In the summer, The Gourmet Burger Shop is abuzz. A scenic drive along State Route 302 funnels diners to a quirky building with outdoor seating serving some of the best burgers on that side of the Narrows bridge. Chef-owner Travis Hightower turns out towering burgers made with hand-formed patties – built on glossy buns from the nearby 3 Clouds Bakery. Read more »
Pierce County’s newest craft spirits distillery opens Friday. Port Steilacoom Distillery is a micro distillery started by spirits enthusiasts who will keep their day jobs working in health care. They’ll operate their tasting room in downtown Steilacoom on Wednesdays through Sundays.
The distillery joins three others producing gin, vodka and whiskey in Pierce County. All three opened this year, the outgrowth of a statewide trend that got its start five years ago when liquor laws changed to allow for craft distillers in Washington state.
Port Steilacoom will produce small batches of vodka and gin, with plans for a specialty spirit the distillers describe as being in the same flavor palate as rum, only made with honey, not cane sugar. Read more »
After less than a year in business, Puyallup River Brewing is expanding from a garage brewery to an alehouse that will open in downtown Puyallup sometime in January.
Owner-brewer Eric Akeson plans a 2,000-square-foot alehouse that will tap local craft beers as well as the beers he brews in his backyard South Hill brewery, which he will keep as the headquarters for his brewing operation. Read more »
Sue Kidd checks in on Pacific Grill, one of Tacoma’s finest eateries, run by Tacoma native Gordon Naccarato. As the holiday season unfolds and diners search for locations to celebrate, Pacific Grill should top their lists.
For seven years, Gordon Naccarato has operated one of Tacoma’s top fine dining destinations – Pacific Grill in downtown Tacoma, located inside the historic Waddell Building. Naccarato’s restaurant resume is three decades deep with stops at some of the finest West Coast kitchens of yesteryear and today – he’s cooked with Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton at Campanile, Michael McCarty of Michael’s in Santa Monica, and Jonathan Waxman, whom Naccarato credits for teaching him to view food from a playful perch.
The following excerpts are from a series of e-mail interviews with Naccarato, who not only owns Pacific Grill with business partner Joe Hardwick Jr., but has collaborated on a number of projects with his brother Steve Naccarato. One of those projects is Shake Shake Shake, a retro burger restaurant that will open in the Stadium neighborhood later this year. Stadium, by the way, is the high school from which Naccarato graduated in 1972. Read on. Read more »
Dear readers, I love your questions – even when I don’t have a particularly solid answer. This question comes from Don Peterson, “Sue, where can we go for fish and chips – just like SPUDS – in Tacoma? Don’t like battered fish and not fond of frozen french fries, we like the fresh potatoes like SPUDS makes.” Here’s my response to Peterson’s question. Want to chime in? Go ahead. Read more »
Morgan Alexander’s brewery is so small, he calls it a sub-microbrewery. He operates a quarter barrel system out of his coffee cafe, Amocat, which aptly spells Tacoma if you flip the letters. Visitors to Tacoma Brewing Co. will find new kegs tapped every Friday night. Like the coffee he brews by day, the craft beer Alexander creates is an extension of his self-described foodie side – most everything he brews is with good grub in mind.
Alexander’s love of brew bloomed after he industriously figured out that it’s cheaper to make beer than buy it – something he discovered in – a-hem – high school. Stadium High School, to be exact. Alexander is a 1986 graduate. He grew up in the neighborhood near Frisko Freeze. I don’t know if anyone can get more Tacoma than this – Alexander delivered newspapers as a kid to the drive-in and Frisko Freeze paid him in money and ice cream. True Tacoma story, right there. Read more »
Tacoma’s newest brewery and wine bar not only are across the street from one another, both opened this month as extensions of already established food businesses in the St. Helens neighborhood in Tacoma. The wine bar is STINK Tank, a sibling business to STINK Cheese-Meat. The brewery is Tacoma Brewing Co., an extension of the coffee cafe Amocat. Today, I’ve got a Q & A with Blondin of STINK. Check back Friday for a Q & A with Alexander. Read more »