Agave

I have a new found appreciation for Mexican cuisine. Part of this can be attributed to Rick Bayless' win on Top Chef Masters. I have seen him on TV for years, and always found him pretentious and awkward, telling me to make recipes using ingredients I would never be able to find where I lived. I think Top Chef Masters is a much better medium for him than his own cooking show. I still found him pretentious, but in a thoughtful, academic way that was legitimately interesting, and rendered charming by his (at least appearance of) complete enthusiasm and sincerity. What major American chef admits on national TV that it took him twenty years to learn how to make one sauce? Charming. And, of course, my foray into Taco Truck cuisine in August contributed to my new appreciation. Fresh food with a beautiful complexity sounds like a recipe for yummy to me, and it is exactly what I learned good Mexican food should be.

So, I will admit that I went to Agave on Friday with a moderate expectation. It is, after all, a joint venture between the owner of Moxie, always a good standby for good pricey food, and the owner of DeLeon, whose name is legendary here on the Spokane food scene. Surely those two owners would be enough to overcome the odor of failure lingering from the previous tenants of the space, Blue Fish. I actually really liked Blue Fish for a couple of years, but the quality went down hill precipitously towards the end, and then they made things worse with that ill conceived asian bistro disaster.

I was wrong. Now, there is a lot to like at Agave. The service was prompt, professional, and friendly. Some of the food was outstanding; indeed, the smoked paprika grilled prawns rates as one of the best shrimp dishes I have ever had. Ever. It was spicy and smoky and grilled, the shrimp were tender but with a nice char, the salad underneath was fresh and well dressed, and it all came together in a harmonious, exciting dish. I ordered the mahi mahi tacos, where too the fish was perfectly cooked and wonderfully spiced. And my margarita a delight, with fresh citrus and clear tequila presence. Plus, it came in a glass the size of a chalice, which is not a bad thing.

So, what went wrong? Why was it that Jeremy and I both walked out feeling no desire to revisit Agave? Was it that the food wasn't consistently exiting? That was certainly the case. The rice was underseasoned and underflavored, as were the ranchero beans. Jeremy's wild boar chile verde was an awful lot of gammy funk with very little other flavor. The fresh fried chips were excellent, but the salsa bordered on having too much raw garlic. But the food wasn't really it. Even very good restaurants can have less successful dishes, and usually one dish as good as those prawns would be enough to bring me back.

I believe the entire problem with Agave is that they didn't de-Blue Fish enough. They didn't paint (I believe). They didn't remove, or apparently clean, the blue-lit fish tank in the entrance. They didn't rethink the awkward table floor plan. Blue Fish was a dated hipster doofus establishment when it opened, and the passing years have exacerbated the dated and the doofus part of the establishment, and Agave shouldn't be hipster anyway. Adding some Latin knickknacks and some of the ugliest curtains I have ever seen just isn't enough to give Agave it's own personality and vibe.

There's an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season four, when the misunderstood but psychotic Faith switches bodies with our hero Buffy. Badness ensues. That's what Agave feels like: like a good restaurant shoved into a completely different restaurant's body. It just isn't right. It's a shame, because I think Agave deserves better.

In the meantime, since the wild boar chile verde is a disappointment, here is a recipe for a Pork and Green Chile stew that, I think, makes up for it:

2-3 lbs trimmed pork butt or lean country style ribs, or some other fatty pork (you can do it with a lean pork, but the meat won't be as tender at the end), but into 1 to 2 inch chunks

6 poblano (also called pasillo) chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and ribbed, and cut into 1 inch squares*

1 jalopeno, also roasted, peeled, seeded, ribbed, and chopped. *

6-10 tomatillos, roasted and chopped*

1 large onion, chopped

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbls dried oregano

1 tbls cumin

about 3 cups chicken broth (canned is okay)

flour, salt, pepper, oil

1) coat the meat in flour, salt and pepper, and fry in a couple of tbls of oil until the meat is well browned on all sides. Do in batches so as not to crowd your pan.

2) in the same pan, add a little more oil if needed, and saute onions until they are soft and browned. Then add everything else, including the meat. It should be quite a loose soup at this point. Simmer uncovered for about two hours, adding more stock if it looks like it is drying out. You know it's done when the meat is really tender and the sauce is thick.

3) Serve -- I like some grated cheddar and a little sour cream, but any of the usual chili toppings would be fine.

*Preparing these roasted ingredients is a little time consuming, but not difficult. I have a grill built into my stove, and I can get a good char all over the peppers in about ten minutes, but your could do this on a conventional grill, under a broiler or in a heavy duty skillet, or even over a gas burner using tongs. The only trick is to get the entire surface of the peppers charred, and then stick them in a bag until they are cool enough to handle. The charred skin will just rub off, and the you can open up the peppers and rinse out the seeds without losing flavor. The tomatillos just need to be softened up and browned a little bit, then chopped up.

Pulled Pork Redux

You know you've reached a new low in terms of slacking off when your mother starts asking about your blog. Yes, the thing I set up as a diversion and procrastination aid has now become a public way for people to track my ability to not do things. Try to think of it this way, Mom: writing my blog really means I'm *not* doing important, career related things. You should start worrying when you see me post too much. That will be a sure sign of slacking and over-eating!

Seriously (which is clever code for "none of the previous paragraph is serious"), the beginning of the school year has cut down precipitously on how much of my brain I can devote to food, since now at least some of it has to be taken up by "how not to offend my colleagues or my freshman," "Milton," and "where am I supposed to be now?" But, I do have a brief pulled-pork update.

The faux-log truck on Division next to the White Elephant is in fact a BBQ truck called Smokies, and since none of you offered any insight on its qualities, I bravely sacrificed my own waistline. I had the beef brisket and tried the pulled pork sandwich, and the verdict is: pretty good. The texture is quite good, especially if you like your meat a little on the lean side (although not so lean as to be tough or dry). The flavor is acceptable. I could use more smoke, but I believe that both meats were in fact truly barbequed, which means long, slow, low cooking. The sauce is a cross between Memphis and North Carolina, so thin and with a strong vinegar component, as opposed to the think, sweet, Texas style. I like it, although it is sadly lacking in heat. My best recommendation, however, is to ask for extra sauce. I'm know: over-saucing is a sin. But so is under-saucing, and Smokies needs to do some penance for that one. Would that be three Hail Marys and one Our Father?

I also tried the pulled pork sandwich at Clinkerdagger's, off their lunch menu. I admit it. I like Clinkerdaggers. It is not haute cuisine, but it is haute above the river, and I find its old-fashionedness charming. I'm not sure they mean it in quite the ironic way I enjoy it, but these are the vagaries of interpretation. The sandwich was a perfectly adequate pulled pork, and about what you would expect from a place that doesn't say it has a smoker. I would put in on a par with the pulled pork at the Safari Room at the Davenport Towers, and they say they do have a smoker. Now, the sweet potato fries at Clinks -- those were crispy little works of art! And somehow, the twelve top of blue hairs all wearing red and purple hats sitting at the other end of the room made the whole experience a little sweeter.

That's it for now, and that's probably it for pulled pork (although I have a tip that the pulled pork at Chick'n'More is worth trying). Next installment (unless a different fancy takes me): what to do with the bumper crop of green tomatoes my Spokane garden inevitably produces. I know. You'll be holding your breath.

Taco Trucks

Loving street food has become a foodie cliche, thanks to the stylings of Anthony Bourdain, who has at long last confirmed that, yes, one can be both gritty and pretentious. The world had been wondering since the Marquis de Sade first raised the possibility. I like each equally. But, cliche aside, street food can be very, very good, and some of the best can be had from taco trucks. Spokane currently has a bounty of taco trucks. The question is, which is worth your time?

In the past week or so, I have been to the four trucks nearest to downtown. I ordered tacos, and when I could talk Jeremy into having mexican food again (it's not his favorite cuisine, even though we met in a Mexican restaurant and he lived in San Francisco, home of the Mission burrito), I ordered a burrito. I made sure to try the rice and beans at each place. The menus at all the trucks are pretty similar: tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tostadas, sopas, and tortas ( kind of sandwich/Mexican sloppy joe). They all have a similar selection of meats: chicken, pork, a couple of beefs, chorizo, and -- a surprise to me -- lengua, or beef tongue, which is excellent. The texture is a little like pot roast. The good news is, all four trucks are all pretty darn good. I do, of course, have some favorites and some observations.

Patty's Taco Truck, on Division just north of Garland/Empire. Of the four I visited, this is my favorite, even if the truck itself is pretty, shall we say, low impact. Their pico de gallo is wonderfully fresh and lively, the guacamole is creamy and abundant, and the refried beans are wonderful, clearly the best of any of the trucks I tried. There are (I read on-line -- not the most rock solid research I have ever done) two Pattys who co-own the truck. The woman working the counter when I was there (Patty the niece, I believe) was incredibly pleasant, and told me that they have only been open since June. On her suggestion, I tried an enchilada, which was elevated by a lovely hit of salty lime.

Tacos Tumbras: On Division, just north of Rowan. I believe there is in fact a Tumbras chain, including at least one other truck out in the valley, and a sit down restaurant. The tacos are lovely, the refried beans well seasoned, and if you prefer some texture in your refried beans, you might even prefer theirs to Patty's, which are very smooth. The pork burrito was lovely, with tender meat and a great spicy kick. I am dinging them for very bad chicken, which was rubbery, not carefully cut up, and flavorless. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this one.)

Tacos el Sol: This very fancy truck is parked downtown, in a parking lot on Washington in between Sprague and First. The great news about this place is that it is open both for business lunch and for late night cravings: they are open until 3 am! Again, very good tacos, especially the beef, but the refried beans taste canned, and the salsa lacked punch and freshness. Also, as one might expect from the fancy digs, this was the most expensive of the trucks I hit, although only by a fraction of a dollar.

El Mariachi, located on Hamilton and Augusta, just north of Mission. I will admit, this was my fourth truck, and I was getting more and more adventurous. Here, I tried both the tongue and the beef cheeks, and both were excellent. The barbacoa (beef braised in chile sauce) was, in comparison, mushy and uninteresting. The burrito was Jeremy's favorite, because he prefers pinto beans to refried, but I found it bland. The big disappointment was the rice and beans, which in texture was like a Cuban rice and beans, but without the flavor. Also, as much as I appreciate the cheeky, musical theme of the truck, I was put off by the fact that you couldn't see inside to see the food prep at all, and by the length of my wait. Still, it's proximity to work means that I'm likely to return.

There are a lot of arguments to be made about taco trucks. Some say that they are an easy way for a business owner to play fast and loose with all sorts of rules that should not be played with: food safety laws, worker's benefits, even taxes. I'm sure this can happen, but I think Patty's Tacos is an example of the other side of the argument. This is a low capital way for someone to become a small business owner. To me, this sounds like a venture worth supporting. So, go out and be brave. And if they have named some of their tacos, those are the ones to get. Otherwise, try the tongue!

Bad waiter

I ate at Cafe Marron over the weekend, and it wasn't the best experience I've had there. I like Cafe Marron, even if I do find the name unfortunate, since it seems like the only options for pronouncing it are either to make it sound like Cafe Moron or to sound pretentiously French. Even they seem to struggle with the name; when they opened, they had it spelled one way on their sign and another on their menus. Nonetheless, I like the casual atmosphere, I like the brunch food a lot (especially now that Bittersuite is gone and, from what I have heard, will be reopening prohibitively far from my house), and I have had really good meals there.

I remember one dinner, a little over a year ago, with particular fondness. The waiter not so subtly steered us toward the halibut and the top sirloin. It took no arm twisting to get me to order the halibut, a fish I adore. It arrived perfectly cooked, in that sublime nano-second when there is still a hint of translucency in the center, and in a light, citrusy cream sauce that complemented the fish without taking it over. The top sirloin was a harder sell. After all, that is no one's favorite steak, and badly done, it can be chewy, mealy, chalky, or any of the other bad beef dwarves. But, when a good waiter recommends something, you trust him (in this case, it was a him), so . . . The sirloin was also sublime: beefy and and almost meltingly tender, with a terrific sear. In fact, the beef was so good by itself that I have forgotten if it came with a sauce, and I can remember nearly every sauce I have ever tasted. Good food, good service, good atmosphere -- this was an experience to cement a restaurant in my firmament for a while.

Things were very different this weekend, and it wasn't that the food that made the difference. It was the service. Our waitress was a very nice woman on her second day, and I wish her well in her new job. I see no reason why she can't become a fine waitress. But, she wasn't for us. I want to be very clear here: I don't blame her. Service is an art form, and one so rarely practiced in Spokane that I wonder if most of the people trying to be good servers have actually experienced good service. Waiting tables, even at its most straightforward, requires an enormous amount of multi-tasking, organization, presence of mind, knowledge of the menu, of the wine list, of what the kitchen will and will not accommodate, plus tact and people skills. It is a hard, hard job, and one that takes a full apprenticeship to master.

No, I don't blame her. I blame the management. It was their decision to put a woman with little to no waiting experience on the floor on a weekend night. It was their decision not to give her a lesson in the menu with the chef, allowing her to taste all the plates on the menu. This is, by the way, standard practice in nearly all fine dining restaurants. It was their decision not to have her shadow an experienced waiter, who probably would have remembered to bring the salads before the entries. And let us remember, the management of Cafe Marron is the same as the management of Luna, so these are experienced restaurant people who ought to know better. They surely know standard industry practice in hiring and training wait staff, and they certainly ought to know the importance of service in a successful restaurant. This shows more than a momentary lapse on their part. This shows a failure of priorities.

I'll go farther than that. I think this is an ethical issue. Sure, it shows a complete lack of respect for the diners who are paying up to twenty dollars a plate and have, therefore, a reasonable expectation that what they asked to be on that plate will, in fact, be there. But, more than that, a waiting job is typically a minimum wage job, and therefore all servers rely on tips to earn a living income. Hiring a person and then not giving them the tools they need to earn the income you have told them they can expect is dirty pool, in my book. (Washington State, thankfully, both has the highest minimum wage in the country and does not have the exemption for tip earners that many states have, so the situation is not as dire here in Spokane as it is some places.)

Service tends to be bad in Spokane. We tend to accept friendly in lieu of skilled (not that the too are mutually exclusive). I had dinner at Gordy's a few weeks ago, and the our waitress knew the menu inside and out, and guided us toward ordering a great meal. But, she seemed to think that we wanted to spend our evening talking with her, when in fact I was with a group of people who did just fine creating conversation all by ourselves. It ranged from awkward to horribly uncomfortable. Wild Sage is a notable exception; I have never gotten anything but top notch service there. Luna is a, maybe the, prime culprit. There service would be great for a Denny's or a sandwich place, but not for a restaurant that charges thirty bucks a plate, a la carte. We will never have a real restaurant scene until service becomes a priority, both for restaurant owners and diners. The catch-22 is, we can't protest bad service without hurting innocent, individual servers. So, here's a call to owners and managers: train your servers. Send them to good restaurants in other cities to experience their craft. Teach them about the food they serve. (I know of one restaurant in Tacoma that sends their entire staff to Italy for a week each year to gain in knowledge and experience. Tacoma, people! Are they that much better than we are?) As for us, let's demand more than nice. We deserve it.

Stores I love

Spokane does not have a Trader Joe's, a fact much bewailed by my foodie and faux foodie friends. I'm not so cut up about this -- while it was nice to have a handy supply of cleaned, frozen calamari rings for spontaneous frying, for the most part Trader Joe's supplies pre-made food. Sure, their dips and frozen entries are better than what you can find at the supermarket, but they are not nearly as good as dips I can make on my own. And their hummus stinks. There, I said it. Spokane does, however, have a number of food stores and stores with food gems that I frequent as often as time and budget allow.

Saunder's Cheese Market. I love this place. I love the beautiful woman who seems to always be working when I come in. Yesterday, she remembered that I was on a raw sheep's milk cheese kick. I love that she wouldn't dream of selling you cheese without offering you a sample, and that she understands the beauty of really good cheese. I love that she recently described a lovely semi-soft goat's milk cheese as "my crack cocaine." That's how I feel about cheese. I love their cheese boards, and that they let you bring in a bottle of wine from Vino's next door. I even love the look of the store: crisp, clean design, completely functional and completely keeping with their older building.

Bollywood. I love this place, too. Sure, the front half is a particular skeezy Quik-E mart on yet to be gentrified section of Sprague, and only the back (and to the left) couple of aisles are devoted to Indian food. But, come on, we have our own Indian food store! Between Bollywood and the bulk spice rack of Huckleberry's, real curry is within easy reach. I mean the kind you roast and mix and grind yourself. And about ten different kinds of dal. And frozen curry leaves! Spokane does not have a great Indian restaurant. It doesn't even have a good Indian restuarant. It has an "okay if you haven't really eaten Indian food before" restaurant. (I would say the same about our Thai selections). But with Bollywood and a good cookbook, outstanding Indian food is within reach. I strongly recommend the following cookbooks: Mangoes and Curry Leaves, by Alford and Duguid, the lovely people who brought us Hot, Sour Salty, Sweet, and Indian Cooking by Marhur Jaffrey. And, you can get a wonderful Bollywood video to accompany your meal!

Cassano's Italian Food. When I was in Italy (and, no, I won't stop talking about Italy for a while), I learned some stuff about pasta. We can't make it here in America. Not really. Maybe it's the wheat, or the water, or the type of press they use, but al dente there means this amazing chewiness, combined with a porous texture that has an incredible ability to hold onto sauce. For American pasta, al dente means kinda hard in the middle. But Casello's sells imported pasta that allows us to come pretty close to what real pasta should taste like. So does Rocket Market, by the way. Casello's also has truffle oil, a lot of balsamic, and a nice selection of cured meats. They do not, alas, sell Bresaola, but I will try not to hold that against them. Much.

DeLeon's Mexican food. I have to confess, I don't get here much, since it's north and I'm not. And, honestly, I'm not much of a Mexican cook. But, I do know that their fresh tortillas are superb, and that without them, my enchiladas are always disappointing. And I know that this is the place to get Latin ingredients that can be hard to find elsewhere. Maybe I'll go on a Mexican cooking adventure just so I can do this place justice.

Egger's Meats. Every good cook needs a good butcher. Except for vegetarian cooks. I suppose. See the name of the blog. The nice men at Egger's will, on request, cut you a pork chop of Fred Flintstone proportions. They are the most likely place in town to have lamb shoulder (although I've learned to call ahead before I get my heart set on lamb curry). They have the most delicious smoked turkey breast that they will slice thin for sandwiches. They have duck, ground veal, and perhaps most importantly, they have bones. Can't make stock without bones. In short, this place is essential.

Rocket Market. This place has really turned into a foodie dream -- they do a lot of things well. They sell locally farmed produce, and have a nice little grocery section, with a fantastic selection of balsamic and olive oil, including my favorite, Columela from Spain. Their deli serves pretty consistently tasty, healthy food, and some of their soups are great. I had a tomato, arugula and goat cheese penne there last week which was rich, fresh, and complex all at the same time -- not bad for a three dollar lunch for the lazy! And the wine . . . They have a great selection, and Carl Carlsteen personally tastes, selects, and then writes up tags for each wine there. Sure, every one of his tags tends towards the hyperbolic, but you can read past that for a solid description of the flavor. Oh, and Jeremy wouldn't let me forget it if I didn't mention their selection of cakes; he is particularly fond of Frey's Paris cake, on sale there.

Super 1. A surprise entry, I know, but did you know they make and smoke their own sausage? At least the one on the corner of 29th and Grand has a great meat department for when you can't make it to (or can't afford it at) Eggers, and they have the best smoked sausages for grilling I've had. I particularly like the Hot Beer sausage. I've never heard of these before; perhaps they are a mid-West thing? The beautiful creation of a local genius? Is there beer in the sausage, or is it just that they go well with beer? Because they do.

You may notice Huckleberry's is not on my list. I used to go there a lot, and I still go there for their bulk spices and takeout sushi, but for the most part, I'm over them. They are high priced, and there is nothing there I can't get somewhere else, either better, cheaper, or at least with a sense that I'm supporting a local small business instead of a big local business. Not that I have anything against Rosauer's (they own both Huckleberry's and Super 1). They seem to treat their employees well, they are big donors to Gonzaga, and I'm considering writing an ode to their deli fried chicken. But they get enough of my money without me supporting their high seeming mark-ups.

So, guys, what have I missed?

Hello and Sante!

I am a food lover, living in the Inland Empire, otherwise known as Spokane, Washington. Even though Spokane is surrounded by amazing agriculture, it does not have much of a foodie reputation. Nor does it particularly deserve one. But there is good food to be had in Spokane: some of it in restaurants, some of it from shops and markets around town, much of it being made in home kitchens. I am writing this blog to chronicle one foodies successes and failures, surprises and disappointments living in the inland Northwest.

I have no particular credentials as a food expert, unless one counts my great-grandmother on my father's side, who was a professional chef in Bar Harbor and Bermuda. I wish I had known her. My father is a pretty good cook of the french persuasion, and some of my most cherished childhood memories are of watching The French Chef with him. I am a good home cook, and I have eaten in some very good restaurants (I even worked in one, once, but only as a waitress). Mostly, I just like food. There is nearly nothing I won't eat (except Doritos, licorice, and any candy whose name begins with "gummy").

For my inaugural entry, I want to talk about the meal I just had at Sante, the new restaurant in the Aunties bookstore building. I like it. I think this is exactly the kind of restaurant that Spokane needs, and that those of us who like food should support. The menu is thoughtful if not adventurous Northwest fare: steak, pork, salmon. I had the wild boar roulade, which was sausage-like and meaty, served on a disc of mashed potatoes so rich they were almost too much, with a lovely demi-glace jus. I also tasted the pork chop and the chicken, both of which were perfectly cooked and juicy. And herein are the two reasons why I like this place: first, the food is carefully and respectfully prepared. A juicy porkchop can be sublime, but it takes good seasoning, better sourcing, and perfect timing. Second, everything else on the plate adds to the meal, rather than competing or detracting from it. The chicken came with a spring pea and morel risotto (which avoided all hints of mushiness). The entrees were the work of a chef who knows how to work with fresh, seasonal ingredients and put them together so that the total is greater than the sum of the parts.

I also like that Sante has charcuterie roots. The first and cold courses include duck confit, their own sausage (they called in salami, but it was really more of a tasty summer sausage), and house-cured duck prosciutto. These are not items that are typical of Spokane menus, and I am happy they are around. Indeed, my entire time in the restaurant said that these people like food, and like people who like food. The waitress encouraged us to ask questions, and seemed happy when we did. This attitude seemed to fit with their commitment to local farmers and produce, and well as their "slow food" orientation. The service was pleasant and enthusiastic, if not four-star polished.

A final word: the wine list is really interesting. Not in the "faint praise," I don't know what else to say way, but legitimately interesting. Our waitress said that because so many of their diners choose the three or seven course option with wine pairing, they don't feel as constrained to offer recognizable labels. We ordered a French varietal that I have never seen as a varietal (it's usually blended), but it was exactly what we said we wanted. None of the wines on the menu were above fifty dollars a bottle and all were available by the glass, although I believe there were more bottles available on request.

Sante began as a daytime lunch/snack place, and now offers dinner Wednesday through Saturdays. It's dinners are definitely going for fine dining. Meals are expensive by Spokane standards: twenty-five to thirty dollar entries, with tempting first and cold courses running around ten dollars. They offer a three and seven course menu, with wine pairings. Given my current respect for the kitchen, I would hazard that they are options worth exploring.

I wouldn't call Sante a world-class restaurant, but it does seem to be a place that is serious and sophisticated about food. At this point, I'm hoping Spokane can show itself to be the same.