Chef Gori Igarashi wears a tall ballcap with a cannabis leaf embroidered on it and a thin towel tied around his neck as he hunches over a burner, tossing fried rice in a wok. A pair of men pinball between stations in Susukino Ramen Bar’s (1504 G St., Arcata) open kitchen, ladling out broth, checking […]
On the Table
Posted inEat + Drink
Endless Zucchini is All Right by Me
Like every year, I planted a few zucchini starters at the beginning of summer. Like every year, I mismanaged the plants and harvested nothing. An exuberant growth of leaf lettuce and arugula provided consolation — and large salads. Fortunately, zucchini and summer squash have been plentiful at farmers markets and farm stands around the county, […]
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Tasty Hub Makes Room for Newcomers
On Monday afternoon, Gaby Long, owner of A Taste of Bim (613 Third St., Eureka) and its auxiliary food truck, is still recovering from a long day and night of selling chicken curry and jerk wings at Cannifest. “I can’t feel my feet,” she says with a laugh. But even with a leg brace for […]
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What’s Good?
Arcata to Get Wild Hare Tavern The darkened windows of the Jam may not be dark for too much longer. Her purchase of the business from owner Mike Munson is still pending, but longtime bartender Angela Robershotte has plans to open Wild Hare Tavern in the plaza-adjacent spot. Robershotte is keeping the specifics of the […]
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CCC’s Chili Champs
A drizzly day isn’t great for fair attendance but it does lend itself to sampling steaming cups of chili. Five competing teams that had been cooking under tents by the grandstands ladled out their wares to hardy chili fans who, like the judges gathered behind the Humboldt County Fair offices (myself among them), tasted, compared […]
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Summer in a Condiment
I hope you are relishing tomatoes in all their glorious varieties, from sun-sweetened cherry tomatoes to larger, juicy heirloom ones. Every year, I imagine the arrival of tomato season as a northward migration. I ate the first tomatoes in mid-April during a visit to Los Osos, in San Luis Obispo County. There is a lovely […]
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Asia’s Best Brings a Pan-Asian Hub to Fortuna
At roughly 8,500 square feet, the newly opened Asia’s Best grocery store in Fortuna (727 S. Fortuna Blvd.) can be a little overwhelming in a county accustomed to small Asian food shops with narrow aisles, much less a town formerly without any Asian food stores at all. To the left, pallets of drinks are stacked […]
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Tandoori Bites Pizza Finds its Flavors
In the open kitchen of the former Angelo’s Pizza and, more recently, Overtime Pizza and Bar (215 W Seventh St., Eureka), chef Dlbir Singh swirls a ladle of sauce onto a circle of dough. But instead of a red tomato sauce, it’s the deep ochre of curry. It’s one of a handful of Indian-style sauces […]
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A Garden Party in a Cup
I believe the best cocktails come out of summer. I’m sure the outdoor drinking weather helps with this, but truly it is the access to fresh fruit and herbs that makes it hard to come in from watering the garden without a cocktail special in mind. I am very fortunate to have the abundance that […]
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More than a Farmstand
The first time I drove along Hiller Road looking for the Sea Goat Farmstand (1450 Hiller Road), finally parking near its sign, what I saw reminded me of a fireworks booth, one of the plywood structures that seem to materialize overnight in the days leading up to the Fourth of July. Upon approaching it, I saw fresh produce neatly arranged […]
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What’s Good
Il Forno, Fortuna The people of Fortuna have evidently mastered manifestation, perhaps connecting with their namesake goddess. One can only assume this from the imminent opening of a larger branch of the Asia’s Best market there and a second location for the Garberville-based Il Forno Bakery (1006 Main St., Fortuna). What candles are you lighting, […]
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Falafelove Blooms in King Salmon
A low chalkboard sign with the words “falafel” and “open” is the only warning before you miss the turn into the recently opened Falafelove’s little parking lot in King Salmon (1125 King Salmon Ave.). Inside, with jars of preserved lemons and olives overhead, owner Avi Leibson hustles between a fryer basket of browned falafel and […]