Traveling Feast

It was the match book.  I saw the name of the restaurant and the picture and thought “Ah, Asian food with an attitude.”

A moment more of reflection and I wondered if it might even be a vegetarian place with a sense of humor.  In my experience most vegetarian spots do earnest and self-righteous much better than playful.

But no… read a bit more carefully below the title and the true nature of the Tummy Temple becomes evident.  This is not the place to to go for lunch.

I’ve been home for two days in bed with a vicious cold and cough, and during my infrequent trips to the kitchen for something to eat (and one trip to the store) I realized that I was looking mainly for comfort.  Not health.  Comfort.  I’ve tried the Special-Ops-combat-that-cold-with-fibervegefruitoxidans and it seems to have no discernible effect on the length of the cold.  So now it’s comfort, baby, all the way.

Stress kicks up a craving for Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts.  Comfort, though, requires more salt than sweet in my case.  Grape Nuts will do in a pinch or milk and toast with a big pat of butter, but today it was Nacho Cheese Doritos with more cheese melted on top.  I loved Nacho Cheese Doritos as a kid, and once ate an entire bag by myself when I was supposed to be practicing my saxophone.

Yet it wasn’t until high school that I witnessed Todd Kotila do the unthinkable.  He buried a plate of Nacho Cheese Doritos in a mound of grated cheddar and popped the resulting orange and yellow mass into the microwave.  I was stunned.  Real cheese on top of fake cheese?  It seemed wrong somehow: a Frankenfood perversion.

Todd just laughed and shoved the molten pile in front of me.  “Try it, Finch.”

It still feels wrong, but on those guilty occasions when Doritos find their way into our typically self-righteous shopping cart, a portion of the chips disappear under Cheddar, Colby, or Colby Jack.  Today was one of those days.  There was a pre-Superbowl sale on chips, Tillamook at a discount, and my resistance to the unnatural lowered by a raging virus.

Then there needs to be a glass of milk to wash it down.  Milk that must… comfort dictates… be drunk from a small glass.

I claim that Spokane’s Donut Parade has the best maple bars in the Western Hemisphere (possibly the planet since large swaths of the world have no access to this pinnacle of raised donut perfect).  Yet food gurus Jane and Michael Stern have a different opinion in their fun volume entitled 500 Things To Eat Before It’s Too Late.

They claim the best maple bar they’ve had is at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland where the iconic bar comes topped with strips of bacon.  I’m looking forward to trying a Voodoo bar, but believe a truly classic maple bar needs to stand on its own without a pork assist.

This leads me to their second recommendation: Countryside Donut House in Mountlake Terrace in the Seattle metro area.

Chance would have it that I’m in Seattle today for a family emergency, but I have a break this morning in my duties long enough to head to Countryside.  Who knows?  Maybe a fine maple bar delivered at the right moment could help in the family emergency.  I’m willing to try.  And I’ll get a chance to see how the bars at Countryside compare to Donut Parade.

One of the best moments of my East Bay eating tour last week was the first bite of the Zachary’s “pride and joy.”

That would be the Spinanch and Mushroom pie that you can’t even order thin.  It is deep dish or nothing.

Up to that moment, the only Bay Area pizza worth a drive was the New York style pies served up with a bit of borough attitude at A Slice of New York in San Jose.  But Zachary’s Chicago Pizza is a real contender.

New York pies and Chicago pies really are only distantly-related culinary cousins.  Comparing them is essentially impossible.  You find your favorite NY pie and compare other thin crust pizzas against that standard.  The same is true for Chicago deep dish pies.  I have a vivid taste memory of my first real Chicago pie.  On a tip from a friend I left the Interstate and drove into downtown Chicago in September of 1990 and ordered a sausage pizza at Gino’s East.  It was a revelation.

Zachary’s Spinanch and Mushroom pie didn’t recreate the Gino’s sweet crust, but it is a remarkable pie in its own right and one I’ll be back to eat again as soon as I can find another excuse to fly or drive to Berkeley or Oakland.  If you beat me, expect a wait and enjoy the art while you do.

The text on The Forbidden Pizza poster:

The Forbidden Pizza
In Gargantuan Portions
Staring Psycho – Mad Max – Bleu Velvet
Spinanch Mushrooms – Cheese
Directed to your Alien Jaws
Produced by Zachary’s

This might have been the first year we’ve ever stayed home and simply eaten as a family for Thanksgiving. Our usual holiday agenda involved extended family or a meal with close friends where the actual meal preparation is divided up.

This year we did the meal in-house and from scratch with a few key local ingredients such as a turkey from Gary and So of Rocky Ridge Ranch and wild rice from St Maries, Idaho. Here is the run-down and rating for the meal.

Herb Roasted Turkey.  We scored with a November 09 Saveur recipe and a Rocky Ridge Ranch 15 ¼ pound turkey that we brined overnight in an orange juice brown sugar brine and then roasted.  Brining consultant: John Sowers.  Turkey Rating: 5 stars

Butternut Squash, Kale, and Cheddar Bread Pudding. This was designed as the vegetarian main dish for Megan’s benefit and came from the Molly Wizenberg’s recipe in November 09 Bon Appetit.  Karen loved it.  Megan didn’t.  I might have used a bit less kale, but like the flavor profile.  Rating: three stars

Wild Rice Stuffing with Wild Mushrooms and Dried Pears. Megan also suggested we try a wild rice stuffing this year and the caramelized onions and mushrooms in this smelled wonderful in the pan.  The dried pears were an interesting addition, but the finally result wasn’t as stunning as I expected.  Puzzling.  The recipe came from Epicurious.com and I’ll have to chew on what might bump up the flavor while I eat leftovers.  Rating: three stars

Mashed Potatoes. We used some monster potatoes we received as part of our CSA deliveries from Rocky Ridge Ranch.  Overcooked slightly but workable with butter, cream, and salt.  Rating: three stars

Pan Gravy. Brilliant.  Crafted on the fly from email notes from mom using flour to thicken the seriously wonderful pan drippings.  Rating: 5 stars

Fresh Green Beans. Organic beans ala Huckleberry’s since Costco was cleaned out.  Blanched and than sauteed with a bit of butter and salt.   Rating: 4 stars

Cy’s Cranberries. The brandy gives these baby’s a great kick.  The recipe is Cynthia Brown’s and was passed along by her sister, Renee Dickenson.  Rating: 5 stars

Raw Cranberry Orange Relish. Unable to do just one cranberry side, this simple and stunning relish from Mary Beth Baker was a great use of the 2nd pound of berries.  Rating: 5 stars

Grandma Gould’s Butter Rolls. This was the second recipe from the Gould family along with Cy’s Cranberry’s and was possibly the biggest hit of the holiday.  Thanks Renee.  Rating: 5 stars

Homemade Lemonade. Mark Bittman’s How-T0-Cook-Everything recipe.  Rating: three stars (due to whimpy lemons)

Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream. The crust is Donna Brigg’s shortening crust that she taught me to make in high school and the filling came off the Libby can.  It has been a while since I’ve made a crust but it was a respectable effort, but I need your suggestions on a better filling recipe or else an entirely different direction to go for dessert.  Came within seconds of turning the whipped cream into butter.  Rating: 2.5 stars

Full Disclosure: I’m not a coffee aficionado.  I know plenty: Lea Greene, Daryl Geffken, Jake Reidt come to mind immediately.

Maybe I’ve hung back a bit because I so mercilessly made fun of my mom for her coffee addiction when I was in high school.  Or I maybe the taste of coffee itself never thrilled me without so much sugar it made more sense to order something else.  As the risk of being expelled from the Northwest, I’ll admit we still don’t brew a pot at home except when guests (or mom) comes over.  But after hanging out with enough people who are borderline fanatical about their coffee, I’m working to develop an appreciation for different roasts and blends if only not to embarrass myself in public.

This said, I met two friends at Caffe Delicio on North Monroe yesterday, and I suggest you go out of your way to try not only their coffee, but enjoy the space they’ve created.  I’ve driven by their double lane commuter establishment for years and never turned in.  Yesterday I parked and walked in only to be surprised and delighted by the design work inside.  I also appreciated the collection of unique mugs they use to serve customers who plan to drink their coffee at a table rather than in traffic.

Lakeside  MT: Signs are critical when you are traveling.  GPS devices can be brilliant, but I still appreciate a physical sign to confirm where I’m headed.  In Montana, some of the best signs are nailed to trees alongside dirt roads.

Near my parent’s and my uncle and aunt’s homes south of Lakeside is a cluster of signs nailed to a tree, and some of them have been hanging there my whole life.  But every now and then a new one is added.  Not too long ago one in particular appeared.  I noticed it again today because it simply stands out.

I have yet to meet Mr. or Mrs. Von Schledorn, but if their sign is any indication, they are colorful people.

I regularly ask friends who traveling to send in pictures from their eating adventures abroad.   Here are a few posted from France by Charley and Pam Bartlett.

First is a crepe storefront that is offering brilliant product placement for Nutella and several soft drinks.

Then there is a meat case with whole rabbits… a great protein that makes most Americans a bit squeamish.  The “fluffy bunny” effect.

And finally a lunch spread… I particularly love the Instant French guide under the bread basket.  Thanks Charley and Pam.

Someone else has probably coined a better word for it, but here is my spur-of-the-moment entry: techpression.

Techpression [tek-PRESH-uhn] noun. 1. the state of being overwhelmed by online expectations and social media commitments.  2. a sense of foreboding caused by the constant attention demanded by email, text, and telephone messages.  3. gadget fatigue where the promised time-saving devices and communication advances begin to domination a person’s schedule.

As you might guess from scrolling through Traveling Feast, I love food and almost anything to do with the restaurant industry.  I’m also something of a geek with a deep delight for gadgets and the latest technology.  I’ve got this blog.  I’ve got a stable of domain names.  A Blackberry Bold.  Three digital recorders.  A touch-screen laptop decked out with high end software.  Digital cameras.  A Facebook account.  Twitter too.

The list could on, and on, and on.  And that is becoming the problem.  What started as fun is now exhausting to maintain.  I can’t seem to get my email Inbox empty… wait… empty isn’t even on the horizon.  Several months ago I had to declare email bankruptcy after a trip. When I returned,  my inbox had several thousand messages waiting.  Now I’m back in triple digits, and any use of the scroll bar in Outlook triggers anxiety as I flash past message after message from people needing a response.

And here is the irony… I’m posting my dilemma online… on my blog which is linked to my Twitter account which will in turn update my Facebook status.

If you are finding some success in using technology rather than being used by it, I’d love to hear your secrets.  Or maybe your newly coined word for whatever this oppression or depression or angst in the ether might be.

Most books take quite a bit of time and too many long sentences to share a few worthwhile ideas. Good to the Core take a different approach. Short chapters unpack the impact of values that shape your life and offer practical steps for you, the reader, to identify your own core values.

Author John Blumberg suggests throughout the book that these personal values build value for the organizations where you spend your time, and I buy this assertion. I also track with Blumberg as he describes the process of identifying personal ideals that truly are core values. Yet what I appreciated the most was reading the descriptions of the values Blumberg has built his own life around.

Other parts of the book feel more like a pep talk or presentation (not surprising since Blumberg pays the bills as a professional speaker), but when he starts describing his own values I felt like I’d been invited backstage for a tour of a life lived intentionally. I share a number of Blumberg’s values, and others got me thinking. He lists optimism, adventure, and curiosity among his values and all three stimulated reflection.

In the midst of describing his own values he also made several observations I appreciated. At one point he describes his understanding of STEWARDSHIP as the idea that “there is something better to be left behind. Not devoured, but improved upon and let as your gift for others.” Nice.

Then in the section on ADVENTURE he notes: “While technology has, in itself, been an adventure, I am beginning to wonder if it has created a whole new level of demands that takes us to such a reactive state in life that there is no time to dream. No time to let life be truly an adventure…” I wonder the same thing… as I blog, wade through email, post to Facebook, update Twitter, upgrade the maps on my GPS, play poker on my Blackberry Bold, and battle viruses on all three computers that now take up desk space in our home. Time to dream? Who has time for that?

Blumberg isn’t trying to write a book that will be nominated for a Pulitzer. It is the wrong size and shape and it has too many pictures and funky fonts. It will look much more at home on the corner of a desk or in the book rack in the bathroom rather than tucked into the Library of Congress, but then I think that is the point. It was written not so much to be read but to be used to begin to think about what you truly want to define you. And this is time well spent… after you read… thinking, making notes, and boiling down what really is at your core.

Perfectionism is a debilitating condition that kept a new electric smoker unopened in the garage for over six months.  Yet for some inexplicable reason the fears of horrible barbecue failure parted this week.

I drug the box out onto the back porch, unpacked and assembled the smoker, seasoned it, and threw in two pork roasts.  I don’t quite know what happened, but they were stunning even without any experience.  Now I’m obsessed.  I have checked out or special ordered nearly every book on the subject in the public library system.  One of my early favorites (full disclosure: I have yet to try a single recipe), is Paul Kirk’s book on Championship Barbecue Sauces.

The reason I am intrigued is he builds his book not around rote recipes but around step-by-step explanations of how to create your own personal sauces, marinades, dry rubs, wet rubs, and the like.  He explains ingredients, suggests proportions, offers tips, and describes techniques rather than just expecting you to duplicate his concoctions.  Of course he offers plenty of by-the-book options, but the build-it-yourself approach sounds like so much more fun.

This said, I’d love for any or all of you with smoking and barbecue experience to weigh in with your favorite books, techniques, tips, or…. why not… recipes.

This summer we were about to go to press in July with a review of Cafe Neo – one of the only higher-end independent restaurants to survive on the north end of Spokane.  I even made a big deal of this fact in the review only to discover in trying to get professional photographs of the food that Cafe Neo wasn’t going to be the exception, but rather another example of the curious rule that keeps sinking restaurants that attempt to open up north without a pre-approved formula.  In retrospect my introduction was more prophetic than I intended.

The pictures included are mine snapped during the course of the meals I ate at Neo just before it closed its doors permanently at the end of June 2009.  Here is the posthumous review.

One Wonderful “Desperate Case” Of A North Spokane Bistro
Café Neo

An urban growth expert told me once that cities expand north first.  This makes real estate north of the current core a typically solid investment, but apparently there is no similar maxim for local restaurants.  If there is, Spokane would be a depressing exception since it remains almost impossible for upscale independent restaurants to survive on Spokane’s north side.

Café Neo opened last June, and I immediately assumed it would meet the fate of nearly all the bold bistro pioneers before it.  Situated in a half-vacant strip mall on Division by Whitworth University, I expected to see the “Space For Lease” sign back in the window within a month or two.  I didn’t even bother to put Neo on my list of restaurants because I didn’t want to fall in love with any dishes that I’d miss if Neo failed to survive like so many of its predecessors.

My pessimism was costly.  It kept me from both the delight of Neo’s Pecan Crusted Brie with a tart cherry and roasted garlic compote ($11.98) and their Schezuan Green Beans ($6.98).  Both beg to be ordered again, and only several bites in the green beans, I was calculating when I could return or recreate them at home.

Add to these appetizers the Crab Cake Po’ Boy on a Kaiser roll at the heart of the lunch menu ($12.98).  While the soft Kaiser roll would be anathema to any Louisiana po’boy purist, the full effect of the two crab cakes tucked inside the roll with fresh shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and stone-ground mustard aioli should not be dismissed so easily.  And if you can manage to set aside any fundamentalist dining tendencies for the duration of the meal, live a little and order one of your own.

The truth is that I may have underestimated both the determination and creativity of owners Kara and Scott Cook and executive chef Jeremiah Timmons.  The Cooks are anything but new to restaurant work; Scott started work in restaurant management when he was 16 and locally he managed Papagayo’s on Division, Cyrus O’leary’s and then worked on the management team that opened three Chili’s in the area.  Likewise, Timmons brings plenty of credibility to the kitchen:  he trained at the Western Culinary Institute Le Cordon Bleu in Portland and worked or managed kitchens in Maryland, Seattle, and Ellensburg before returning to Spokane.

Still, I’m convinced that all three are on a first name basis with St. Jude, patron saint of desperate cases, because they have also opened and maintained not only Café Neo but also Ambrosia Bistro and Wine Bar in the heart of the Spokane Valley, another supposed wasteland for upscale independent restaurants.  One restaurant in either place would be impressive; two just might qualify as a miracle.

At Neo this miracle includes half price bottle night every Tuesday, and a sit-up-and-take-note scallop dish that one top newspaper man in the city believes is the best entrée available anywhere… period.  This dish is Timmons’ pan-seared diver scallops dusted with porcini mushrooms and set on top of spinach and crisp cubes of Boursin cheese grits with a lobster sauce and fried leeks ($20.98).  A run-in with bad scallops several years ago makes me avoid most scallops on principle, but I had to see if the newspaper man had discovered the best entrée in town.  It certainly is a contender: even with my bad scallop bias, I don’t believe there was so much as a smear of sauce left on the plate, and the grits bordered on perfect.

Timmon’s Rack of Lamb ($24.98) served with a pomegranate-port reduction and mashed Yukon Gold potatoes is another standout on a dinner menu that boasts such creative comfort food a Crab Mac ‘n Cheese ($16.98), Butternut Squash Ravioli ($14.98), and a Walleye ($18.98).  I haven’t seen a walleye featured on a menu west of Minnesota for quite some time.

Timmons appears happy to channel entrée inspiration for his seasonally changing menu from all over the country.  His experience obviously helps here, but some of menu is simply the result of an active culinary imagination as well – imagination I love to see on the north side of town.  Like Ambrosia in the valley, Cooks wanted to create a neighborhood bistro when they opened Café Neo: a neighborhood bistro with a contemporary feel and a wine list worth exploring.  They have done just this, and I like the friendly and competent servers they have on the floor.

Bottom line?  Café Neo should have been on my restaurant list long before now, and I’d suggest you add it to yours.  Together we might be able to help Café Neo thrive on the north side.

Cafe Neo
10208 North Division
Spokane, WA 99218
(509) 467-5961

Slated to be published in Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living, July / August 2009 Issue