Getting my kicks on I-90

If you ever plan to motor west,
travel my way, take the highway that's really the best.

Images courtesy Interstateguide.com.

Taste & See: Should you one day find yourself coasting along I-90, the interstate that winds from the Emerald City of Seattle through the wide western states, lake country, and all the way over to Boston, I highly recommend pulling off on Exit 61, in dusty old Wallace, Idaho. Just after the farmlands of Eastern Washington give way to the first forested slopes of the Rockies, you'll find "the best huckleberry shake" on I-90, and maybe anywhere, at Red Light Garage.


Huckleberries are, after all, the state fruit of Idaho and Wallace is home to the annual Huckleberry Festival.

Image courtesy The Shepherd's Inn, which makes delicious huckleberry crepes.

The tiny purple berries are a pain to pick but a joy to eat, tossed in pancakes, cereal, salad, flavoring ice cream, syrup, dressings, honey. Apparently they have quite the linguistic history as well. According to the people's source for information (Wikipedia, obviously):

The tiny size of the berries led to their frequent use as a way of referring to something small, often in an affectionate way. The phrase "a huckleberry over my persimmon" was used to mean "a bit beyond my abilities". "I'm your huckleberry" is a way of saying that one is just the right person for a given job, which was used by the character Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone. The Huckleberry Railroad is a heritage train located in Flint, Michigan. It ran so slowly that it was said a person could jump off the train, pick huckleberries and jump back on the train with minimum effort.

Idaho gets a bad rap, the scruffy kid brother of the beautiful Pacific Northwest states to the west and known more for potatoes than fine dining, antiques and art. But funky little Wallace, Idaho is kind of a gem. Or rather, a silver dollar: Wallace is the "silver capital of the world". It is also home to the last stoplight to be bypassed by the mighty transcontinental I-90. Residents added Wallace to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 so the freeway would NOT pass through town.

The streets are lined with stately brick buildings housing coffee shops and rusty antiques. On the edge of the 'downtown' is the Stardust Motel with a sign like an oversized Hollywood prop for a 50s period piece.


While a huckleberry shake with sweet little berries grown locally is a clear winner, the nearby Red Light Garage is more than just a spot for great shakes:


Red Light Garage also serves sandwiches like the New Orleans style "Muffuletta," $2 beer or wine and cheap Mexican food (two tacos for $3!). Apparently, a lot of people have opted for beer:



Definitely wins the award for best artistic use of bottle caps. In fact, the entire interior displayed the same panache, using ordinary materials to make charming decor. Who wouldn't want a bath tub love seat?


Old ties as trimming?


Barbara, behind the counter, not only makes very good coffee, she was also kind enough to lend me a copy of a magazine she saw me eyeing, trusting a complete stranger to bring it back on the way back through a week later.


Thanks Barbara, and thanks Idaho. That's just how we do out here.

Thrice All American, Take Two

Funky buildings, stellar steamed milk,
& a cafe where first-time visitors feel like friends.

The other weekend I had the chance to go back to Tacoma, site of my previous entry Thrice All American. I went with a few friends who had never seen the side of Tacoma I've come to love- the funky coffeehouses and thrift stores, the great restaurants, the lovely public spaces. We took a long walk through downtown, where I had a great time introducing them to my Tacoma highlights.

Taste & See: We stopped by Cutters Point Coffee and enjoyed the big open space, light and airy and perfect for enjoying the Scrabble and Trivia Pursuit games handily tucked in the bookshelf behind us.




A barista's signature drink, the marshmallow fluff Divine Sunshine latte, sounded too sweet to me but I'm all for creativity in coffee drinks. And top marks for cheerful presentation.


We also liked the nautical theme; who doesn't want a sail and some fishing nets with their coffee?


And best of all was the hidden treasure, Quinn. Quinn makes the best, I mean, THE BEST, foam from steamed milk (even soy!) both my friend & I have ever tasted. We trekked back to Cutters Point Coffee every day just to taste another heavenly spoonful. Go to Tacoma. Go to Cutters. Have Quinn make you coffee. You will thank me. (And hopefully Quinn, with a big, big tip.)


After getting your perfect coffee from Quinn, wander through another old fave, UrbanXchange. I picked up some more fabulous finds, and I wanted to give another prop for superior customer service. Everyone working there was super-patient and helpful, they let us store our massive bags of goodies there as we wandered downtown, and best of all-- I've gotten about a hundred compliments on the sunglasses the woman behind the counter identified as the perfect pair for my face.


One other Tacoma coffee shop I mentioned last time was the mysterious locale adjacent to Grand Cinema. Our collective confusion is over: it is conclusively the (rather delightful) One Heart Cafe.


Love it for the lawnchairs lining the sidewalk outside, the art by local painters (including my friend!) adorning the walls, the impromptu music being played & sung (with no small amount of original expression) on the piano inside, or the array of treats on the colorful menu . . .


Or, like everyone else there, love it for the people. One Heart Cafe seems to be the kind of place where people camp out all day on a regular basis. And while I have yet to be one of those people, Jamie, pictured below, certainly made me feel like one, inquiring after the Strawberry plants I'd purchased at the downtown farmer's market and my impressions of Tacoma.


The decor in One Heart Cafe was just one expression of the artsy vibe I get all throughout the city. One of my favorite new finds is a back lane called Opera Alley.


Reminded me a little of the brightly colored buildings in some old cities in Italy, with a slightly hipper, more modern, palate.


No opera to be found, but (duh) you can do yoga . . . if you can find a way to hoist yourself up the not-quite-to-street-level stairs . . . what yoga move would one use for that?


I have some more photos from the walk, including our lunch stop at Galangal, the great little Thai place I mentioned last time. Look out for Take Three, coming soon.

Thrice All American

"I wanna tell you about my home city,
a dusty old jewel in the South Puget Sound . . . "

Image from about.com

So begins Thrice All American, the affectionate, melancholy ode by Neko Case to Tacoma, Washington. Tacoma has never been my home town, but through friends and family who've lived there I've come to view it with affection as well. As my little brother & future sister-in-law graduate from their Tacoma college and moves to a new job, new apartment, new life in the big-sister city Seattle up north, I want to give Tacoma a little ode of my own.

Tacoma, "where rails meet sails," is home of both ship yards and the Western Terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, not to mention stunning views of nearby Mount Rainier.

Image by Lyn Topinka/USGS

It had a bad rap as gang-infested and crime-ridden in the 80s and 90s, but now it is coming into its own as a hip, artsy, community-coffee shop filled city with a neighborhood feel.

I have found many a thrift-store gem at the funky urbanXchange, while sipping on a soy latte from a local chain, Cutters Point Coffee, next door.

Image from urbanXchange website

A friend shows paintings (created in her studio space at an artists collective where she has a share) at another cool coffee shop, Kickstand Cafe, conveniently next door to the independent Grand Cinema where I saw the delightfully fashion-backward Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day--before it had come out at my local theater back home in NYC.

Image from Tacomamenus.com

Image from Things to Do in Tacoma blog

The Tacoma Art Museum is one of the more entertaining art experiences I've ever had, utterly unpretentious. I saw an exhibit on French art, accompanied by a pronunciation guide to the artists' names. Other little touches include free sketch paper & pencils in each room and a free guide guests can access via cell phone guide for information about pieces on display. Exhibits are matched with do-it-yourself arts and crafts projects in the Open Art Studio upstairs, suitable for kids "age 3-93." See my faux glass creation?


The real glass master is Dale Chihuly, whose dramatic works form part of the none-too-shabby permanent collection complemented by a variety of ever-rotating borrowed exhibits. Learn all you'll ever want to know about glass, and watch it being made before your very eyes, at the nearby Museum of Glass.

Image from Museum of Glass website

Tacoma also abounds with free art, from the glorious pieces of glass hung about Union Station to blue sticks rising like hard rock candy above the freeway.


Image from unionstationrotunda.org and Museum of Glass, respectively

Another great spot for art is the swanky new Hotel Murano, a "Sleepover Art Museum" with an enormous ladle sculpture outside and displays on each floor celebrating different modern-day artists.

Image of ladle just prior to the official unveiling from Kevin.Freitas.net

The hotel is part of a renovated downtown that has had public wifi access since the 90s. With a gleaming convention center just across from the museums, restaurants galore, and beautifully laid out public space, Tacoma is poised to be the next big thing. (Or the next big best kept secret, as some of my Tacoma friends may prefer).

Image from this flickr site

Taste & See: Most important for our purposes, I have eaten extremely well at Tacoma over the years. Should you be so lucky as to have a few days for grazing in Tacoma, I recommend:

Coffee at the entirely unique Satellite Coffee Co., where they take their brews quite seriously. You can try some unconventional dairy substitutes (hemp milk, anyone?) but even the least-crunchy folks will appreciate the care they give an ordinary cup of joe.

Image from Satellite Coffee Co. myspace page

Brunch at C. I. Shenanigans: all I can say is, fast the entire day before. But if you disregard my instructions, at least you can kill time enjoying the beautiful view over the water before making your way back for a refill of oysters on the half shell.

Image from this flickr site

Sweets & Tapas at Masa. Masa isn't really Mexican food, per se, but it doesn't try to be. It bills itself as redefining American Mexican cuisine, and that it does very well indeed. Enjoy the empanadas and chili relleno but do yourself a favor and save room for the Mexican Sugar Flatbread ans Churro Sundae.



Lunch at Galanga Thai Cuisine. I know Thai food, and this is very good Thai food. Literally everything is great, and I would know because at this point I think I've tasted almost everything on the menu. In addition to the standards, they get props for doing a variety of dishes I rarely see outside Thailand.

Seafood at Johnny's Dock. Definitely not cheap, but a fun and tasty place to do what you do in the Pacific Northwest: feast on scallops, prawns, salmon, halibut, oysters, squid & more. A great place for a celebration.

Date Night at Marzano, in nearby Parkland. Marzano serves up the kind of Italian food that's worth going out for. Fabulous atmosphere--romantic, intimate--and the staff remembered us on our second visit a year after the first one). Heaping bread plate, lovely wine list, and as with Galanga, nothing I've had has disappointed me.


Images from Marzano webpage

Happy hour at The Melting Pot. It may be a chain, but its cheap happy hour versions of cheese and dessert fondue are an excellent local attraction (7 days a week from 4:30-6:30 pm and 9 pm-1 am).

Gelato at Indochine. Ok, the pan-Asian-fusion food at Indochine is PDG too, though you might want to start with gelato in case you don't have room. The presentation is gorgeous; this inventive Ahi salad (you know how I feel about tuna) was one of my favorites.

Image from Indochine webpage

While their "medium" spicy leaves the mouth numb, the intricate combinations of flavors will leave you braving the heat for one more bite of joy. On second thought, maybe the heat calls for another serving of gelato . . .

Drinks at the Ram Restaurant & Brewery. Also a chain, but the lively pub gets a local feel from the canoe decked with flags of area schools overhead. The perfect place to have a riotous good time watching sports on a bunch of different big screens at once. The house-made beers have sassy names and come in an unreasonably cheap sampler palette that lets you try small shots of all of them.

People may laugh when they hear you're from Tacoma, as Neko Case jokes in Thrice All American, but let them laugh; maybe we who know will get to keep Tacoma for ourselves. Her tribute ends:

"God bless California,
make way for the Wal-Mart,
I hope they don't find you, Tacoma."

Garden Gallery

June 23, 2007 * Garden Gallery Cafe

Taste & See: The Garden Gallery & Cafe by Roadhouse BBQ; Bangkok, 195 Surawongse Road at the Neilson Hays Library [itself a nice gem to the side of the cafe; unfortunately, there is a membership fee for use]

For once, a homey cafe with comforts of home [read: Western food] beyond the conventional pastel-chalkboard "pizza, steak, salad."

Beyond Good Taste: We begin not with street food, but with something many ex-pats long for in noisy, stinky Bangkok: an oasis. This cute cafe tucked behind a gate and some greenery provides just that, plus a decent cappuccino and southern bbq. There are a few tables outside and an air-conditioned sparse concrete and glass block with paintings on the wall; you're welcome to plug in your laptop but there is no wifi. The cafe itself feels a little like a greenhouse with its spare, open design and the plain concrete floor. Definitely not for cuddling up with a person or a book. But the simple aesthetic and quite space make a great oasis to work, think or just breathe.

Highlights: A beautiful latte with at least 2 inches of foam. Coke in a tall glass, served with lime, Texas style [see Garden Gallery Part II: Hidden Gems] Goat brie. Balsamic vinaigrette in a corked mini-bottle. Too cute!