After five years dormant, the spot where Marcelli’s Italian Restaurant served its ravioli for 90 years is once again seating customers, now under the banner of Smalls, the new name carved into a redwood sign out front (1323 Fifth St., Eureka). The “fusion comfort” restaurant is open for lunch with plans to add dinner hours […]
On the Table
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The Kitchen at the Heart of the Eureka Woman’s Club
Built nearly flush against the sidewalk at 1531 J St., the Eureka Woman’s Club sits on what Second Vice President Murline Georgeson describes as “a postage stamp-sized lot.” The ladies who paid her late father-in-law architect Franklin Georgeson to design and build the Craftsman-style hall from old growth redwood in 1916 were not interested in […]
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Witness Coffee Roasters is Where it’s Supposed to Be
On Saturday, May 3, the line at Witness Coffee Roasters (734 Fifth St., Eureka) went back to the door emblazoned with the words, “You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.” It was also mostly comprised of people with homemade signs in hand. “No Kings,” one reads. Located across from the Humboldt County Courthouse, the staff […]
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At Havana, Bittersweet Memories of Cuba
During a busy lunch rush at Havana, a Cuban restaurant in Arcata, Executive Chef Lisvany Ortega sat at a small wooden table, the pulse of salsa music echoing in the background. Between bursts of activity from the kitchen, he shared the story of how he journeyed from Old Havana to this quiet corner of Northern […]
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Versatile Dark Leafy Greens, 2025 Edition
Today I continue an informal tradition I seem to have established in recent years: celebrating Earth Day with a recipe that uses dark leafy greens, which are nutritious and overall good for our bodies. In 2022, I argued in favor of consuming radish greens, overlooked in favor of the colorful, spicy roots and often discarded […]
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Trump Tariffs Hit Local Breweries in the Can
As the effects of President Donald Trump’s waves of tariffs roll back to our shores, stocks have taken a deep dive, while American consumers and businesses prepare for increased prices on goods both imported and domestic. Retaliatory tariffs set by other governments, such as China and Canada, loom over those who sell overseas, as well. […]
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Wing Man
When chef Jeremy Shaffer emerged onto the patio of Six Rivers Brewery with a steaming stainless steel bowl of hot wings in his arms, the tang wafted into the crowd, setting jaws tingling. Fourteen contestants in the brewery’s annual wing eating competition stood in a line between a long table and the back fence, kitchen […]
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El Pueblo, Bigger and Back on Broadway
The El Pueblo Supermarket at 3600 Broadway in Eureka is more than 6,000 square feet, but the pull to head straight for the back wall is strong. There, at left, stand shelves of pan dulce — pink, yellow and dusted with sprinkles — beside a cold case of rainbow-colored geletina mosaico and strawberry tres leches […]
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What’s Good? Lao Noodles and Birria Ramen
Piak Sen Weather February’s wet and windy exit is hardly the last we’ll see of chilly weather. Well, fine. The edge of cold and dampness makes hovering over a bowl of hot noodles and broth just a little more pleasing. Ramen has lately popped up on more menus to challenge the near noodle monopoly pho […]
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Big G’s Jambalaya Balls
Some families pass down heirlooms — my family passes down recipes. I come from a long line of Sicilian Louisianans, a people who know a thing or two about bold flavors and good food. My great-great-great-grandfather fled Italy in the late 1870s, coming through the Port of New Orleans, where he laid the foundation for […]
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Fishers Make the Most of a Better Crab Season
The rain is misting over Woodley Island Marina’s Dock B, where the Jenna Lee is moored. Kristen Pinto, in a bright yellow slicker, pulls three Dungeness crabs from the trickling bin on the deck of the adjacent home-built pontoon boat from which the Pinto family sells to the public as Jenna Lee’s Seafood. “It’s been […]
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Kimchi and Alfredo? Hear Me Out …
Growing up in the ’80s as a half Korean and half white kid in Southern California, the TV shows, dolls and demographics of my neighborhood didn’t reflect me or my reality. Physically, I did not look like I was enough of one side to hide comfortably behind those features. As a child, I longed to […]