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 […]
On the Table
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Winter Squash and Beans for the Season
As we open the calendar to the January page, we may wish to pay more attention to the food we eat and how we nourish our bodies. Then, as the month goes on, our daily to-do lists get longer and such wishes are pushed aside. When life gets complicated, sometimes summoning the energy to plan […]
The Ivanhoe’s Next Chapter
It was Hospitality Night in Ferndale in 1997 when the last incarnation of the Ivanhoe opened on Main Street. Barb and Dave Mogni would run the iconic restaurant and bar for more than two decades until Dave’s death in 2020. But the Ivanhoe Hotel, Restaurant and Saloon has been a landmark in the town since […]
What’s Good: Pubs and Pots
Gallagher’s Headed Back to the Eagle House Amid the rise and fall and relocation of Old Town restaurants, one spot is returning to how it used to be. Gallagher’s Irish Restaurant and Pub is headed back to its digs in the Eagle House (139 Second St., Eureka) in early 2025. As Jessica Silva reported […]
What’s Good: Warming up and Heading Home
Rooftop’s Ramen Warm-up All summer, which includes October here, tables at Rooftop (148 E St., Eureka) were packed with those starved for vitamin D and hungry for sushi. But during the damp cold of winter, the indoor tables and counter (at last, comfy bar chairs) offer a view out of the chill and hot, hot […]
A Classic Cookie Gets Spicy
Years ago, I made a batch of double ginger cookies with powdered and candied in the dough. Then I immediately remade them as triple ginger, spiking them with a couple teaspoons of freshly grated ginger root. Then came the Mexican hot chocolate cookies barely warmed by a couple pinches of cayenne pepper. Then a couple […]
Turkey Lurkey, Baby
The Thanksgiving leftover sandwich is a creation of our collective imagination executed in wildly different ways according to our individual aesthetics. We all think we mean the same sandwich, layered with the remnants of the holiday meal, but we don’t. Turkey, of course, but only carved breast meat? How thick should it be? Are you […]
Food Will Not Bring Us Together
Some basic tips for Thanksgiving: Never put mashed potatoes in a food processor or blender because they’ll get gummy; make more gravy even if you think you have enough; do not break bread with people who vote and work against your safety. Since 2016, November bins of frozen turkeys have arrived alongside a crop of […]
