(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

First and foremost, and possibly most interesting: Flying Goat is opening a sister-restaurant in the former Villagio space. That's right by Manito and Super 1 on 29th and Grand.

Exactly what re.pub.lic★pi -- and we're not making that name up -- will be is anyone's guest, seeing their Facebook page was swiftly removed after it was «leaked». Inland Northwest Business Watch grabbed a picture of a building-rendering, though, so check it out.

Speaking of pizza, Veraci is kicking off 2014 at the Hop Shop today. Stop by at 5pm to celebrate the occasion. Address is 3803 S Grand. (Apparently the happening street this week.)

Perry Street Brewing opened yesterday, and early word is that it's «legit». And too keep with the pizza theme: You can order pies from South Perry Pizza -- they'll even deliver! -- and eat them at the brewery, which is kind of awesome. Check them out at 1025 S Perry.

Bellissimo Cellars has a winery license submitted for a 1507 E Trent Location.

Finally -- and we're a bit late on this one -- Big Dipper has an indiegogo campaign running to raise $50,000 for a fire sprinkler system. The current total isn't looking to good -- are people getting tired of these grassroots campaigns? -- but if you want another good Spokane concert venue, this seems like a very worthy cause.

Walla Walla does have quite a bit going for it, be it their restaurant scene or, obviously, their wine scene. One spot that particularly impressed us, was Whitehouse-Crawford, a restaurant located in a nicely restored downtown planing mill. It has a great vibe, and, more importantly, a menu to match it.

Really, you can eat your way through every category on the menu here, and come out of it feeling good about yourself.

Going from the beginning, the Chinese pork belly buns is a great starting point. The pork has a mouth-tingling kick to it, which goes well with the hoison sauce. It's all wrapped in some incredibly soft buns, which, somewhat impressively, do not leak the juices from the meat or pickles. 

It's not a big dish either, and it's a good indicator of things to come.

Of the salads, the warm frisee impressed. The duck liver vinaigrette has a subtle flavor, with the poached egg almost taking the job as a dressing. The bacon, too, is very good. I don't necessarily find many salads mind-blowing, but this one definitely holds its own.

As far as entrees go, I was particularly impressed with the duck. The breast and leg come roasted, and are served in a coriander jus. Both are perfectly tender, cooked to a medium-rare doneness. 

It is not a particularly complex dish, really, and that is really the beauty of it. The clean flavors of a peppered duck with the deeper flavors of the jus, that should be all you need. And the accompanying kumquat salad rounds the dish out nicely.

For me, the only let down was the gnocchi. The flavors are undoubtedly good -- with a beef cheek ragu and all -- but the dumplings, during our visit, were too mushy for my liking. Flavorful, but just a bit too overcooked.

Finally, the house-made salted caramel ice cream is a good way to round out the meal. It might be hard to screw up that kind of dessert, but this ice cream actually makes it feel like you are sucking on a salted caramel. That's pretty impressive.

In fact, Walla Walla's restaurant scene is pretty impressive. It's not wine-tourist-good -- you know, good, but generic; generic, but good -- just simply good in its own right. You can, of course, get some impressive wines with your meals -- Whitehouse-Crawford has a great list -- but the food alone is really worth the short drive from Spokane alone.

And definitely stop by Whitehouse-Crawford if you go. Our experience was a happy one.

So, let's talk Uinta's Labyrinth here for a while, because, really, why not? It's not a cheap beer, but it's a good, nay, great beer, and you should sample it at least once. Really. Feel free to bitch me out if you don't like it -- I don't invite that kind of abuse unless I have a good inkling it won't happen.

Labyrinth is a black ale, and one with a kick to it. A good 13.2% ABV will smack you around until you (almost literally) hit the ground. They're subtle slaps, mind you. You don't really get a true taste of the booze, least not to the point you'd think the ABV actually was that high.

Smelling it, you'll pick up on a lot of dark stuff. Chocolate; licorice; traces of vanilla, flanked by hints of dark fruits. It's pretty glorious, like a drinkable perfume.

Flavors hit your mouth like a tidal wave, one that you cannot escape, filled with everything you'd expect from the nose. Keep digging into it, and other elements will make themselves known. Effects of the rye barreling, in particular, will come knocking sooner rather than later.

The mouthfeel is smooth like velvet, with just a bit of toastiness lingering on the roof of the mouth. Again, the alcohol doesn't feel like its dizzying booziness: Only a comfortable warmth will embrace you, in a way that it's telling you everything will be OK.

It's not overly sweet either -- an issue I've had with Firestone as of late -- just perfectly balanced.

There really is no reason not to try the Labyrinth. It makes for a good time. You might want to share the bottle, although… Now and again, you really should treat yourself, shouldn't you?

We think you should, and there's no better way doing so, than enjoying a bottle of Labyrinth.

Let's just jump into it, shall we?

First, Stella's is opening a second location. In a Facebook paragraph that might be the longest ever written by man, we can read about a full-scale restaurant which includes a kitchen and bar. So, good on them -- location and opening dates are supposed to be announced «soon».

Cannon Coffee & Cone has submitted a beer and wine application. This should make it a contender for the smallest bar in Spokane, which is quite the feat, considering what choices we already have.

Underground 15 is, as we mentioned on Twitter a while back, opening in Blue Spark's old space.

Manners Roasting has updated their website: You can now order coffee straight from the source.