosting an informational seminar on “the benefits of a plant food diet.” The following week, they’d like to make us all a little better at “cooking with whole chickens.” The place already has a vegetarian club and it seems like an eating-every-damn-bit-of-meat-on-that-bone club might be on the horizon. Details about all seminars and classes can be found at pilgrimsmarket.com or by calling (208) 676-9730. — LUKE BAUMGARTEN

Pasta for Judy

Judy Garland’s favorite food is kidney pie. “It’s amazing what you can find on the Internet,” says Tina-Marie Schultz, chuckling.

Schultz owns ROSA’S ITALIAN MARKET AND DELI, located in Post Falls just a short walk (if they had a brick road it’d be yellow, right?) from the Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center. When Schultz heard JACC was doing a Valentine’s concert in honor of Judy Garland, she cooked up the idea of offering a pre-concert dinner at Rosa’s.

Figuring there wouldn’t be too many fans of kidney pie (a British meat pastry that makes us think of Sweeney Todd), Schultz went with Garland’s favorite drink — vodka — for penne pasta sauce (a much better choice, we concur). The soup is a fire-roasted tomato ancho (red to match you-know-whose ruby slippers), while dessert is red velvet cupcakes, which Garland supposedly ate at the Waldorf Hotel (which is not in Kansas).

JACC has also snared musicians Ruth Pratt (of the Eclectics), Tom Shager, Bruce Pennell, Steven King and Dick Hubbard for the evening.

Although JACC has done concerts in the past — including a similar tribute to Rosemary Clooney last year — this is the first time they’ve teamed up with a restaurant. The music and food will be so good, they might send you somewhere over the rainbow. — CARRIE SCOZZARO

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Pre-concert Valentine’s Day seating Sunday, Feb. 14, at 5 pm. Rosa’s Italian Market and Deli, 120 E. Fourth St., Post Falls, Idaho. Cost: $24.95, reservations required by Feb. 11. Rosa’s is open Mon-Fri 7 am–6 pm, Sat 8 am-5 pm. Call (208) 777-7400.

“A Tribute to Judy Garland,” Sunday, Feb. 14, 6:30 pm, at Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center, 405 N. Williams St., Post Falls, Idaho. Tickets: $20. Limited seating. Call (208) 457-8950 or visit www.jacklincenter.org.
Valentine’s Day Events

A Celebration of Love
Feb. 13
Join Bank Left Bistro in Palouse, Wash., on Feb. 13, from 6-9 pm for music, wine and food. The event is $35 per person. Call (509) 878-1000 or e-mail bankleft@visitpalouse.com.

Love’s Holiday
Feb. 13
Visit CenterPlace (Spokane Valley) on Valentine’s Day eve, 7-10 pm, for dinner and jazz featuring Sessionz. Couples are $25; singles $15. Call Sandi McMillan at 362-3218.

One World for Lovers
Feb. 14
This seven-course dinner will feature food varieties for seafood lovers, vegetarians and vegans. If don’t like eating animals and are looking for a place to take your significant other, this elegant dinner is for you. Cost: $60. Includes a rose. Reservations required. One World Spokane. Call 270-1608.

Dinner at Greenbriar
Feb. 13-14
A four-course meal with your choice of pork loin, seafood over risotto, ribs, chicken or fettucine will be on Feb. 13-14 from 5:30-9:30 pm. Cost: $70 per couple. Greenbriar Inn, 315 Wallace Ave., Coeur d’Alene. Call (208) 667-9660

Marron on Valentine’s
Feb. 14
You and your honey can share eight courses at Café Marron, in Browne’s Addition, on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, from 5-10 pm. Cost is $75 per couple; $100, if you add on the wine pairings. Call 456-8660.

Winter Carne-val

If Sandpoint had a particular flavor, what would it be? Tangy tomato, maybe, due to places like Bab’s Pizzeria, Ivano’s Ristorante and Pend Oreille Pasta and Wine? Buttery and soft, like the croissants from Pine Street Bakery? Earthy, wholesome, organic and fresh from Winter Ridge Foods market? More likely, the city’s flavor is an eclectic combination, artfully plated, like those you’ll find at TASTE OF SANDPOINT.

This kickoff event to the annual Winter Carnival showcases area restaurants, catering businesses and beverage purveyors. Admission is free; food tickets are $1, with a bit of this or a sampling of that averaging from three to seven tickets.

From Trinity at City Beach, for example, two carnitas tacos or a hearty bowl of chicken, shrimp and Andouille sausage gumbo are a mere $4. Try the savory chipotle-braised lamb shank on a goat-cheese polenta cake, or a Kobe beef taco with queso fresco ($4) from The Bistro at The Inn at Sandcreek — let’s hope they shorten that to The Bistro when they officially open in February — formerly the Sandcreek Grill and under new ownership. Thirsty? A glass of 2007 Bistro Rouge from Pend Oreille Winery will warm you up for only $5.

New this year is Dine Around Sandpoint, where participating restaurants offer menu and drink specials from $15 to $30 during the Carnival. At DISH Home Cooking, for example, the special $20 menu offers three entrées — such as crispy lemon thyme chicken served with garlic mashed potatoes — two salads and a glass of house red or white wine. And every time you eat at a participating restaurant, you’re entered into a drawing where the top prize is a once-a-month dinner for two at participating restaurants — a $750 value!

Dine Around Sandpoint was started by two longtime Sandpoint residents who quintessentially wear multiple hats: Mel Dick, the former CEO of retailer Coldwater Creek, who biked across the country to raise money for education, and partners with his wife Claudia at the 41 South restaurant; and Gary Lirette, whose credits range from real estate to radio host to restaurateur to book publisher.

The goal this year, explains Lirette, is to get people to come to the Carnival — where events include the rail jam, Schweitzer torchlight parade, bioluminescence fire dance, an 80-plus artist art walk, the K-9 keg pull — and stay for all the rest Sandpoint has to offer. — CARRIE SCOZZARO

Taste of Sandpoint is Thursday, Jan. 14, 5-8 pm at the Sandpoint Events Center, 102 S. Euclid Ave., Sandpoint, Idaho. Winter Carnival events continue through Monday, Jan. 18. Visit www.SandpointWinterCarnival.com or call (208) 263-0887.

Here Piggy, Piggy

Spokane’s annual extravaganza of overindulgence is already underway — the six solid days of PIG OUT IN THE PARK began on Wednesday and continue clear through Monday, Sept. 7 (aka Labor Day). Thousands will descend on Riverfront Park this weekend to hear the free music or partake of the beer gardens (three of them!), but the food is the heart of the party, as the name suggests. More than 40 food vendors offer a couple of hundred different food items, from chocolate-covered fruits and ice cream to pizzas and more noodles than you can shake a spatula at. Local vendors including Pizza Rita, Longhorn BBQ, Boehm’s, Azars and Pho Van join the usual selection of traveling vendors to bring food to the masses. Prices this year top out at $9, so hit up the ATM on your way to the park. And arrive hungry. — ANN M. COLFORD

Pig Out in the Park, sprawling across Riverfront Park, is open daily 10 am-10 pm through Monday, Sept. 7. Visit spokanepigout.com.

Classes, fests and wine

Just in case you’ve hit the midsummer doldrums, several food-related events are on tap this week.

Economic stimulus is an important thing — and if the first round doesn’t do everything you wanted, then it’s time for a second round. At least that’s the theory behind TWARP II — the second edition of the Troubled Wine Assets Relief Program, led by wine guru Carl Carlsteen at the Rocket Market on Friday evening. Part of the ongoing Friday wine-class series, TWARP II will demonstrate that plenty of dang tasty wines are available for no more than $10 per bottle.

Sip 10 different bargain quaffers, accompanied by cheeses and La Brea breads, while Carlsteen holds forth on the virtues of each vintage and shares stories about the wineries.

Speaking of Rocket Market, it’s also the place for the Sunday Brunch With DJs, featuring food by Chef Shilo Pierce and Pastry Chef Dena Carr, complemented by tunes spun by a different guest DJ each week. The music runs 11 am-2 pm, but the food is available both earlier and later. This week’s tune-spinner is Breezy Brown.

The Post Falls Food Festival is set for this weekend, too, albeit in a new location — on Fourth Street by the Post Falls City Hall. Organizer Tim Mitchell of Mangia Catering says to expect plenty of live local music and a variety of food vendors, along with arts and crafts booths at this second annual event.

The Main Market Co-op will host a fundraiser at the Fox Theater next Thursday, Aug. 20, with readings by local authors Jess Walter and Cheryl-Anne Millsap plus musical performances by pianist Brad Greene and Kaylee Cole and her band. Food for the event is catered by the Glover Mansion, and there will be raffles for prizes as well.

Also next Thursday, Huckleberry’s will offer the first in a series of classes on food canning, led by new Executive Chef Anne Bauer and Bakery/Cheese Specialist Amy Clark. This class will explore pickling — “It’s not just for cucumbers!” they tell us — along with canning basics. Preserving local produce is the way for locavores to stay local during the lean winter months, not to mention a way to save on the grocery bill. But even more important, it’s the path toward tasty treats like spicy pickled green beans. Yum.

Finally, we hear that State Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown of Spokane will be taking a turn as guest chef at Santé next Thursday; call the restaurant (315-4613) for more details. — ANN M. COLFORD

The TWARP II wine class will be held at Rocket Market, 726 E. 43rd Ave., on Friday, Aug. 14, at 7 pm. Cost is $20 (plus tax). Call 343-2253 to preregister.
The Post Falls Food Festival, on Fourth Street in Post Falls, Idaho, is set for Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 15-16. Visit postfallsfoodfest.wordpress.com.
“Local Artists for a Local Food Co-op” at the Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague, is Thursday, Aug. 20, at 6:30 pm. Cost is $25 until Aug. 14; $35, thereafter. Visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/72743 or call 624-1200.
Canning class at Huckleberry’s, 926 S. Monroe St., will be Thursday, Aug. 20, at 7 pm. Cost is $10 per person; must preregister and prepay. Call 624-1349.

Brats in the vines

In past summers, Whitestone Winery hosted a catered sit-down dinner called Dine in the Vines, complete with live jazz, in the middle of their vineyard. The setting is spectacular — perched on a rocky down-slope on the south shore of Lake Roosevelt, the rich emerald vines are a shock of vibrant color amid the landscape’s stark geology — but it’s rugged and remote and lacks electrical power.

Delivering fancy food to guests in such a location was a huge challenge for everyone involved, says winemaker Michael Haig, but visitors raved about the event. While planning this year’s dinner, Haig had a revelation.

“What people remembered about the event were the views, the wine and the music,” he says. “The food was secondary. We thought, let’s do something that we can prepare ourselves.”

And what they can do is barbecue. Stocked with bratwurst and sausages from Egger’s and Sonnenberg’s, Haig and the rest of the Whitestone family will grill up a BORDEAUX BBQ in the vineyard on Saturday afternoon. Whitestone’s wines will flow freely, and 6’ Swing will entertain, but the atmosphere will be far more casual, more like an open house than a party with fixed hours.

“It’ll be all you can eat and all you can drink,” says Haig. “People don’t have to stay the whole time — they can come and go.” — ANN M. COLFORD

Whitestone Winery’s Bordeaux Barbecue in the vineyard is Saturday, Aug. 8, from 1-5 pm. Tickets are $55, available at the Spokane (111 S. Cedar St.) and Wilbur (115 NE Main St.) tasting rooms, online at whitestonewinery.com or by phone at 838-2427. Advance purchase is required.

Platter of Fun

Sometimes the stars align and the universe delivers an array of opportunities that will leave you breathless with delight. Or perhaps fatigue. In any case, this week is one of those moments of destiny, with events for foodies unrolling every single day.

Thursday, June 18: The fourth annual SANDPOINT SUMMER SAMPLER takes over Farmin Park (5-7:30 pm) as local restaurants, wineries and brewers set up booths and offer samples. Buy a bunch of sampling tickets for $1 each and then graze your way through the park. Samples will cost you between one and seven tickets. Vendors include Chimney Rock Grill, Joe’s Philly Cheesesteak and the newly re-imagined Oishii. (Look for more about Oishii in this space next week.

Friday, June 19: The Spokane AIDS Network hosts the fifth annual STEM & STEIN benefit (6 pm) at Northern Quest Casino (100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights, Wash.), with wine tasting, beer sampling, and cheese and chocolates for pairing. Tickets are $40 in advance, or $45 at the door, and proceeds benefit SAN’s clients with food services, nutritional counseling and case management, plus HIV prevention and education efforts. Call 455-8993.

Saturday, June 20: For the second year in a row, the merchants of Latah Valley are hosting the LATAH CREEK VARIETY MARKET all weekend (Sat-Sun 10 am-4 pm) in the parking lot of the Trading Company Plaza (4241 S. Cheney-Spokane Rd.). Dozens of vendors will be selling food, toys, crafts, antiques, herbs, plants and more. This kid-friendly event will also have music, a cake walk, beading and painting, and admission is free. Call 462-7387 or 624-4182.

Sunday, June 21: The wine-and-dine extravaganza that is TASTE WASHINGTON fills the mezzanine of the Davenport Hotel (5-8:30 pm). Never will you see so many cocktail dresses and teetering heels as in the lines to check out the more than 100 Washington wineries and two-dozen local restaurants. There’s also a silent auction to benefit WSU’s Viticulture and Enology program — training ground for the next generation of Washington winemakers. Tickets are $85; visit www.tastewashington.org.

Monday, June 22: The Kitchen Engine at the Flour Mill hosts the latest CULINARY CLASS (6 pm) in an ongoing series. Chef Landon Dalessi of GW Hunter’s in Post Falls will demonstrate how to make Risotto alla Milanese. Cost is $25. Call 328-3335.

Tuesday, June 23: Communal dining — unrelated guests sitting at one big table — is catching on in big cities from coast to coast, and now Chef Alexa Wilson is kicking off a series of COMMUNITY TABLE dinners at Wild Sage. This month’s dinner will showcase the bounty of local vegetable producers; four courses will be paired with local wines for one fixed price ($85 plus tax and gratuity). Space is limited to 20 people. Call 456-7575.

Wednesday, June 24: If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at making wine from fruit, Jim’s Home Brew offers a WINE MAKING FOR BEGINNERS class (6:30-9 pm). Learn all about the equipment and processes to turn fruit into wine. Cost is $14. Call Spokane Parks and Rec at 625-6200 to register.

Breathe deep — and let the fun begin.

Thrillin' grillin'

Few sandwiches recall the flavors of childhood better than a grilled cheese sandwich. The basic formula is simple: sliced bread, the right kind of cheese, and butter for grilling.

But as adults, we crave more. Vegetables, perhaps? More than one cheese? Seasonings? A creative chef could come with any number of variations on the theme. And that’s the challenge of the first-ever GROWN-UP GRILLED CHEESE GRILL-OFF, set for Saturday at Taste Café downtown. Six of Spokane’s chefs — Chana Hershberger of Taste, David Blaine of Latah Bistro, Jason Rex from Scratch, Jeremy Hansen of Santé, Jonathan Sweatt from the Downriver Grill and Mike Dodd of the newly opened Vintages at 611 — will go head to head in the event. They’ll serve up the sandwiches to a panel of five judges, who’ll pronounce their decision on whose grilled cheese is tops. We hear a rumor that there will be samples…

— ANN M. COLFORD

The chefs will grill their cheeses at Taste Café, 180 S. Howard St., on Saturday, April 11, starting at 9 am. Visit www.tastecafespokane.com or call 468-2929.

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.

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

Sip and sigh

If you’ve never been to a BREWERS DINNER at Hills’ Restaurant, you owe it to yourself to check this out. On Tuesday, Deschutes Brewery comes to town from Bend, Oregon, and Chef Dave Hill is planning a five-course extravaganza pairing the brewery’s beers and ales with his culinary creations. Each course is made with (and served with) one of Deschutes’ brews — like the shrimp and crab bisque (with Green Lakes Amber), the seafood terrine (with the seasonal Buzzsaw Brown ale), and even the cheesecake dessert (with “The Dissident,” a Flanders-style brown ale, teamed with cranberries for a distinctive sauce).

— ANN M. COLFORD

Hills’ Restaurant, 401 W. Main Ave., hosts a brewers dinner with Deschutes Brewery on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7 pm. Cost: $48.50, including tax and tip. For reservations, call 747-3946.

Souper Sunday

Ladies, it’s Super Bowl Sunday this weekend. While the guys are deep into serious game preparations (“Honey? Where’s the onion soup mix?”), you can enjoy the bracing air by cross-country skiing or snowshoeing around Mount Spokane, all for a good cause. The fourth annual women’s “SOUPER” BOWL, a fundraiser for the Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant, is set for Sunday morning at the Selkirk Lodge. The event is open to skiers and snowshoers of all experience levels, and organizers are expecting upwards of 200 participants.

A timed women-only race, open to both classic and skate skiers, takes off at 10 am (check in starts at 8:30). Recreational ski and snowshoe tours are also available for those who prefer a more leisurely pace. And yes, there will be hot soup, bread and cookies for those who complete a 5K loop to the Nova Lodge.

The Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant, in the basement of St. Paul’s Methodist Church (1620 N. Monroe St.), serves free meals to all women and children who come through the doors. Dinner is served twice a week (Tuesdays and Wednesdays), lunch is served on Fridays, and women may also come in to pick up food to go on Friday afternoons. The restaurant is supported entirely by donations and relies on the work of many volunteers.

If you need to rent skis, a limited number will be available on the mountain for a $10 fee, or make discounted rental arrangements ahead of time with event sponsors Mountain Gear, Fitness Fanatics and REI. Snowshoes will be available at no charge on site.

To help keep things green, organizers have chartered a bus to ferry participants up the mountain. The bus will depart the Mountain Gear parking lot (2002 N. Division) at 8 am, stop at Mt. Spokane High School at 8:30, and then head up the mountain. The bus will leave the site at 1 pm. Bus fare is $15. (There’s limited space on the bus, though, so reserve soon.)

So have fun playing in the snow while helping other women in our community who are in need of safe, nutritious meals. And you’ll be home in time for the kick-off of that other big sporting event. What could be better?

The fourth annual Women’s “Souper” Bowl is Sunday, Feb. 1, from 10 am-1 pm. Suggested donation: $25. Visit www.mountaingear.com, www.fitfanatics.com, www.snsef.org or www.wcfrspokane.org.