Today I continue an informal tradition I seem to have established in recent years: celebrating Earth Day with a recipe that uses dark leafy greens, which are nutritious and overall good for our bodies. In 2022, I argued in favor of consuming radish greens, overlooked in favor of the colorful, spicy roots and often discarded […]
Eat + Drink
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Trump Tariffs Hit Local Breweries in the Can
As the effects of President Donald Trump’s waves of tariffs roll back to our shores, stocks have taken a deep dive, while American consumers and businesses prepare for increased prices on goods both imported and domestic. Retaliatory tariffs set by other governments, such as China and Canada, loom over those who sell overseas, as well. […]
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Farewell to Fernbridge Café
On March 15, Fernbridge Café & Coffee Barn owner Kimberlynn Wright posted the announcement she’d be closing the restaurant soon. As the sole owner since buying the spot three years ago, and a server at the café’s previous incarnation for seven years, she says she wanted to give her staff and regulars some lead time. […]
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Wing Man
When chef Jeremy Shaffer emerged onto the patio of Six Rivers Brewery with a steaming stainless steel bowl of hot wings in his arms, the tang wafted into the crowd, setting jaws tingling. Fourteen contestants in the brewery’s annual wing eating competition stood in a line between a long table and the back fence, kitchen […]
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El Pueblo, Bigger and Back on Broadway
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 […]
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Kokoro Ramen to Steam up Opera Alley
The dining room at 409 Opera Alley in Eureka’s Old Town has been painted but there are some kitchen updates needed before Kokoro Ramen can open in the former Opera Alley Bistro spot. Owner Joe Tan, who also runs and prepares sushi at Rooftop only a block or so away, says he’s eager to get […]
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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 […]
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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 had previously held […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Follow the Trompo
Whatever I crave or plan when I walk up to a taco truck so often goes out the order window when I catch sight of a trompo. All that spice-reddened al pastor sizzling and dripping on a vertical spit is nearly impossible to pass up. And in the nighttime glow of the Tacos Don Paco […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]