Food
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Business / Economy / Community / Food / Music
Oyster Fest Shucks Crowds for Virtual Event
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Sat, May 23, 2020 at 4:42 PM
As the days grow warmer and COVID-19 lingers, bivalve enthusiasts have wondered what's to become of the 30th annual Arcata Bay Oyster Festival, née Oyster Fest. Today the answer came, at least partially, from Arcata Main Street's Facebook page and website. The all-day seafood, beer and music binge is going virtual on June 20. "We plan to show a different, more informational side of our oysters, the Arcata Bay, our local breweries and restaurants by creating an interactive virtual experience," the post announces.
Arcata Main Street, for which the festival is the single largest source of revenue, also teases available DIY food and drink kits to enjoy while streaming the event. The artwork on the organization's website still includes oyster farmers, chefs, the annual Best Oyster competition, live music and DJs, as well as history and an "HSU House Party." That last one might be literal.
Arcata Main Street, for which the festival is the single largest source of revenue, also teases available DIY food and drink kits to enjoy while streaming the event. The artwork on the organization's website still includes oyster farmers, chefs, the annual Best Oyster competition, live music and DJs, as well as history and an "HSU House Party." That last one might be literal.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Redwood Curtain Brewing Co. Toasts Food for People
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Mon, May 18, 2020 at 4:31 PM
Like many spring babies, Redwood Curtain Brewing Co. is adjusting its birthday celebrations for the pandemic. Instead of blowing it up with a multi-kegger and a bunch of new releases, the local craft beer company is taking a low-key and charitable approach, introducing a new brew and giving a portion of the sales to Food for People.
Humboldt Rising Pale Ale is described in a press release as having a "tight, compact and dense head. Toasted, golden orange in color. Mango, pineapple, orange citrus and mild earthy aromatics float while a mellow wave of subtle malt and juicy pineapple eases your palate into a bright pleasant finish." Those who want to quench their thirst and help those struggling with food insecurity can pick up growlers and crowlers curbside and to go. Or, as the release points out, you can donate directly at www.foodforpeople.org.
Read the full press release below:
Humboldt Rising Pale Ale is described in a press release as having a "tight, compact and dense head. Toasted, golden orange in color. Mango, pineapple, orange citrus and mild earthy aromatics float while a mellow wave of subtle malt and juicy pineapple eases your palate into a bright pleasant finish." Those who want to quench their thirst and help those struggling with food insecurity can pick up growlers and crowlers curbside and to go. Or, as the release points out, you can donate directly at www.foodforpeople.org.
Read the full press release below:
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Mad River Brewing Co.'s New Native Swag
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Wed, May 13, 2020 at 2:33 PM
In October, when the Yurok Tribe bought the Mad River Brewing Co., it became one of only a handful of breweries owned and run by a Native American tribe. Now, with the unveiling of the brewery's new logo, the statement of Native ownership is right on the label.
According to a press release from Mad River Brewing Co. Chief Operating Officer Linda Cooley, instead of the former red lettering, you'll find the locally brewed ales emblazoned with "a traditional Yurok basket design known as sturgeon back, the Coast Range, healthy redwood forests and the jumping steelhead, which has been synonymous with MRB’s flagship Steelhead Extra Pale Ale for two decades."
These elements are meant to speak to both the tribe's and the brewery's history and commitment to environmental sustainability.
Read the full press release below:
According to a press release from Mad River Brewing Co. Chief Operating Officer Linda Cooley, instead of the former red lettering, you'll find the locally brewed ales emblazoned with "a traditional Yurok basket design known as sturgeon back, the Coast Range, healthy redwood forests and the jumping steelhead, which has been synonymous with MRB’s flagship Steelhead Extra Pale Ale for two decades."
These elements are meant to speak to both the tribe's and the brewery's history and commitment to environmental sustainability.
Read the full press release below:
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Fieri vs. Murray is the Cheesy Cage Match We Need
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Tue, May 12, 2020 at 10:36 AM
You may recall we reported back in April that Ferndale's spiky-haired son Guy Fieri has been working with the National Restaurant Association to raise money for restaurant workers who've been laid off as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. That collaboration has already come up with $20 million in relief funds. (Psst: If you're a restaurant or bar worker and have received any of these funds, let us know.) And now the host of "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives" is taking it — like a Bloody Mary with a rasher of bacon, skewered jalapeño poppers and a whole-ass hot dog jammed in it — to the next level with a celebrity nacho battle to raise more money.
Fieri and Bill Murray went on the "Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" to talk about their nacho rivalry as Fieri attempts to teach Fallon to make the classic app, and also to hype their upcoming battle. Well, their sons' battle anyway. Hunter Fieri and Homer Murray will face off Friday live at 2 p.m. on the Food Network's Facebook page during the Nacho Average Showdown, with their dads whooping from the sidelines, to raise more money for the restaurant relief fund.
Fieri and Bill Murray went on the "Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" to talk about their nacho rivalry as Fieri attempts to teach Fallon to make the classic app, and also to hype their upcoming battle. Well, their sons' battle anyway. Hunter Fieri and Homer Murray will face off Friday live at 2 p.m. on the Food Network's Facebook page during the Nacho Average Showdown, with their dads whooping from the sidelines, to raise more money for the restaurant relief fund.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Po' Boys and Sympathy
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Fri, Feb 7, 2020 at 12:29 PM
If you go to Fat Anne's Bakery & Bistro's new spot on Main Street in Ferndale (939 Main St.), get the fried chicken. Then tell me what it's like because the fryer was down on the day I visited, though I hear it's being remedied. It happens! But there is little that can stop my body-shaking sobs when I psych myself up for fried chicken only to be denied.
Which is why the blackened shrimp po' boy on the lunch menu is remarkable for having cheered me up ($15). The very plump shrimp are curled up in a soft, dense hoagie roll (baked on the premises), rather than French bread, and are grilled to firmness and no further. The smoky char of butter and Cajun seasoning let the flavor of the seafood through and the homemade herbed remoulade would probably make anything taste good and was a balm for my soul. The menu announces slaw but mixed greens with lovely house made croutons and ranch dressing are a fine swap.
Which is why the blackened shrimp po' boy on the lunch menu is remarkable for having cheered me up ($15). The very plump shrimp are curled up in a soft, dense hoagie roll (baked on the premises), rather than French bread, and are grilled to firmness and no further. The smoky char of butter and Cajun seasoning let the flavor of the seafood through and the homemade herbed remoulade would probably make anything taste good and was a balm for my soul. The menu announces slaw but mixed greens with lovely house made croutons and ranch dressing are a fine swap.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Down at the Docks
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Thu, Jan 23, 2020 at 2:19 PM
Sometimes I walk from the Journal offices down F Street to the plaza, with its wind-whipped flags, and look across the water as the fishing boats come into the bay as they have for lifetimes, bringing their haul back from the unkowable depths and think, "Shouldn't we have, like, a million places for fish and chips, chowder and steamer clams?" There is a solid handful but among those three items, it's hit or miss at each. What happy news, then, to discover Jack's Seafood (4 C St., Suite B, Eureka), overlooking the bay and the crane lifting catches from boats just a couple of blocks over, has conquered the trifecta.
The chowder is more about the fresh cream than the usual New England soup, with chopped clams, vegetables and a little pepper ($5 cup, $8 bowl). It's light on the salt and served with crackers, herb butter and sliced sourdough — it's the North Coast, after all and nobody's defecting to Maine.
The chowder is more about the fresh cream than the usual New England soup, with chopped clams, vegetables and a little pepper ($5 cup, $8 bowl). It's light on the salt and served with crackers, herb butter and sliced sourdough — it's the North Coast, after all and nobody's defecting to Maine.
Monday, January 6, 2020
Cocina on the Green
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 12:10 PM
The incongruity of a Mexican restaurant on the grounds of a golf course lessens as you sit in a snug window booth at Cocina Mariposa (4750 Fairway Drive, Eureka), which you enter via the pro shop, and watch the sunset. On a recent rainy evening, when a lone golfer was whacking balls into the lake of the flooded Eureka Municipal Golf Course, it even offered waterfront dining. Besides, owner Marisela Salas was previously at Beau Pre Golf Course doing happy hour tacos on Fridays, so I’m declaring it an official niche.
Golf, from what I hear, yields frustration, which is an emotion best handled with tacos and/or breakfast foods, both of which are on offer. The fried fish taco on a homemade corn tortilla is a bright little pile of battered Alaskan pollack chunks, pico de gallo, red cabbage and chipotle aioli ($3.50). The green sauce is a tart addition for those who aren’t quite up to the hot red salsa — don’t be fooled by the presence of polo shirts, it’s no joke. Salas, who learned to cook Michoacan dishes from her mother, Graciela, with whom she runs the place, offers a pro tip: The oil-based salsa macha is less deadly on cold foods. Proceed accordingly.
Golf, from what I hear, yields frustration, which is an emotion best handled with tacos and/or breakfast foods, both of which are on offer. The fried fish taco on a homemade corn tortilla is a bright little pile of battered Alaskan pollack chunks, pico de gallo, red cabbage and chipotle aioli ($3.50). The green sauce is a tart addition for those who aren’t quite up to the hot red salsa — don’t be fooled by the presence of polo shirts, it’s no joke. Salas, who learned to cook Michoacan dishes from her mother, Graciela, with whom she runs the place, offers a pro tip: The oil-based salsa macha is less deadly on cold foods. Proceed accordingly.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
To Fill the Happy Hours
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 3:58 PM
If you’ve had the good sense to make your way to Five Eleven (511 Second St., Eureka) for its Tuesday through Saturday happy hour starting at 5 p.m., I sincerely hope you ate. The duck fat French fries — served in a steel cup with a triumvirate of ketchup, green goddess dressing and Sriracha aioli — are an impossible to refuse $4 ($6 regular small plate). They are also the most perfectly crisp hand-cut potatoes and a testament to the transformative power of rendered duck fat.
Right below it on the menu is the polenta crostini, a grilled slab that is toasty along its edges and smothered in crimini and wild mushrooms in a velvety marsala sauce ($8 happy hour, $13 regular small plate). A sprinkling of parmesan and fried sage leaves boosts the depth of flavor and, rich as it is, one might consider struggling against instinct and splitting it to save room for further exploration.
Right below it on the menu is the polenta crostini, a grilled slab that is toasty along its edges and smothered in crimini and wild mushrooms in a velvety marsala sauce ($8 happy hour, $13 regular small plate). A sprinkling of parmesan and fried sage leaves boosts the depth of flavor and, rich as it is, one might consider struggling against instinct and splitting it to save room for further exploration.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Greek Pizza from the Irish Place
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Wed, Nov 13, 2019 at 11:50 AM
The pizza restaurant that once was Eureka’s Big Louie’s, then Marcelli’s, has been repainted an eye-popping green and reopened as Shenanigans (1604 Fourth St.). Given its name and pedigree (owner Kelly Erben runs Gallagher’s Irish Pub), you wouldn’t be crazy for thinking this is an Irish bar, but it’s a pizza joint. Listen, the Romans never did conquer ancient Hibernia (what’s up, Agricola?) so there’s no point in putting up an Italian flag on Irish turf now.
Friday, November 8, 2019
Coastal Comforts at Los Sinaloenses
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Fri, Nov 8, 2019 at 3:08 PM
Maybe you've sat in the maroon vinyl booth seats at 1134 Fifth St. in Eureka before — when it was a Mexican restaurant, then a barbecue joint, then another Mexican place. But for the last month, it's been Los Sinaloenses.
It's named for the people of the coastal region of Mexico just inside the Gulf of California, the ancestral home of the owners, the Leyva family. That means you should probably order some seafood. The mojarra frita, a small, silver fish native to Mexico, fits the bill well ($10). Scored, seasoned and fried, the skin is rendered a crispy brown and the light white meat is flaky and lovely inside. It comes with a side of rice and beans that you might want to sample first if, like me, you cannot resist using your fingers to pull morsels of fish and crusty, salty bits of skin from the base of the dorsal fin, behind the head and anywhere else a fork would only hamper you.
It's named for the people of the coastal region of Mexico just inside the Gulf of California, the ancestral home of the owners, the Leyva family. That means you should probably order some seafood. The mojarra frita, a small, silver fish native to Mexico, fits the bill well ($10). Scored, seasoned and fried, the skin is rendered a crispy brown and the light white meat is flaky and lovely inside. It comes with a side of rice and beans that you might want to sample first if, like me, you cannot resist using your fingers to pull morsels of fish and crusty, salty bits of skin from the base of the dorsal fin, behind the head and anywhere else a fork would only hamper you.
