Sugar & Spice, + Thrice All American, correction

Correction: In my tribute to Tacoma, Thrice All American, I inadvertently referred to the cafe adjacent to Grand Cinema as Kickstand Cafe. I'm told the cafe is now Open Heart Cafe, but online searches seem to indicate the name is "One Heart Cafe." I'll be in Tacoma again in a week or two, so I'll investigate. Whatever the name, it is definitely next door to Grand Cinema, and it is definitely cool.

I also forgot to mention, my friend's art studio coop is called Broadway Artist Cooperative. If you're in town, stroll on over to Grand Cinema and see her striking oil paintings inside the cafe next door, whatever it is called.

Taste & See: I recently had a drink at The Hungry Cat (see here and here for more; my own more extensive review coming soon) that recalled the pictures of guava from the previous entry and the chili sugar & salt mixes for dipping the fruit in.

Called Echo Park, the drink was made with rum, lime juice, and muddled cucumber and mango seasoned with chili and salt, meant to capture the flavors of the cucumber and mango sold on the street in the LA neighborhood of that name ("where everyone is more than they initially seem"). The drink, too, is more than it initially seems. Cucumber, chili, & salt are not the stuff of which dreamy cocktails are usually made, but the balance here with just a hint of salt & a hint of spice against the kicky lime is superb.


From what I gather, the fruit on the street in Echo Park is a Mexican snack, but freshly peeled & sliced guava, mango, & pomelo are also sold on the street in Thailand, livened up with a little chili mix.

Slightly ripe mango, with a bit sweet on the outside to even out the tangy crunch. Usually about 25 baht (60 cents) a bag, 1 fat sliced mango.


Durian ("poop fruit"), in the back and peeled, to the left, and pomelo, like an enormous sweet grapefruit. 20 baht (50 cents), and well worth it to have it pre-peeled--it takes a machete to cut through to the fruit.

Chili salt & sugar, and skewers for dipping the fruit in. It comes at no charge, deftly tied in a little plastic baggy and shut with a rubber band then tossed in the bag with the fruit.

I have never seen cucumber done that way, but thousands of California spa-goers don't think its a bad idea.

do-it-yourself:

Cucumber Water: Cucumbers generally seem to be a trendy-spa vibe thing, and I have to admit, as bizarre as I thought cucumber water was on my maiden voyage into "sceney" (i.e., a place that is "a scene," or so I'm told) territory, a couple cucumber slices tossed in a pitcher of ice water adds a subtlety cool freshness. Slide a fork down the side of the cucumber all the way around to help infuse the water with more flavor.


Photo, courtesy The Kitchn

Sweet & Spicy Fruit: Try mixing up your own sugar/chili or chili/salt blend, using red pepper flakes for heat. Use fruit that is more on the sour or under ripe side. Slice fruit into long spears, good for dipping, and serve with skewer sticks.