Features
Almost every major city in America (and other countries, too) has a restaurant week. Tacoma has finally joined in the fun. Beginning April 15, food lovers embarked on a two-week long adventure of culinary delights arranged into an affordable package of three-course lunch or dinner for $25 at 25 restaurants: Tacoma
Features
The "Do It Yourself" movement that gained mainstream popularity in the late 1990s with home makeover TV shows has morphed into the food arena. It's a long-armed, straight reach back in time to when the matriarchs of generations gone-by made everything from scratch after doing the growing and raising themselves.
Scene It
Dreams of living a life other than the one you currently have are what goals and ambition are really made of. The city girl in me longs for a taste of Western culture. I'm not talking about global Western culture. I'm talking about "Yee-Haw Kenny Chesney Rodeo" Western culture. Just the
Sipping Out
Saturday, May 12 will mark the date that Gig Harbor joins the ranks of cities that host hyper-local beer festivals. In very recent years, breweries in Pierce County have begun to pop up like wild flowers in the spring. Festival organizer John Fosberg says, "I love the Gig Harbor community and
Hip-Toss
Once relegated to the territory of geeky, pimpled teens and single, middle-aged adults holed up in their parents' basements rolling 8-sided dice and demanding to be called "Quarkward the Powerful" ala Dungeon & Dragons, gaming has expanded well beyond this unfortunate stereotype. All ages of people with varied economic backgrounds
Features
If there is one skill you should actively cultivate in life it is cooking. Being able to feed yourself is not the point. Any person can buy a six-pack and a frozen dinner and call it good. Yet, as we know, all sustenance is not created equal. Though cooking for
Features
Gardens can grow in all shapes, sizes, compositions and methods of containment. From a tiny windowsill herb garden to a 50-by-30-foot plot that yielded enough food for two families, I've had one almost every year. There's something so satisfying about working the earth and watching something I planted grow and provide
Features
Used to extend the life of food, pickling has been a part of many cultures for countless generations. In certain parts of America, hot on the heels of a harvest is canning time. An assembly line of sorts is set-up, neighbors and friends lend a hand to tackle the very-involved
Food Matters
Since the initial changes made by new owner Steve Anderson upon taking the reigns at Tacoma's Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge, the reported response has been good. "People are liking what we're doing, I'm going with it," Anderson says. The "it" Anderson refers to is offering a greater variety of dishes at
Features
A running joke among Pacific Northwest residents is that we only have two seasons: August and winter. Spring, summer and winter might be a bit more accurate. While many restaurateurs and chefs would like to unveil quarterly seasonal menus, the reality is the seasons just don't cooperate in our climate
Food Matters
In May of last year I wrote about Northern Pacific Coffee Company being under new ownership. A switch to Mike's East Coast Sandwiches (a Seattle-based pre-made food company) was not well received, as owner Ed Cedras recently told me. As a new owner in 2011, Cedras was focused first on
Features
From basic flatbread that's been baked the same way for thousands of years in a rough clay oven, to the $42 colossal cupcake created in a Manhattan boutique bakery last week, people clearly have a love affair with dough and baked goods. For some it's a life-sustaining love of a
Food Matters
Olive Branch Café owner Terry Waller worked in forensics at Western State Hospital for 26 years. Seeking something more fulfilling, Waller volunteered at Java Fusion. There she learned product ordering, cooking, and the art of making teas and coffees – skills that equipped her to open her own business inside
We Recommend
"A sheriff, a radio show host, an artist and a director walk into a museum." Sounds like the intro to an interesting joke, doesn't it? But the answer is much more fun than a few chuckles from a punch line; these are the judges for the first annual Slider Cook-Off "Shake,
Features
"A sheriff, a radio show host, an artist and a director walk into a museum." Sounds like the intro to an interesting joke, doesn't it? But the answer is much more fun than a few chuckles from a punch line; these are the judges for the first annual Slider Cook-Off "Shake, Rattle
Restaurant Reviews
Tanglewood GrillWhere: 3222 56th St. NW, Gig Harbor, 253.858.5555Hours: Open daily for lunch at 11 a.m., dinner served at 4:30 p.m. and breakfast Sunday at 8 a.m.Cuisine: Pacific Northwest inspired American dishes of steak, seafood, burgers, meat-topped salads, sandwiches, appetizers and weekend breakfast.Scene: Casual dining vibe, servers on
Food Matters
Family owned and operated, The Boxcar Grill at Freighthouse Square opened in January. An all-American "blue-plate" breakfast, lunch and dinner menu is offered in a very casual diner environment - though the bright garden green and jet black make for an unusual color scheme not often associated with dining. The large
Features
Not all fats are created equal. When reading the ingredient list on a package, people's first tendency is to check calorie and fat content. The common perception is that all fatty foods are unhealthy. The reality is that the human body needs fat in order to function correctly. A diet
Features
The health of the economy and the wealth of the people can dictate how America eats. Less money in the wallet means less money for going out. As consumers have less cash to spend, what that reduced income is being spent on falls under greater scrutiny. Two trends that have surely
Food Matters
Thrill of the Grill originally opened in 2009 serving American fare like burgers, waffle-cut fries, hot dogs and melts. The downtown Tacoma eatery was purchased by Sarah Slaughter and Gregory Brock in November 2011 and reopened in early January. The co-owners say they are keeping the original name (for now),
