Willow Creek Thai in Eureka Willow Creek has long drawn campers, hikers, rafters and Bigfoot hunters. And if, when you pull off the cartoonishly winding, cliff-hugging State Route 299, you can unlock your hand from the grab bar, you can enjoy a view of majestic trees and the sunlight bouncing from a glossy chicken wing […]
Eat + Drink
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Mexican Restaurants Support English Express for Cinco de Mayo
Before Mary Ann Hytken found space to hold classes and establish the local nonprofit English Express, she says, she made do in Mexican markets. “I had a little folding chair and table, and I would give one-on-one English lessons.” She also taught ESL in the more conventional classrooms of College of the Redwoods. Then, she […]
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Hole Food
The doughnuts at Frankie’s NY Bagels (3750 Harris St., Eureka) are doused in an array of glazes to tempt anyone, but that many of the springy treats are vegan is somewhat miraculous. Lime, tamarind and hibiscus sprinkled, anyone? (Tragically, we have yet to make it in time for the crunch-topped créme brûlée before sell-out. And […]
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Look Up for Rooftop Sushi
Those of us craning our necks in Old Town can satisfy our curiosity at last. The frankly named Rooftop Sushi is out in the daylight at last (148 E St., Eureka). Slip into the modest entrance on the E Street side of the new building and ride the elevator (a Eureka rarity) to the fourth […]
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A Green Dish for Earth Day or Any Day
Thanks to months rich in rainfall, everywhere I look is green: our yard, pastures, parks. My plate is also green, partly because I eat a large green salad every day (“Take Time for Salad,” March 23, 2023), partly because I cannot resist the bunches of glorious leafy greens available at the farmers market. Neat bundles […]
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Sunken Seaweed’s Dual Mission
While at then Humboldt State University, Torre Polizzi and Leslie Booher were part of a team surveying seaweed along the North Coast, documenting the mass die offs of sea stars and kelp. “That was pretty painful to witness,” says Polizzi. The kelp, on which endangered abalone depend, are still being devoured by starving purple urchins, […]
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What’s Good? Burgers, Malasadas and Shawarma
On the Jamwagon Bandwagon You can’t miss the bright blue Jamwagon food truck with its red lettering announcing pitas, gyros, hummus, falafel and fries (1631 Central Ave., McKinleyville; updates on Facebook). And good thing, too. (Sidebar: Is McKinleyville’s Central Avenue, with its Indian takeover days at the Taqueria Martinez truck, Auntie Hao’s and now this […]
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On the Jamwagon Bandwagon
You can’t miss the bright blue Jamwagon food truck with its red lettering announcing pitas, gyros, hummus, falafel and fries (1631 Central Ave., McKinleyville; updates on Facebook). And good thing, too. (Sidebar: Is McKinleyville’s Central Avenue, with its Indian takeover days at the Taqueria Martinez truck, Auntie Hao’s and now this Greek street-food operation, becoming […]
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A Burger Break in the Rain
In Humboldt spring, if the patio is dry, much less sunny, take advantage. Not all the benches were dry at Eureka’s branch of Redwood Curtain Brewery when the rain let up at last, but enough for a burger and fries framed in a patch of sun in front of the attached Cookin’ Nook truck. The […]
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Chef Pangnou Vang Behind the Counter at Sushi Blue
Pangnou Vang’s face is mostly hidden under the bill of her ballcap as she works, angling the blade of her long, wooden handled knife horizontally along a block of salmon belly. The fingers of her other hand rest lightly on top of the fish, following the shape of the knife like a peaking wave as […]
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The Elizabeth Dawn and CBD Mocktails Rising
The evolution of a concept can yield such an interesting timeline. Cannabis starts to become legalized in many states and suddenly we have a new beverage option hitting the shelves. Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the 60 active compounds found in cannabis, is non-psychoactive. The cultivation and sale of industrial hemp-derived products, including CBD, were legalized […]
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Meeting in the Middle at Aromas Café
Cut in sturdy rectangles and topped with waves of whipped cream, Adela Rodriguez’s tres leches cake takes a full day soaking in whole, condensed and evaporated milks. It’s a bit firmer than usual, holding up to and holding in the sweet liquid. Marisol Madriz, with whom she co-owns Aromas Café (1651 Myrtle Ave., Eureka), thinks […]