(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Many, many, many^* wants to be included in our little hall of fame list  known as Hometown Heroes, but few make the cut. "Why then" you may ask, "is Erick Doxey" on the list?"

It's a good question, but you might be surprised to hear that Mr. Doxey is quite the accomplished and prolific man. A Marco Arment of Spokane if you like.

As a professional photographer with a blog documenting those who make Spokane great, Mr. Doxey's has taken this city to his heart and is graciously sharing his talent with it. Those of you who have perused local sites like Central Food have already taken delight in his work. Of course, his own site does contain many more samples of his work.

And of course: He has participated in every #SpoBREW event so far, and is set to compete in the #SpoBREW Classic. Mr. Doxey truly has his tentacles wrapped all around Spokane.

So what makes the man tick? According to the Hometown Hero himself...

Music: The first pop record i ever owned was Thriller. The first cassette tape I bought with my own money was Licensed To Ill. I've been consuming music ever since. I even had a stint as a working musician for 5 years. I had one band that *actually* released a real album in 2003....and it was good.

Family: It's changed my life and I wouldn't change it for the world. kids are like LSD; unless you've actually done it, the experience can't be explained.

Photography: I've been taking pics since I was a wee lad gallivanting across the globe. It didn't hurt that my dad was an amateur photographer, either. Some of my fondest memories are of the screen and projector being set up so we could view our adventures. Now, i can't imagine my life without my camera. People are still my favourite subject; everyone of us is different and we each have our own story. Trying to capture that is a never ending challenge.

Pizza: It was either this or beer, and pizza won. There's no such thing as "the perfect slice" but I've come close a few times. Luckily, I know the guy that has come the closest to creating that perfect slice. Veraci, you complete me.

Spokane: It's cheesy, but it's true. I never had a hometown and never found a place that I wanted to adopt. That all changed when I moved to Spokane. It's like I always tell my out of town friends: Spokane is big enough to keep your interest, yet small enough to not drive you crazy. To me, it's the perfect little city. ...except when it's 100 degrees out, then I just hole myself up in a dark room in my basement until it passes.

Our current Hometown Heroes list

• Jeremy Williamson, Son of Spokane
• Mike Tigas, Son of Spokane Emeritus
• Erick Doxey
• Keaton Violet

^* Probably not "many".

We've said it before and we'll say it again, with our fists shaking toward the sky: The Spokane coffee scene has really improved over the last few years, moving toward something that we've been waiting for quite a while now. Revel 77 and Coeur have stepped up the game as far as coffee shops go, and it's great seeing roasters like Manners pop up.

Then there's the old guard of course. Or old-ish. Like DOMA, who we love, and you love too. We got sent a tin of their Summer Lovin' -- full disclosure as always, it was sent to us, and we didn't pay for it -- and a good coffee-kick-off to the summer it is.

Going by memory, this is about as light of a coffee I think we've had from DOMA, but that's not to say it doesn't pack a flavor punch. Being an Ethiopian (followed by a few words I will skip on trying to pronounce) the black currant dominates fairly heavily, but there's definitely a whole lot more fruit to it than that.

A citric acid hits well toward the middle; think the feeling you get from biting into a really tart orange. Flanking it are good hints of red currants, all adding up to a juicy face-smacking flavor. That, mixed with a light mouthfeel, really makes for a good cup of coffee.

We AeroPressed and French pressed the Summer Lovin' and would probably recommend sticking with the latter. Not that it was bad AeroPressed mind you, but the French press seemed to showcase the nuances of the flavors.

There are many roaster around town -- some good, some not so good -- and DOMA has another winner on their hands with Summer Lovin'. Great job by Josh Quick, too, for illustrating the package.

SavorX is back Kickstarting, after successfully funding their previous venture. This time they're looking for $50,000 to build a "Spiceologist Block", basically a knife block for spices. The concept, which is a co-venture between SavorX and Farmgirl Gourmet, looks impressive, and is quickly moving toward reality with $10,000 already raised. The block will run you a $69 pledge, though there are more tiers, both lower and higher, so give it a look.

A new homebrew shop is getting ready to open in Post Falls. Called Two Knights Homebrew, the spot labels itself "the coolest homebrew store in THE WORLLLLDDDD" (their words), and are aiming at opening "SOOOON" (again, their words). Check them out on Facebook.

Selkirk Abbey is turning one, a milestone celebrated this Saturday. We quite enjoyed our visit there, and as they're debuting bottles of St. Joseph during the shindig, there is little reason not to go. Check out their Facebook invite for more details, and get ready to see the aforementioned bottles for public sale soon.

And the same-ish goes for Orlison Brewing (formerly known as Golden Hills). They should have cans of their beer available to the public "soon". (According to themselves.) You can check out the newly renamed brewery at Spokane on the Rocks this weekend.

More local breweries news -- Ramblin' Road is getting a tap room. The crew behind Casper Fry's remodel, Kilgore Construction, is heading up the transformation at the 730 N Columbus location. Check out Facebook (the theme of the day, apparently) for more.

Not to be outdone, Waddell's north side location is moving right alone. Yada yada yada for more.

Finally -- and apparently this is not on Facebook -- the brains behind the Marquee is opening the Closing Bell on 12 N Post. I got nothing... Liquor License Stalker told us it was happening, though.

Some of you like it, some of you don't, and those of you who don't are clearly wrong. Atilano's burritos are awesome, and you should embrace that.

Then there's their restroom, and... Well, one could say it's a bit lacking, but I honestly am not feeling that generous today.

Let's illustrate the problem...

Now by all means, I have seen tags, and graffiti, and general writing on restroom walls before, but this one measured in at about three feet, both in height and width.

I certainly can live with something like this -- though will give minus points for the overused "West Side" -- but let me re-emphasize the main point: this is a merely an illustration of other things going on in here.

The place stinks. Literally. You know that gust of stench that greets you when you exit the car when at the dump? Open the restroom door here and you'll promptly be reminded of that feeling.

Yet, again, I could live with that too. Really. But as any forward thinking person would have figured out by now, the stench emanates from something, somewhere. And a quick look around makes it painfully clear what is going on.

We're talking puddles of urine around the urinal; an overflowing trashcan; a general dirtiness all around you. I don't even want to know what was going on in the stall, but I assume explorations of it would require a stronger stomach than mine.

Atilano's does have great burritos, we stand by that. Just don't use their restroom. Ever. It is a journey you may never return from.