Bacon pancakes at Original Pancake House.

TNT Diner reader Heather e-mailed me asking me about the new Original Pancake House on Meridian in Puyallup. I dutifully went to research pancakes and found a great discovery - bacon pancakes. It’s an efficient and tasty way to eat breakfast - bacon and flapjacks all in one vessel. What’s not to like?
The Original Pancake House, a Portland-based chain, also has about 15 other kinds of pancakes besides bacon: Banana, coconut, potato, blueberry, buckwheat, sourdough, corn, wheat germ, granola, Georgia pecan, Hawaiian pineapple, blueberry, chocolate chip and the classic pigs in a blanket. And there's a lot more breakfast on the menu - in fact, that's all they serve.

=> Read more!

Diners are curious – what happened to the Indochine Café on Mildred in Fircrest?

It closed July 12 - and in the same location, Royal Thai Bistro opened Aug. 1. Heng Han is the owner of Royal Thai Bistro. His brother Eric Han manages it. The menu is mostly Thai - a change from Indochine’s broader focused Southeast Asian menu – but one of the Indochine Café assistant chefs joined the staff at Royal Thai Bistro.

Hong Ngov and husband Sean Yean, who owned the Mildred Indochine Café, still own and will continue to operate the sister Indochine Café on Pearl - and the head chef Savath Sok remains at the Pearl restaurant. And here's the back story.

=> Read more!

Mark Eggen wants to serve the frostiest mugs of beer in Bonney Lake. With a mug froster and high-tech beer taps installed at his new restaurant Hop Jack's, he just might. His beer is served at a chilly 27 degrees. My teeth hurt thinking about it.

A beer-sicle might have slid down parched pipes a little more easily two weeks ago during the heat blast, but even on an overcast Monday, Eggen had a better than expected turnout when he opened Hop Jack’s yesterday. And the brew was cold, as promised, he said.

The casual restaurant, located a few doors down from Old School Custard and Jersey Mike’s subs, is the first of its kind for Eggen, who also owns The Rock pizza franchises in South Hill and Lacey.

=> Read more!

The strawberry cupcake served at Le Cupcake in Graham showcased the seasonality of the cupcakes.

A blueberry cupcake with a hidden center of caramelized blueberries and homemade caramel. A coconut-marshmallow-chocolate cupcake that’s a kitschy spin on a Hostess SnoBall. A peanut butter-fudge cupcake that made me a little weak, it was so rich and chewy. A strawberry cupcake with a base of buttery pound cake. There's a revolving daily cupcake menu at the new bakery-cafe Le Cupcake, which opened five weeks ago in Graham. You never know what will be in the display case. I like the element of cupcake surprise.

Owner Faith Guptill’s grandmother won awards for her cakes and desserts at the Puyallup Fair decades ago. Today, some of those recipes appear in the dessert case at Le Cupcake.

Guptill’s family has lived in Pierce County since her grandmother migrated to Tacoma from Sweden.

=> Read more!

Infinite Soups – which celebrated its second anniversary in February - will open its second location Monday in the Sanford & Son building at 744 Commerce. They’re calling it the Infinite Soups Lunch Counter at Sanford & Son.

The second soup location will be a smaller version of the “mother ship” -- the nickname owner Wendy Clapp gives the original Infinite Soups location at 445 Tacoma Ave. S. The Tacoma Avenue location will continue to operate, emphasized Clapp, who runs Infinite Soups with husband Todd DeShazo and Clapp’s daughter Laura Adams. Some customers thought Clapp and crew were moving the business to the Sanford and Son building. Not so.

=> Read more!

I'm just back from a Portland cheese eating tour. I've returned with a cheeseworthy appreciation for Oregon artisinal cheese. One of my favorite stops was a cheese shop called Steve's in a small neighborhood in Northwest Portland. I also developed a major addiction to Juniper Grove chevre and Willamette Valley Cheese Co. smoked fontina. I'll be writing more about Oregon cheese later in the summer. Stay tuned.

Now that I'm back from my cheesy detour, I thought I'd do a quick check-in on what's opened, or opening soon. Let's take a look, shall we?

=> Read more!

Over at the GO Arts blog I have post up about The Green Spot, a new tea house on Bridgeport Way. It's having its grand opening Saturday.

Check it out here.

Coming in June to 604 Fawcett Avenue: Minoela.

Pronounced min-oh-la, the restaurant will be a rustic wine bistro with a kick-back vibe. Located next to the Grand Cinema, in the location that formerly housed the One Heart Cafe (and before that, Kickstand Cafe), Minoela will serve lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturdays. Owners Danielle and Mike Kartes plan a June 23 grand opening.

“I’m a makeup artist turned foodie,” is how Danielle Kartes describes herself. Husband Mike works for Oroweat Bakery and intends to keep his day job while she works the restaurant.

Why now? A restaurant? In this economy?

=> Read more!

I can honestly say I’ve never been to a barbecue restaurant with tablecloths, pretty centerpieces and dolls on display wearing crocheted dresses – until I visited Papa Eddie’s Corner Café and BBQ in Tacoma, which opened April 24 in the location that housed JT’s Original Louisiana Bar-B-Que until two months ago.

In fact, some barbecue aficionados may call “blasphemy” at a barbecue joint that doesn’t sport battered chairs with a roll of paper towels on every grubby table.

Papa Eddie’s is homey with a side of cute – like someone’s grandma came in and gussied up the joint by painting the walls creamsicle orange and adding tablecloths.

Pictured here: Pappa Eddie's Corner Cafe owner Zach Hill holds a plate of his restaurant's signature dishes: barbecued pork ribs, red beans and rice, potato salad and cornbread. Photo by Drew Perine/The News Tribune.

=> Read more!

I’ve had a few readers call and e-mail about JT’s Original Louisiana Bar-B-Que, which operated at 7104 Sixth Ave. for four years – up until a few months ago.

“We decided to relocate, to find a new location. The location we had wasn’t working out for us. It was more of a traffic issue,” said James Turner, who operated the now-closed restaurant with a daughter.

So what’s next for the Turner family? And what about the new bbq place that has opened in that location – Papa Eddie's Corner Cafe and BBQ?

=> Read more!

I just got off the phone with Micha Cornelius, the general manager of Sax, a new dinner and music club set to open at 2309 Sixth Ave.

He had hoped to open by today, but due to permit approval delays, the opening probably will be a few weeks away.

News Tribune nightlife columnist Ernest Jasmin has been writing on his Tacoma Rock City blog about the musical acts at the nightclub. The roster will include Tacoma jazz and R & B group Hybrid, which the club has hired to be the house band.

As for the food, take a look here at some of the menu items Cornelius told us about.

Cornelius will keep us posted as they get closer to opening, but he's looking at a soft opening in two weeks, followed by a grand opening the following week. Keep checking back here for details. Depending on permitting, that date could change.

Coconut, cherry mocha, sweet potato and lavender are just a few of the cupcake flavors Patti Frank and Barbara Kiker plan to whip up for their new cupcake shop and clothing store in Proctor.

Sweet Thing Cupcakes & Couture will open in late May or early June (depending on permits) – at 2510 N. Proctor.

Frank and Kiker have been working on the building for several weeks –much to the curiosity of Proctor neighbors, who are abuzz about the opening of the combo cupcake, coffee and retail clothing store.

Pictured here: Cupcakes! News Tribune file photo.

=> Read more!