Spokane Coffee Web 2.0

Thomas Hammer's Eco Cup has it's own facebook page. Life at Doma's Roastery gets documented in a YouTube video (below). And Simon from Craven's has a library of audio files where he talks about coffee. The short audio segments are introduced by a woman who sounds like the DJ from the cult classic film The Warriors.

Note: If anyone knows how I can fix it so that the blogger template won't cut the right side of the video off, I would be willing to trade some bread for the help.

What Are People Searching For Today?

	Num	Perc.	Search Term
	4	11.43%	beef colorado recipe
	3	8.57%	jarrahdale squash
	3	8.57%	blis syrup
	3	8.57%	cielo donut
	3	8.57%	butternut squash enchiladas
	1	2.86%	red lobster spokane
	1	2.86%	spokane tapas
	1	2.86%	from the back kitchen
	1	2.86%	duck confit recipe
	1	2.86%	taco truck recipe
	1	2.86%	bourbon ice cream recipe
	1	2.86%	people who like food
	1	2.86%	great restaurant taglines
	1	2.86%	cumquat chutney recipe
	1	2.86%	invitation to a field trip
	1	2.86%	cyclists and chefs
	1	2.86%	vintages restaurant spokane
	1	2.86%	cavellino
	1	2.86%	knife sharpening spokane wa
	1	2.86%	the back kitchen spokane
	1	2.86%	the back kitchen blog
	1	2.86%	pork taco
	1	2.86%	spokane family farm dairy
	1	2.86%	spokane public market
	35	100.00%

Pork Taco is the Dark Side of The Moon of my site statistics. Some new interesting search terms include "cyclists and chefs" and "people who like food." I don't know how this site came up after that second search because when I did it I found an article on The Onion's website. As for the cyclists and chefs, I know quite a few including Chris Cosentino. I was almost in a race with him once (Whistler 2004) but he injured himself before the event and was DNS.

The "restaurant taglines" search is starting to baffle me. It looks as I am the only person who has put the two words together. Perhaps I should resurect the topic.

Spokane Food History

I spent some time browsing the historical archives at the Museum of Arts and Culture. I was there for other reasons but I couldn't help but notice some Spokane food history in the materials. In the 1978 Polk Directory I came across this ad for Early Dawn Dairy. Early Dawn was about a mile east of where I grew up. When I was young we had an insulated chest on the front porch where the milkman would drop off the day's milk order. I was too young to remember the milk but I remember the summer fly infestations that were the curse of living too close to "the largest independent dairy" in Spokane.

I also remember going to the Early Dawn ice cream shop in the Parkade Plaza. It was located in the space would now be part Rite-Aid and part Sport Town. It was a long skinny space with entrances on Main street and by the fountain. A dairy with it's own ice cream shop is a great idea. Spokane Family Farm let me know when you are ready, I have some ideas for you.

I also came across this fire map from 1918 that shows the Inland Brewing Company's factory on 2 nd and Walnut. I think it is interesting that they make note of the 165 barrels-per-brew production. Is this helpful to the firefighters or just thoroughness on the part of the map maker?

While flipping through the Polk Directories I noticed that there were a lot of candy shops in downtown. In 1918 they were on every block. I liked the idea of Pacific and Brown having a cheese wholesaler, condiment manufacturer, as well as a Candy and Tobacco distributor

For super big versions of these go to my flickr page.

Andy's Bar

Andy's bar is now open from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. with a light menu that is a work in progress. This is a bar and you must be 21 to enter. Rarely am I out and about past midnight, but I am starting to wonder about what Spokane night life is like in the wee hours. Is there an after hours scene? Is there food destinations that attract the bar people on their way home. Perhaps I will have to see for myself. Of course, it might be easier to wake up extra early than stay out late.

Links Links Links

Normally I don't see think that the products featured at Design Within Reach are within my reach, but they finally included something that interests me: The Stanley Flask.

Cheese workshops in Walla Walla:

We are excited to be offering cheese workshops here at the farm beginning in July and continuing throughout the milking season! These workshops will bring you into the the Fromagerie to learn hands-on and in a small group setting, how to make three styles of traditional French goat and sheep milk cheese. Read below, or view the attached document, to find out more about our workshops, dates, and prices. For more information, to preview the schedule, or to register, please contact Jackie Freeman at monteilletcheese@gmail.com, the Fromagerie at (509) 382-1917, or cell at (206) 669-4568.

For a full farm experience while participating in the cheese workshops, stay on-site at our Gite (French-style Bed and Breakfast). Please inquire for more information and bookings. View our website atwww.monteilletcheese.com to see pictures of the farm, facilities, and Gite.

Portland Chefs push local hog farmers to create charcuterie-ready pork.

Spot the restaurants in this Spokane promo. At 4 minutes in Latah Bistro gets it's 2 seconds of exposure.

This is the 601st Post of this blog. The first real post I made back in February 2006 was about the short lived weekend breakfast we were trying out:

Breakfast is up and running. Beginning the breakfast program is a lot like opening a new restaurant because so much of it does not apply to the rest of what we are doing at lunch and dinner. Also, the development of a new clientele is an often overlooked element. A new restaurant generates lots of chatter around town. It will take a lot longer for the word that we have added breakfast to get out. I hit the numbers goals for covers and sales so no complaints. We had good luck in guessing the par levels. There were only 4 items we had to bulk up through the course of the weekend.

Things we learned:

Wheat toast is most popular bread and strawberry jam is it's favored accompaniment

Tofu Scramble was the surprise hit selling 5 times as much as expected.

People like ketchup. *Head hung in sadness*

It is going to take a minimum of 100 lbs of potatoes, 40 lbs of butter and 60 dozen eggs to get through the avereage weekend.

Tuesday's Grab Bag

Chef Anna Vogel from Luna cooks up some Morrocan lamb shoulder at Taste Washington.

The former Chef of Sitka and Spruce opened a Taco Truck inside the old 14 Carrot Cafe. Given the the fact that it is not a truck but actually just a restaurant he called it Tako Truk. Could the new trend be Fancy Food Trucks going brick and mortar? I was distracted while reading this story by the melencholy that overcomes me whenever I hear of a place I used to frequent disappearing.

Portland Food and Drink tries to keep Safeway's local produce marketing honest.

The Daily Beast talks about the new fish documentary End of The Line. Fish popluations are in a terrible state. I see the Fish and wildlife census reports and every year is worse than the last. All is not lost. Check out the Seafood Watch and eat only recommended species. This requires you to ask restaurants about the origin of the fish and the method of capture. Yellowfin Tuna from the Atlantic caught via Troll/pole is best, troll/pole from other places are good, but long line fishing is to be avoided. Trust me most chefs in Spokane won't know the answer but the more people that ask the more they will begin to pay attention.

Before this post gets to preachy lets laugh at Peta. First they asked the band Phish to change there name to Sea Kittens, then they got on Obama for the senseless slaughter of a house fly.

Now Peta spokesmodel Audrina Patridge does a Carl's jr. hamburger ad. There is an interview with Audrina where she talks about how she loves burgers but don't watch it. Skip the video, it is a not worth sitting through an interview with a bikini model. Instead you can watch what is happening down at the christian donut repair shop.

Restaurant Deathwatch: 360/Cavellino's

Now we can must wait and see what Walt will roll out. With the Palm Court and Safari Room as a basis for prediction, what can we expect from a new restaurant in the Lusso? I am guessing a Trader Vic's style place.

Restaurant Deathwatch: Bittersweet Ending

via: John

Taste Wasington 2009

Sunday was a busy day around this area. Father's Day, Ironman, Latah Valley Variety Market ands Taste of Washington gave people plenty to do. Taste Washington is a great event and we were glad to be one of the few restaurants attending this year. I am not sure whether the economy has caused some local fooderies to pull out or if the exponential growth in Washington wineries has left less room. Anthony's, Wild Sage, Spencer's, Catacombs, Luna, were some of the main restaurants attending. Our friend Al was manning the Lovitt table. Lovitt from Colville was showing off it's house made prosciutto.

The big news from the event was a sneak preview of the Agave menu. For some reason I thought Agave would be more of a cantina than a restaurante. Looking at the double sided menu I started getting excited. Two weeks to decide what to order. One of everything maybe?

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Going after Farmer's Markets and churches is not a good way save our budget shortfalls. The state has told churche's that they will; have to start paying taxes on their parking lots if they continue to let them be used for Farmer's Markets. Read more here.

White House Garden=Conspiracy?

Obama Foodarama, the White House food blog, is not the kind of site that should generate controversy but we Americans can find issues with just about anything when it comes to politics and to some people everything is politics. First there was the issue of whether going organic was a bad message about the importance of chemicals in modern agriculture- only chemical companies went after that one. Then there was the issue with whether the White House Kitchen Garden was promoting gardening when we have a bigger problem of people not knowing how to cook. And now the latest and sleaziest controversy comes to us from the drudge report. The whole business is laid out at the ObFoo.