North Spokane Dining - 98 Twenty

It apparently is a documented fact in urban planning that cities expand north first.  Spokane development  in the last several decades seems to fit this generalization.  What puzzles me is why so few independent restaurants have been able to follow suit.

In six years of reviewing Spokane restaurants, almost none of them have been north of downtown.  Of course there is food to be had near the Y on Division or up by Whitworth's Pine Cone Curtain, but almost all of it is served up by chain restaurants.  Independent places that have opened rarely last long.  I'd be interested in your ideas as to why this is.

I'd also like to ask you to swing into the upscale restaurant launched by the owners of Twigs that is "up north" on Nevada: 98 Twenty.  I've not eaten my way through enough of the menu to be certain, but it might well be our first North Spokane regional contender in the independent restaurant market.

Chef Dan Bower and  General Manager Oleg Baron can both be considered local talent with degrees from the SCC Inland Northwest Culinary Academy.  Bower also brings a history of working in a number of very prestigious kitchens around the country including a Michelin starred establishment in Florida.  I like the  breadth and creativity of the 98 Twenty menu, and a recent lunch in the middle our first big snowstorm of the season made me decide I need to do more menu splunking at 98 Twenty.  I'd also like your feedback... stop in for a meal and let me know what you think.

Foodie Fight

• What, in diner slang, is "nervous pudding"?


• What vineyard condition causes the grapes of the rich dessert wine known as Eiswein to have a concentrated flavor that is high in sugar and acidity?


• What began as a Native American trading post on the Mississippi and is recognized as the oldest continually operating public market in the United States?


• How many tablespoons equal a cup?


• What Cantonese small-plate tradition's name translates as "so close to the heart"?

Here is a brilliant gift for the food obsessed family member or friend.  Ben and Emily Ling gave me a copy of Foodie Fight this week as we launch Big Table officially and it makes for entertaining after-dinner discussion for everyone except the 'food as fuel' folks who would prefer not to clutter their minds with facts about just what is on the plate or where it came from.  That is not me, so this was a great gift.  Thanks Ben and Emily.

You don't have to buy the game to take a shot at answering the game questions above... take a shot and I'll post the correct answers in a comment in a few days.

Brix Steak and Chophouse

Coeur d'Alene Bistro Reinvents Itself As A Chop House

Reviewed November 2008 - Spokane Coeur d'Alene Living
Cuisine: Steaks House / Pub Fair

Hegsted's eclectic bistro fare is out; Johnson's steaks and chops are in. The website for Brix still lists a classic Hegsted menu, but our troops on the ground report a different story at 317 Sherman in the heart of downtown Coeur d'Alene.

Early in September the restaurant underwent a culinary transformation as owner Jerry Goggin installed a 1200 lb. state-of-the-art Vulcan broiler, Sous Chef Erik Johnson stepped into the role of chef, and the eclectic bistro menu morphed into a classic steak and chop line-up.

Now it is Angus beef, baby: 100% natural, corn fed, Angus beef. Mostly. The menu includes several peace offerings for the person in your party not interested in red meat. You'll find wild King salmon, Pacific Yellowfin Ahi, free range chicken, a double pork rib chop, or a long bone short rib.

But make no mistake, the name Brix now means Beef in a big way. $33.95 buys you 32 ounces of bone-in ribeye. 18 ounces of Kansas City Strip arrives at your table for a few dollars more, 12 ounces of New York Strip for a few dollars less. Then there is the baseball cut Sirloin, the Petite Sirloin, and a smaller ribeye if you like your steak marbled, but prefer less than two pounds on your plate. Friday and Saturday night add a truly tender Prime Rib to your list of options, served rare to medium rare.

If you frequent steak and chop spots, all of this should all sound comfortably familiar. Spencer's in Spokane sears its steaks in a similar Vulcan broiler, and the Brix line-up of cuts is what you'd expect from a meat palace. But what will come as a welcome surprise is that, at Brix, each slab of meat, chop or filet comes with both a salad and a side dish included in the price.

The Brix Take on a Chopped Salad

This means you will need to make some critical decisions up front. Do you want a classic Caesar, a house salad tossed with apples, pecans, and cheddar, or a unique Chopped Salad with lima beans, radish, carrots, cucumber, and peas? Hint: try the Chopped with Bleu Cheese.

Decision Two: Do you want Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, a loaded Idaho Potato, Steak-Fried Potatoes, Asparagus, Creamed Spinach, Mac n' Cheese, or Baked Beans as your side? The voice of your cardiologist in your head will probably counsel "asparagus" but it isn't the best time of the year for asparagus. Allow me to suggest the Parmesan Mashed Potatoes instead, and recommend you resolve as you order to drink nothing but V8 and Odwalla for two days after your visit.

This will be even more important if you tempted to begin your meal with the thick lobster chowder or one of the other nine Starters. Your server will likely suggest the Calamari ($9.95) and you should seriously consider this very suggestion. Johnson's Calamari is intriguing. He serves flash-fried squid on a platter with bites of feta, artichoke hearts, lemon, and olives (all battered and flash-fried too).

Calamari Worth Sharing

The other change worth noting is the close partnership between Brix and The Beacon next door. Even before Brix morphed into steak house and became an evening-only venue, the management team created a pub in the space formerly occupied by a candy shop. And if steak is king at Brix, the juicy half-pound Ol' Fashioned Burger ($8.50) is captain next door. The plan from the beginning was to share the same kitchen, and this seems to working well.

Yet as the Brix kitchen works its way into the new format and continues to handle the menu for The Beacon, I might suggest they lighten up on the salt. This is a time-tested technique to bump up the drink tab, but even on the pub side less would be more. And at Brix, one great steak would have been even better with less salt, and the Creamed Spinach suffered from the same problem.

This should be easy to fix, and truthfully Goggin, Johnson, and manager Paul D'Orazi have more going for them than just classic food. D'Orazi's service teams are competent and gracious, and both Brix and The Beacon have preserved historic elements that link them to the buildings' original tenants. These are a JCPenny's store and a bank respectively. Part of the men's restroom in the pub is actually located inside the old bank vault, and the stamped tin ceiling in Brix dates back to 1905.

Back then, steak and potatoes would have been served in just about every fine dining spot for hundreds of miles. Maybe the new Brix and Beacon combo is not so much a reinvention as a return to north Idaho's restaurant roots.

Brix
317 Sherman Avenue, Coeur d'Alene
Opens at 4 pm daily

The Beacon
325 Sherman Avenue, Coeur d'Alene
Opens at 11 am daily

(208) 665-7407
www.brixrestaurant.com

A Bit of Whimsy In The Brix Dining Room - the Dr. Seuss Chandelier

The Epic Winebibbers Open 8 Syrahs

Through Dana Fleming and Marv Hunt I've been invited to join a group of red wine enthusiasts who gather once every month or two to taste wine.  You bring a bottle to share and something to contribute to the meal that accompanies the string of the bottles that get knocked back during the evening.  The only other expectation is testosterone; this is the adult equivalent of the fort in backyard with the sign on the door: "NO GYRLLS ALOWED."

Last night the massive snow storm I expected to skuttle the evening turned out to be only a minor distraction for the group.  We were drinking Syrah (or Shiraz if you hail from Austrailia), and several feet of snow building up outside seemed to be of no concern to anyone but me.

As the newbie in the group, I'm still subject to serious POOR BOTTLE PARANOIA.  Poor bottle paranoia is the fear that you really are oenologically clueless and will show up a  bottle not worth a swish and spit.  My contribution the evening's line up was a 2006 Board Pass Shiraz from Austrialia whose older sibling (the 2005) collected a Wine Enthusiast rating of 92.  The truth is that I'm a sucker for clever labeling and this baby's label was an airline boarding pass replica.  It even came with drinking directions on the back that mimic an airline emergency procedures brochure.  It was given early placement in the line-up (not a good sign) but I confess I liked it a bit better than several of the clearly more expensive offerings of the evening.

That is not to say that any of the bottles were forgettable, and several were brilliant.  Equally intriguing was the fact that each one was distinct despite the fact that it was the same grape (Syrah) in every bottle.

"Syrah is the new 'Merlot'," Hunt announced as he finished blanching the carrots to accompany the roasted lamb he'd prepared to go with our Syrah/Shiraz tour.  If he is right, I'll be happy.  I lean toward big fruity reds and it seems like plenty of Syrahs end up big and fruity.  Not all of them do, but a good number.

It wasn't a night to miss, and I did manage to make it home in the snow after digging out the minivan.  If anyone local takes a crack at a ice wine in red I think I might have a good name: Snowbank Syrah.

Raymond, Ping, and Hui Dish Up Christmas

Sure we are in a recession.  Restaurants, like plenty of other businesses, are on the ropes.

That didn't stop the crew at China Garden from serving up the best food in the kitchen... for free... to guests who have become friends over the years.  They packed the restaurant out Saturday night at 8 pm and then began bringing out platter after platter of Honey Walnut Shrimp and Crispy Beef, Steamed Salmon and Chow Mein.

As long as people were eating, they kept serving.

Thanks Raymond, Ping, and Hui for the gift of great food.