All those things you were planning on doing, all that useful and productive stuff... Yeah, forget about it. You're going to be too busy wasting time for the rest of the week. Like on...
#SpoBREW2 planning and May 17th celebrating! Join us tomorrow, at Jones Radiator, 6:45pm, if you are interested in planning #SpoBREW2 and celebrating Norway's constitution day. We currently have too many teams registered, but one spot is open for anyone who shows up, donning an appropriate red, white, and blue outfit! We're also providing some Norwegian food, so, really, what do you have to lose?
#SpokanePicnic! Sunday, noon, at Finch Arboretum. Bring food, enough to share if you're awesome. More details to be found on this flyer.
Farmers' markets! Hey, it's farmers' market time, and we have re-activated the farmers' markets map, provided by Liberty Lake Farmers' Market.
Screw being "productive"! That is all much more fun.
Now here's an interesting collaboration beer between New Belgium and Elysian: a pink peppercorn IPA. And why not? At this point, pretty much every spice out there has been added to beer, so might as well throw some pink peppercorns into the mix.
The Trip XII is a bit odd, then, but also a bit good. Hell, I'd say it's excellent.
It pours vivid amber with a frothy white head lacing the glass. Give it a sniff, and a combination of pepper and malts are prevalent, flanked by subdued hints of hops. Some might say this is kind of atypical of an IPA, and they might be correct. The Trip XII has more twists than an episode of Castle, however, so don't let the nose fool you entirely.
Don't get me wrong, flavor wise this isn't your typical IPA either. The pepper and malts carry over to the front of your mouth, giving the initial impression of something dry and spicy. It is as you swallow you'll find the hops, and there are more of them than you'd expect. A floral taste tickles the back of the throat, and as the pepper subsides, the hops linger. In that sense, the hops are there, they're just hiding until they come jumping out, screaming "surprise!" into your face.
So the Trip XII is an IPA at heart, but it hides it well. I personally like it. The flavor is powerful, yet well-balanced, and at 7.5% ABV you probably don't want to knock down a few bombers of it. Grab a bottle, though, and you will enjoy sipping it.
Wow. Well. We haven't visited INDABA in a while, mostly because it's -- literally -- a few blocks outside of the roads we usually travel. So, shame on us for that. INDABA has gone from good to very good over the last 2.5 years, and a handful of recent visits suggest it might now be the most consistent coffee spot in Spokane, right up there with Lindaman's.
We tried a macchiato during a recent visit, and it was a pretty beautiful thing. Dry, with the espresso properly dominating the palette, flanked by the milk to lightly soften it all up toward the back. Really, a perfectly made macchiato.
The americano ordered during a separate visit also held a high quality. It's not like well-pulled espresso shots is too much to ask for, but the consistency of them at INDABA is more than we've seen at most other places in town.
That you now also can pick between beans from multiple roasters is kind of nice, giving you a bit more of a choice on how your coffee drink should be made.
The interiors here are nice, with a section of the storefront being a dedicated bookstore. The locale also hosts various coffee-based classes and events. All in all, INDABA's concept seems well thought out and well executed.
All five of our dedicated readers will remember our critical eye on some well-renowned Seattle coffee spots. I can say without an ounce of hyperbole that INDABA is every bit as good as the best of those.
Original January 6th, 2010 review
Located kind of in an easy to miss spot in West Central (1425 W Broadway Ave), INDABA might be in the unfortunate situation of being fairly centrally located yet off the beaten path. Might. Maybe I’m way off, and maybe I was the last person in Spokane to find the place.
Regardless.
INDABA is definitely a coffee shop worth checking out, even if it does mean having to stand up your regular spot at least once. For one, their coffee is pretty dang good. Serving BumperCrop Coffee, there is little to no reason why you’d want to go to Starbucks over INDABA. I mean, seriously. Live a little.
Plus, INDABA joins the ever growing rank of local community oriented dining spots. The coffee, as already mentioned, is local, and they feature artisan wares and art from local artists, while hosting live music. 5% of any gift card proceeds go toward Project HOPE, so you can drink coffee and feel good about yourself.
INDABA is definitely a recommended coffee shop. Check it out.
Is the Gonzaga neighborhood ready for a more high-end restaurant? Judging by the traffic we recently saw at Clover, the answer might just be "yes", and this is a restaurant that deserves any attention it can get if our early, first visit is anything to go by.
They describe their menu as "Mediterranean" which is somewhat of a vague term, yet it seems apt in this case. A bit of Italian, a bit of Spanish, a bit of Greek, with French influences... Yep, I suppose that indeed is Mediterranean, and the dishes didn't seem unfocused either. There was a signature style throughout our meal.
We tried the crab, spinach, and artichoke dip as a starter, and good it was. Granted, it might be hard to royally mess up a dip like that, but the bread (baked in-house, as is the case with all their baked goods) was very nice. It was a good appetizer for sharing.
The soups, too, held a high standard. Their take on a French onion soup, made with cognac as opposed to the more commonly used sherry, was very rich with a good depth of flavors. In fact, have it with an appetizer or a salad, and you can probably forego the main course. That mix of cognac and a good broth held its own flavor-punch, so pair the main course with it accordingly if you choose to go that route.
The tomato bisque was tasty in its own right, although I couldn't pick up on any shell fish in it. Maybe it was there, in smaller chunks, but the tomato really stood in front and center of the palette, which really wasn't a bad thing.
For the main course we tried the dungeness crab and mascarpone ravioli. It looks like, finally, Spokane is starting to see restaurants doing pasta correctly. The ravioli was perfectly cooked, in a light white wine butter sauce. All the flavors melded nicely together, without anything being too overpowering, and an accompanying garlic bread was good for dipping. A simple dish, in many way, yet very well executed.
Food aside, Clover apparently does many other things very well. Cocktails, for example, with a menu developed by the man who wrote the book on the subject. The Negroni balanced the bitter and sweet flavors perfectly, and Satan’s whiskers... Well, some drinks are worth having just because of the name. The cocktails were divided by category, and a clover rating indicated the complexity of them, making the menu easy to browse.
Finally, the service was top-notch throughout, with a very knowledgable staff. It's not often the front of house impress us in this town, but Clover apparently has trained its staff well.
So, this is still early in the game for Clover, but we were impressed with what we saw. The prices were reasonable for the quality of the food, and the interiors were classy yet comfortable. We'll be keeping an eye on Clover, mostly because we feel this is the kind of place Spokane needs. A kind of high-end, yet still reasonably casual restaurant, where fresh food and great drinks are front and center.
