The bright flags staked around the Taqueria Martinez truck parked beside A&L Feed at 2314 Central Ave. in McKinleyville advertise tacos and burritos. So does the truck itself, emblazoned with pictures of asada fries and tortas. But above the order window through which Miguel Santiago Martinez is taking lunch orders, there hangs a paper menu […]
On the Table
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Magical, Cozy Winter Cafés
It’s that time of year again. Sometimes referred to as “false spring” here in Humboldt. Don’t be fooled, friends. Narcissistic spring has not arrived yet. We are still hanging out with that old winter charmer, though they are getting sleepier by the day and will soon rest. For now, we can still find comfort in […]
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An Appetite for Local Food History at the Clarke
“You don’t think you’re going to make much of a sweat working at a museum but moving things around really gets you there,” says Josh Buck, executive director-curator of the Clarke Historical Museum. Looking at the behemoth of an iron stove hauled into the main hall from the backroom of the Samoa Cookhouse, it’s easy […]
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Alchemy’s Pop-up Magic
Less than an hour before sunset, the Alchemy Distillery (330 S. G St., Arcata) gives off the glow and thrum of a party through the large open window counter, where patrons sit inside and out, bustling bar traffic on one side, overhead heat lamps cutting the chill on the other. There’s still a line of […]
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Spreading Vegetable Joy
It’s January and “Eat more vegetables” is in the air. There are variations, of course. Fruits are mentioned as well, the Mediterranean diet makes frequent appearances, the gut microbiome may also be invoked. The core message from many voices remains the same: Eat more vegetables. The path to implementing that resonant piece of advice must […]
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Jersey Boys
Yellow neon letters curl in the window above bright café chairs outside Jersey Scoops in Loleta (348 Main St.). Inside, there are more rainbow-colored chairs and barstools, shelves and refrigerators packed with local jams and snacks, and a refrigerator case stuffed with beef and eggs from Ferndale’s Foggy Bottoms Boys Farm. On a barnwood wall […]
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What’s Good
La Flor Mixteca grows in Freshwater Driving in the early dark past Three Corners Market at the intersection of Freshwater Road and Myrtle Avenue (5945 Myrtle Ave., Eureka), the brightly lit logo of the Flor Mixteca truck glows like a winter mirage. Since the name references a region in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, […]
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Classic Oatmeal Cookies Revisited
Winter has arrived, so far carrying buckets of rain. Spreading a sweet aroma around the house by baking cookies is an excellent antidote to seasonal claustrophobia, when I start feeling caged within the walls of short, wet days. Guided on one hand by my Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies (“What-if Cookies,” Jan. 13, 2022) and […]
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A Second Chance at Wok In Wok Out
On April 18, the day before his wife, Kommaly’s birthday, Ronnie Worasen, then owner and chef at Hunan Restaurant, was driving his sister-in-law and 4-year-old son to Safeway in Eureka to buy a cake. At the intersection of Harris and Dolbeer streets, a speeding red Ford truck ran them into a telephone pole and sent […]
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Fieldbrook Market Closes … for Now
When Lisa Springer approached her neighbors Ross and Kelly Costa about the Fieldbrook Market & Eatery three years ago, it was to rent space for making ramen. Springer had tried the Japanese take on Chinese noodle soup in San Francisco and gotten hooked. “Every city I go to, the first thing I do is look […]
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The Power of the Trans Power Potluck
The evening before Thanksgiving, the Labor Temple on Eureka’s E Street is mostly dark from the street. It’s not clear this is the right place until Sister Gaia T steps into the light in the hallway. “Welcome!” she calls, waving a willowy arm. She’s without her zinc white “sister-face” makeup and regalia, instead wearing a […]
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Acorn Gathering for Yurok Sovereignty
Annelia Hillman, food village coordinator for the Yurok Tribe’s Food Sovereignty Program, loves her job. “I get to be outside and connect with the land and I’m learning so much more about food and processing,” she says. “It’s really good for the mind and the soul to not be behind a computer all day.” About […]