I have had some good days playing hooky. An easy top-five entry is the afternoon I spent with a dear friend on a park bench facing the water, eating vanilla ice cream sandwiches, the wax wrappers moving gently in the breeze. In the last summers of the 1800s, some genius in New York City swapped […]
Eat + Drink
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Meals and Bloodmobiles
Traci Palmer always knew giving blood was important; her father has been a lifelong donor, topping out at 14 gallons. But it wasn’t until her sister Tiffany Armstrong, director of donor services at the Northern California Community Blood Bank (NCCBB), gave her a tour of the Eureka facility that the reality of blood shortages hit […]
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Kokoro Ramen Opens with Comfort
A feathery betta fish painted by muralist Kyle Sanders drifts above the red door to Kokoro Ramen in Eureka’s Old Town (409 Opera Alley). Owner Joe Tan, who can look down at it from nearby Rooftop, where he’s behind the sushi counter most days, has been looking for a place to open a traditional Japanese […]
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What’s Good at Friday Night Market
Eureka’s Friday Night Market festivities are in full swing on the blocked-off streets of Old Town each week (but for the July 4 break). As you weave through the musicians, vendors and performers, here are a few new food stalls to check out. Summer ceviche Arcata Pizza and Deli (APD) has lately branched out with […]
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Oyster Winners, Contenders and Could-have-beens
By 10 a.m., the 10 judges whom organizer Jessica Silva (a Journal contributor) had asked to arrive by 9:30 a.m. were finally assembled around the long table on the stage at the rear of the Wild Hare Tavern. Entries for the Arcata Bay Oyster Festival’s annual Best Oyster competition were trickling in on paper plates […]
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Humboldt Dockside Market Sells Out of Fish in 30 Minutes
Despite reported poor weather over the past few weeks, the Humboldt Dockside Market debuted in Eureka’s Madaket Plaza on Saturday, June 7, at 9 a.m., selling out of fish within the first 30 minutes. Megan Kenney, director of the North Coast Growers Association’s Harvest Hub, said the market opened with fewer fishers participating than expected […]
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A Ranking of Snack Shack Eats at the Arcata Ball Park
Trips to the concessions stand are part of the baseball experience — central to it, for some of us. At the Arcata Ball Park, the tab is surprisingly inexpensive, with food items topping out at $9, a pittance compared to big stadiums. This leaves you with a little extra to earn a “Tip, tip, hooray!” […]
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What’s Good: A Dipped Cone to Save the Day
Dipped soft serve cones saved my marriage. When, at the age of 28, having been a licensed driver for more than a decade, I needed to learn stick shift, it was my husband who put his head in the lion’s mouth. We practiced every day on backroads and in empty parking lots in upstate New […]
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Smalls Brings Big Flavors
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 […]
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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 […]