I think my thing is that I don't "get" cupcakes. You might say there is little to "get," and that might very well be correct. Maybe I just don't "get" Celebrations? I just wasn't that bowled over by their cupcakes.
That's not to say they were bad. They weren't. The cake part was fine; nothing crazily exciting, and I couldn't really distinguish the flavors between the various cupcakes too distinctly, but that's not to say it was offensively awful or anything. Just OK.
I can't say I was sold on the frosting, however. They were, from what I can understand, made using either buttercream or cream cheese, and were rich. Very rich. A bit too rich, in fact. Again I had problems truly distinguishing the flavors, largely because it almost felt like taking a bite of butter. There were some flavors there, sure, but the richness kind of hid them.
The cupcakes weren't bad, nor were they amazing, and the chocolate chip cookie was actually the best thing we picked up at Celebrations. I certainly do hope the proprietors see great success, as the place is worth visiting.
Follow them on Facebook to learn about their "happy hours" and special offers.
UPDATE: Fans of Guy Fieri has semi-confirmed what we already semi-knew, and added Chaps into the mix. The Sante crew also believe Hill's is on the list.
Spokane is abuzz about Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives hitting town. We have never watched the show -- we rather enjoy the man's non-food related gameshow however -- but we did talk to the production company (they were very nice) about some places we (and you too -- remember the poll?) thought they should hit, as well as places they probably would want to hit. The two are, of course, very different.
Long story short, these are the spots we can confirm or semi-confirm they've visited:
The Elk: Bart was there, quite possibly because he's stalking Fieri across town.
Waddell's: According to Nick they've already been there.
Picabu: From an anonymous source.
Capone's: BITE Facebook group claims this one, with Nosworthy's Hall of Fame apparently coming up.
Well... Assuming all of these are true, I will repeat @andrewzahler's words of wisdom: "Neither of which strike me as diner, drive-in OR dive." Can't help but wonder why Dick's and Chicken & More aren't on the list (so far).
Got any other locations they've been to/are going to? Feel free to e-mail us and we'll spread the word...
I usually go for cappuccinos or Americanos when I grab an espresso based drink, but that's not to say I'm a fascist purist in my coffee choices. As Black Tie often delivers blended drinks that aren't just syrupy messes, and as I've had some experience with things that are spicy before, I was intrigued by their Intense! menu, and decided to go a bit outside the same-ol'.
So I don't know, maybe I set myself up for a bad experience? I've had spicy coffee that was good before, but a Dark Chocolate Cherry Chipotle at the most intense spiciness -- the Volcano -- could have gone either way. Long story short: This was not good. It could have been good. But it wasn't.
The main problem was that each sip felt like two drinks from two different cups: one cup of coffee and one cup of hot sauce. You taste the coffee up front, then the spiciness after you've swallowed. That is not a good thing. Had the spiciness been incorporated into the coffee I think it might have been OK, but a chaser of hot sauce after a rather sweet mocha... It sort of just confused the tastebuds.
On the upside, I will admit it was spicy at least, which is always a gamble.
I like Black Tie. They often make nice Americanos. The Intense! menu, though, I'm not so sure about.
It's a familiar scene: You sit at a restaurant -- let's for argument's sake say Sante -- and the menu has more foreign words than English. Mirepoix? Zabaglione? Shirred eggs could be good, but what is it? You could ask the wait staff of course, but really, seeing that you are a Better Taster and use an iPhone... There must be an app for that.
And I'm sure there are plenty, but now you have another option with our very own Food Dictionary! Even better, seeing that this is a web app, it will work in any newer incarnations of WebKit browsers, including the one used in Android 2.2. (Chrome and Safari will also display the site on your desktop.)
You can simply access it by browsing to the website, and, on the iPhone, press "+" and "Add to Home Screen" to run it like an app in the future.
This is still in early testing phases, so things might not work as well as it should (I've only tested it on an aging iPhone 3G myself) but if you use it, at least you don't have to worry about updating the app, as it's all run on the web, where we'll update it for you.
As for the definitions, most were nabbed from Wikipedia, so let us know if you find any errors.
