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Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 09:54:12 am
You read that right. Thai sushi is what it sounds like. It's catching on from LA to FLA. It's coming to Tacoma in the form of Thai Tea, which calls itself an authentic Thai and sushi bar. It's under construction on the corner of 12th Street and Union, near the new Forza. The sign on the door says Thai Tea will open this spring. Has anyone had Thai sushi?
Categories: Restaurant openings
• 5 comments
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 07:50:57 am
That tipping tale is from today's Los Angeles Times. It stokes a simmering question for diners: Do you tip less when money's tight? It stokes a simmering question for servers: How are your tips these days? Monday, April 28th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 08:33:05 pm
Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge is now open on the ground floor of The Walker, the modernized, condo-ized vintage apartment building in the heartof Tacoma's downtown condo country. Troy Christian and Sean Quinn, El Gaucho veterans who launched Asado and Masa before splitting with X Group Restaurants, are the team behind Maxwell's. Matt Colony, formerly of Pacific Grill and The Beach House at Purdy, is the chef. Maxwell's has easy-going, upscale style. Diners are greeted by chain-draped chandeliers and gauzy curtains that made me feel like I'd stumbled into a flapper's dressing room. Low ceilings, moody earth tones and shadowy lighting give the bar and warrens of dining areas an aura befitting Maxwell's speakeasy subtitle. The menu's designed around small plates and sharable entrees and side dishes, most priced $6-$21. The pricey exception is a $32 rib steak. I savored three lamb porterhouse chops from Ellensburg, dressed in mushrooms, almonds and lemon. The tender and tasty chops were bubblegum pink inside and charry-black outside. Other entrees include potato-crusted cod, apple-wood smoked pulled pork sandwich and a smoked rib chop. Even though peppercorn butter on the steak sounds kind of '80s, I heard good comments about the blood-rare, bone-in rib-eye. Onion soup made with Walla Wallas was a bowl of sweet-salty depth and bliss, with sherry and cave-aged gruyere bookending the lively onions. Aside from fantastic flavor and total comfort, there were onions, cheese and croutons in every spoonful. I didn't think pomegranite seeds belonged on Quinn's gooey nachoes at Masa, and I'm not convinced using the bitter/sweet fruit in mignonette complements briney oysters at Maxwell's. (Note to whomever designed Maxwell's oysters on the half shell presentation: That bed of polished rocks beneath the bivalves rocks. Just be sure diners know they're rocks and not olives. Wouldn't want to break a tooth, you know.) Among the other small plates, I'm looking forward to the tenerloin tartare with quail egg, the beet salad with fresh honeycomb, and the carrot-fennel soup with curry and tarragon-infused oil. I overheard one diner rave about the halibut cheeks. And, of course, I'll be back for the cheese and cured meat flights ($3 per serving, $9 for a selection of four) that included house-made pork loin rillettes and smoked trout. Open since Friday, Maxwell's has already experienced management turnover. Tewfik Boulenouar, described by Seattle food writers as a front-of-the-house dynamo from his days at Coupage, El Gaucho and Waterfront Seafood Grill, has left his position as Maxwell's general manager. Christian said Boulenouar is being replaced by Rich Troiani, a veteran of El Gaucho, Waterfront and the eponymous (but Mackay-owned) Troiani Ristorante Italiano. Christian said Troiani was his mentor a decade ago at Kimpton Group in Portland. Boulenouar told me "nothing dramatic" was involved in his departure. Boulenouar said he plans to open his own restaurant. Most likely it'll be in Seattle, he said, but he didn't rule out Tacoma. Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge: 454 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma; 253-683-4115. Hours: 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 4 p.m.-midnight Fridays-Saturdays; 5 p.m-9 p.m. Sundays.
Categories: Restaurant openings
• 12 comments
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 11:15:18 am
Whether they were off-white, beige, tan, black or clear, green is the popular color for disposable knifes, forks, spoons, take-out containers and drinking cups. That’s green, as in recyclable, bio-degradable and all-around earth-friendly. Such were the take-out utensils, containers and bags that bloomed in the aisles of the Northwest Foodservice Show at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle on Sunday and continuing today. Manufacturing ingredients for these items include sugar cane, potatoes, corn starch and wheat – all sustainable resources. They’re recyclable, compostable and, in come cases, biodegradable. Some products can stand up to heat, too. Clamshell containers made from sugar cane, for example, are heat stable to around 410 degrees – meaning you can re-heat restaurant leftovers in the microwave without melting the sugar-based containers. Vendors weren’t advertising prices, but one restaurateur who purchases earth-friendly utensils said such products cost him up to five times more than conventional products. I’ve only found a few places in the South Sound that use earth-friendly flatware and containers. They are Vitals Café, Blue Lotus Café and i.talia Pizzeria, all in Olympia. If you encounter earth-friendly utensils and containers elsewhere, please send me an e-mail or comment below.
Categories: Dining trends
• 5 comments
Friday, April 25th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 07:21:00 pm
Peter Weikel Jr., who manned the kitchen at the former Stadium Bistro, is now cheffing at Green Turtle in Gig Harbor. Weikel was recently a runner-up for a gig at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center. Meanwhile, Stadium Bistro's former landlords have cleaned up the food that was left on Stadium Bistro's stove and the garbage that was left inside the restaurant when Weikel and his father, Peter, closed shop three weeks ago. Stadium Bistro's left-over garbage is particularly disturbing given that Peter Weikel Sr. was in the pest control business before he got into the restaurant business, where rotting food and exposed garbage attract bugs and vermin. There are two other restaurants in Stadium Bistro's former building; they deserved better than to have one of their neighbors skedaddle and leave a potential health hazard rotting in their midst. The Weikels have not responded to my telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment on the restaurant's closure or the rotting food they left inside. UPDATED 4/28
Mike_T: That's inaccurate hearsay. I was in the former Stadium Bistro today. The liquor, beer and wine have been moved from the bar to some tables in the rear. The booze is merely out of view from the restaurant's front windows. One of the owners of the building told me that he and his helpers had a few beers and some shots of Jameson after they cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. Among the Stadium Bistro souvenirs that remain: two large stock pots of meat, bones and broth. They're in the freezer because the building's owners haven't been able to figure out what to do with the putrid pots that were left atop Stadium Bistro's stove. Some vendors have already reclaimed their equipment. Other equipment will be sold at auction. -- Ed Murrieta Thursday, April 24th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 03:30:37 pm
 While rising rice prices make many people unhappy, Scoring bags of rice is something to smile about these days. Rising prices and limited availability of rice are affecting South Sound restaurants. Cash and Carry, a wholesale warehouse store where many restaurants purchase bulk ingredients like rice, starting limiting rice purchases to two 50-pound bags per customer this week. “We’re allocating rice right now – the same as Costco and everyone around me has been doing” Randy Drake, manager of the warehouse store on Tacoma Mall Boulevard. “We’re lucky if you can get it. I had 50 bags this morning and they were sold out in 10 minutes.” Drake said the price of Cash and Carry’s 50-pound bags of long-grain California rice has risen to $18 from $15 in three weeks. In August 2007, Galanga Thai restaurant in downtown Tacoma paid $19 per 50-pound bag of Thai Jasmine rice from King’s Oriental Foods, a Seattle distributor, owner Ted Kenney said. The same bag rose to $23 on March $27, $26 on April 3 and $30 on April 10. “I’ve got a lot of problems getting it,” said Taranada, who buys rice at Cash and Carry. “I knew three or four weeks ago that we’d get to this point. Now it’s to the point where you have to be [at the store] at 7 a.m. or you’re not going to get rice.” Taranada wondered what he’s going to do “because Hawaiians love rice, Samoans love rice, Polynesians love rice. If it gets worse than this, I’m going to have to jack my prices up.” Taranada joked about a more drastic plan. “It’s getting to the point where I’m going to have to make substitutes,” he said. “I’m going to have to ask customers of they want mashed potatoes or dinner rolls instead of rice.” Peter Choe, owner of Chin’s Teriyaki in downtown Tacoma, said he goes through one 50-pound bag of short-grain California rice per day. He said he might consider raising his prices but draws the line at reducing portion sizes. Purchased for lunch Thursday, a $5.99 chicken teriyaki entrée came with 8 ounces of meat and 13 ounces of rice. “No, no, no – same portion,” Choe said. “We don’t want to raise problems.” “For Asian people, you have to have rice. It’s the same as potatoes and bread for white people,” said Jennifer Chang, chef/owner of Hong Sheng Fung Chinese restaurant on South Tacoma Way. Chang serves a mix of short-grain California rice and long-grain Thai Jasmine rice. She said she’s switching from long-grain Thai Jasmine rice ($32.50 for 50 pounds) to California-grown long-grain rice ($19.95 for 50 pounds). “If I charge for a little small cup, people will get mad at me,” Chang said. “But it’s expensive. I might have to start charging.” Indochine Asian Dining Lounge in downtown Tacoma charges $1.50 for a small side order of rice. Co-owner Russell Brunton said the cost of the restaurant’s long-grain Thai Jasmine rice has doubled to $40 from $20 in recent months. “I got a call yesterday from somebody really angry that we charge for rice,” Brunton said. “I think that’s pretty unfair because is rice is something that there is value to and there is a cost to us to store it and cook it.” Waste is another cost factor. While Taranada said 80 percent of Café Hawaii’s customers eat all of their rice, other restaurants say uneaten rice creates a sticky situation. “There’s quite a bit of waste,” Brunton said. “People consider white rice a cheap ingredient.” Kenney said it’s “difficult to predict how much rice people are going to eat. We try to tailor it. If it’s a table of what looks like light eaters, we’re not going to bring out as much as if it was for a table of four big guys.” Rising prices, Kenney said, require tighter controls. “Not ‘over-ricing’ customers, resulting in thrown-away rice, is definitely something we talk to our servers about,” Kenny said. “After reviewing these prices, I think we’ll have to mention it again tonight. Our dog can only eat so much (left-over) rice.”
Categories: Industry stuff
• 5 comments
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 12:36:33 pm
 The Swiss: 15 years and going strong. The Swiss Pub celebrates its 15th anniversary on Monday, and by the looks of the special menu, chef/co-owner Gayl Bertagni will be firing up her way-back machine. “We’re going to serve some of the foods we opened with,” Bertagni said, noting that The Swiss had little more than a microwave for its first three weeks of operation in 1993. Among Monday’s menu specials that harken to 1993: microwaved cheese pizzas and “nacho chips with that waxy cheese – you know that stuff at 7-11.” Expect paper plates, plastic forks and the like. Also on special will be The Swiss’ popular Today’s Sandwich, the first sandwich on the original menu, featuring turkey, ham, Swiss and cheddar cheeses, with lettuce, tomato and onion on herbed bread. Bertagni said she’ll revive New Bite, a pulled pork sandwich in “elegant barbecue sauce” that’s been an occasional special. “It’s quite messy,” Bertagni said of the sandwich, served on a Kaiser roll with slaw and red onions. Handful of Lovin’, a Celtic-reggae band, takes the stage around 8 p.m. The Swiss Pub & Eatery: 1904 S Jefferson St., Tacoma; 253-572-2821
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 11:51:23 am
A group of South Sound chefs and farmers is looking for local chefs who want to cook and serve local, sustainable produce and meat. They want to form a Tacoma cell of the Seattle chapter of Chefs Collaborative, a national farm-to-table nonprofit that helps chefs and farmers work together. “One of the things I think is a travesty,” said Richard Hines of the Federation of Tacoma Farmers Markets, “is that many producers travel right through Tacoma from Olympia and Lewis County and they just go right on north to the markets up there. We want to create a local food culture in Tacoma.” To do that, Hines and his collaborators, including Charlie McManus, chef/owner of Primo Grill and Crown Bar, are holding an organizing meeting for South Sound chefs on May 6 at Primo Grill. McManus will cook a meal for attendees, and members of the Seattle chapter of Chefs Collaborative, one of the most active in the nation, will give a presentation and answer questions. The menu of farmers and their products is enticing: For more information, e-mail Rich Hines of the Federation of Tacoma Farmers Markets. UPDATED 3/2 1. If you're a local chef who's interested in networking with other local chefs and farmers, you've got until 5 p.m. today to RSVP for Tuesday's get-together at Primo Grill, where sustainably inclined chef-owner Charlie McManus will cook for attendees. 2. A change in cheese. Read this, from Richard Hines, board president of the Tacoma Farmers Market who's helping to organize the local Chefs Collaborative drive:
If you want in on Tuesday night's organizing meeting, contact Richard Hines at 253-301-1121 or by e-mail.
Categories: Farming and growing
• 5 comments
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 12:01:36 am
You don't have to hug a farmer to eat green. Here are five easy ways to help the planet while patronizing restaurants, bars and coffee shops: 1. BYO reusable cup. What's the price of drinking shade-grown coffee from a cup that used to be a shade-giving tree? Avoid negative caffeine karma (and save 10 cents on all coffee drinks at places like Forza, Tully's and Starbucks) by brining your own reusble coffee cup. As one barista noted, "It's not much, but it adds up." 2. BYO growler. Why buy microbrews at the store when you can fill up reusable half-gallon glass growler jugs at pubs, microbreweries and beer bars? Growlers cost between $5-$10; refill prices are about $5-$10 depending on the beer and the venue (Parkway Tavern and The Red Hot in Tacoma are but two beer bars that fill growlers; Tacoma's Harmon, Olympia's Fish and The Ram (throughout the South Sound) are but a few pubs where you can get your growlers filled. 3. BYO utensils. What color are your chopsticks? Black? White? Red? Plastic chopsticks may not be entirely green, but those wooden ones can't be reused. Consider buying your own chopsticks. Many Japanese restaurants sell reusable chopsticks. They come in individual boxes, with your name on the box. The restaurants wash, sanitize and store customers' chopsticks. 4. BYO doggie bag. How many leftovers in take-out containers (made of either foam or 100 percent recyclable paper material) are in your fridge? Why not take home leftovers in your own reusable containers? "There's nothing wrong with that," said Mike Davis, a food saftey supervisor for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. "I know a Chinese restaurant (House of Kee in Puyallup) where the owner puts up a sign telling people to bring their own containers if they want soup to go. It's the customer who's taking the risk of their own containers being clean." 5. Clean your plate. What you don't eat must be disposed of somehow, whether it's trucked off to the compost heap or trucked off to the rendering plant.
Categories: All-Purpose Stuff
• 8 comments
Friday, April 18th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 11:45:41 am
 It used to be La Costa. Now it's got a new owner and a new name. (Photo: Exit133.com) Before I even forked my first chili relleno at a made-over Mexican restaurant in downtown Tacoma, this e-mail hit my in-box:
I spoke with Gringo de Loco owner Rod Collen, who purchased La Costa in February and, following a good scrubbing, new equipment and fresh coats of paint, re-christened the restaurant last week, keeping the Mexican menu but adding live blues music. "It's a little bit like explaining the punchline of a joke," Collen said. "Some people said I was crazy to buy La Costa. Buying La Costa was kinda like buying the Titanic after it hit the ice berg." As for the gringo grammar that translates as "white person of crazy": "We were already combining Mexican food with the blues, so we just butchered it," Collen said. "The majority of my staff speaks fluent Spanish. I asked them about it. The proper grammar would be 'Gringo Loco' but we all felt it sets us apart. It's a little bit uncommon, but Google it -- we're the only one out there." Collen and his wife, Julie (who's doing the cooking), previously ran Mandolin Cafe. They're shooting for a grand opening on May 5 -- or Mayo de Cinco, if you want to butcher the day that commemorates the Mexican army's victory over French forces. Collen said his restaurant will host Wednesday night blues jams starting next week. But don't look for La Costa's fabulous gender-bending song-and-dance shows at Gringo de Loco. "We're going after a more professional crowd," Collen said. My first taste of Gringo de Loco reminded me of La Costa -- middling Mexican fare served with chips, salsa and bean dip, but minus those fabulous men who dress and perform as women. Gringo de Loco: 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma; 253-272-0300
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 10:10:53 am
 Doyle's Public House poured Eight hundred and forty-two Imperial pints of Guinness were purchased at Doyle's Public House from April 7-17, helping the Tacoma pub raise $842 for Seattle public radio station KUOW. Full disclosure: I was among the 154 people who bought (and drank) a pint of Guinness (cost: $4.75) on the pledge drive's final day. It tasted much better than those PBRs I heard about on NPR. Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 11:10:18 am
First the folks behind El Gaucho ran Windmill Gardens Cafe. Then one of the guys who'd eventually open Asado and Masa (and soon Maxwell’s) ran it. Then the folks who are now at Herban Café ran it. Now, the owners of Mama Stortini’s will run it. They’re planning to open 60th Street Bistro in the cafe/kitchen space at Windmill Gardens nursery on May 6. “We’ve been looking for a location for our wedding catering,” said John Spearman, chef and operations manager for Specialty Restaurant Group, which bought Mama Stortini’s in 2006. “It’s got a beautiful garden, gazebos, a fish pond.” Spearman said 60th Street Bistro will initially open just for lunch, serving sandwiches, soups, salads and a few entrees. “Our goal is to eventually do a full-blown restaurant,” he said, mentioning brunch and dinners of “Northwest regional cuisine with an Italian accent.”
Categories: Restaurant openings
• 4 comments
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 10:19:11 am
Lunch is once again being served at Sea Grill, which ceased mid-day meal service in January 2007. Lunch hours are 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays. “If we had to do it over again, we would have opened up for dinner only when we first opened three years ago and opened up for lunch at a later time,” Sea Grill general manager Mike Neumann said. “We felt that our dinner program was solid. Now is the time to focus on lunch again.” Lunch entrees, including a Certified Angus burger, open-face Dungeness crab melt, grill sirloin and salmon, are $10-$17. Meanwhile at Sea Grill, the restaurant is exhibiting glasswork from Tacoma Glassblowing Studio, founded in 2006 by Tacoma native Mark Sigafoos and his wife, Jeannine, who is a server at Sea Grill. Tacoma Glassblowing Studio's abstract designs echo Sea Grill's undersea swirls, whorls and colorful hues. Sea Grill: 1498 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. 253-272-5656
Categories: Downtown Tacoma restaurants
• 4 comments
Monday, April 14th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 09:21:50 am
Got out-of-town relatives/friends/business associates who can pay for their own sixty-dollar steaks? This blog's for you. El Gaucho, aka, "Tacoma’s most elegant restaurant," according to a press release, is offering door-to-door valet van service for diners. Here's how it works: Convince your guests to stay at one of El Gaucho's "preferred hotels" -- Hotel Murano, where there's no fine dining; or maybe Courtyard by Marriott (where fine dining is mere steps away, at Pacific Grill), or Silver Cloud, which is a few waterfront blocks away from CI Shenanigans and The Lobster Shop on Ruston Way). If your relatives/friends/business associates get the concierges at their hotels to make dinner reservations at El Gaucho, the swanky steakhouse will pick up your relatives/friends/business associates in a valet vehicle and return them to their hotels after they pay for their own sixty-dollar steaks. "The El Gaucho experience is an unforgettable evening out on the town," general manager Tony Capra said in a press release. "This is a natural extension of our valet service and another way for us to exceed guests’ expectations.” Stanley & Seafort's offers a similar service. Unlike El Gaucho, the woman who answered the telephone at Stanley's was more upfront and more than happy to tell me that the restaurant will pick you up from even the Best Western Tacoma Dome or freeway-adjacent La Quinta hotels. (I had to specifically inquire whether El Gaucho dispatches its van to the Best Western and La Quinta. "We service all hotels in the greater Tacoma area," a hostess told me on the telephone.) "We don't guarantee that your car doesn’t get broken into, but we do guarantee that’s it on camera," a Fabulous Firwood bartender told me. Thursday, April 10th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 10:31:38 am
Tacoma doesn't get to trump Seattle and Portland very often, but Saturday's one of those days. That's when Parkway Tavern hosts its annual barleywine festival, featuring two dozen strong and complex ales from Northwest microbreweries. "It's the only event of it's type between Seattle and Portland," boasts Parkway publican John O'Gara. Six-ounce tasters will run $2.75. Compare that to the $4 Brouwer's was charging for many of the same beers. Not that we are trying to compete or anything like that." O'Gara said Saturday's special food menu will feature "three roast pigs and four prime ribs." Doors open at 2 p.m. and close at 2 a.m. Parkway Tavern: 313 N. I St., Tacoma; 253-383-8748 Click on the link below for the a list of what's on tap.
Categories: Beverages
• 2 comments
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 02:40:28 pm
Infinite Soups accepts only cash. But now it’s making a concession for gift certificates – namely, valid gift certificates from restaurants that have gone out of business. Responding to the closure of Stadium Bistro and reports that some people can’t redeem their gift cards from the restaurant, the tiny soup shop says it will honor, dollar for dollar, any gift certificate from any defunct restaurant, up to $50. “It’s just the whole sense of hospitality,” said Infinite Soups co-owner Wendy Clapp. “That’s what we do: We feed people. Just because a place goes out of business doesn’t mean you should lose a gift. If you’re holding a gift certificate that was a gift from somebody that was wishing you well and wishing you to go out and have a nice meal, we want you to do that.” Clapp herself has a gift certificate to a local restaurant. She said she wants to use it before that restaurant goes out of business. Clapp said Infinite Soups will accept gift certificates or cards from any shuttered restaurant. She said she has no way of verifying whether the cards are valid but will honor them all. “I don’t think of people trying to rip us off,” Clapp said. “We’re such a little soup shop. I don’t think anyone’s given us grief.” Infinite Soups: 455 Tacoma Ave. S, Tacoma; 253- 274-0232 UPDATED 4/10 This comes from comments in a previous post:
Categories: Cool Things
• 10 comments
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 07:13:21 am
What happens when a restaurant abruptly goes out of business but still has pending business with some customers? "Stadium Bistro," one patron wrote in an e-mail to the News Tribune, "closed its doors Saturday night without notice and has failed to notify the several parties that have booked its banquet room -- many of whom have left a deposit." The e-mailer said she was dining at another downtown Tacoma restaurant when she heard the news Saturday night. She said she "was in total shock since I have a wedding reception planned there on May 17, 2008." A co-worker approached me on Monday with a similar concern. Her mother gave her an $80 gift certificate to Stadium Bistro. She figures she'll have to eat the gift certificate. My co-worker had good idea: Other restaurants in town should honor a defunct restaurant's outstanding gift certificates. Not at full value, but at, say, 50 percent of the value. It would be, she said, good marketing and customer outreach. I'm told that Stadium Bistro's owners are trying to re-book the May 17 wedding reception at another Tacoma restaurant. Do you have gift certificates you can't redeem because the restaurant(s) went out of business? Saturday, April 5th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 06:02:46 pm
Tonight will be Stadium Bistro's last night in business. The reason? "I'm not so sure I want to talk about it," co-owner Peter Weikel Sr. told me on the telephone after a long pause. Here's what Weikel told me in e-mail March 13 when I contacted him to inquire about a report from two sources who told me "Stadium Bistro will close in two weeks":
Stadium Bistro opened in late 2006. When I reviewed it in April 2007, I gave the restaurant four stars. I'm told that chef/co-owner Peter Weikel Jr. is trying to line up new jobs for his cooks.
Categories: Restaurant closings
• 21 comments
Friday, April 4th, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 02:33:30 pm
In just a little more than three months since I reported that the people behind Tacoma’s Harmon Restaurant and Brewery were taking over the space formerly operated by St. Helens Café, The Hub is open for business. Today marks The Hub’s grand opening. I’ve eaten a few things at The Hub since it unofficially opened on Monday. So far, so good. Pat Nagle, Carol Holder and their team are off to an impressive start. For starters, the cold, cavernous space that was St. Helens Café now feels warm and as intimate as 6,000 square feet can get, thanks to the addition of a hearth-fire pizza oven, an expanded bar, a sitting area with sofa and chairs, and lots of art on the walls. The menu touts “pizza, pasta and pints.” I tried the pizza and the pints. The pints come from kegs of Harmon flagship beers. The pizza comes straight from the prayers’ answered neighborhood, especially if you’ve been pining for hearth-baked pies with seriously good crust that’s neither bready nor crackery but has both character and structure. The Hub bakes 8- and 14-inch, hand-tossed pies, $8-$17. The two pies I sampled this week were of the rustic variety – not quite round, and a little oblongish, with sparsely applied toppings. To me, they looked as good as they tasted. Toppings include all the usual suspects, plus house-made sausage and meatballs. You can also choose your own cheese (mozzarella, provolone, pecorino, goat, ricotta, feta) and sauces (marina, infused oil, garlic cream, barbecue, pesto). I also sampled the cheese plate ($7), which featured a French brie, an American goat Norwegian double-cream cheddar. Other small plates include mixed olives, smoked salmon and an antipasta plate. Sandwiches are $8-$10 and include mozzarella-tomato caprese, salami, meatball hero, tuna melt and a burger, Pastas are $11-$15 and include linguine, spaghetti and meatballs, and fettucine with alder-smoked salmon. There’s also flat-iron steak, chicken picatta, cedar-planked salmon and fish and chips ($12-$18). House fries are interesting: they’re a mix of potatoes and yams, with sea salt. The Hub: 213 Tacoma Ave. S, Tacoma; 253-683-4606. Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 11:03:39 am
 Gari of Sushi chef/owner Kazuya Kamada. Construction is afoot at Gari of Sushi, the Lincoln District restaurant that closed late last year following an electrical fire. Gari of Sushi, and its adjacent bar, have been gutted. Framing is built. Work should be done and the restaurant should re-open in "about three months," a construction guy told me today. It'll be the same Gari of Sushi, he said, "only better." Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
Posted by Ed Murrieta @ 09:41:08 am
As waist lines, portion sizes and food costs have grown, so, too, has Pierce County Gets Fit, a campaign that promotes fewer calories, sodium and fat in restaurant meals. Pierce County Gets Fit, a partnership between MultiCare, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, the Washington Restaurant Association and Tacoma Pierce County YMCA, begins a year-long campaign on Monday, with 60 restaurants throughout Pierce County committed to offering customers four entrees that meet the program's guidelines for "healthy dining": up to 750 calories; less than 1,000 mg of sodium; and two servings of vegetables or one vegetable serving with a high-fiber side. Less than 30 percent of total calories can come from fat. Last year, Pierce County Gets Fit featured 30 restaurants each serving one nutritionally tailored entree for one month. Diners who order special entrees at 10 Get Fit partner restaurants -- from diners like Poodle Dog to fine-dining restaurants like Brix 25 to pubs like The Swiss -- will be eligible for prizes like a pedometer, water bottle or lunch box. "Nutritional? Everyone thinks salad," said Anthony Anton, president of the Wahington Restaurant Association. "But your normal sandwich, if you leave off the mayo, can be less than 750 calories. Even a burrito, if you leave out the sour cream and it's not two-plates long, you'll be fine." Here's a sample of entrees that meet Get Fit's guidelines: almond-crusted king salmon with smoked red bell pepper slaw, pot roast with mashed potatoes and braised veggies, chicken Florentine with brown rice and steamed veggies; pasta primavera with whole-wheat spaghetti cooked in low-sodium chicken stock; and filet mignon with steamed rice and veggies. "It's our signature filet with a twist," said Stuart Moore, the chef at GoodFella's, the steakhouse inside Great American Casino in Lakewood. "We're not wrapping it in bacon like we do for our signature filet, and there's no compound butter on top like we normally do." Of course, portion sizes are being reduced. "They're pretty close to the same," Moore said of his four Get Fit entrees. "We didn't want to short-change anyone. People have pre-conceived notions of how large the portions should be. When you scale them back, they feel ripped off. When people go out to dinner, they want to indulge themselves. We want to make sure people can indulge themselves in a healthy way but at the same time not sacrifice quality." Anton praised smaller portions. "When you sit in the kitchen and watch the product as it comes back in, most customers throw away a third of what's on their plates," Anton said. "They wanted the perception of value when they ordered it, but they didn't eat it."
Categories: Dining trends
• 3 comments
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Ed's Diner
Send comments, gossip or complaints to: ed.murrieta@thenewstribune.com. Or call: 253-597-8678. Got something to say? Here's the place to comment on and discuss what's on your plate and on your mind. Don't wait for me to post something to respond to. Keep up with the conversation Check out the latest comments on Ed's Diner. Category
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