Spokane Food Blog

Hey, we’ll admit it. We were right among the skeptics when the new owners of Natural Start announced they were taking  the coffee shop in a different direction. But honestly, they’re really not that bad. Sure, we miss the former owners’ take on organic foods, mostly because it was delicious.

The current incarnation of Natural Start has opted to get baked goods from a selection of bakeries. There’s really nothing wrong with that in and of itself, and the prices are fine. (Even discounts on day olds.) I wouldn’t recommend Natural Start as a place to go for food anymore, but the most important part is that they’re still rocking the DOMA coffee.

They didn’t at first; the Americanos were luke warm. Hey, it was a transition period. Now they’re doing a fine job, and I have no problems recommending this as a coffee stop. In fact, it’s probably the one I still frequent the most.

Rumors of huge changes to the interior design of the place seems to have been unfounded too. That’s a good thing, as it looks great as it is.

No changes for the better, but the coffee is still great.

If you follow us on Twitter — and why don’t you? — you might have caught a conversation between the Blue Spark, Bowling for Soup, and us.

Now, I don’t really know much about Bowling for Soup. I’m pretty sure the band formed in 1964, and that a large portion of the group tragically died in a 1977 plane accident. The current lineup reformed in 1987 with the former frontman’s brother at the helm, playing hits like “Free Bird” and “That Smell”. I’m pretty sure that’s them.

Anyway!

The fun started yesterday…

@thebluespark: Will be collecting a $12 tab from @bfsrocks at The Blvd tonight. Oh and your band sucks.

Well then… @bfsrocks is Bowling for Soup’s Twitter name. So we re-tweeted it with a comment saying, “BFS does, apparently, not rock.”

In retrospect, seeing I can’t name one Bowling for Soup song, that might have been bit harsh. Actually… Let me check them out on YouTube before I make my mind up.

OK, no, that wasn’t harsh at all.

So did the big rock band actually run out on the tab? According to themselves, apparently not:

@bfsrocks: WTF?! we didn’t even make it there! RT @thebluespark: Will be collecting a $12 tab from @bfsrocks @ The Blvd tonight. Oh & your band sucks.

@bfsrocks: @SpoCOOL So funny! We didn’t even GO to @thebluespark!!

Hmmmm… Really now?

@bfsrocks: @thebluespark correction, our merch guy is an idiot! sorry for the inconvenience & sorry for sucking. he is headed to pay it now. (@spocool)

@bfsrocks: @SpoCOOL Apparently, our merch guy did stop in and thought he was going back. I feel bad. we will make it good. – @jaret2113

I’m just going to assume the band did good and paid the bill. And swell as that is, a few question remains:

First, did the “merch guy” present himself as a member of the group? With a $12 tab, I’m guessing we’re talking something like three beers or something — were they all for him, or was he being a big rock star in a small bar? I’m picturing a dude leaning over to a group of ladies, going, “Yeah, I’m in a little rock band called Bowling for Soup, you might have heard of us.” Then, when they laugh hysterically at him, he tries the line again until he finds someone sufficiently drunk to be impressed.

(I might be making all of this up, but it’d be awesome if that’s how it happened. Hopefully the big guy in the band doesn’t want to beat me up or anything)

Now running out on the bill… If you leave a bar, you pay, no matter when you’re planning on coming back. I can’t help but wonder if his “I’m in a band!!!” line actually was successful and thus he was in a hurry to leave with some lady?

Anyway! Is this what we have come to in Spokane? Tabloid style blog posts about Bowling for Soup? Yes, and we’re just OK with that.

Plus, it all ended well:

@thebluespark: @SpoCOOL A new Keg of John John should be on this Wed.

We’re so there.

Put One World on your Valentine’s Day list of events. One World is hosting a fancy white tablecloth event for Valentine’s Day, with a vegetarian, seafood or vegan menu.

Not mentioned on the flyer is One World partnering with Lone Canary winery for the special dinner. Thirty dollars per-person for a 7 course meal, what a deal. You know we approve of their food.

Liam Gallagher once crooned “I know a girl called Elsa, she’s into Alka-Seltzer,” which, honestly, I didn’t know what meant at the time. Had the song been written today, however, it would have been painfully clear that Elsa, in fact, was into Budweiser Select 55.

That’s right, Budweiser is treating us to yet another beer! This one tasting more than vaguely like Alka-Seltzer.

God bless Anheuser-Busch for trying. So far they’ve failed at producing a decent regular beer, lite beer, Clamato flavored beer, Michelada style beer, ice beer, craft beer, and caffeine infused beer, but they’re not letting a few minor setbacks discourage them! Now they have their sights set on MGD 64.

And give them credit — they’re not exactly trying to beat a beer anyone in their right mind would classify as “good.” This is really a battle where Budweiser stands a chance. I mean, hell, they’ve beaten Miller in the first round by lowering the calorie content by nine! Anheuser-Busch, you little devil, you might just stand a chance.

That is until you taste it. By god, this is the worst swill I’ve ever touched. I could at least see what they were getting at with Budweiser American Ale (which, from what I can recall, was the replacement for the original Select), but Select 55 truly and honestly tastes like Bud Lite mixed with Alka-Seltzer.

There’s a bit of credit that should be given here: I will, with my severely limited homebrewing experience, assume that it’s not easy making a beer taste like Alka-Seltzer. I mean, seriously. Maybe that’s what they set out out to do? Maybe I’m the idiot. Maybe there’s a market for Alka-Seltzer beer.

I’m not part of that market, however.

First about Spokavore.com, which we briefly mentioned yesterday. This is an early incarnation of the site which eventually, we hope, will list food products produced around the region. We have started out with a few choices, but we require input to further improve on the list. Therefore, if you have any suggestions of additions, let us know.

Speaking of a local producer currently listed, it looks like Small Planet Tofu soon will be removed from the site. Year of Plenty tells us they’re moving to Seattle.

A company that won’t be removed is DOMA, who kindly has offered up some prizes for the Spokavore contest! That’s right, you now have something to compete for, and backstabbing is hereby encouraged.

Update: Mr. John Speare has provided us with a 150 mile radius map:

Now that a selection of cheeses has started to trickle in to Main Market, we picked up Roth Käse’s Gran Queso, a “Spanish style” cheese not many miles from a Manchego flavor wise. You would think they would have called it a “Manchego style cheese” in their marketing material — the main difference between the Gran Queso and a Manchego is that the former is made with cow’s milk, while the latter with sheep’s milk –  seeing that there is a wide array of Spanish cheeses out there, but there you go. The Gran Queso is made in Wisconsin after all, so who cares if they do things their way.

And more importantly, this is a very good cheese. The color is ivory and the feel of it is firm, while the smell is lightly nutty. Flavor wise it is dry and robust, yet with a nice sweet finish to it. This is definitely a cheese you can bring out if you want to impress your beret-clad friends while watching El Topo.

I’m not much of an expert wine-pairer, but if my opinion was asked — and let’s face it, I can write pretty much what I want here, no matter how poorly my opinions are backed up — I’d go with a nice Rioja to complement the flavor-kick of  the Gran Queso. That’s just how I roll.

The Gran Queso is nice. Very nice. Check it out, unless you’re a cheese purist.

The Inlander’s annual “Best of” poll is up. As history has proven, the results in the “Food and Drink” category will probably be less than stellar. However! We encourage everybody to write in Mario De Leon as “Best Community Volunteer.” That he voluntarily moved to our community to make what is the best Mexican food in the region is good enough reason.

The Spokesman tells us Spokane will be features on Ace of Cakes. We won’t be a real city until Guy Fieri and his “rock n’ roll lifestyle” makes his way here however.

We were going to say something about The Back Kitchen closing, but couldn’t come up with anything intelligent and/or witty. Just head down to the Latah Bistro and eat the man’s food. It’s better than reading about it.

I, for one, am ready to welcome Deschutes as our new overlords, should they decide to take over the world. Yes, I am saying they can do nearly no wrong. And yes, I just paraphrased Kent Brockman. Live with it.

Deschutes kind of just gets the sheer rurban oddities of the Northwest, something that  carries over into their “Northwest Pale Ale.” It is a pale, certainly, but still full of surprises. Its color, for example, is deep amber, and the head laces the glass well for a pale.

The smell shouldn’t come as much of a shock for anyone used to the Mirror Pond — sweet, almost perfume like, with a lot of depth. This carries over to the flavor, with sweet caramel-y malts coating the mouth, and just a hint of hops in the back. This is an extremely crisp ale, particularly for a beer just recently released in the midst of what is supposed to be winter.

So I’m ready for the rebellion, at least. And I will drink plenty of Red Chair while the coup d’état goes down.

Pretty awesome.

Andy’s Bar is a small intimate bar with some lovely re-purposed furniture. This might be why I had expected to be wowed by their restroom too.

Reality is, though, that Andy’s Bar only has a very utilitarian facility. A large-ish room (compared to the rest of the place)  with a toilet, a sink, and something that looks like it used to be the base for a shower. That’s it. No crazy recycled mirror frames, fixtures, or — and come on, who wouldn’t want this?! — custom made tin toilets.

So in that sense, I was a bit disappointed.

One the upside, though, the facility is clean. You don’t have to wade through urine or anything, which is always a pretty good thing. It’s all very nice and functional.

But when I think of what could have been… I’m disappointed.

Good… For what it is at least.