Vin Rouge Mint Lemonade

I've not wandered into Vin Rouge for a while.  The parking lot remains respectably full at this former Skippers location turned neighborhood bistro, but I've been busy elsewhere.  Yet at lunch today I got a bowl of gnocchi and stumbled across the selection of special house lemonades on the back of the menu.  The gnocchi was acceptable, but the Mint Lemonade was brilliant.  $3 for liquid sunshine with muddled mint and sugar on the rim.

Any input on the rest of the Vin Rouge menu if you've stopped by recently?

RIP: La Katrina Tacos

When La Katrina Tacos first opened on Freya a few blocks south of I90, I was a frequent guest.  Katrina herself was heart of the kitchen staff, and the food was both generous and authentic.  Unfortunately the quality dipped after she sold out... leaving her name on the sign, but little of her touch in the food.

Driving by the restaurant several days ago I noticed an additional sign in the window.  In place of the former OPEN sign was the lease notice below.  While this isn't a shock given the decreasing number of cars in the parking lot over the last year or so, I suspect the extended economic slump didn't help either.  My wish is that we won't see a string of similar signs in other windows, but my sources around town suggest than even well-loved restaurants are struggling right now and some great ones might well fail too.

Are you aware of any of your favorite spots on the ropes?

The Italian Sandwich @ Piccolo's Market

I've driven by Piccolo's Market on Mission for years and always intended to stop and check it out.  Today I did.

It is a little like stepping back into time, and this was just fine with me.  I was headed for the deli in the back and there hasn't much innovation in the Italian deli sector in recent years.  Stepping back in time is just fine for most sandwiches.

I ordered what appears to be the house special: the $5.75 Italian Sandwich.  The counter attendant suggested I go with Capicola and Italian Salami.  I managed to select a complimentary cheese (Provolone) all by myself.

Piccolo's Italian might not be technically a foot-long like the $5 Subway headliners, but this sandwich has soul.  And I'll go with soul any day of the week... especially since soul in this case includes a generous cut of crusty French bread.  Add in the opportunity to eat said sandwich in a corner of a wonderfully shabby dining area and you have something to savor.  The kitsch fountain with live fish and fake plastic sausages hanging on the walls serve only to provide a true sense of place.   My one regret is that they were completely out of their house-made sweet Italian sausage ($3.29 a pound).  I started imagining what I might do with that sausage for dinner as I was polishing off lunch.

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.

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.