Continuing with my roundups of the food news I haven’t elaborated on, but are still worth a little taste, here are some happenings in the local (and occasionally national) food world:
Checking in With Local Restaurants
A little past the last week, but still worth noting since I missed a mention in my blog-world absence: Local food reviewer Bernard Jacobson headed to Poulsbo for a taste of Sogno di Vitto and offered this review: “For the most part, too, the food and drink measure up to the buzz created by this exciting space,” and rated the food an 8 out of 10. And if you want a health overview of restaurants in general, the latest Kitsap food inspection scores were released last week.
Reading Up With Beer
Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo has been marking its presence in the social media sphere, and this week offered up part two of a food-related blog post that brings together both two of my loves in a way I thought was pretty darn clever. They matched fine literature with craft brews. It goes beyond just taking a drink mentioned in a book in say the way you’d pair a Jack Rose with “The Sun Also Rises” or an orgy of rum over ice with “The Rum Diary”. The blogger (maybe stretching a little) matches characteristics of a brew with the character of the book.
Loving Local
In Washington state, next week has been declared Farmers Market Week to celebrate locally grown food. Locally, a few markets, such as the one in Port orchard have a few activities planned, according to a story by South Kitsap’s Chris Henry.
And speaking of local food and local, the Orchard Theatre is among the latest to Proceeds will go to benefit the blossoming Kitsap Food Co-Op effort.
Bests
Going further afield, across Sound to Seattle, last week marked the alternative newspaper Seattle Weekly’s annual roundup of “Best Of”-ness. Among the many and often creative categories, the Weekly compiled a list of best restaurants, best local food blog, best places for free happy hour food and other “best-ofs” including things like “Best Carb-on-Carb Action Since Hawaii Invented the Loco Moco.”
Grocery Recession
Even Seattle foodies are apparently trying to save a little cash at the register. The Seattle Times reports that food shoppers are trading down on expensive items like soda, wine and snacks. The one possibly good thing to come out of this recession may be that people will learn what Europeans have known for some time: that you can have a good, tasty bottle of wine for under $20, even (hold your breath) an occasionally drinkable bottle of Two Buck Chuck.
Local Representation on Iron Chef
It looks like Seattle will have some representation on the television reality competition series “Iron Chef” in the form of Holly Smith, of Cafe Juanita and Poco Carretto, according to former P-I food writer Rebekah Denn. She joined nine other top chefs in a five-week worldwide competition show, which premieres Oct. 4. I know folks who hate it, but I’ve found much to love about the show since my first peek at the original Japanese version of the show. The original was billed as a way to bring out the artistry and deadline-induced creativity of cooking. Both the Japanese and U.S. versions do bring out a measure of that, what I really love about the show is the way it captures much of the heated process and sometimes mistakes that occur in the kitchen, the charred-beyond-recognition grilled meats, the sauces forgotten on the burner. It makes me feel a little better about my food failures.
Speaking of Representation …
In response to a spate of food scares in foods from spinach to peanuts during the past year, the House of Representatives recently passed a new package of food safety laws. Among other things, the measure would require the Food and Drug Administration to conduct inspections every 6 to 12 months at food processing plants that it deems high-risk. Lower-risk plants would be inspected at least once every three years, and warehouses for packaged foods at least once every five. To pay for it all, the bill would impose a yearly fee of $500 on food processing plants. The measure moves to the Senate for scrutiny, etc.
Getting Geeky
For foodies who also are technophiles, Mashable compiled a list of food buying, cooking and eating web and phone applications that included things like an online marketplace for locally created and artisanal foods called Foodzie and one of my newfound jungle to get lost in, the food-based wiki Foodista to restaurant review sites like Urban Spoon.
