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 […]
Eat + Drink
Posted inEat + Drink
Plaza Grill to Make Way for Havana
After 35 years, Arcata’s Plaza Grill is closing at the end of September. According to a press release from the restaurant, owners Bill Chino and Chris Smith will give the space over to a new California-Cuban restaurant called Havana, owned by Shona Baum and William González Martí. Chino and Smith will lease the space to […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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 […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Opera Alley Bistro Closes
Opera Alley Bistro, which opened in December of 2020 and won the Journal‘s Best of Humboldt Best New Restaurant in 2021, has closed. Co-owner Kyall Widmier, who also runs the Madrone Taphouse across the parking lot, declined to comment on the closure beyond that plans for the space are still up in the air. The […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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 menu mum for now, but says […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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 […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Tavern 1888 Closing, for Sale
After a year of renovation to open and nearly two years as a popular Eureka dining spot, Tavern 1888 in the Eagle House is closing. According to a press release from owners Jenny and Tim Metz and Rebecca and Tammy Rex, the new American restaurant will serve customers through Aug. 31, and is for sale. […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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 […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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 […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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 […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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 […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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, […]