The Wall Street rollercoaster and bleak job numbers have me worrying about how well my favorite restaurants will fare over the coming months. In the best of times, even good restaurants can struggle for a number of reasons; and in a season when the economy in constricting, I’m starting to triage my dining budget.
Rather than spend increasingly precious dining dollars exploring new spots, I think I may need to focus on the places I am certain I want to see in business ten years from now. I call this my ‘recession restaurant list’ and for the sake of simplicity I’m going to say that such a list can’t include more than ten places.
Here are the first four in my completely subjective list for Spokane (not in any specific order):
- China Garden on the South Hill across from Shopko on Regal. Chef Raymond consistently serves up quality Chinese with a Hong Kong twist, house-made sauces with no MSG, and crisp vegetables. Cashew Chicken. Braised Tofu. Honey Walnut Prawns. Chow Mein with Hong Kong Style Noodles.
- Moxie in the heart of downtown on the north side of the Davenport. Ian Wingate is one of my favorite chefs in town and Moxie’s Asian/European menu is solid from top to bottom. My favorite Hot Turkey Sandwich on the planet is on the lunch menu. The Poké is wonderful and a full list of my favorite would basically be listing most of the menu.
- Luna on the back of the South Hill at the top of Hatch Road. Chef Anna Vogel loves her ingredients and that delight has brought the spark back to this 15-year pioneer in the upscale bistro market. The space is also a gift – warm and inviting. Lunch. Brunch. Weekday coffee and savory pastries. Dinner. And a massive cellar that show William Bond’s passion for vino.
- Tacos Tumbras Taco Trucks. The sit-down location on Sprague is just fine, but for a real taco that promised to transport your tastebuds south of the border, find one of the trucks around town. Order several tacos or the wonderful Mexican answer to the hamburger: the torta. Maybe I’ll suggest all my favorite restaurants buy mobile kitchens in the hopes that this will lower their overhead and make them recession-proof.
While I decide on my other six in Spokane and start a second list for Coeur d’Alene, I’d like you to weigh in with your recession restaurant list for the Inland Northwest or your neck of the woods.
[caption id="attachment_181" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="A Taco Tumbras Chicken Torta straight from the truck"]
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The restaurant tucked in next to an Ace Hardware store doesn’t scream 
