(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

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OK, so it’s not so much that Europa needs to be defended per se, but it does seem to get a bit lost in shuffle these days. And as everyone love lists (no, I’m sure you do!) here are five reasons to at least like Europe:

1. The pizzas are excellent. These are the type of pies you see all over Central and Northern Europe, and they’re excellent.


2. Vegetarian and gluten free options. Oh we all know one. You know. That one person who refuses to eat gluten because it’d, you know, put them in the hospital. Fret not, the gluten free options at Europa are plentiful. And if you’re a vegetarian you will be equally set.


3. Dessert trays. It might be perfectly 80s, but really… If you want to sell something, you can’t go far wrong by putting the products in front of the customer. Their baked goods are also pretty excellent.


4. The ambiance. OK, the mural might be an overkill, but the brick and interiors are awesome.


5. It’s a restaurant we all can agree on. Seriously. Screw Clinkerdagger. Food geeks and people who don’t ever travel outside of Red Robin’s sphere can all get together here. Excellent pastas and pizzas, great sandwiches, good selection of wine and beer… Show Europa some love, they deserve it.

It’s no secret that we like food from trucks at ye olde SFB. Of course, around here we mostly see tacos and the occasional hot dog, which is all fine and dandy, but really… Why not take it further? This was, of course, the basis of a small informal survey we ran, where the vast majority was ready for a more gourmet style food truck.

And, as it seems, something similar to that is happening with Spokane’s first (as far as I know at least) Pop-Up Restaurant. The brainchild of Latah Bistro chef David Blaine, the “restaurant” will pop up (get it?) at random spots around Spokane. It might not be from a truck, but you get the similarity. It’s mobile food.

The concept will start out with burgers—meat and vegetarian style—and will, by the looks of it, grow from there. The first location has still not been announced, but it will happen April 3rd, from 11am-3pm. (Just in time for Spiceavore!) Keep checking out Pop-Up’s Twitter account to learn where it will go down.

To editorialize—and really, why would you not want my opinion?!—I think this is an awesome initiative and I hope it will work out, financially and practically speaking. I like that this is starting off small, with the potential to grow.

We look forward to seeing how this all will work out.

It truly is time for jubel when Deschutes releases its once-in-a-decade bottled Jubel.

As part of the Reserve series, Jubel joins the likes of the Abyss, Mirror Mirror, Black Butte, and the Dissident as Deschutes flagship ales. And this is, not surprisingly, a good one. It’ll be even better after a year, but really, buy a bottle for storing and one (or more) to try now.

Jubel pours a deep ruby red color with a nice creamy head. Give it a good sniff, and the smells will reveal an instant depth. Fruit and oak, spices and malts. And that’s just after the first whiff.

The scents carry over to the flavor; nice and oaky, almost with hints of red wine. Even with a relatively high ABV—10%—there isn’t much of a boozey aftertaste. Mouthfeel is somewhere on the upper side of medium.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Jubel tastes like a year from now. For now, though, I gotta say—quite the fan of it even this early after bottling.