Inlander 09/17/2020

WILDFIRES HOW ONE BLAZE NEARLY WIPED A TOWN OFF THE MAP PAGE 13

BLOOMSDAY THE WEEKEND’S VIRTUAL RACE WILL BE RUN AROUND THE WORLD PAGE 18

SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2020 | THINK GLOBAL. LIVE INLAND.

Dining AT A DISTANCE

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INSIDE VOL. 27, NO. 49 | COVER PHOTO: YOUNG KWAK

COMMENT 5 NEWS 13 CULTURE 18

FOOD 22 FILM 26 MUSIC 28

30 EVENTS I SAW YOU 32 GREEN ZONE 33

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ast week, record-breaking WILDFIRES exploded across Washington, one of them traveling 60 miles in less than a day, consuming hundreds of thousands of acres and destroying homes, lives and, in the case of Malden, almost an entire town. This week, staff reporter Wilson Criscione takes us back to Malden, located about 40 minutes south of Spokane, and recreates the dramatic moments when the townspeople realized that hell was heading their way. Don’t miss his heart-rending report on page 13.

Also this week: In the middle of this issue, readers will find a special Restaurant Guide from Back to Business. BACK TO BUSINESS is part of a local marketing effort in support of Spokane County’s hospitality sector and was developed by the Inlander and a variety of partners. Find this advertising supplement on page 20.

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COMMENT STAFF DIRECTORY PHONE: 509-325-0634 Ted S. McGregor Jr. (tedm@inlander.com) PUBLISHER

IF YOU HAD TO EVACUATE DUE TO THE WILDFIRES AND YOU COULD ONLY BRING ONE THING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

HAVE YOU TRIED CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN PRICE CHEF’S TASTING?

$25 - $75 PER PERSON EVERYDAY

J. Jeremy McGregor (x224) GENERAL MANAGER

KATE POGUE RAU: Aside from pets and my daughter, I’d grab the gift she gave me for my birthday last year: A vessel with dozens of strips of paper, on each she’s written something she loves/admires about me. Having just emerged from the terrible teens, this gift means the world to me.

EDITORIAL Jacob H. Fries (x261) EDITOR

Dan Nailen (x239) MANAGING EDITOR/ARTS & CULTURE

Chey Scott (x225) FOOD & LISTINGS EDITOR Nathan Weinbender (x250) FILM & MUSIC EDITOR

Derek Harrison (x248) ART DIRECTOR

Quinn Welsch (x279) COPY EDITOR

Wilson Criscione (x282), Daniel Walters (x263), Samantha Wohlfeil (x234) STAFF WRITERS

Young Kwak PHOTOGRAPHER

Caleb Walsh ILLUSTRATOR

Amy Alkon, Will Maupin, George Nethercutt, Jess Walter CONTRIBUTORS

ADVERTISING Kristi Gotzian (x215) ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Carolyn Padgham-Walker (x214), Emily Walden (x260) SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Mary Bookey (x216), Jeanne Inman (x235), Rich McMahon (x241), Autumn Adrian Potts (x251) Claire Price (x217), Wanda Tashoff (x222) ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Kristina Smith (x223) MARKETING DIRECTOR

Houston Tilley (x247) EVENTS & PROMOTIONS ASSISTANT

PRODUCTION & SUPPORT Wayne Hunt (x232) DESIGN & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

Ali Blackwood (x228)

EDITOR’S NOTE

Normally, we ask our question of the week of people we randomly encounter on the street. But with the coronavirus pandemic, we instead asked our followers on social media to share their thoughts.

BARBARA DOUGLAS: Computer with photos. Did have to evacuate 29 years ago in a firestorm. Threw blue recycling bin at my oldest — 10 years old — and told him to grab pictures.

He started taking stuff off the walls and I yelled ALBUMS!! We left with cat, dog, blue bin and kids.

CASEY SMITH: The letters from the White House sent to my son for the 20,000 soaps he made for the homeless. I hope he preserves it and passes it on to his great-grandchildren one day. Everything else can be replaced

AT KENDALL YARDS

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JASEN RILEY: My laptop. It holds all my photos of my child’s birth and growing years. Only thing that really matters to me are the memories I may have forgotten and one day would love to relive.

AMANDA ROSE ASHLINGSAMMONS: My father’s cremated remains. He passed away Feb. 28 and we haven’t been able to inter him yet because of COVID. ALICE LYON-WEBB: If we are talking about stuff, I would grab my teddy bear. I’m 33 and he still sits on my dresser.

CREATIVE LEAD

Derrick King (x238), Tom Stover (x265) SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Jessie Hynes (x231) GRAPHIC DESIGNER Frank DeCaro (x226) CIRCULATION MANAGER Sydney Angove (x242), Charlotte Lepp (x242), Jess Kennedy (x212) ADVERTISING SUPPORT

OPERATIONS Dee Ann Cook (x211) BUSINESS MANAGER Kristin Wagner (x210) ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

ALISON EATOUGH: The piece of my dad’s barn that I broke off before the barn was torn down. It’s the most important material thing I possess besides my memories of him.

IAN WARREN: I would strap my piano to the back of my car and have someone drive while I play like a maniac!

SUSAN STRATTON: Nothing. I’d run around in circles trying to decide what the one thing was I should grab and fail. I’d end up grabbing a box of cereal or something. n

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 5

COMMENT | CULTURE

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It Depends Seeing the world in absolutes may feel good, but it’s no way for us to live

BY INGA LAURENT

I

’ve been teaching first-year law students, introducing them to core tenets. The phrase — “it depends” — is perhaps the most paramount tool we possess in our profession. Simple and succinct, the sentence signifies: We would be wise to remember that answers, especially to complex questions, are seldom settled matters.

We are expected to research the realm of plausible responses and make reasonable assumptions, which means rarely speaking in absolutes.

We have a healthy respect, even a reverence for the innumerable assembly of variables.

This can drive people crazy — the non-answer answers, a perpetual purgatory of the always in-between — but being schooled in such an ethos has been a huge benefit. Awareness that context, a comma, framing or a fact can radically alter an outcome is deeply humbling. Acceptance of this premise has made me a better professional and, arguably, a better person.

I’m persuaded (momentarily, anyway) that keeping this orientation will prove fairly aspirational. Weening off the drug of certainty isn’t easy because it’s extraordinarily innate. Author

Judith Glaser tells us, “When you argue and win, your brain floods with different hormones: adrenaline and dopamine, which make you feel good, dominant, even invincible.”

Yes, flying those massive flags of conviction can feel comforting, I know.

I

also realize that many of my peak cringe-worthy memories center on when I was immutable. As a snotty teenager, sporting high-top Ked sneakers (clearly questionable in retrospect), I was briefly intolerable, dripping with sarcasm and over-confidence. My mother, of whose eyes I was most assuredly the apple, confirmed this recollection. And there are those vivid replays … scenes etched in too great of detail, I assume solely to serve as reminders. Plenty of situations, where ambiguity was my undoing, still resonate.

Times when I let the anxiety of the ambiguous win me over, far too focused on what could be

to focus on what actually was. Failing to heed Rilke’s advice to “live the questions,” I clung to meager inferences and made irrational demands for definition. This is akin to asking for a lie, a fallacy of a future that’s fixed instead of indeterminate.

But the cringe-worthy can be an exceptional teacher. While certitude can justifiably be an asset, my preference is for its doling in pretty small doses. As I age, taking in the world and its complexities, as truths are revised and rearranged, I’ve come to appreciate people with a posture of openness, those prone to wonder rather than declare.

There is just so much that we can never fully comprehend, like exponentials, the Universal scope, God(s), or how people can listen to the same political speech and hear completely different messages. How will I know if your blue is my blue? How will I know if we interpret terms the same way, does your “justice” or “fairness” align in lockstep with mine? How will I know if he really loves me (RIP Queen Whitney)?

T

hough there’s so much we cannot know, our wellbeing depends on some approximation. My current theory is based on the rationale that the more care we extend, the better our estimate. So to me, the hallmark of people exhibiting really positive relationships are those who never stop learning about each other. The smartest people are simply the most curious, always shoring up CALEB WALSH ILLUSTRATION their understanding. Those who live closest to their faith constantly test its application, revisiting how the sacred should show up in this moment. And the most loving parents pay the sharpest attention, soaking up the minutiae composing a child.

How will I know if we interpret terms the same way, does your “justice” or “fairness” align in lockstep with mine?

It may sound counterintuitive but to be grounded is to make peace with the unknown, embodying psychologically healthy characteristics like adaptivity. There are folks who manage to stay loose, elastic, pliable, rejecting the siren calls of self-righteous rigidity. They take in lots of info — different perspectives, disquieting facts, failures, feedback, even fake news — distill the useful, discard the unhelpful, and let the necessary alter. This is the reason that I’m an absolute sucker for those who offer true apologies. Not the gas-lighting platitudes of “I’m sorry if you feel,” “It wasn’t my intention to (completely ignoring the outcome)” or “You misinterpreted,” but the good, old-fashioned kind, replete with real accountability. Swoon.

I suppose some could see my appreciation for equivocation and contend I lack conviction. It’s a fair critique, so I’ll allow it, but the jury’s out and thus the verdict, still undecided. In the end, I guess it depends (once again) on your hierarchy of values. And when this life comes to its (hopefully quite natural) conclusion, with me smack dab on the precipice of the ultimate unknown, I’d rather have established a right lengthy record of far less conviction than effort, time spent in rapt and thoughtful consideration, contemplating all I’ve been given. n Inga N. Laurent is a local legal educator and a Fulbright scholar. She is deeply curious about the world and its constructs and delights in uncovering common points of connection that unite our shared but unique human experiences.

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COMMENT | SOCIAL PROGRESS

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Reckoning Requires Reason As America grapples with a crisis of inequality, debate needs to be open, not closed

BY GEORGE NETHERCUTT

I

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dentifying the remains of systemic racism that were largely addressed by the civil rights movement has in many ways discouraged an honest and open conversation. Many attempts to discuss objective data or examine the specific problems that have led to social unrest have been stifled. Harper’s “Letter on Justice and Open Debate” and Barry Weiss’ resignation from the New York Times are two examples of left-leaning perspectives that recognize the problem created by the far left’s narrative. It’s a problem that limits free-flowing conversations about the extremely complicated topic of racial inequality, and inequality in general.

The existence of inequality is a problem that has existed long before the entirety of civilization.

But not all inequality equates to inequity. And it’s important to distinguish between the two. We are all born with advantages and disadvantages — many of which are out of our control. People are extremely complicated, and because of this federal policies to address perceived inequity in a given group of people need to be carefully crafted in order to be successful.

The civil rights movement was ultimately successful because there was a very specific set of goals that was centered around extending the principles of the Constitution to all individuals — regardless of race.

Fifty years later, the case for race-based inequity is more complicated and therefore requires the careful identification of remaining problems so that they can be addressed through the appropriate policies.

The civil rights movement was also largely successful because it was inclusive and had a more positive message: focus on making America more perfect, instead of the insistence that America is “inherently” flawed.

The Harper’s letter eloquently demonstrates the dangers of groupthink, which chastises anyone from deviating from the narrative. Limiting open discussion on a complicated topic has a high potential for also limiting true progress — particularly for a very divided country. Moreover, it’s essential to ensure people are able to have free dialogue so that compromise can lead to improved policies aimed at addressing complicated problems.

Unfortunately, Black Lives Matter seems to establish a single narrative that results in chastising those who disagree with certain policy goals

— even if they support the movement’s overall principles. This is why we see many examples of the arguments among the left regarding the defunding of police departments. Any attempt to discuss alternatives to defunding the police is considered “against the movement.” There’s simply no room for alternative ideas.

Similarly, the Black Lives Matter movement has been supportive of removing important historic American monuments — even those that represent the founding principles of the country.

It’s a sensitive and controversial topic, and there’s general support and good arguments to remove some Confederate statues. However, it’s a slippery slope and we should recognize that these monuments were erected to identify the people (and events) worth remembering, while also recognizing that many of those individuals were far from perfect. However, when one observes any historic figure, it’s important to separate the virtues from their flaws. We do this with artists and musicians, and we certainly don’t destroy

It’s important to understand America’s story — including the moral challenges of the past — so that future generations can avoid repeating these mistakes. art or music when we learn of the vices of the creators. It is, after all, impossible to destroy the individual flaws of a statue without also destroying the statue’s original attempts to recognize people devoted to American greatness.

It’s important to understand America’s story — including the moral challenges of the past — so that future generations can avoid repeating these mistakes. Ultimately, inclusive movements aimed at expanding America’s principles to build a more equitable and perfect nation will be far more successful than movements centered around negativity, division and destruction. n George Nethercutt served in Congress from 1995-2005, representing the 5th District of Washington state.

COMMENT | ELECTION 2020

The Power of Youth Staring down the most significant election of our lifetimes, what do you do with all of this political anxiety?

BY JESS WALTER

A

quick thought experiment: Imagine you’re a progressive voter whose concerns run toward the environment, affordable health care, sensible gun laws, racial and economic justice. Or a moderate worried about government ethics, our response to coronavirus, and America’s standing in the world. Or, for that matter, just imagine you’re a sentient being exhausted by the barrage of inanities, illegalities and outright lies belched out daily by the Trump White House.

Six weeks before the most significant election of our lifetimes, what do you do with all of this political anxiety? Argue on social media? Actually read the campaign junk mail in your inbox?

(Please, just send $5.) Stare into your cellphone all day, clicking back and forth between CNN and 538.com like some deranged metronome?

Especially now, in the midst of a pandemic lockdown, in a blue state where your vote isn’t likely to matter much, what can you do to feel inspired, to not feel a sense of helplessness?

This week, I decided to check in with young voters. Specifically, Spokane teens Rosie Zhou and Jadyn Malone, 17-year-old seniors at Ferris and Lewis and Clark high schools, respectively, and two of the organizers of The Power of Youth: Taking Action for a Better Future, an online get-out-the-vote event this Saturday at 7 pm.

Registration for the Zoom event can be found at bit.ly/33rDxTh. Zhou and Malone are what happens when you run that same thought experiment on smart, informed teens, raised on a steady diet of active-

Young people in action: Sarah Hegde, left, and Ivy Pete. shooter drills and terrifying climate change news, young people looking at spending the next sixty or seventy years contending with the results of an election only one of them is old enough to vote in. (Malone turns 18 just before the Nov. 3 election, Zhou just after.)

While many of their elders fret and scroll through our phones in these last interminable weeks, Zhou, Malone and a handful of other young activists decided to put their considerable energy into action.

“The issues in this election, they really affect us as young people,” said Zhou. “It’s important that we take action now and get involved.”

They’d hoped to put on a live event in advance of National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 22, but with COVID-19 restrictions, they set their sights on virtual activism. Saturday’s program will include artwork, poetry and spoken word from young local artists, open discussions and presentations from various groups about how young people can get involved.

“I feel like a lot of people, they might post something on Instagram and feel like they’re doing their part,” Zhou said. “But it’s important to get involved with local groups and organizations, to speak up, challenge things that seem wrong to you.”

Zhou and Malone contacted me earlier this year after I wrote pieces in the Inlander urging young people to become more politically active — voters 18 to 24 are typically half as likely to vote as older people. But that might be changing.

In the 2018 midterms, the share of young voters grew by the largest margin of any age group.

“I think a lot of political movements now are centering young people more,” Malone said.

“With climate change, Black Lives Matter, gun violence prevention, I think that’s sort of different from the past.”

Saturday’s get-out-the-vote event is a cooperative effort of Spokane’s chapters of Students Demand Action and the environmental group Sunrise, the Peace & Justice Action League and Spokane Youth Votes.

Information and registration for the event are available on the Students Demand ActionSpokane Facebook and Instagram pages.

They are also working with the League of Women Voters, which will be registering voters at the following city and county library branches: Saturday, Sept. 19, on the South Hill 10 am to noon; Sept. 21, Spokane Valley Library, noon to 2 pm; Sept. 22, Deer Park Library, noon to 2 pm; Sept. 23, Argonne Library, noon to 2 pm; Sept.

24, Fairfield Post Office, noon to 2 pm; Sept. 25, Moran Prairie Library, noon to 2 pm; Sept. 26 Otis Orchards branch, noon to 2 pm. n Jess Walter’s new novel, The Cold Millions, will be released Oct. 26.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 9

dining • shopping • culture Businesses are working hard to serve customers and stay safe: Support them and you support our region’s recovery.

FOOD OFFERINGS FROM LUCKY YOU LOUNGE

LUCKY YOU LOUNGE OWNERS KARLI AND CALEB INGERSOLL

Arts Venues Pivoting

Of all the personal qualities that come in handy

when running a business, flexibility might be one of the most important. For many restaurant and venue owners, it’s certainly been crucial for navigating the current pandemic.

With live entertainment now on hold in Washington State until Phase 4, the Spokane Comedy Club had to postpone its plans to reopen under a new restaurant license.

“We basically had that candle blown out, and so we decided that we needed to do something to try and survive — something we could do well and that didn’t exist already in Spokane,” says owner Adam Norwest. “From that, in brainstorming sessions, we landed on milkshakes.”

That’s how the Spokane Shake Company was born. The menu features 30 flavors that mix the traditional with the playful and the adventurous. They include “future classics” like butterscotch or Nutella, cereal-inspired shakes like Fruity Pebbles or Fruit Loops as well as “boozy milkshakes” like Luck of the Irish, which features coffee-flavored ice cream spiked with Jameson Irish whiskey.

“We wanted to do as many different, fun, unique flavors

as possible. I told someone that we were taking lemons and making vodka lemonade.”

On top of that, Spokane Shake Company is serving pizza, salads and gourmet hot dogs for what Norwest calls “socially distant and delicious dining.” The menu is also available for curbside carryout orders or delivery through local service Treehouse.

“We’re telling everybody, ‘Buy a shake, save the arts,’” he says.

The Lucky You Lounge is another live performance venue that has placed much more emphasis on its food services since statewide pandemic restrictions went into effect. For owner Karli Ingersoll, that’s been a mixed blessing.

“The restaurant was never meant to carry this entire building because it’s so big,” she says. “It’s meant to have large audiences seeing events. But when you think of the lesser of two evils, it’s the better option for us and our staff than just being closed. We still get to have customers in this space and still have those relationships.”

Leaning more on the restaurant during this time has also

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drawn more attention to it. Before mid-March, the Lucky You was primarily known as a live music venue that also served food. Today its reputation is enjoying more balance between dining and entertainment.

“I think because we opened [Lucky You] while we were still running the Bartlett, anything we did that was connected to music, it became about that. What we really wanted was for the restaurant to be sustainable and to be bringing in customers on its own. We’re actually really excited to be building up that customer base for the restaurant.”

As a reflection of that balance, the Lucky You is serving as the livestreaming location as well as the primary food provider for the Spokane Arts Awards on Sept. 26. Purchasing a ticket in advance will allow audience members to tune into the event’s video feed as well as preorder a meal from the venue’s special takeout menu for that evening.

Meanwhile, as Washington awaits the return of live performances and large gatherings, the Lucky You Lounge will continue to offer its new touchless ordering options and socially distanced indoor and patio dining alongside curbside pickup and delivery via Uber Eats and Treehouse.

SPOKANE “We had none of SHAKE COMPANY that set up before,” Ingersoll says. “People had come before for food and loved it, but they didn’t feel like the restaurant side of things was where it needed to be. Now we’re doing full table service and the deliveries and it’s going really great. It’s funny how sometimes it takes a catastrophe to get stuff together.” ◆ You can find the Spokane Shake Company (aka the Spokane Comedy Club) at 315 W. Sprague Ave. Visit them online at spokaneshake.com or call 494-4399 for more info.

Located at 1801 W. Sunset Blvd., the Lucky You Lounge is open six days a week for dine-in dinner service and Sunday brunch. For delivery and takeout options, call 4740511 or visit luckyyoulounge.com.

TOWNSHEND CELLAR WINE • GREEN BLUFF Although not currently open to the public, Townshend Cellar is currently doing oncea-week curbside pickups on Saturdays. You can easily order online from the winery’s selection of red, white, sparkling and dessert wines — or take advantage of the recently introduced “wowler” (wine growler) program and have a one-liter bottle filled from their wines on tap. 8022 E. Greenbluff Rd., 238-1400, townshendcellar.com

VAQUEROS

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CHAPS AMERICAN • WEST SPOKANE A tiny cafe and bakery on the edge of town.

It’s where we gather to prepare and eat fresh delicious food, drink strong coffee, listen to great music and surround yourself with art, neighbors, friends and community. Chaps is a great place to meet a friend or make a new one. Check out our great patio and our Happy Hour takeout menu. We can’t wait to serve you. 4237 South Cheney Spokane Rd. 624-4182. chapsgirl.com

THE GRAIN SHED BAKERY/BREWERY • SOUTH HILL The Grain Shed’s purpose is to develop a vibrant food system, connected community, and shared ownership by producing breads, beers and foods made from regeneratively grown regional ingredients through cooperative enterprise. We make breads the old world way with locally grown, stone-milled flour, naturally leavened, and wood-fire oven baked. Our beers also utilize 100% locally grown and malted grains! We offer curbside pickup, online pre-ordering, and

safe walk-in to-go service to keep our community healthy. 1026 E. Newark. 241-3853.

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NOODLE EXPRESS ASIAN • THREE LOCATIONS Noodle Express restaurants are a fast, casual, Asian concept that started in 1992.

We know food. And we know that the best food is made with fresh vegetables, lean

MEXICAN • SPOKANE VALLEY Craving some authentic cuisine from south of the border? Vaqueros has you covered — whether you’re planning on eating in, picking up or having your meal delivered. If the extensive menu leaves you too spoiled for choice, try one of the street tacos al pastor (marinated pork, sliced pineapple) or a house specialty like the pollo a la diabla (chicken strips and mushrooms in a spicy sauce). The family-size platters of fajitas, tacos, flautas and more are perfect for sharing

wear a mask.

STEAKHOUSE • DOWNTOWN Spencer’s for Steaks and Chops, located in the DoubleTree Hotel on the Spokane River, features USDA Prime Steaks, succulent chops and sensational seafood served in an upscale ambiance with an award-winning wine list and full bar. We can currently seat those from the same household in our dining room or schedule your order to go. 322 North Spokane Falls Ct., 744-2372, facebook. com/spencerssteaksspokane

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1100 North Sullivan Road, Spokane Valley www.maxatmirabeau.com

SPOKANE [ SOUTH ] Visit www.wedonthaveone.com to sign up to receive a weekly email with our current specials.

2727 South Mount Vernon Street #5, Spokane • www.wedonthaveone.com

#KindnessNotCOVID

SPENCER'S FOR STEAKS AND CHOPS

PROHIBITION GASTROPUB

TWO SEVEN PUBLIC HOUSE

be safe for all of us.

meats, and sauces made daily — which is what we do. Our goal is to serve great food with friendly service in a fun atmosphere.

7514 North Division; 10408 U.S. Hwy 2 W Ste. 1, Airway Heights; 707 N Sullivan Rd, Spokane Valley, noodleexpress.net

Fresh sheet deals • specials • updates

at home. 16208 E. Indiana Ave., 922-0770, vaquerosmexicansv.com

YA YA BREWING BEER • SPOKANE VALLEY Since opening in September of last year, Ya Ya Brewing and its Angel IPA have quickly established a dedicated following of thirsty patrons. Their tasting room is temporarily closed; meanwhile, co-owners Jason and Chris Gass are maintaining an active brewing and delivery schedule of beer (cans and growlers), cider and Ya Ya merchandise.

They offer free home deliveries to Spokane, Spokane Valley, Cheney and Liberty Lake that are virtually contactless. You can also arrange for to-go pickups at the brewery’s roll-up door. 11712 E. Montgomery Dr., yayabrewing.com

ABOUT Back to business • These weekly pages are part of a local marketing effort in support of the hospitality

sector brought to you by leading institutions and businesses to help promote the Spokane County economy, supported in part by Cares Act funding. With the goal of balancing commerce and public safety, you can follow along here in the Inlander, and via the links below, as local restaurants, shops and more share their stories and invite your support.

TAMARACK PUBLIC HOUSE SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Large, fresh made-to-order menu, updated weekly.

912 West Sprague Avenue, Spokane • www.tamarackpublichouse.com

COSMIC COWBOY GRILL SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Enjoy our $10.99 Combo Meal and regular drink lunch special on MondayFriday until 3 pm.

822 West Main Avenue, Spokane www.cosmiccowboy.com

FRESH SHEET CONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE

more to come • Through the end of the year, watch

the Inlander for special Back To Business guides, along with special editorial sections, sharing more recovery stories and community business features.

Safe business practice resources KindnessNotCovid.org • Financial resources for businesses InlandBizStrong.org

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 11

Fresh sheet deals • specials • updates LUMBERBEARD BREWING

TABLE 13

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] We now have food! We are making some awesome grilled cheese sandwiches that pair perfectly with a great beer!

25 East 3rd Avenue, Spokane lumberbeardbrewing.com

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Table 13 is open for business, offering our specialty dishes like crunchy tuna rolls and our rolo dome dessert!

333 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane www.davenporthotelcollection.com/davenport-grand/restaurants/table-13/

WILD SAGE BISTRO SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Carryout dining 7 days per week. Check our website for specials. In-house dining Thursday-Saturday began Sept. 10th.

Expanding in October.

916 W 2nd Ave, Spokane wildsagebistro.com

ELLIOTTS AN URBAN KITCHEN ELLIOTTS AN URBAN KITCHEN

PEACOCK ROOM LOUNGE

SPOKANE [ NORTH ] Happy hour daily from 2-5 pm with food and drink specials 2209 North Monroe Street, Spokane

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] We are open and still serving our famous double martinis.

10 South Post Street, Spokane • www. davenporthotelcollection.com/the-historicdavenport-hotel/restaurants/the-peacockroom-lounge/

3 NINJAS CURBSIDE AND CATERING SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Beef Bulgogi Tacos: Korean marinaded sirloin, Sriracha aioli, candied jalapenos, wontons, cabbage.

1198 West Summit Parkway, Spokane

TRUE LEGENDS GRILL LIBERTY LAKE 50% off bottles of wine on Wednesday.

1803 North Harvard Road, Liberty Lake www.truelegendsgrill.com/

THE PONDEROSA BAR AND GRILL SPOKANE VALLEY We have a daily happy hour from 4 pm to 6 pm. We offer $1 off all wells drinks, draft beer and house wine.

11205 East Dishman Mica Road #101-C, Spokane

PALM COURT GRILL SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] We are open for business, offering our specialty items like the Crab Louie Salad daily.

10 South Post Street, Spokane • www. davenporthotelcollection.com/the-historicdavenport-hotel/restaurants/the-palmcourt-grill/

SAFARI ROOM FRESH GRILL AND BAR SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Open for business offering some of your favorites like flat-breads and double martinis.

111 South Post Street, Spokane • www. davenporthotelcollection.com/davenporttower/restaurants/safari-room-fresh-grilland-bar/

ELK PUBLIC HOUSE SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Visit our website at www.wedonthaveone. com to see our weekly specials and upcoming events.

1931 West Pacific Avenue, Spokane www.wedonthaveone.com

GLOBE BAR & KITCHEN SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Starting Sept. 14th, we will be reopening our doors daily at 11 am for lunch and happy hour service.

204 North Division Street, Spokane globespokane.com

LA PLAZA DE MEXICO SPOKANE VALLEY Lunch menu available from 11 am to 3 pm Monday to Friday.

9420 East Sprague Avenue, Spokane Valley laplazademexico.com

RED WHEEL BAR AND GRILL SPOKANE [ SOUTH ] Every hour on the hour we spin thet “red wheel” for the special of the hour! From food to drinks at Red Wheel, it’s always happy hour!

501 South Thor Street, Spokane www.redwheelspokane.com

MAPLE STREET BISTRO SPOKANE [ NORTH ] We just added additional tables to expand our outside seating. Enjoy our weekly espresso special: 16 oz for $3.50.

5520 North Maple Street, Spokane www.maplestreetbistro.com

ITALIA TRATTORIA SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] We have expanded our patio seating.

144 South Cannon Street, Spokane italiatrattoriaspokane.com

ITALIAN KITCHEN SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Family Pasta Pans (feeds 6) 113 North Bernard Street, Spokane www.italiankitchenspokane.com

FAST EDDIES SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Every Wednesday we offer our famous “Smash Burger” and a pint of River City Brewing beer for $10.

1 West Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane

BOOMBOX PIZZA SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] Daily craft can beer specials for $2. 1/4 Large pizza slices for $5.

221 North Division Street, Spokane www.boomboxpizza.com

RIVER CITY BREWING SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] While supplies last, get a free growler with the purchase of a growler fill! 22oz Midnight Marmot Bottles for $6.

121 South Cedar Street, Spokane rivercitybrewingspokane.com ◆

DOWNTOWN SCAVENGER HUNT As part of its wider campaign to “Spread Kindness — Not COVID-19,” the Downtown Spokane Partnership is collaborating with 20 local businesses for a fun, scavenger-hunt-style game called “Kindopoly.” To play, all you have to do is visit or patronize a participating business. That will earn you a corresponding Kindopoly card. Each card you collect counts as an entry for you to win one of several grand prize drawings. And if you collect all 20 unique business cards plus four other special event cards, you’ll win automatically. Details on the rules, prizes and which businesses are taking part are available at downtownspokane.org.

MORE FRESH SHEET follow up-to-date info at btb.inlander.com 12 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

SPONSORED CONTENT

DOOMED WILDFIRES

How a fire destroyed the town of Malden in a matter of hours

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

S

omething isn’t right. Late Monday morning, as Alfredo Castillo tends to the chickens at the farm where he works, he can smell it. Across the creek, in the pine trees beyond the field to the west, smoke ripples into the sky.

Something isn’t right, Castillo thinks again. The wind is gusting, directing the fire southwest where just four miles away, in Malden, his wife and two kids are enjoying Labor Day at home.

Something isn’t right.

“Honey,” he tells his wife, Maria Castillo, who recalls the phone message he left her. “You need to get ready and get out of town.”

Near the fire’s starting point, Castillo and Allen Widman, his boss at Palouse Pastured Poultry, battle it with a firetruck they had on-hand at the farm. They stop the flames just 10 yards from Widman’s home, but it’s clear

that the fire has plans elsewhere, that it’s destined for devastation. While there aren’t many trees in the rolling hills and farmland of the Palouse, there’s a thin forest of pine trees lined up around Pine Creek, which can be followed from near Widman’s farm all the way down to Malden, a town of some 200 people in Whitman County.

The trees are the fuel. The unusual northerly wind is the engine. And the creek is the road of destruction pointing directly at Malden.

The fire moves fast — faster than a wildfire should.

Josh Adams, from Malden, drives into nearby Rosalia for some essential groceries, noticing some smoke over the hill on the way there. By the time he drives back 15 minutes later, there’s a wall of flames as far as he can see. They follow him home, where he finds his wife in the driveway watching the trees on the hill above burst into flames. Meanwhile, Chris Ferrell, the town’s mayor,

Malden Mayor Chris Ferrell (right) hugs Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, who visited the town two days after the fire. WILSON CRISCIONE PHOTO

left town for 20 minutes because of work, and when she came back, sheriff’s deputies had blocked the way in.

Around noon, seeing smoke in the distance, where her husband is, Maria Castillo knows it’s time to leave.

She stuffs everything she can into the car — pictures with the kids, a lockbox, her son’s school book, blankets.

But seemingly within minutes, the smoke rounds the corner near the house, the sun turns dark red and the air becomes suffocating.

Sheriff’s deputies, whose flashing lights can barely be seen through the smoke, blast orders to evacuate through a speaker. Maria and her two kids — 3 and 7 — get in the car and out of town, only for her 7-year-old to realize that he left his dog, a chihuahua mix named Toto, behind.

It’s too late to go back. ...continued on next page

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 13

NEWS | WILDFIRES

TOP LEFT: Matthew Graham (pictured) and his family of seven were out of town when the fire destroyed their home. ABOVE: The wildfire burned through Malden and nearby Pine City, destroying homes, gas stations and more than 100 other structures. LEFT: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Gov. Jay Inslee address the media. WILSON CRISCIONE PHOTOS

T

he firefighters can hardly keep up. Across the region, across the state and the entire West Coast, wildfires are already filling the atmosphere with smoke. In Eastern Washington, the gusty wind following a dry spell created the perfect conditions for a disastrous fire.

The fire headed toward Malden on Sept. 7 is the third one of the morning for Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer. Around 11 am, he’s driving to Colfax to bring resources for a fire threatening homes there when he gets word of another fire also near Colfax. Then another, at 11:58 am: There’s a fire behind a residence off of Babb Road, the call says. Malden is in danger. Schaeffer takes over as incident commander, but he knows they’re overmatched.

“I don’t think there was ever a point we didn’t feel like we were likely going to have a loss of life in this experience,” he says.

As some firefighters stay to protect Colfax, Bill Tensfeld, the director of emergency management in Whitman County, rushes toward Malden along with several fire trucks. Tensfeld gets there in 20 minutes, but the fire is already there — flames are bursting 40-50 feet in the sky, torching trees and swarming homes.

“It was like an inferno,” Tensfeld says.

It’s not a fire they could fight. Due to the high winds, it was too dangerous for aircraft to help out. Even if there were aircraft and 100 fire trucks, firefighters say, the fire would be unstoppable.

But they can save lives. Orlando Sandoval, deputy fire chief of Spokane County fire district 10, rushes in from Medical Lake to help evacuate Malden once he hears the call. Passing by the thick cloud of smoke billowing from the trees near Widman’s farm off of Babb Road,

14 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

he continues on to where he knows the fire is headed.

When he reaches Malden, a wall of flame blocks him from reaching the east end of town. He turns around, but he’s cut off by more fire and smoke. Trapped by fire and smothered in smoke, he looks for a spot already burned, then parks his three-quarter-ton Chevy there, waiting for the fire to pass.

A fire engine comes through, and the firefighters in it ask Sandoval where to go. “Just keep going west and see what you can do,” Sandoval says. But they’re out of water. Another truck nearby runs out of water as well, and the firefighters ask for Sandoval’s help in finding two people near the post office. The smoke is so thick that he can’t even see the road in front of him. He can’t find the people, but then a small car with a pregnant woman pulls up. She’s asthmatic and can’t breathe. Sandoval has an ambulance meet them and they get out.

He calls incident command.

“We’ve got about 70-80 percent of the houses on fire in Malden. We need to get everybody out and see what resources you can send here,” he recalls saying.

The scene is apocalyptic. Mike Melcher, a Whitman County Sheriff’s deputy among the first to arrive in Malden and help with evacuations, looks down Main Street. The post office, the fire station and City Hall are all burning down. The ground is hot. Power lines are popping. Trees are falling. The city is lost.

It’s time for him to evacuate, too.

T

wo days later, on Sept. 9, Malden still smolders.

Thankfully, there are no fatalities. But lives were upended. Entire homes — 121 of them — are reduced to ash and rubble by this fire. Eight commercial properties and 94 other structures are destroyed. All this

damage in one afternoon, from one fire that Tensfeld estimates took roughly three hours to burn 13 miles from Babb Road through Malden and Pine City.

“That’s crazy to see a fire move like that,” Tensfeld says.

Nobody knows how the fire started.

In the charred mess of things that used to be their home, Alfredo and Maria Castillo are back with their kids, looking for Toto. They only have sandals, and Maria accidentally steps on a nail. Alfredo stands on the edge of the house’s foundation, surveying the black hole where their kitchen and living room used to be. “Maybe Toto jumped in the truck?” Maria asks, wishfully, pointing to the fire-stained pickup. Toto is nowhere to be found.

They reminisce about their home and the porch where they enjoyed the sunset, where they looked out at the birds, the deer, and the kids on the playground.

They rented this house, and now they don’t know where they’re going to live or what they’re going to do next.

“It hurts,” Maria says. “It’s shocking. But most of all, it hurts so bad.”

The residents of Malden, a short drive from Spokane, usually don’t mind being overlooked. It’s part of the appeal: It’s an hour from anywhere but an hour from everywhere. Some people here work at a farm. Some moved here because they can buy a beautiful property for a reasonable price. Some just hated living in Spokane.

Kellie Brown, watering her garden down the hill from the Castillos, has lived here for 31 years. She bought the house cheap, and it’s still standing — likely because she waters her garden so much, she says. She stayed in Malden all this time because it’s where she raised her children. It’s where she takes care of the churchyard.

It’s home. But now, two days after a fire destroyed the town, she wonders how it will go on.

“I think this is gonna be the end of us,” Brown says. “I think they’ll end up unincorporating or something. I don’t know. It depends on the people, how bad they want to live here, I guess.”

The next two days, politicians come into town, promising to help Malden rebuild. Hilary Franz, the state’s commissioner of public lands, tours the town with Malden’s mayor, Chris Ferrell.

They hug and they cry. Ferrell, whose home was somehow saved, says Malden never had a chance. Franz agrees, and she tells the Inlander that there are “thousands” of towns in Washington that could be quickly decimated by wildfires just like Malden. She demands more resources to manage forests, and she wants to create a “defensible space” around small Washington towns to make them more resilient in the future.

“One of the ways I look at it is, ideally, in a community it wouldn’t be homeowner by homeowner. A community would come together and say, ‘We’re never going to have this happen again,’” Franz says. “Our agency is ready to partner and work with them and say, ‘What would it take to help this entire community be resilient to fire?’”

The next day, Gov. Jay Inslee comes into town, looking very much like an ex-presidential candidate with his blue jeans, button-up shirt and Washington State University Cougars mask.

In a speech to a small crowd — some wearing MAGA hats, others with flags for Inslee’s gubernatorial opponent Loren Culp — he says, “We’re going to do everything in our power to help Malden come back.” He’s providing cash assistance for displaced families.

He says he looks forward to coming back next year and taking a bike ride on a new trail run, adding that “this is gonna be a great tourist destination next summer.”

But these aren’t just wildfires, Inslee says. They’re “climate fires.” It’s a new Washington, where these explosive wildfire seasons are no longer the exception. The drier grass and trees are “fire bombs” that need to be removed, he says, because otherwise no fire department will be able to protect a town like Malden.

“When you’ve got DONATE 8 percent humidity, If you want to help the Castillos and it’s a high temperaGrahams recover from the wildfire, you can ture and your winds find them on gofundme.com. are blowing 50 to 60 mph, there’s no CASTILLOS: gofundme.com/f/help-thehuman force on Earth castillo-fam-recover-from-the-malden-fire that can protect us from these fires,” he GRAHAMS: gofundme.com/f/the-grahamsays. family-lost-everything-in-a-wildfire Matthew and Jessica Graham watch him, their 10-year-old daughter at their side. The Grahams, a family of seven, were in Post Falls visiting relatives as the fire roared through on Labor Day. Now, they’ve lost everything.

When Inslee’s finished, they walk down the road, past the lot where City Hall used to be, past columns of smoke still rising from the ground. They find their other four kids rummaging through a pile of burnt metal and ash, their first time back home since the fire. In the rubble, they treat everything they find like a lost treasure. “There’s the playground!” they say. “This is the fridge!” They don’t care what it is. They just want to find something familiar.

For Matthew Graham, the father, the hardest part has been losing the things he overlooked, the things he took for granted.

It’s something small that reminds him that everything has changed, and it may not ever be the same.

“What really threw me for a loop was like, Tuesday morning, we spent the night at my in-laws’, and I woke up in the morning and my feet were cold. And then it dawned on me, that like, I don’t own any socks,” Graham says. “And there have just been times with these little things that you want, and then you realize, it’s all gone.” n wilsonc@inlander.com

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 15

THIS WEEKEND!

NEWS | BRIEFS

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Choose your own... BLOOMSDAY pick your route, pick your running partner, pick your day - September 18-20 pick your finish line And then...

pick your choice of hydration

Bloomies, thank you for being a part of this

historic Spokane event!

bloomsdayrun.org 16 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Spokane’s New Name?

Might as well call it Smokane

T

he Inland Northwest saw record-breaking HAZARDOUS AIR QUALITY over the weekend and into this week as a weather system blew smoke from Oregon and California wildfires into the area before stagnating, allowing the heavy smoke to sit for days.

With little wind forecast, it appeared the smoke would stick around through much of the week.

Over the weekend, the Spokane Clean Air Agency’s air monitoring stations recorded hazardous levels of particles from the smoke and dust, apparently shattering previous daily records as many businesses opted to close to keep their employees safe.

Air quality is measured in a few different ways, including with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index (AQI), which is based on the concentration of fine particulate matter in the air measured in micrograms per cubic meter over a 24-hour time period.

But for quicker updates on rapidly changing conditions, some hourly data is converted into a more predictive up-to-the-hour measurement on a scale that goes up to 500. Under that “NowCast AQI” or “current air quality index,” people can quickly check conditions.

Spokane’s hourly figures hovered close to the maximum of 500 on that scale for much of the weekend into Monday, indicating hazardous conditions for everyone. People were encouraged to stay inside as much as possible.

“Once you hit hazardous, it’s hazardous. There isn’t a ‘very, very hazardous,’” explains Spokane Clean Air Agency spokeswoman Lisa Woodard of why the scale maxes out.

ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

Wildfire smoke blanketed the Inland Northwest this week.

Before this weekend, the record daily high (since the measurements for particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter started in 1999) was on Aug. 19, 2018, with an average AQI of 257. On Saturday, Sept. 12, Spokane hit an AQI of 368 (remember this is a 24-hour average) and then Sunday hit 479 AQI. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

ON THE PATH OF TEETH RESISTANCE

After more than four hours of video testimony on Monday, the Spokane City Council didn’t officially commit to start fluoridating the city’s water. But it did set the city on a path toward FLUORIDATION that may be costly if it decides to abandon it.

Earlier on Monday, the council had abandoned a proposal to use an emergency ordinance to write fluoridation into official city policy.

“I’m encouraged by that,” Mayor Nadine Woodward, who opposes fluoridation, told the Inlander. “It shows that the council has been listening to the community.”

But City Council President Breean Beggs says the only real shift has been procedural. After all, on a 6-1 vote, the council officially accepted a $4 million contract from the Arcora Foundation — an oral health group — and other community organizations to start the process of studying, designing and implementing fluoridation. Theoretically, the council could vote to abandon the process at any time. But there’s a big catch written into the grant contract.

“From the signing of the contract — until fluoride is actually being injected to the water — any money expended during that, if the city walks away, they have to pay back,” Beggs says.

Even once the city starts fluoridating, if they decide to stop before the end of 20 years, it will have to pay back part of the grant.

“I think you could almost say you’re held hostage to the money you would receive,” Woodward says. “Because if you make any changes, you’ve got to give it all back.”

Councilman Michael Cathcart, the sole council member to vote against the contract, expressed similar concerns.

“If we accept this grant, we are locking ourselves into, essentially, fluoridation,” Cathcart says.

But Councilwoman Candace Mumm argued that it did the opposite — giving the city more freedom to explore the issue, and even enough time to allow for a community advisory vote on the issue. And Councilwoman Karen Stratton said she “spent most of her life in her dental chair” and that “we need to do something” to help improve oral health in the community.

While fluoride opponents brought up a slew of concerns, groups like the American Medical Association, the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics are enthusiastically in favor of fluoridation.

“It’s not, a ‘there’s people on both sides’ situation,” Beggs says. “The total weight of the science is in support of it.”

And if the scientific consensus changes in the next few years, he notes, the city can change its mind. It just might cost them.

(DANIEL WALTERS) n

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SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 17

BLOOMSDAY

Take It on the Run After COVID made Bloomsday “virtual,” 25,000 runners are still participating.

We talked to a few

BY QUINN WELSCH

I

t started off as an accident. But now it’s a tradition.

Bloomsday was a rite of passage for new Spokanites, I was told. I had signed up for my first race just a couple months after moving to Spokane. The night before, I went to see a show at the now-defunct Bartlett and maybe I had one-too-many drinks. Oops. But I was still determined to run, so I dragged myself out of bed and took a brisk, slightly hungover, walk to the starting line. I had so much fun that I planned to do it again, and I didn’t plan on drinking heavily the night before. But I did. So my second Bloomsday was also spent hungover, slogging up Doomsday Hill in the spring heat. Oops again.

Now my third Bloomsday is here, and although I’m not in Spokane, I’ll still be climbing out of bed early in the morning to run 7.46 miles, this time in San Diego. Probably hungover.

I’m not the only one running. After the race was made “virtual” due to COVID-19, nearly 25,000 participants signed up to race from all around the world. (Bloomies have this weekend to run and submit their finishing times.)

Though participation has seen a decline since its high point in 1996 (61,298), first-year Bloomsday Director Jon Neill was surprised by this year’s numbers. “... Taiwan, Denmark, Netherlands, China, Japan, Italy…” Neill lists off the locations of some of this year’s participants, from just about every continent. “It’s exceeded our expectations on the numbers.”

The coronavirus shutdowns weren’t what Neill had in mind his first year, but he’s been rolling with the punches.

“I think the biggest lesson we learned was to be flexible.

To be adaptive to what we were greeted with,” he says.

“There was a point where every week brought a new challenge with planning.”

The Bloomsday team and its volunteers realized they would need to construct a race unlike any other previous year, he says. “Once we began to hone in on that sort of

attitude, things became a lot more clear for us.”

Race entries spiked in the last two weeks before the deadline by about 5,000-6,000 entries, Neill says. The team decided to leave registration open until Sept. 9 and received another 1,500 entries, he says.

Neill attributes the late surge to this year’s novelty. “I think there’s a number of people who look at it and say, ‘I want to be a part of that.’

“They’ve done 10 in a row, they want to make sure there is 11,” he says. “They love the Bloomsday T-shirt and they want to make sure they have 2020 in their collection.”

We checked in with a few of this year’s participants to ask them what made them sign up for the virtual event and where they’ll be running. Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

RORY GORMAN HAMILTON PARISH, BERMUDA

Rory Gorman finished his first and only Bloomsday in 1980 at age 21 during a trip from his native home of County Tipperary, Ireland. Since then, he’s moved to Bermuda. But the Lilac City made an impression on Gorman 40 years ago, and 2020 was supposed to be the year the 62-year-old made the pilgrimage back to the Inland Northwest. Of course, COVID changed everything. (He and his wife contracted the virus early on, he says.) Although he won’t be able to visit Spokane, Gorman will carry on the spirit by donning his 1980 Bloomsday finisher T-shirt and walking the virtual race.

INLANDER: What were some highlights from your Bloomsday in 1980?

GORMAN: I really remember the usual shuffle as the crowd thins out a little. It was probably the biggest crowd I had ever seen, certainly in the streets of a city. I do remember — that hill, what’s it called? — Doomsday. ...continued on page 20

Rory Gorman in his 1980 Bloomsday finisher shirt overlooking Harrington Sound in the Bahamas, where he will run Bloomsday this year.

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Where will you be running this year?

It’s a marine lake flushed by the tide, Harrington Sound. It’s 7.95 miles. There are a few hills, but they are probably not the length of Doomsday Hill. Bermuda is very hilly, but small hills.

LAURA DAVIES WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

Laura Davies and her husband, David, moved to Spokane in 2014 with their children, but moved to New Zealand in 2018 when he had a job offer with a film company there. An avid runner, Davies says she had participated in Bloomsday a few times and worked at the annual Bloomsday convention. The decision to participate virtually was a no-brainer, she says.

What was your first Bloomsday like?

I walked it with my daughter [in 2015], and then next year I ran it. I really wanted to finish in an hour and I got an hour and a minute and it almost killed me. Everyone talks about Doomsday but there’s like

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So where will you be running in New Zealand?

Miramar Peninsula in Wellington, [along] Scorching Bay. It’s coastal everywhere.

The furthest you can go from the coast in New Zealand is 80 miles. That’s the one thing about living here, is that it’s kind of breathtaking. There are some pretty places here.

ABE HMIEL

Where will you be running this year instead?

I know that there’s a 7.5-mile loop in Pullman that we can do most of it and call that Bloomsday — around the central to northeast part of the city — it’s a road that encircles the college and some more. It’s not so easy to find a route like that in New York proper. One thing that always kind of sticks in my mind real well is kind of the patchwork and how idyllic the farms look.

Before he went to school at WSU’s Pullman campus to study physics, Abe Hmiel had already earned a degree at the State University of New York’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. Now working as a data scientist and software engineer for a health care company, Hmiel, 35, says this year’s Bloomsday will be his

Is there anything you’ll miss about running the race in Spokane?

One thing I’ll definitely miss is the starting line and the rumbling energy getting going. There won’t be any of that for me, but we also might find people in town who are willing to do it. I’ll continue running and I’ll definitely do Bloomsday again. n

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What made you register for this year’s virtual run?

For me, well, it turned out that I was planning to visit my partner in Pullman that weekend. I can work from their apartment so it’s not hard taking time off. We were planning to run it on the revised date anyway. The day after I booked my flight, it was canceled.

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What made you register this year?

I was really sad to miss it the last couple years, so when I saw it was virtual, I jumped on it. I didn’t have the option to do it any other way. If one of the biggest events of a city is a running race, that speaks to me. We fell in love with Spokane. It’s just such an amazing race.

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Why sign up for it again?

It was really nostalgia. I’m somebody who doesn’t let go easily of old friends or memories. I was a competitive cyclist in Ireland. I became a triathlete out here. I can trace that pretty much to Spokane. That kind of got me going.

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Creatively Coping..................... 6 Open-Air Eating..................... 10 Grand Openings .....................14 Q&A: Jeannie Choi................. 18 Spring Cleaning...................... 22 Drinks to Go........................... 26 Fully Loaded........................... 30 All in the Family...................... 34 Full Meal Deals ..................... 38 What’s Brewing?..................... 42 Destination: Liberty Lake........ 46 On The Cover Pan-seared shellfish fettuccine from Clinkerdagger

past months. Businesses and individuals alike have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the hospitality industry. Even as Washington state has reopened under Phase 2, revenues are down by up to 70 percent in the restaurant sector. This is a profound challenge for what are generally small, family-owned businesses — and it’s a threat to the beautiful restaurant scene we have all watched build here over the past decade.

“It’s been rough,” says chef Chad White of Zona Blanca and High Tide Lobster Bar. “It’s hard enough to operate even without a pandemic.”

Meanwhile, local leaders have taken up the cause.

“We were asked to lead the business recovery conversation from the get-go,” says Alisha Benson, CEO of Greater Spokane Incorporated.

“One of the first things we did was call our peers at Visit Spokane and our other partners, the West

Plains and Spokane Valley Chambers of Commerce, and then the Downtown Spokane Partnership, and said, ‘We’ve got to get together. Our business community is going to need us.’”

The Inlander is in a unique position to help, especially in the area of restaurants, having worked closely with many of them via Inlander Restaurant Week. So the Inlander’s team along with STCU and Washington Trust Bank, joined up to pitch in. This Back To Business Guide, the first in a series, is part of that team effort.

The only way restaurants are managing through this unprecedented time, White points out, “is because our community is supporting us.”

And that’s the core of this campaign’s mission — to show that by blending safety and commerce, every single one of us can be part of the solution.

We know everybody wants to help, but there is one other requirement: You must be OK with eating lots of delicious food. Read on, and we’ll show you where. ◆

ORDER UP! Grab the next Back to Business Guide on Oct. 1 when Volume 2 will be inserted in the Inlander.

Find resources and details about this ongoing project at btb.inlander.com.

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INTRO

How to Do...

Everything!

The Back to Business marketing campaign is all about helping our local community successfully and safely navigate the pandemic. Here’s how you can get involved.

...Support Local Restaurants: The hospitality

industry is critical to the Inland Northwest, and we all need to do our part to help them succeed right now. Fortunately, this is a yummy responsibility. Go out to eat, order delivery, fill a growler, bring takeout home for the family, buy gift cards from your favorite restaurants, or get a cocktail to go and enjoy an expertly mixed drink on your own deck. Also, help spread the word about what restaurants, breweries, can you switch out this logo (and kill it forever) with the new one in wineries and distilleries are doing well. Finally, tell assets.

Clientand also wants family the new image that the bloody if possible. your friends toincludes pick upmary this guide!

Crop out the napkin with silverware, and shuffle the design a bit to use the space to the right of the drink for the logo and the statement. The rest of the info can go across the bottom.

Over 100 Businesses Spokane’s Favorite Place to Brunch 7 Days a Week

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Check Out Each Business In The Guide

...Use This Guide: Inside you’ll

find lots of inviting stories about how Spokane County businesses are figuring out ways to thrive in these difficult times. But importantly, you’ll also see

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from February to May 2020

-43%

LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY -23% OTHER SERVICES -19% EDUCATION SERVICES

How to...

WHO WE ARE

PERCENT change in WASHINGTON employment

-14% CONSTRUCTION well over 100 ads promoting area businesses; each one includes all you need to know about your favorite restaurants and how to stay connected to them.

Spend a moment with each of these, and remember that each individual business represents something so much bigger: These are our friends and neighbors, they are major employers who pump out great food and drinks but also pump money back into our local communities as a whole.

...Keep Up on Latest Developments: This Back to

Business is the first in a series that will be published in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, find Back to Business pages in the Inlander every week through the end of the year; these pages feature our Fresh Sheet with the latest news, deals and specials being offered by area businesses. Find more at btb. inlander.com.

...Stay Safe as a Consumer or Business Owner: For starters, follow public health

guidelines about social distancing and mask-wearing. Here’s an easy way to remember what to do: Spread Kindness Not COVID-19. (Find out more about that countywide awareness effort at KindnessNotCovid.org.) As a business owner, there are a lot of resources available to help you, starting with Back to Business and all of its partners. Additionally, visit InlandBizStrong.org for other resources. ◆ SPONSORED CONTENT

-10% HEALTH SERVICES -9% TRANSPORTATION & WAREHOUSING -9% RETAIL TRADE -8% MINING & LOGGING -8% GOVERNMENT -7% MANUFACTURING -6% WHOLESALE TRADE -5% BUSINESS SERVICES -4% FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE -3% INFORMATION SOURCE: Washington State Employment Security Department

-2% UTILITIES

WELCOME

About Back to Business This guide is part of a local marketing effort in support of

A Vital Mission Strictly speaking, halibut cakes, carne asada, and salted caramel cupcakes are not necessities of life.

Yet, one of the lessons from COVID-19 is that local businesses like Hay J’s Bistro, Mexico Lindo Taqueria, and Sweet Frostings are essential. They’re where we connect, console, and celebrate. They’re a paycheck for staff, a lifelong investment for owners.

To the community, they’re vital. Not casting any shade on the chains, but these home-grown restaurants are what makes this place Spokane. Boise doesn’t have Chkn-N-Mo. Portland doesn’t have the Grain Shed. You can’t get a Davenport Signature Brunch in Seattle, or a Neato Burrito in Missoula.

Of course, those who provide our books, hammers and art are every bit as important as those who help us break bread. They’ll be featured in upcoming “Back to Business” publications.

It’s no secret that many businesses are hurting. At STCU, we processed more than 1,000 paycheck protection loans when the Small Business Administration offered them at the start of the pandemic. And we made it possible for other, smaller credit unions to provide the same assistance for their business members, as well.

Now, we’re looking beyond recovery. It’s our hope that over the coming months, “Back to Business” inspires you to view our local enterprises as community assets, worthy of your support now, and for the long haul.

That means more than placing an order and tipping generously. It means showing appreciation and a bit of grace to those who work on the frontlines, and to the owners who put their livelihoods on the line every day.

After all, they’re our neighbors.

the hospitality sector developed by leading local institutions and community-minded businesses to help promote our region’s recovery. The project was unanimously approved for support by Spokane’s County Commissioners through the CARES Act with the express goal of supporting affected businesses in the hospitality sector. It should be noted that the Inlander’s editorial coverage remains separate and independent from this marketing effort.

Volume One is focused on restaurants and local purveyors of beer, wine, cider and spirits. Through the end of the year, watch the Inlander for more special Back To Business guides focused on businesses in our community, along with special features, sharing even more recovery stories.

Businesses are working hard to serve customers and stay safe. Finding ways for everyone to connect with area businesses is critical in keeping our community moving forward during this challenging time.

Ezra Eckhardt President/CEO

Find deals, specials and business updates from area businesses at BTB.Inlander.com

... and in the weekly Back to Business pages in the Inlander Support provided from Spokane County through the CARES act

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INNOVATION

Culinary Creativity Faced with limitations and new challenges, local food providers have gotten inventive to reach customers From curbside pickup to home delivery, expanded outdoor seating to brand new menu items, the food service industry in the Inland Northwest has pushed onward with innovation and resourcefulness while faced with myriad pandemic-caused disruptions.

Opening a new business while social distancing limitations remain in place — and the public’s concerns about the spread of COVID-19 are high — may seem like a poorly timed choice, but for some in the region it’s actually been surprisingly beneficial.

SPOKANE SALAD DELIVERY, for example, launched in May and just around the time other restaurants across the state were allowed to reopen for limited dine-in service after two months of only takeout.

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The timing was in owner Ryan Willcockson’s favor, however, because he’d planned for the business to be delivery-only.

Customers can place advance orders at spokanesaladdelivery.com to have fresh-made and flavorpacked salads delivered with no contact to their office or front porch on the following day. Current menu options include a Mexican grilled chicken Cobb, and a pulled pork salad with a barbecue sauce vinaigrette, as well as a vegan option. Each heartily portioned salad can stand alone as its own meal, or be shared as a side.

Besides restaurants, local event venues that frequently host and serve food for large gatherings for SPONSORED CONTENT

weddings and parties have also been deeply impacted by current circumstances.

When it became clear that many of the private events on its 2020 calendar would be canceled, owners of the COMMELLINI ESTATE in North Spokane decided to do something they’d long envisioned: Open a restaurant.

“The real focus was our events — weddings, anniversaries, corporate parties, any event you could think of,” says estate co-owner Lauri Seghetti. “We never opened as a restaurant, but it was in the back of our mind that we’d maybe figure out how to do it along with the events. The pandemic kind of allowed us to rethink.”

TOOLS OF THE TRADE A few new ways restaurants are reaching customers during the pandemic Local Delivery Spokane-based TREEHOUSE DELIVERIES has become a welcome alternative to national food delivery services like Uber Eats, DoorDash and others. Since the pandemic’s onset, Treehouse has seen exponential growth in the number of local spots listed on its easy online and mobile ordering platform. The locally owned service is also available to restaurants at much lower fees, and its drivers are able to earn more cash per trip. More at treehousespokane.com.

Cocktails To-go

LOST BOYS GARAGE

In mid-May, when restaurants were still unable to serve customers on site, the Washington Liquor & Cannabis Board made a temporary rules change to allow restaurants that serve food to also sell pre-made, sealed cocktails as long as a customer is also ordering food. The change is set to last until 30 days after Washington state enters Phase 4 of the governor’s Safe Start reopening plan.

Online Ordering To that end, the historic venue debuted its on-site restaurant TAVOLA CALDA (in Italian, the name means “hot table”) in mid-July, offering a menu of family recipes for some of the venue’s most popular Italian dishes, like chicken cacciatore and several richly sauced pastas.

Tavola Calda is open five days a week, barring any privately scheduled events, and customers order in a counter-service style. Tables are spread out across the estate’s scenic grounds in the Little Spokane watershed, and guests are encouraged to wander until they find the perfect outdoor picnic spot.

Picnics in the park have also become a pleasant and popular way to escape the confines of home, and are an activity many restaurants have in mind with new carry-out specials for the whole household.

Since early spring, LOST BOYS GARAGE in North Spokane has offered a low-key picnic-friendly deal for $40 that comes with four bacon cheeseburgers, a large salad, extra-large fries and dessert to share. You won’t find the special on the restaurant’s regular menu, so make sure to call in or stop by to order.

Level up your picnic game with a fancy cheese board and bottle of wine from downtown cheese and wine shop WANDERLUST DELICATO. Enjoy as a snack or full meal in the backyard, at a local park, or after hiking to a scenic destination — wherever your heart desires! Wanderlust’s transport-friendly, individually portioned picnic snack packs come with three artisan cheeses, olives, crackers, almonds and more, with an option to add charcuterie.

Options for larger groups are all listed on the shop’s website for preorder, with custom platters available as well.

Innovation doesn’t stop with the restaurants listed here.

Pre-made family-size meals (see page 34) and cocktails to-go (more on page 26) also remain popular choices to enjoy a restaurant meal or craft beverage in the safety of your home as this pandemic continues to disrupt the hospitality industry.

For those who feel comfortable dining out in a socially distanced setting, many local eateries have taken full advantage of the outdoor dining season, now at its tail end, to expand on-site patios (see page 10) for a fresh new al fresco experience. ◆

While ordering takeout for fast home delivery has become many customers’ preference, others want to avoid delivery fees, or being placed on hold when calling in a pickup order.

The good news is that many area restaurants have lately added online ordering, if they didn’t already have it, to their websites. Many of these virtual storefronts break down menus by category, and allow diners to specify exactly when they’d like to pick up their food, no hassle on the phone needed.

Meal Kits With another distanced learning school year starting soon, feeding the family can be yet another stressful daily task in an already highstress time. Some area restaurants and catering companies want to help, and have shifted services to offer easy-to-make meal kits that come with all the ingredients and simple instructions to put together a tasty dinner, no shopping list, recipe searching, or trip to the grocery store needed. ◆

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PATIOS

HI NEIGHBOR TAVERN'S COURTNEY JONES

Breathe Easy

With fresh air a commodity during the pandemic, Spokane County restaurants expand outdoor seating options There are few things better than eating a great meal while soaking in the heat, enjoying the city and breathing in the fresh air out on a restaurant’s patio. Often, however, restaurants don’t have space for outdoor seating, or they were prohibited from adding it.

That has started to change due to the novel coronavirus.

Restaurants and bars are adding or expanding outdoor seating options as customers demand more fresh air and the city of Spokane relaxes rules on patios. It’s been crucial in helping some restaurants survive despite limited capacity due to COVID-19.

Chase Van Cotthem, co-owner and manager of SHAWN O'DONNELL'S AMERICAN GRILL AND IRISH PUB, says they applied for a permit to expand into the sidewalk on Broadway, since the city of Spokane temporarily allowed restaurants to apply for permits to expand into public areas like sidewalks.

“We had a few people saying, ‘Oh, I wish you had a patio,’” Van Cotthem says. “It’s part of what played into us trying to find the funds to buy a table and fence and chairs.”

By early September, he says they finally gathered up enough money to set up outside seating. He adds that “the process with the city is extremely easy.” Around a dozen other restaurants have applied for the permit.

PERRY STREET BREWING has wanted to add a sidewalk

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patio before, but didn’t qualify until restrictions were eased because of the pandemic, says owner Ben Lukes. This summer, they’ve added seven more tables outside. The brewery and restaurant immediately started seeing the payoff.

“It’s been a huge, huge boon to the business and totally saved what we’re doing,” he says.

HI NEIGHBOR TAVERN, on North Monroe, never had a patio before this year, but applied for a permit to add a couple tables and four chairs on the sidewalk. Manager Courtney Jones says she’s noticed a difference: Not only do people like to be outdoors during the pandemic, but they stay there longer and enjoy the scenery.

“It gives us a little bit of an outdoor look from the street. It catches people’s eye. And people like to sit outside because it’s nice instead of sitting in a dark bar,” Jones says.

As the weather starts to get colder, it will get harder to keep the patios attractive to customers. Lukes says they have invested “heavily” in patio heaters, hoping that can bring in business well into the fall.

But he hopes the expanded patio access will last past the pandemic.

“We’re hoping to work on that and figure it out in the future,” Lukes says. “The whole neighborhood has rallied around it and loves it.” ◆ SPONSORED CONTENT

POPULAR PATIOS Luna Surround yourself with greenery and flowers on the South Hill while enjoying a delicious meal.

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NEWBIES

FLUFFY'S CANDY

Opening Doors The pandemic hasn’t prevented several new food spots from debuting, and even thriving Fluffy's Candy in North Spokane opened for the first time on March 16, the morning after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all restaurants and bars to close their dining rooms to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Owners Taylor and Rachel Gano had already been aiming for that date; it was the promise they’d made to many curious onlookers who stopped by the storefront on a busy corner of the Newport Highway while renovations were underway.

Just a few weeks after it opened, Easter gave the candy shop a big boost. Fluffy’s stocks imported specialty and bulk candy, as well as a house line of caramels, bonbons and marshmallows. To better adapt to the restrictive business climate they found themselves in, the couple quickly launched an online store (fluffyscandy.com) for easy preorders, also offering shipping.

“We’re going to keep on,” Taylor Gano says.

“We have no business history and we don’t know how we’re being affected; it could be that we’re having great sales, or it could be terrible. We’re not the type of people to give up and stop.”

Gano emphasizes that Fluffy’s was developed, pre-pandemic, with high standards for food safety and hygiene. All bulk candy is packaged by employees wearing gloves in lieu of self-serve bins.

Since the pandemic, “A lot of people are more selfconscious of germs and how their food is handled,” Gano says. “This was already our plan; no one touches the unwrapped candy.”

While social-distancing restrictions continue, Fluffy’s is open daily from 2-6 pm for pickup and walkin shopping. The couple remain optimistic that Fluffy’s

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will weather the current situation since they built their business plan without factoring in any profits until two years in.

“We are providing a service for people to try and maintain a sense of normalcy,” Gano says.

In Spokane Valley, the mouthwatering aroma of smoked beef brisket began wafting from an unlikely location — a historic train parked along busy Sprague Avenue — in late March, signaling the arrival of SMOKERIDGE BBQ. During its first few weeks of operations, owners John and Julie Sherwood sold out of food every day, and received encouraging calls from residents just to say they’re happy to see the business open amid current economic uncertainty.

“We of course got the closing order while we were in the middle of doing the remodel and making repairs to the entire train,” John Sherwood says. “So we decided we would stop spending money and time that way and go ahead and open for takeout.”

The initial community response was so unexpectedly positive for SmokeRidge that the Sherwoods even hired several part-time employees to work alongside themselves and their two daughters. The restaurant is operating a 450-pound-capacity smoker to fill orders for takeout and dine-in orders; the latter option has been offered since mid-summer when the Sherwoods were able to unveil the remodeled train cars’ dining room.

The parked train’s 1914 Pullman passenger car has been transformed into an art deco-inspired space with a cozy cocktail bar, while the caboose serves as SPONSORED CONTENT

the restaurant’s kitchen. Happy hour in SmokeRidge’s Track 58 Martini Car is offered from 3-6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

“Some of us didn’t have much of a choice, [the pandemic] threw us into a very unique situation,” Sherwood reflects. “It’s kind of scary and has been an upand-down experience, but fortunately we’ve had such a great outpouring of support from the community.”

Before the coronavirus upended the restaurant industry, Jennifer Davis had aimed to open THE SCOOP’s new second location in Kendall Yards by midMarch, just in time to get settled in for ice cream’s peak summer season.

“For us, being so close to opening and then everything being shut down was a blessing, but also scary because how do you move forward?” Davis says. “Do you abandon this other space, and where is the business?”

After much reflection, she decided to open the new store in the former Brain Freeze location at the end of April. At the time, the Scoop could only sell pints of ice cream ($10 each) to-go at both of its locations, which actually resulted in a sales increase compared to the same time last year. By the time hot summer weather rolled around, the Scoop was able to open both locations for walk-up service.

Masks are required to enter both stores, and markers have been laid out on the floor so customers can stay 6 feet apart from one another. At the South Hill location, the counter has been pushed up to the front door so that it’s closer to an outdoor walk-up window.

While she’s deeply thankful for the community’s support during such an uncertain period, Davis says it’s a bittersweet success because so many of her friends in the industry are still struggling.

“I’m so thankful and so grateful I’m able to pay my rent and keep most of my employees and expand,” she says. “But when so many people aren’t sure if they are going to ever be able to open again, or make it through the next week, it’s really hard.” ◆

REGION’S ONLY COMPLETELY GLUTEN-FREE RESTAURANT Full food menu, canned & bottled beer, full espresso bar, cold drinks, and treats are available.

Call 509-413-1739 to order & pick it up in our drive-thru!

or more information about Back To Business

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COLESBAKERYANDCAFE.COM info@colesbakeryandcafe.com • Facebook.com/colesbakeryandcafe

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822 W MAIN AVE

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11003 E SPRAGUE AVE

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3pm-7pm In Lounge Only

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$6 Appetizers $.50 Off Well Drinks &

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Domestic Beers darcysrestaurantandspirits.com • 509-891-0773 SPOKANE VALLEY

SPOKANE VALLEY

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10502 E SPRAGUE AVE

VOLUME 1

15

Oktoberfest SPECIAL

3 course German meal for 32.00 APPETIZER • Brats, pretzle or salad ENTREE • Cabbage rolls, Rouladen or Sauerbraten DESSERT • Apple strudle or Black Forest cake

or more information about Back To Business

Spokane’s authentic source for German dishes and fine American cuisine!

Visit BTB.Inlander.com

SPOKANE [ NORTH ]

1812 W. FRANCIS AVENUE

Voted #4 in Washington for the best fish & chips

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#1 Best Pizza 12 years in a row!

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available at any Eat Good Group location

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eatgoodcafe.com 509-210-0880 24001 E MISSION AVE

17

INTERVIEW

Q&A with Jeanne Choi d'bali Asian Bistro

Everyone calls owner Jeanne Choi "Mama" at d’bali Asian Bistro. Choi and business partner Kelly Bishop have worked hard to make diners feel at home.

Since 2018, they’ve been a favorite go-to for Southeast Asian food in Airway Heights, including snagging top honors from the Spokane Culinary Arts Guild.

What does dining out offer to today's consumer that is still so vital?

CHOI: Dining out offers convenience, and oftentimes a better value than purchasing all ingredients separately, but most importantly dining out offers an opportunity for human connection. We get to learn from one another, through sharing food and stories. It is through these moments that we build our community and strengthen our friendships.

What is unique & special about your place?

What makes d’Bali unique is, firstly, our food,

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which, like the blending and overlap of cultures beyond modern-day borders of Southeast Asia, showcases the diversity of the entire region that is so dear to our hearts. But most of all, our passion for our local community of the Inland Northwest. Our regular popup events we started from our very beginning, featuring up-and-coming guest chefs, have been a real success.

These events provide an opportunity to share our space and platforms with younger, rising chefs with great talent, who may not have access to or resources to get to showcase their own food and skills otherwise.

How do you balance supporting a loyal clientele but also attracting new diners?

The two go hand-in-hand. It is through attracting new diners that we get to continuously build our customer base, and through our efforts of providing the best customer experience possible, that we have been so fortunate to build a loyal clientele. Social media SPONSORED CONTENT

has been a very important factor, for not just attracting customers but staying in touch as our menu changes seasonally. And prior to COVID-19, we post monthly special events, like private dinners, pop-ups, and guest chefs.

How does the restaurant industry contribute to the community?

We strive to offer the best wages, bonuses and positive work environments for our team members. We not only share meals, celebrate occasions, and do life together, but we have also traveled together. We do our very best to partner with other local artisans, producers and farmers, as well as other businesses.

Networking with other women and minority entrepreneurs has been a big priority for us. We love our community and appreciate the chance to not only showcase our food and culture, but the relationships we get to cultivate. ◆

When life throws you Corona, have tequila with your tacos.

Through fire storms, ice storms, snow storms and now a pandemic, we’ve always been here for our customers and neighbors.

Cheers and thanks for your continued support Spokane!

Cheers and thanks for being there for us Spokane!

Peace, Love & Corn Pasta.

Peace, Love & Tacos.

Open at 11am daily for dine-in and take-out • wedonthaveone.com

Open at 3pm daily for dine-in and take-out ~ WEDONTHAVEONE.COM SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] BROWNE’S ADDITION

141 S. CANNON

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] BROWNE’S ADDITION

Pick up the Inlander every week for more recovery stories and community business features.

excited to welcome guests back as soon as we are able.

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

1017 W 1ST AVE

FREE, Every Thursday

1931 W. PACIFIC AVE.

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Ingredients with Integrity

fe a C e n a k Spo SATURDAY E IS OPEN FOR TH M 8AM-3PM O R F T E K R A M R WONDE

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OTHER LOCATIONS COEUR D’ALENE (Open 7-6 daily) 504 E SHERMAN AVE SANDPOINT (Open 7-5 daily) 524 CHURCH STREET SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

835 N POST ST

VOLUME 1

19

or more information about Back To Business

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SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

1 W SPOKANE FALLS BLVD

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mail BackToBusiness@Inlander.com Classic Italian Dishes Weekly Dinner Specials All Day Free Spumoni Ice Cream with Dinner

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VOTED BEST BREAKFAST FOR DECADES

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Fried Green Tomatoes with Croele Hollandaise Tasting Room open Tuesday-Saturday Check fortheloveofgodbrewing.com for details SPOKANE [ NORTH ]

20

2617 W NORTHWEST BLVD

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1227 S. GRAND BOULEVARD

Open 6am-8pm Daily.

Outdoor Seating, Curbside to Go and Delivery thru our Website | franksdiners.com

“PROUDLY SERVING TRAVELERS SINCE 1906” SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN, NORTH ]

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Thanks to our wonderful customers and neighbors for their continued support, it really does keep us going.

GO ZAGS! Cheers Spokane!

Peace, Love & Corn Pasta

Open at 11am daily for dine-in and take-out | wedonthaveone.com SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] U DISTRICT

1414 N HAMILTON ST.

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17018 E SPRAGUE AVE

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110 S MONROE ST

Artisan beers and breads made with local grains.

509-241-3853

Mon & Wed 7am-7pm • Thurs-Sun 7am-5pm • Closed Tues SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

N 204 DIVISION

SPOKANE [ SOUTH ] PERRY DISTRICT

1026 E NEWARK AVE

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FACELIFT

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Spring Cleaning

Local restaurants use downtime to renovate and apply fresh coats of paint There's something to be said about good

WILEY'S DOWNTOWN BISTRO bought old doors at Habitat for Humanity and put out a call to local artists. The resulting work hangs between tables in the dining room.

old American ingenuity, because even as restaurants and bars started closing down in March, several Spokane eateries used the downtime to their advantage: They’ve taken care of renovations, changed up the look of their establishments and done some general spring cleaning, all under the strangest possible circumstances.

The popular Browne’s Addition venue LUCKY YOU LOUNGE hasn’t been able to host live music in recent months, but the closure allowed the owners to renovate their outdoor patio, installing dividers between benches so that you can safely enjoy a socially distanced hangout. The beloved downtown mainstay BABY BAR and its attached NEATO BURRITO haven’t had any walk-in customers since March, but the owners have done some deep cleaning and put a fresh coat of paint on the distinctive black-and-white, Twin Peaks-inspired design on the bar’s floor.

But one of the biggest projects happening in the downtown core is at THE WAVE ISLAND SPORTS GRILL AND SUSHI BAR, which temporarily closed its longtime storefront on First and Howard a couple months back for significant renovations. The restaurant moved into the kitchen at nearby JIMMY'Z GASTROPUB AND RED ROOM LOUNGE, where it’s essentially functioning as a pop-up shop under a catering license and selling to-go sushi.

The owners are currently in the process of updating everything about the old space — adding more seating, knocking down a couple walls, updating the HVAC and sprinkler systems, and replacing floors, tables and chairs. The upper part of the building is also under renovation, with empty office spaces eventually being filled with new apartments and condos.

“We’re going to be that go-to restaurant for people living downtown,” says Wave manager Jon Kielbon. “We’re not changing the idea of the restaurant, we’re just updating it. It’ll still be that classic ‘aloha’ vibe that we’ve done for years.”

Kielbon says they hope to have renovations completed and the restaurant open again with limited capacity seating within two to four months. Although the improvements are happening mid-pandemic, Kielbon says it had been in the works for 2020 long before COVID-19 was being spoken about.

It’s obviously a strange time to work in the food industry, especially when you’re changing up a reliable business model.

“It’s tough, and every other restaurant is feeling it, too,” Kielbon says. “We struggled at first, but we’ve got a really good staff and a really good team that have put the hours in. We’re up and running and doing very well at the moment.

“We really do appreciate everyone in Spokane coming out and supporting local businesses.”

Of course, social distancing is now our new norm, but WILEY'S DOWNTOWN BISTRO has brought an artistic flair to it.

When trying to figure out how he was going to physically separate the tables in his Washington Street restaurant, owner Michael Wiley contemplated installing plywood dividers or those accordion doors you might see in a department store changing room.

But then his father floated the idea of putting up antique wooden doors on hinges, and a lightbulb went off.

So Wiley bought 20 old, white doors at the local HABITAT FOR HUMANITY STORE and erected half of them between tables. Rather than painting them solid colors, Wiley took to Facebook and put out a call for local artists who would want to treat some of his doors as blank canvases. He says he received an outpouring of responses, and the restaurant, which now seats about 30 people, has been reinvigorated with style.

The artists who have designed Wiley’s doors were mostly given free rein, except they had to adhere to the prompt of “creating positivity through change.”

Wiley says that “Hearts Wide Open” has been something of a personal slogan for him and his business, and he sees this project as not only an extension of that idea but an antidote to the precarious climate we’re living in.

“That’s part of who we are at Wiley’s,” he says.

“There have been a lot of lessons in my life, where the choices are to close off and become guarded or to open up. COVID has been a prime example of that.

There have been so many opportunities to embody negativity and to become negative about a situation that is incredibly stressful. There’s also an opportunity to not only maintain positivity, but grow it.”

Once COVID runs its course, the doors will be auctioned off via Facebook and the proceeds raised from each door will go to a charity of the artist’s choice.

“We’re getting a lot of good feedback in-house, good feedback on social media about it,” Wiley says.

“People seem to like it.” ◆

VOLUME 1

23

Home of the Power Breakfast

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Visit BTB.Inlander.com

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

333 W SPOKANE FALLS BLVD

Open Air Oasis with Riverfront Park Views

To inquire about being included in future Back To Business editions

mail BackToBusiness@Inlander.com

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

333 W. SPOKANE FALLS BLVD

SPOKANE [ SOUTH ]

909 S GRAND BLVD

Your Liberty Lake dining destination for amazing food made with fresh ingredients Dine In • Outdoor • Dining Reservations • Takeout | (509) 926-2310 • hayjsbistro.com LIBERTY LAKE

24

21706 E MISSION AVE

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(509) 862-6410 SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

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110 S MADISON ST

Advance To

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Order online at illinoisave.com for pick up and curbside pickup

509.919.3748 takeout available

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

225 W RIVERSIDE AVENUE

11:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

Keep Wearing a Mask (its working!)

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SPOKANE [ NORTH ] LOGAN NEIGHBORHOOD

1403 EAST ILLINOIS AVENUE

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909 W 1ST AVE STE. A

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] KENDALL YARDS, WEST CENTRAL

Keep Washing Your Hands (its icky not to!)

Keep Six Feet Apart (hug later!)

VOLUME 1

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LIBATIONS

Mixing It Up Who needs a stiff drink?

Of all the things we most miss about life pre-pandemic, one of the big ones is hanging out at our favorite local watering hole, crowded around a table with five or six friends. While many bars and restaurants have reopened since the first wave of lockdown procedures in March, those that operate under a nightclub license still have their doors shut. The ones that are open, meanwhile, are only seating limited capacities and stop serving alcohol at 10 pm.

But even if you haven’t been able to hang out at the neighborhood bar like we once could, you can still take the party home with you: A number of local restaurants and drinking spots have embraced the to-go and curbside pickup model, and in some cases, you can get a convenient cocktail with your meal.

Here are a few Spokane businesses where you can grab your drinks and go.

DRY FLY DISTILLING

This Spokane distillery pivoted to selling to-go bottles (and its own brand of hand sanitizer) as soon as the COVID-19 lockdowns took effect, closing down its tasting room but upping its curbside sales. Now Dry Fly is selling canned cocktails — appropriately advertised as “On the Fly” — which are perfect for a socially distanced backyard hangout. You can choose between Moscow mules or its spicy and huckleberry lemonades, and as of a few weeks ago, canned bloody marys have been added to the mix. The cans are currently available in many local stores, or you can purchase them at Dry Fly’s East Trent tasting room.

1003 E. Trent Ave., dryflydistilling.com, 489-2112

LIL SUMTHIN' SALOON DRY FLY DISTILLING 26

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One of Spokane’s many tiny bars that lives up to its name, Lil Sumthin’

SPONSORED CONTENT

opened its small storefront on the corner of Second and Bernard mere months before shutdowns went into place. But now the Western-themed saloon is back in business, and they’ve leaned into selling to-go cocktails.

Starting in early September, Lil Sumthin’ planned to deliver margaritas, negronis and several whiskey-based craft cocktails right to you. Pair one of them with the saloon’s new menu of Tex Mex-style hot dogs, and you’ve got yourself a good evening. 301 W. Second Ave., 425-954-5528

DURKIN'S LIQUOR BAR

This downtown mainstay has always mixed the upscale with the casual, serving traditional diner dishes and comfort food at an elevated level. It’s when you head downstairs to the cozy, speakeasy-style basement bar that you truly experience a bit of ’20s elegance in 2020. Of course, cramming into a confined space isn’t advised right now, but you can still order bottled old fashioneds and Negroni drinks as part of your to-go order. Serve it over a gentleman’s cube in a highball glass and you can recreate some of that Durkin’s magic in your own living room.

415 W. Main Ave., durkinsliquorbar. com, 863-9501

GILDED UNICORN

One of the side effects of the pandemic is that bars have pushed last call up by a few hours. But as soon as the clock strikes 10 pm, the Gilded Unicorn, the popular downtown eatery in the basement of the Montvale Hotel, shuts down its bar and starts offering a variety of bottled cocktails to go. It’s the next best thing to staying out past your bedtime.

Maybe get a bite to eat there — we’d recommend the signature tater tot casserole or the rich mac and cheese — and take a libation home with you. 110 S. Monroe St., gildedunicorn.com, 3093698 ◆

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PANTRY

THE GRAIN SHED'S SHAUN THOMPSON DUFFY

Fully Loaded Where to stock up on the basics During the different phases of reopening, many restaurants have expanded their to-go offerings, often adding family-sized meals at an incredible deal.

Some, however, have gone a step further and started offering pantry staples and specialty items directly for sale to their customers.

From jams and seasoning blends to flours, meats and sauces, area restaurants have upped their creativity to keep their loyal customers satiated and coming back for more. For some, it’s even likely to become a permanent part of their business moving forward as the public demand appears strong. And it’s not just restaurants that have expanded their offerings to the public like never before: Check out this list for ideas of where to find locally made items and get connected with farm-fresh products every week.

GANDER AND RYEGRASS

Offering something more for customers to take home with them has always been an idea on the back burner for Gander and Ryegrass chef/owner Peter Froese, as is clear by the official business name, Ryegrass Provisions. But the pandemic may have pushed that idea to early fruition. Where there used to be the butcher bar inside the downtown fine dining establishment, work has started on an open-air wine cellar of sorts with refrigeration space. As the cellar is built, Froese says he and his staff have started packaging up some of the things they use in the restaurant’s many delicious dishes for retail. Recent offerings have included things like a steak rub seasoning blend, apricot jam, pickles, flaxseed pancake mix and truffle butter. Items will be

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added as his creativity and time allows, Froese says, and should be available for online purchasing (for pickup) and of course, in person at the restaurant. 404 W. Main Ave., ganderandryegrass.com, 315-4613

THE GRAIN SHED

Selling delicious breads, charcuterie boards and more to hungry customers is nothing new for the Grain Shed, Perry District’s popular bakery hangout. But there are many other offerings through the bakery to help fill out your pantry, including things like milled-in-house flours, marinated feta, coffee, chocolate, eggs and schug, a Middle Eastern herbed condiment that’s used in many of Grain Shed’s offerings. 1026 E. Newark Ave., thegrainshedstore.com, 241-3853

RUINS

With dishes and sides likely to change from cuisine to cuisine as often as Ruins fans were previously accustomed to, Tony Brown’s crew at Eyvind, Hunt and Ruins are now offering some items for preorder at ruinstogo. com. Recently, for example, people could order sides like tehina, schug, harissa, garlic laffa flatbread, tabouleh salad, hummus and even goat cheese ice cream. Keep an eye on the site and follow the Ruins Instagram @_ruins for the latest offerings. 825 N. Monroe St., ruinstogo.com, 443-5606

ROCKET MARKET

It started out with toilet paper. Rocket Market was already a beloved South Hill installation known for its small grocery selection when pandemic purchasSPONSORED CONTENT

ing first started a rush on certain items in other stores.

As it also marked the closure of indoor seating for the market, things soon shifted to meet the new demand.

In addition to selling the hot-ticket toilet paper for a time, the market started filling out the previous seating area with things like flour. Currently, you can find all sorts of flours, from buckwheat and rye to bread and all-purpose. The market also started offering handpackaged dry goods like black beans and garbanzos, and there are several types of rice and other pantry staples on hand now. That’s all in addition to the usual smorgasbord of summer produce and local products on the shelves, all of which can be ordered for curbside pickup. 726 E. 43rd Ave., 343-2253

LINC FOODS

Farm to table has never been easier than now with help from Linc Foods. Inland Northwest customers previously would’ve become familiar with food from the dozens of regional farms that work with Linc by purchasing a Linc box or by seeing the local ingredients put to use through restaurants who purchased wholesale through Linc.

However, with COVID-19 impacting everyone, Linc Foods opened up an online marketplace where everyday customers can buy all sorts of farm-fresh produce, meat, grains and other staples. Check out the selection; recently, there were pumpkins, berries, melons, carrots, potatoes, squash, microgreens, mushrooms, cheeses and more. Orders need to be placed online at lincfoods. localfoodmarketplace.com a few days before the pickup window offered at the Spokane site you choose when registering. lincfoods.localfoodmarketplace.com ◆

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TAKEOUT

BEACON HILL CATERING & EVENTS

Family-Size Feasts A new kind of one-stop shopping Although most restaurants across the region have been back open for dine-in service since late May, a statewide limitation on the number of people who can crowd around one table and a desire among some to avoid public spaces means that takeout meals to feed many mouths remain a popular option. Consider the following local spots next time the fam is too tired to cook.

WILD SAGE AMERICAN BISTRO

After remaining fully closed for several months after the pandemic’s onset, Wild Sage reopened to local diners’ delight and relief in mid-July. Since then, family-sized takeout specials are available daily in addition to the restaurant’s full menu (including its ever-popular Yukon gold taquitos and decadent coconut cream cake). For recent family meals, Wild Sage’s culinary team have tempted tastebuds with choices like duck confit cassoulet, fresh Alaskan halibut, pork tenderloin au poivre, cioppino, a Northwest seafood Louie and more. Each meal is portioned to serve two, and includes an entree, salad, appetizer and Wild Sage’s famous popover rolls. Place orders online for fast and easy curbside pickup. 916 W. Second Ave., wildsagebistro.com, 456-7575

BEACON HILL CATERING & EVENTS Perhaps one of the best perks about ordering from

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Beacon Hill’s weekly family meal service is that if you live within 10 miles of the northeast Spokane event venue, they’ll deliver it right to your door at no extra cost. The established local event venue and catering service launched the Beacon at Home dinner service in late spring, offering busy families of any size the option to order a hearty, ready-made meal (each includes an entree, two sides and dessert) for delivery or pickup each Thursday and Friday. Fixed menus rotate weekly and are always a surprise; each menu is revealed in an email newsletter sent out at the start of the week. Preorder online and dinner is solved for whichever night you choose. These family meals serve four; or can stretch into several meals for a smaller household. 4848 E. Valley Springs Rd., beaconhillathome.square.site, 487-2544

D'BALI ASIAN BISTRO

Bring home some of the most popular dishes from “Mama” Jeannie Choi’s kitchen to yours with D’Bali’s bistro boxes and family-size party pans. The restaurant, offering a blend of Southeast Asian and Pacific Rim flavors via Choi’s time-tested recipes, first introduced the bistro box meals when D’Bali’s dining room initially had to close to in-person service back in March, but has since kept them on the menu as a $10 takeout lunch special. While you can certainly order several of D’Bali’s most popular entrees to share with the whole household, the restaurant’s “party pans” for $45 make SPONSORED CONTENT

an easy decision for you, feeding four to six people and including everything from noodles to fried rice and savory kor moo yang pork with steamed rice. Make it a true feast with the $35 appetizer sampler, too, which comes with Choi’s famous chicken wings, crab patties and veggie or pork spring rolls. 12924 W. Sunset Hwy., Airway Heights, dbaliasianbistro.com, 2308629

PROHIBITION GASTROPUB

While this solution for easy any-night dinners isn’t listed on Prohibition’s online menu, we’ll let you in on a little secret: The favorite local pub and comfort food spot in the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood is still offering half- or full-size pans of some of its most popular and easily reheatable entrees. A half pan is $45 and feeds six or more (depending on how hungry or indulgent you’re feeling) and a full pan is $75 and feeds twice that. Choose from chef-owner John Leonetti’s traditional take on savory cottage pie, the decadent blue cheese lasagna or bacon mac and cheese, but don’t forget to call ahead to order since the kitchen needs a heads up.

If the family is craving burgers instead, the restaurant also has a $35 takeout special that comes with four burgers, four sodas and enough fries to share. To stay up to date on these and future specials, make sure to follow the restaurant on Facebook. 1914 N. Monroe St., prohibitiongastropub.com, 474-9040 ◆

Our Signature dish, Crab Louis Salad, made famous a century ago

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10 S POST STREET

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inspired by New York-style pies (509) 315-4581 peacepiepizzeria.com

good food should be simple, accessible & made with passion

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] SARANAC COMMONS

WHILE WE KNOW TRAVELING LOOKS DIFFERENT

right now, we want to assure you that Spokane is focused on keeping you and your family safe and healthy. We encourage locals and visitors alike to be socially responsible to help ensure the health and safety of others.

VisitSpokane.org

19 WEST MAIN AVENUE

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

10 S POST STREET

SPOKANE [ NORTH ]

21 E LINCOLN RD

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or more information about Back To Business

Visit BTB.Inlander.com

SPOKANE VALLEY

11205 E DISHMAN MICA RD

To inquire about being included in future Back To Business editions

Good Food. mail BackToBusiness@Inlander.com Cold Beer.

FAMOUS FOR OUR FRIED PICKLES 509-789-6900 SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ]

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1914 N MONROE

SPOKANE [ NORTH ] 5 MILE SHOPPING CENTER

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1902 W FRANCIS AVE

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COOKING

ADAM HEGSTED

Full Meal Deals Let someone else do the hard stuff As the pandemic grinds on, you may have already abandoned your dreams of spending your time in isolation learning how to cook. Don’t give up so easily. These local businesses will deliver meal kits that hand you everything you need for cooking — or at least reheating — delicious gourmet meals.

COOKING CLASSES IN YOUR OWN KITCHEN

When Vincent Peak first launched SHARE.FARM along with ambitious local chef Adam Hegsted of the WANDERING TABLE and the GILDED UNICORN, the concept was simple: Deliver quality local ingredients like fruits, vegetables and meat directly to people’s doors.

But pretty soon, Peak says, they realized there was maybe a missing ingredient: “Cooking that food and making it taste good.”

So this month, they’re relaunching. Instead of merely getting some quality ingredients, you get the ingredients and a video recipe from a local chef like Hegsted.

“You’ll see Adam cooking a really simple recipe that comes from one of his restaurants,” Peak says.

“Like the mac and cheese from the Gilded Unicorn.”

Think of it like Blue Apron, except they’re recipes you know and love, paired with instructions from some of the talented local chefs.

Peak says he’s already personally taken advantage of Hegsted’s culinary instructions.

“I was at the Wandering Table with Adam, and we were having the Cauliflower Buffalo Bites,” Peak says. “I’m like, ‘I want to know how to make it.’ Adam showed me how.”

And soon, Peak says, they’ll add video recipes

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by other local chefs, like ZONA BLANCA’s chef Chad White. You can either buy meal kits one at a time, he says, or subscribe to get meals delivered regularly.

SHE SLICES, SHE DICES

Every cook knows that it’s not the cooking that’s the laborious part. It’s the prep. All that slicing and mincing and dicing and pouring and mixing. The part where you throw the ingredients in the skillet and listen to the hiss of the meat searing or smell the garlic crackling — that’s the fun part.

Martha Domitrovich’s THE. SUPPER CLUB (the period is intentional) meal kits take away all unfun parts of cooking. Everything comes pre-packaged, pre-sliced and pre-diced. Sometimes all you have to do is throw the premade lasagna in the oven.

Other times, it’s slightly more involved, teaching the more inexperienced home chef a little bit about cooking: The fajita kits come with all the vegetables and meats ready for the pan, but you still need to grill the veggies and the meat.

The variety is key. Domitrovich says one of her customers wanted “three dinners a week that she didn’t have to be stressed about” and two dinners where she’d learn some new cooking skills.

For $120, you end up getting five dinners that feed four to five people and 20 breakfast portions.

“My menu is not expensive. It’s designed for families,” Domitrovich says, “So I try to keep it as affordable as possible.”

Domitrovich is a particular fan of the egg bites “you can be creative and put whatever you want in them” and the chili.

“My business model is perfect,” Domitrovich says.

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In the midst of a pandemic, she doesn’t have to do table service or worry about welcoming her customers into her space.

“Everybody’s got their kids at home and they’re trying to figure out school,” she says. In times like these, a delivery of frozen peppers and onions can be a godsend.

SPOTLIGHT ON BEACON

Earlier this year, the YWCA wanted to put on their annual fundraiser banquet. But how do you pull off a banquet in a pandemic era when crowds are forbidden, especially if you want to promise them food worth the price of admission?

It turns out, you hire BEACON HILL CATERING. Instead of gathering in a banquet hall, each ticket holder live-streamed the event at home, after getting a Beacon at Home meal kit.

Everything was precooked: All they had to do was heat up the chicken skewers briefly in the microwave, warm up the polenta on the stove and drizzle the tomato jam (included) when it was done. The salad and the dessert took no work at all.

“There’s virtually no dishes compared to trying to cook a meal of that caliber,” says Ellie Aaro, co-owner of Beacon Catering. Since the beginning of March, Beacon has been selling their meal kits directly to the consumers.

Each kit costs $45 — with free delivery within 10 miles of Beacon Hill’s location — and feeds up to four people.

“This week we did one of our crowd favorites: Red coconut curry and a gorgeous spinach salad, mandarin oranges and a citrus vinaigrette,” Aaro says. ◆

Thank you for

Supporting

local!

Visit us for all your Coffee, banana bread, pink cookie, raspberry oat scones, cinnamon rolls, bagels, carrot cake needs and more! rocketspokane.com | @therocketbakery | 509-927-2340

VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO SEE ALL 6 LOCATIONS

SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN, SOUTH, NORTH ] GARLAND DISTRICT •SPOKANE VALLEY

open 11am-9pm wed-mon, closed tuesdays • (509) 824-0883 SPOKANE [ SOUTH ]

901 W. 14TH AVE

Flatbreads and Cocktails....Yes Please!

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IN RIVERFRONT PARK AT NUMERICA SKATE RIBBON

, Burgers, Deli & y Pizza Tacos m Enjo • skyribboncafe.co

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SPOKANE [ DOWNTOWN ] RIVERFRONT PARK

720 W SPOKANE FALLS BLVD

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152 SOUTH SHERMAN

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— 509-536-4745 •

Family owned and operated since 1978 SPOKANE [ SOUTH ]

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— 2808 E 29TH AVE

SPENCER’S TASTING ROOM & SALES AT ARBOR CREST 509-994-2600 Scan for menu

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509-326-6794 • theswingingdoors.com Locally Owned & Operated 39 Years

SPOKANE [ NORTH ]

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Spokane in a Can

BEER

Our motto for now and forever: Drink Local

It's been a roller coaster of a year for the Spokane beer industry. Starting with an abrupt closure of all bars and taprooms, to a slow reopening, back to another closure, and now with places figuring out how to stay open under the current rules. Through it all, though, brew businesses have relied heavily on to-go sales.

Some good news for you beer-loving individuals: These changes have ignited a shift toward breweries putting their product in cans and beer bars stocking up their fridges with regional offerings. Here’s a list of several breweries offering an amazing selection of fresh crowlers, cans and bottles:

HUMBLE ABODE BREWING

The northside brewery and taproom seems to have found its COVID stride.

An impromptu parking lot patio has allowed beer lovers to safely sip on suds while social distancing, and the team recently celebrated a second anniversary. Some of their popular options include the Dirty Sunshine Hazy IPA (6.3 percent ABV) and the Humbly Peanut Butter Porter (6.3 percent). Most of their beer is available in 16-ounce cans and they currently have an anniversary barrel-aged stout in 500-milliliter bottles. 1620 E. Houston Ave., humbleabodebrewing.com, 381-5055

PERRY STREET BREWING

In normal times, this South Perry staple is bustling with families from around the neighborhood. After spending a good portion of the pandemic with its doors closed, a new sidewalk patio has given them more space for customers to drink on site. They still offer 32-ounce crowler fills of all beers on tap. The brewery is also selling 16-ounce cans of Ales for ALS PNW Collaboration Hazy IPA (6.7 percent) — a team effort between Perry Street, Iron Goat Brewing and five other regional breweries to raise money for the ALS Therapy Development Institute. 1025 S. Perry St., perrystreetbrewing. com, 279-2820

MOUNTAIN LAKES BREWING COMPANY

Mountain Lakes was founded by a duo who bonded over being the neighborhood homebrewers. The atmosphere in the cozy taproom at any given time seems to reflect that. At the start of the pandemic, Mountain Lakes began offering several of their beers in 16-ounce cans. Right now, the beer thirsty can find pre-packed beers such as Word to Your Mother Vanilla Cream Ale (6 percent) and Mad Farmer Watermelon Wheat Lager (4.8 percent). 201 W. Riverside Ave., mountainlakesbrewco.com, 596-0943

YAYA BREWING COMPANY

YAYA BREWING COMPANY 42

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Just approaching one year of being open, the brewery launched online orders early on in the pandemic and offers taproom pickups, as well as home deliveries — which they have still kept going. In addition to growler fills, they sell 16-ounce cans of flagship beers like the Fluffy Puffy Sunshine Hazy IPA (6.5 percent) and special releases like the Black Is Beautiful Imperial Stout (9 percent); all proceeds from the collaboration with Lumberbeard and Whistle Punk Brewing go to Spokane NAACP and the Peace and Justice Action League. 11712 E. Montgomery Dr., Spokane Valley, yayabrewing.com ◆

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No matter what happens we’re always here for you Spokane, because you’ve always been there for us. Cheers and thank you for your continued support!

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SPOTLIGHT

HAY J'S OWNER RHONDA ENTNER AND HER SON, CHEF-OWNER PATRICK FECHSER 46

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City on the Rise

Liberty Lake has become a dining destination in its own right

TRAILBREAKER

Liberty Lake spots in this guide Brother’s Office Pizza............. 12 Ding How................................ 16 Eat Good Cafe ........................17 Hay J’s Bistro.......................... 24 Liberty Lake Wine Cellars....... 28 Mexico Lindo.......................... 32 SnowEater.............................. 40 Trailbreaker Cidery................ 43 True Legends Grill ................. 43

Back when they first launched HAY J'S BISTRO

RESTAURANT at the Trailhead Golf Course and features

in 2006, owner Rhonda Entner and her son, chef-owner Patrick Fechser, saw the potential in Liberty Lake, a fairly recently incorporated city with a history rooted in agriculture and recreation. Located about 20 miles east of Spokane and within 5 miles of the Idaho state line, Liberty Lake blends residential and recreational areas with a growing business sector of several hundred employers, from retail and sales outlets to light and medium manufacturing to technology. It’s also a burgeoning dining destination, with more than two dozen independently owned eateries and drinkeries packed into less than 7 square miles.

They noticed Liberty Lake was an up-and-coming community, says Fechser, who turned heads with Hay J’s unlikely location in a strip mall that also housed a gas station. Since then, he and Entner, along with various business partners, have opened three more restaurants over 14 years.

In addition to Hay J’s, the restaurateur family added PICCOLO ARTISAN PIZZA KITCHEN in 2011 next door and the BUTCHER BLOCK in 2013 next to Piccolo. While Hay J’s is known for its fine dining emphasis, extensive wine list, and seasonal specials, Piccolo’s offers artisan pizza and craft cocktails. Butcher Block can help you host your shindig with gourmet deli meats and cheeses and package goods, and it’s a hidden gem for a quick gourmet deli meal.

MEXICO LINDO's Miguel Amador also noticed Liberty Lake’s potential, he says.

“Knowing that there is only one Mexican restaurant [Palenque] that does almost the same food that we do,” says Amador, “I knew there was potential for one more.”

At first, Amador says, the statewide mandated shutdown was challenging, especially only a few months after their grand opening. They’ve since regained their footing and are doing quite well with their takeout-only model, Amador says.

Mexico Lindo expands the range of international dining options, which also includes PALENQUE MEXICAN

Jalisco-style food like pork carnitas.

Additional culinary regions are represented by FUJIYAMA (Japanese), PHO LIBERTY (Vietnamese), and DING HOW (pan-Asian), which like Hay J’s is a Liberty Lake veteran with more than 12 years in business.

PENTAGON BISTRO & MARTINI BAR offers several Mediterranean-inspired menu items and is a sister restaurant to two popular eateries just inside the North Idaho border, including the White House Grill.

The Pentagon is located in a building that’s been home to numerous restaurants over the years. In 2005, BARLOW'S opened in the spot yet outgrew the space in 2013.

They expanded and relocated right around the corner, still offering upscale comfort food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and focusing on fresh ingredients, big portions and a family-friendly atmosphere.

Another longtime favorite in Liberty Lake is TRUE LEGENDS GRILL, which opened in 2010 with a large pub menu and numerous big-screen televisions, like the 230-inch screen where everyone gathers on game night.

Another casual dining option is FIELDHOUSE PIZZA AND PUB or BROTHER'S OFFICE PIZZERIA, which has two additional locations in Spokane Valley.

Also look for smaller venues tucked into unexpected places, like JUST CHILLIN' EATS & SWEETS — try their homemade ice cream or tangy cheesecake — along North Liberty Lake Road in the Albertson’s Grocery complex.

It isn’t just restaurants that are populating the dining landscape in Liberty Lake. Although their tasting room had been open since 2007, LIBERTY LAKE WINE CELLARS was able to relocate and expanded their operations in 2017, trading on their reputation for big reds from the Red Mountain AVA. And in 2019, Liberty Lake got its very own cidery when Whiskey Barrel cidery relocated from Pullman and rebranded as TRAILBREAKER. It’s a fitting name for a business in a town-turned-city where opportunities abound and the region’s appetite for the food industry has yet to be sated. ◆

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47

Dear 570 members who’ve ordered from Ding How since COVID, you’re bringing business back, one crab wonton at a time.

STCU is partnering with The Inlander to support local businesses throughout COVID-19. Be a part of our region’s recovery with helpful guides for restaurants, retail, and entertainment through the end of 2020.

Learn more at btb.inlander.com. #BackToBusiness

CULTURE | DIGEST

Quarantine Confessions DELAYED GRATIFICATION COVID-19 strikes again, this time delaying the start of the 2020-21 Best of Broadway season until April 2021.

The upside: Hamilton makes for one hell of a season opener! The WestCoast Entertainment folks are scrambling to reschedule shows they had to move, and here’s the new season schedule as it stands now: Hamilton, April 13-May 9, 2021 Fiddler on the Roof, May 18-23, 2021 Cats, new dates being worked on Anastasia, Dec. 28, 2021-Jan. 2, 2022 Come From Away, June 7-12, 2022 Visit broadwayspokane.com for tickets and to keep up with any further updates. (DAN NAILEN)

T

BY CHEY SCOTT

his whole quarantine, work-from-home, socialdistancing phase has brought on a lot of stress, strange rituals and other coping behaviors in all of us. With that in mind, what follows are some of my own COVID-19 confessions, shamelessly shared as a sign that nothing you’re doing right now is too weird, either.

We’re all doing our best to get by. u I can’t stop buying stuff online, mostly clothes. My

closet is already overflowing, but that hasn’t stopped me from purchasing new shoes, tops, dresses and other pieces, most of which I won’t even wear until this stupid pandemic is over. Not to mention, work-from-home had me buying an entirely brand new wardrobe of cozy athleisure wear because I care that much about looking and feeling cute, even if no one else is gonna see it. u I can’t ever seem to get enough sleep. Sometimes

naps aren’t enough to make up for the lost zzzs, mostly due to insomnia-causing stress thoughts that start the

THE BUZZ BIN instant my head hits the pillow. Naps have always been my preferred form of self-care, now more than ever. After all, you can’t consciously worry when you’re asleep! u I haven’t dined inside a restaurant since March. (And

yes, I’m this paper’s food editor, for gosh sakes!) I simply don’t feel comfortable being in enclosed public spaces for long periods while COVID remains a threat. Thankfully, we’ve been ordering plenty of takeout, a welcome break from cooking that’s allowed us to continue supporting the local restaurant industry.

NOT SO SPOTLESS MIND From Being John Malkovich to Adaptation to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Charlie Kaufman has used surrealism, satire and elliptical structures to tell human stories about art, relationships and death. His latest film as writer-director, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, is no exception; A deeply strange head-trip about a young woman introduced to her new boyfriend’s weird parents and finding herself stuck inside a dark domestic comedy that curdles into an existential nightmare. Now on Netflix, it definitely isn’t for everyone, but Kaufman fans won’t want to miss it. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

MILLION DOLLAR FLOP Craving something to tide you over while waiting on another season of Selling Sunset? Netflix’s Million Dollar Beach House IS NOT IT. Yes, it has attractive brokers and ridiculously fancy mansions. But the highestselling broker is about as entertaining as a loaf of white bread. The peak drama of the six short episodes (SPOILER ALERT NOT NECESSARY: DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME) centers on whether broker Noel was rude and unprepared during a showing one day.

WOW, SUCH DRAMA. It’s extremely clear the producers had to stretch their footage to even squeeze out six episodes despite the fantastic properties they’re able to show. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

u I tried to start journaling to help process and docu-

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Some noteworthy new music hits online and in stores Sept. 18. To wit: ZIGGY MARLEY, More Family Time. Bob’s most successful kid collaborates with Ben Harper, Alanis Morissette, Tom Morello and more on his latest.

KEITH URBAN, The Speed of Now, Part 1. He’s the reigning ACM entertainer of the year. He’s married to Nicole Kidman. This is his 11th album. Urban is doing a-okay.

OSEES, Protean Threat. The Oh Sees have a new album and new spelling of their name, but the same worthy psych-rock sound. (DAN NAILEN)

ment this strange time back in March, after everything went into lockdown. That lasted about eight days and I haven’t picked up the practice since. Sorry, I guess, to my 9-year-old self who religiously journaled every day. u My emotional reliance on my cat (who relishes having

her human servants home all day, every day) has grown exponentially. I worry for both of our well-beings when regular routines return because there’s going to be some serious separation anxiety. u I barely leave the house anymore. (No, really, the last

time I filled up my car with gas was mid-July.) I recently went downtown to pick up takeout, and seeing people walking around doing “normal” activities like nothing in the world was wrong struck me as what it must feel like to re-enter society after a lengthy prison sentence or trip to the International Space Station. If only we could hibernate through the rest of this garbage year and wake up on the other side… I could use a four-month nap, anyway. n

FIND SPACE FOR MINDSPACE Finally, the long-running sci-fi/fantasy art magazine Heavy Metal is catching up with the times. The printed product still rules, but fans can also enjoy something to listen to with its latest production, Geoff Boucher’s Mindspace podcast, which takes a deep dive into pop culture. In episode one, host Boucher interviews Malcolm McDowell about his role in A Clockwork Orange and relationship with director Stanley Kubrick. It might be a little bit of a snooze for some, in which case I’d recommend checking out another new Heavy Metal podcast, Wonderwerk: All short and fun sci-fi/fantasy stories reimagined in audio. (QUINN WELSCH)

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 21

The executive chef of Gilded Unicorn talks growing up in a restaurant-owning family, her favorite foods and more

BY CHEY SCOTT

M

ary Weaver has taken on just about every role in the restaurant industry, having grown up in a family that formerly owned an eatery of their own. The 27-year-old rising talent is now executive chef of the modern comfort food-inspired Gilded Unicorn in downtown Spokane, rising to the position after working there as sous chef for two and a half years.

While Gilded Unicorn, part of chef and restaurateur Adam Hegsted’s Eat Good Group, was temporarily closed for a kitchen remodel in spring, Weaver and her team have since been back in the kitchen crafting creative, Northwest-inspired dishes like salmon poke nachos. The restaurant’s fall menu is set to debut later this month, and it remains open for limited dine-in seating, as well as takeout or delivery orders.

INLANDER: How did you get to your current role?

WEAVER: I started in the industry really young because my parents owned a restaurant in Post Falls called Steve’s Sports Dugout. I started out there serving and busing and doing dishes. When I was young, we sold the business and I really missed it, so I continued to pursue the culinary arts and in the past worked at the Falls Club, Coeur d’Alene Beachhouse and Sweetwater Bakery.

When I was 17, I worked at the Coeur d’Alene Casino under Adam [Hegsted] as executive chef, and there I went from pre [cook], line [cook] to lead cook. Then he contacted me a few years later and had a new project and needed a sous chef, and that is how I ended up out here.

Q&A

CHEF CHATS: MARY WEAVER

When did you know you wanted to become a chef?

I don’t know the specific time, but from growing up in the industry I’ve always really enjoyed cooking, and a little after my parents’ restaurant closed I just super missed it and the family atmosphere and bonding you have with your staff. I think that is why after it closed, I got right back into it. I love to just do weird stuff with food and see what I can make.

Weaver plans to take Gilded Unicorn’s elevated comfort food even higher. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

22 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

What’s a dish or ingredient you hated as a kid but love now?

Weirdly enough, cheese. When I was a kid, I only liked the gross Kraft singles and I thought everything else was repulsive. Now I literally buy the five-pound block of extra sharp Tillamook cheese and eat it by the slice. It’s a very bizarre turnaround. ...continued on page 24

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FOOD | Q&A “CHEF CHATS: MARY WEAVER,” CONTINUED...

Name one restaurant in the Inland Northwest you return to over and over again, and why.

I really enjoy Belle’s Brunch House in Hayden. I’m a sucker for all things brunch, especially anything with hollandaise sauce. I could eat it forever and ever and not get tired of it.

What can you give this week?

Volunteer opportunities Mentors Wanted - BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS Big Brothers Big Sisters is actively seeking volunteer mentors. Both in-person and virtual options are available! Qualified mentors will receive professional training and ongoing support. Mentors must be out of high school, be 18 or older with a valid driver’s license, live or work in the Spokane area, and be ready to commit to regular interactions with your Little Brother or Little Sister for at least the next 18 months (virtual options may span less time, for example, a school year). All mentors must complete a background check, interviews and mentor training. Email Ken at joinus@nwbigs or apply online. nwbigs.org

Order Clerks Needed - NORTH COUNTY FOOD PANTRY North County Food Pantry provides food and resources to neighbors in need.

They need volunteers to carry grocery orders from the Pantry out to client cars Mondays from 11 am-2 pm. Volunteers must be able to lift up to 50 pounds.

They will be provided a light lunch. Email ncfpantry@gmail.com or call 292-2530, ask for Sandy. northcountyfoodpantry.org

DONATIONS NEEDED Project Beauty Share Project Beauty Share is supporting relief efforts for Washington state fire victims by providing personal care items. Donations of shampoo/conditioner, toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap, deodorant, razors, and hand sanitizer are needed. Donations may be dropped off or mailed to 2718 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane, WA, 99202.

YMCA Camp Reed For the first time in its 105-year history, Camp Reed is taking its annual fundraiser online. Auction items are needed now to make sure that any child who wishes to attend camp can do so, regardless of their ability to pay. Auction organizers are asking for donations of wine, a top of the line espresso or coffee maker, camping and picnic equipment, rounds of golf or high-quality golf gear. To donate, email campreed@ymcainw.org or call 720-5630.

Events & Benefits Over the Edge - HABITAT FOR HUMANITY-SPOKANE Habitat for Humanity invites you to go OVER THE EDGE! This rappelling fundraising event will take place at the 22-story Bank of America Building in downtown Spokane. Participants can rappel over the edge of the tallest building in Spokane when they reach their $1,000 fundraising goal — all in the name of affordable homeownership. All proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity-Spokane. The event will be live-streaming on the donation website so friends and family can watch you rappel virtually! habitat-spokane.org/over-the-edge

To submit a volunteer opportunity, fundraiser or wish list items, email give@inlander.com

Inlander.com/giveGUIDE2020

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24 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

What’s your favorite kitchen gadget?

I’d say probably the Robot-Coupe [food processor]. It has a variety of attachments that make it extremely versatile. We use it at Gilded Unicorn to make lots of things. It has all types of attachments to shred cheese, chop veggies, meat and all kinds of stuff. I have one for my house, too. I highly recommend it.

Name one “celebrity” chef you look up to, and why.

Grant Achatz of Alinea and the Aviary [in Chicago]. The reason I enjoy him is because of his work with progressive-style cuisine, especially pushing the boundaries of molecular gastronomy. I would love to visit one of his restaurants one day.

What’s the hardest thing about your job?

The most challenging aspect of my job is pushing myself to learn new techniques and cooking styles so that I can continue to improve the creativity and the quality of the menu at Gilded. It’s a challenge that I really enjoy because at the end of the day it’s driving me to be a better and more well-rounded chef.

What’s new at Gilded Unicorn?

We completely renovated the back kitchen and got brand new equipment and floors. Right now we’re still a play on modern comfort food, but we’re taking it a step above that. Some of the new dishes on our menu that play to that idea are the salmon poke nachos: marinated sockeye salmon with a roasted pineapple cheese, avocado and chili garlic vinaigrette. It’s a fun take on nachos that’s a little outside the box.

That is just what we like to do, and one of the menu staples is a tater tot casserole, but the way we make it — the wild mushroom gravy and everything about it — is much more elevated than what you’d get at your mom’s. As a whole, we’re continuing to move forward with modern comfort food with our own spin, keeping it fun with a whimsical spin on it.

What’s your favorite thing to eat from your own menu?

Presently it’s probably the Northwest salmon dish. I’ve been a little obsessed since putting it on the summer menu. It has chicken fried oyster mushrooms combined with acidity of an apple relish and blackberry mustard, and the flakiness of sockeye salmon is a match made in heaven. It’s a really nicely balanced and beautiful plate, and out of my last menu it’s the thing I’m far most proud of.

Finish this sentence: “You can never have too much...”

Garlic. I probably put garlic in 90 percent of the dishes I make, no shame about it.

What’s next for you, five or 10 years in the future?

Honestly, my biggest goal is to travel and gain a deeper knowledge of different styles of cuisine and unfamiliar ingredients. I would really like to learn about techniques that vary from the norm we’re used to seeing here in North America.

What’s one of the biggest myths about chefs that you can dispel?

I think the biggest myth is that we eat amazing food at home for every meal. Don’t get me wrong, I cook a lot at home; it’s how I like to experiment and express different styles that I don’t make at Gilded. But sometimes when I get off a crazy 15-, 16hour shift at 2 am I am totally content eating a package of chicken Top Ramen and calling it a night.

Describe the Inland Northwest’s culinary scene in one word.

Dynamic. It’s just changed so much in the last 10 years, I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like in the next 10 years. n

FOOD | THE ROAD BACK

Somethin’ New Lil Sumthin’ Saloon shifts its focus to serve Tex-Mex-inspired hot dogs and cocktails to-go

BY CHEY SCOTT

A

fter being forced to remain closed for the past five months due to COVID-19 and the nature of its liquor license, downtown Spokane bar Lil Sumthin’ Saloon is back in the game.

The Tex-Mex themed bar reopened as Lil Sumthin’ Cocktail Market on Sept. 6 to offer craft drinks and hot dogs to-go, for pickup or delivery within the Spokane area. Delivery is free to customers in the downtown core, with a $5 flat fee for beyond.

Being closed for so long, says co-owner Kryston Skinner, “was a really big challenge. We had actually talked about the potential of closing for good.”

While Lil Sumthin’ is adding food to its offerings (previously it had a handful of snacks, but not a full menu), Skinner says the bar’s small size would only allow about five customers inside at once due to current social distancing guidelines. While those pandemic-related restrictions remain in place, the bar is temporarily transforming into a larger kitchen to cook up Southern-influenced, topped hot dogs and to mix pre-made cocktails, sold in single or double servings.

The bar menu features two craft cocktails for each spirit base — whiskey, gin, tequila, vodka, rum — along with two beer-based cocktails. Brunch service introduces a bloody mary, mimosa, michelada and a few other drinks. All cocktails range from $9-$10 per single serving, or $15-$18 per double, and are sold for carryout inside sealed pouches. Under the Washington Liquor & Cannabis Board’s current special rules allowing bars and restaurants to sell spirits and pre-mixed drinks to-go, customers must purchase food along with any alcohol.

“We’re really excited about it, because it’s sticking to what we know, and that’s hot dogs and cocktails,” Skinner says of the bar’s new focus.

For Sunday brunch, Lil Sumthin’ is adding another new item to its lineup: Kolaches. The savory, stuffed pastries of European origin are popular in Texas, where Skinner and bar coowner Austin Estrada are from.

The kolaches are only available on Sundays from noon until 3 pm, or until sold out, Skinner says. Choices include a kolache stuffed with a vegan hot dog, cashew cheese, bell peppers and potatoes, along with two non-vegan options ($8);

one has a bacon-wrapped hot dog and other fillings and the other is stuffed with eggs, cheese and potatoes. Each kolache comes with a choice of syrup or hot sauce on top. Cinnamon and sugar donuts ($7) made using a recipe from Skinner’s grandmother are also sold just for brunch.

During the rest of the week when Lil Sumthin’ Cocktail Market is open, the food menu focuses on a selection of 10 gourmet hot dogs served in oblong bread rolls called bolillo buns.

“Essentially they’re Mexican rolls, and we had them a lot in Texas,” Skinner says. “They’re kind of like French bread, and we’ll be making our own.”

The hot dog menu ranges from a plain dog ($1) in a bun with ketchup and mustard to the decadent “Gramma” hot dog ($9) — Skinner’s personal favorite — featuring a bacon-wrapped dog topped with raspberry jam and smoked gouda cheese.

“I really like sweet and savory at the same time, but I think the one I’m most excited about is the Reggie because it’s vegan, and I really love cashew cheese,” she says. “It was inspired by one of our favorite restaurants in Fort Worth.”

Some of the creations are topped with crushed chicharrones, corn chips and tajin spice blend. Customers can also upgrade any hot dog with a bacon-wrapped or vegan sausage for $2 extra.

“They all have a Southern flair to them, com-

A selection of Lil Sumthin’s gourmet hot dogs. pared to what you’d find in Seattle or any other more traditional hot dog restaurants or stands,” Skinner says.

Lil Sumthin’s new food and drink market is a joint venture between herself, Estrada and a local couple, Sailor and Robin Guevara, who are investing into the concept.

“We met Sailor at a popup last fall,” Skinner says. “She opened so many doors for us, and introduced us to [liquor] reps and gave us advice on how to open and best run our business. She has been an amazing resource and is a fantastic mixologist and mentor.”

Many of the bitters featured in Lil Sumthin’s cocktails are made by Sailor Guevara, she adds.

Orders for drinks, hot dogs and brunch can be called in or placed online at lilsumthincocktailmarket.com; walk-up orders are also accepted. n

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Lil Sumthin’ Cocktail Market • 301 W. Second Ave. • Open Tue-Fri 4-8 pm, Sat-Sun noon-7 pm • lilsumthincocktailmarket.com • 666-1571

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 25

STREAMING

TWISTS & TURNS

Feels Good Man

New documentaries tell unexpected stories of a deadly theme park, internet trolls and an elderly detective

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

CLASS ACTION PARK

If you grew up in New Jersey in the ’80s, the odds are good you visited the water attractions at Action Park in the resort town of Vernon. And if you did go to Action Park, odds are even higher that you walked away with some kind of injury.

Class Action Park, named for one of the place’s pejorative nicknames, documents the free-for-all of a Reaganera waterworld that was essentially overseen by a staff of drunk teenagers. Director Seth Porges tells of Action Park’s near-urban legend status, which grew not only from the apparent lawlessness of its operations but from the shady business dealings of owner Eugene Mulvihill.

Through contemporary interviews with former park guests and staff, we learn there’s a heated competition for Action Park’s most dangerous attraction. Could it be the Tarzan Swing, where you plummeted off a cliff into freezing cold water below? Or the Alpine Slide, which sent you careening down a twisty mountainside track on rickety carts? Or was it the Cannonball Loop, a curlicue slide that seemed to defy physics?

What starts off as a real-life version of an ’80s raunch-comedy administers, appropriately enough, a serious tonal whiplash in the back half. That also comes with some serious tone deafness: After a truly heartbreaking and infuriating montage about a lack of oversight that led to numerous deaths in Action Park, the film awkwardly returns to more stories of carefree hijinks, ending on a note of crude nostalgia.

Other than that, though, this is a fascinating and fittingly bruising flashback about a place that could never

26 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

exist now. And that’s probably for the best. Streaming on HBO Max.

FEELS GOOD MAN

There’s a longstanding axiom that once an artist releases their work out into the world, it no longer belongs to them. In the case of cartoonist Matt Furie, his most famous creation was Pepe the Frog, who first appeared in the underground comic Boy’s Club and eventually became one of the internet’s most common — and divisive — memes.

Feels Good Man, its title taken from one of Pepe’s hangloose catchphrases, exhaustively details the character’s progression from cult object to alt-right surrogate, whose character was twisted and contorted into an avatar of Donald Trump himself. All of this was beyond Furie’s control, and the film follows his attempts to reclaim his creation as the harmless stoned frog that it once was, particularly after the Anti-Defamation League put Pepe on its list of hate symbols.

Director Arthur Jones doesn’t limit the narrative to Furie’s side of things. He also talks to professors who are experts in meme culture (yes, that’s a thing now), a basement-dwelling internet troll who saw the rise of Pepe as an incel rallying cry, and other indie artists who reflect on the notion that the whims of readers determine the trajectory of your creation just as effectively as the authors.

But what’s perhaps most interesting and complex about Feels Good Man is how it interrogates the unassuming, childlike vibe of Pepe the Frog as a shield of irony,

allowing toxic people online to use it as a Trojan horse for hate. This is really a slow-motion horror story about the sheer omniscience of the internet, and how it’s impossible to stop the boulder of virality once it’s rolling down the hill. For rent on Amazon and iTunes.

THE MOLE AGENT

Here’s one of the real hidden gems of the year, an unusual documentary from Chile that blends detective fiction tropes with verite filmmaking.

The film, directed by Maite Alberdi, begins with a quirky premise. A private investigator has been hired to uncover possible elder abuse at a local retirement home, and so he puts a classified ad in the paper searching for an elderly man who can move into the home and be his unassuming mole. The guy who gets the gig is named Sergio, and he quickly befriends the suspected victim, sending his dispatches back to the P.I. The Mole Agent seems to be heading in a too-cutesy direction, as Sergio finds kinship and friendship, distracting him from his original assignment. There are also scenes that are most certainly staged for the cameras, and moments where you wonder how Alberdi could’ve gotten such unrestricted access. But there are truths in the film, particularly about aging and the cultural disposal of the elderly, because Sergio finds that the greatest threat facing the seniors isn’t abandonment from the staff but from their own families.

This is one of those movies that’s going to pull you in with a silly gimmick and then blindside you with a serious social message. For rent on Amazon and iTunes. n

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Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals died just a couple weeks after releasing his first new album in 10 years.

RELEASES

Choice Tunes A tribute to the late “Toots” Hibbert, and other new music we love

BY DAN NAILEN AND NATHAN WEINBENDER

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS, GOT TO BE TOUGH

A few years ago, I had occasion to interview Keith Richards over the phone, but when the appointed time came in early evening, I instead got a call from his assistant.

The interview would have to be postponed, I was told, because Toots and the Maytals were opening for the Rolling Stones that night and Richards wanted to catch their set.

That Keith is no dummy.

Toots and the Maytals, led by one Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, are pioneers of reggae (they’re believed to be the

first group to use the term “reggae” on a record, 1968’s “Do the Reggay”), and Hibbert’s soulful vocals are often compared to the likes of Otis Redding and Ray Charles.

The fact he used that distinct voice to both decry social ills (“54-46, That’s My Number”) and slay dancefloors in Jamaica and beyond (“Pressure Drop,” famously covered by the Clash and many more) made Toots and the Maytals one of the genre’s truly legendary acts.

Hibbert died on Friday of what is believed to be COVID-related complications. The New York Times obituary says “he was believed to be 77.”

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I have no idea how old Hibbert was, but I can say that when I last saw him in concert, well into his 60s, the dude was cut. The longtime boxer showcased his muscular arms in a sleeveless shirt and danced all night on stage through a ripping set full of classics.

I was hoping to get the chance to see him again, as Toots and the Maytals released a new album at the end of August. Got to Be Tough is a high-energy, horn-laden burst that’s better than it has any right to be. Hibbert’s voice has aged, but he used that to his advantage on growling songs like “Just Brutal” and a cover of Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” that includes contributions from Ziggy Marley and some dude named Ringo Starr on drums.

Like the best Toots albums, he veers from the political (“Struggle,” “Stand Accused”) to the party-friendly (“Having a Party”).

Got to Be Tough was set up to be Hibbert’s comeback

album from a near-deadly injury — he was hit in the head on stage in 2013 by a vodka bottle flung by an overzealous fan, sidelining him for three years. Instead, the album serves as a final salvo of Hibbert’s unique melodic gifts and unparalleled voice. It’s well worth a listen. And if you are new to Toots or think all reggae sounds the same, go stream albums like Funky Kingston and Reggae Got Soul right now. (DAN NAILEN)

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BULLY, SUGAREGG

Sugaregg is one of those albums that makes you wish you could hear the songs in a live setting right now. Who knows when that will happen, but the ongoing project of songwriter Alicia Bognanno has such unbridled ferocity that it might just tide me over.

It’s her first Bully album since 2017’s Losing, but she stayed busy in the interim, writing the songs for last year’s great film Her Smell, about a ’90s rock star whose life and career is falling apart.

Bognanno’s trajectory, by comparison, is still upward, and now she’s in a place of self-imposed reinvention: Since Losing, she has been medicated for her bipolar disorder and is playing with a backing band of entirely new players.

Sugaregg is more focused, then, and aptly named, because it’s something of a sonic sugar-rush, 38 no-filler minutes of immediate, insistent, hooky-ashell songs. Bognanno’s lyrics have always had the raw power of throat-shredding catharsis, and though her crosshairs are still firmly aimed at toxic relationships and patriarchal bullshit, she seems resigned to getting a fresh start. “I don’t know what I wanted,” she admits in the album’s closing refrain, “I was too gone when I started.” (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

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Maybe it’s heresy to say so, but I’ve traveled a rocky road with the Flaming Lips in the last decade or so, swinging from disciple to skeptic to willing agnostic with each new album.

But the band’s 16th studio album American Head has me converted again. Frontman Wayne Coyne has spoken about it as an aural flashback to the ’70s suburban Oklahoma of his youth, and so it’s fitting that so many of its shimmery, psychedelic songs slowly materialize before us like a Polaroid that’s still in the process of developing.

Coyne’s lyrics recall both the bliss and mundane horror of his adolescence: He captures the serenity of watching the sun sink from your front yard and the thrill of going to the movies on barbiturates and then sticks you in the ribs with an anecdote about a neighbor kid dying in a motorcycle crash and being held at gunpoint at your afterschool job. It’s the perfect late-summer record in so many ways, as hazy, druggy and slightly eerie as a far-off memory. (NW) n

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BENEFIT SPIN THE BLACK CIRCLE

Record sales are competitive chases to score the best vinyl during the best of times. Throw in social distancing and limited numbers of crate diggers only allowed to browse for a limited time and it could get really interesting. KYRS is hosting the Spokane Record Expo Sunday, and only 10 shoppers will be allowed to check out the goods from area vendors for just a half-hour at a time. Of course, if you’re willing to buy a slightly higher-priced ticket, you can get in an early time slot to get the first crack at that sweet, sweet vintage vinyl. It’s all happening outdoors, too, so you’ll feel comfy in that (hopefully) fresh air even if the record covers are a little dusty.

— DAN NAILEN Spokane Record Expo • Sun, Sept. 20 from 9 am-4 pm • $2/ general admission from 10 am-4 pm (space permitting); $10/ early admission at 9 am or 9:30 am • The Nest at Kendall Yards • 1335 W. Summit Pkwy. • kyrs.org

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Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.

30 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

ARTS NARRATIVE NUANCE

FESTIVAL PROST!

Fresh Perspective • Through Fri, Oct. 3; open daily from 11 am-6 pm • Free admission • The Art Spirit Gallery • 415 Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene • theartspiritgallery.com • 208-765-6006

Downtown Coeur d’Alene Oktoberfest • Fri, Sept. 18 from 4-8 pm; Sat, Sept. 19 from noon-4 pm and 4-8 pm; Sun, Sept. 20 from noon-4 pm • $25 • cdadowntown.com

For its September show, Coeur d’Alene’s Art Spirit Gallery is showcasing a quartet of regional female artists, united in their creative pursuits by themes of discovery and storytelling. Fresh Perspectives features two Missoula-based artists, painter Stephanie Frostad (work pictured) and ceramicist Julia Galloway, alongside Portland’s Deb Schwartzkopf and Spokane’s Laura Nuchols; the latter two artists also work in the ceramic arts. “Each of these featured artists share a love of discovery, where the process, that of creation and understanding, is equally as important as the final product itself,” the show’s statement explains. The Art Spirit Gallery remains open to a limited number of visitors at one time, and face masks are required. If you can’t visit in person, images of art in the show are also posted on the gallery’s website.

— CHEY SCOTT

It might look and feel a little different than usual, but organizers of Coeur d’Alene’s annual Oktoberfest celebration are doing their best to safely host the favorite fall celebration despite the pandemic’s upheaval. Instead of uniting under large tents in central areas, this year’s festival is spread out across downtown businesses and restaurants serving traditional Oktoberfest lagers and German foods.

The event has also been broken down into four, four-hour ticketed sessions to spread guests out across its three-day run. Attendees must also preorder their tickets; no day-of sales are offered.

Admission includes a commemorative pint glass and eight 4-ounce tastings, with extra tasting bundles (four sample pours) for $15. To purchase tickets and see an overview of event safety precautions, head to the link below.

— CHEY SCOTT

Autumn flovors beckon...

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WORDS STORIES OF EXPERIENCE

The details of author Kelly Yang’s life sound like they’ve been lifted from a great novel. Having immigrated to the U.S. from China as a child, she helped her parents manage motels in Southern California before enrolling in law school when she was only 17. Yang eventually became a writing teacher for children and did, in fact, mine events from her own adolescence in her debut children’s book Front Desk, which won numerous critics’ and publishers’ awards and inspired a sequel called Three Keys, released just this week.

It’s actually the second book Yang has put out in 2020, the other being the young adult novel Parachutes, about Asian teenagers who are sent alone to America for studies. Yang will read from her newest work on YouTube Live this Wednesday, courtesy of Washington State University’s ongoing Visiting Writers series.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER

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The Sundance Film Festival takes over snowy Park City, Utah, every year in January, so 2020’s edition was one of the last events of its kind to happen before COVID-19 threw a wrench in the works. You can recreate the film festival experience now with a package of narrative and nonfiction shorts that played the most recent Sundance, available to rent through the Magic Lantern Theater. Among the six selected titles is The Deepest Hole (pictured), a 12-minute documentary from Gonzaga film professor Matt McCormick that examines the urban legend of a Russian drilling project that supposedly uncovered the underworld. Other shorts include Meats, about an expectant vegan mother grappling with carnivorous cravings; Benevolent Ba, a Malaysian genre hybrid concerning ritualistic faith; and So What If the Goats Die, the unusual journey of a Moroccon shepherd that won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 31

CHEERS GENEROSITY HELPS During the Seahawks halftime we went to the Argonne & Trent Walgreens to buy some of the effective dust masks. The store had none, but a lady shopping overheard my husband’s request and took him to her car where she had a 30 pack of masks purchased from another store. She gave him 2 masks, refusing any money. We truly appreciate her kindness and generosity.

THANK YOU NC TEACHERS! Cheers to the North Central teachers and staff for all your hard work preparing for the start of this school year. You are dealing with the changes with grace and compassion, and I hope you know that you are appreciated. Thank you.

I SAW YOU CYCLE BABE We saw each other at the free concert, in Sherman Square Park, CDA, Idaho, on Tuesday evening, 9/1. The band Pastiche was playing. You parked your bicycle and stood in front of me. I stood on the sidewalk near my bicycle. I was struck by your vibe and good looks. We shared a glance and I know now I should have introduced myself. You: WF, medium height, nice figure, white tank-top, cream-colored shorts, fiftyish. Me: WM, tall, athletic build, sixtyish. I’d like to take you on a date in order to determine if our stars are in alignment :) Please contact: parabolic.diatom@ gmail.com AMAZING MOM AT VESSEL ON NORTH MONROE We met at the side door to Vessel on Friday. You had your small crew plus a beautiful new baby in the stroller. You handed me your gift card and asked me if I could use it. I was going in to purchase some things for an auction at our local community center. I want to say “thank you” for a sweet gesture and the kind blessing but I also want to invite you to call me. You were doing amazing with all your little one’s and I live in the neighborhood too and would love to bring you a coffee so you can take a breathe and enjoy it. My kids are older but I remember always feeling like I never had a moment to myself. I am sure the person who gave you that gift card wanted you to treat yourself but so difficult with your little crew in tow. You are doing great Mama!

You can reach me at the West Central Community Center WIC Office.

NEVADA ST. WINCO... EMPLOYEE? You ended up crossing my path and I have to admit enjoying a bit more than your musclebound patriotic shirt. Thank you for brightening my otherwise monotonous Friday.

LOVE FROM ACROSS THE POND Solidarity with my Spokane DSA comrades, I miss you all lots, your comrade across the Atlantic Ocean x THE DOUBLE BIRD Krispy Kreme Employees, who are working tirelessly through the pandemic, deemed essential because...well, people gotta get their doughnuts, right! Then who walks in?

“Karen” I don’t have a mask and I don’t care about anyone but myself. “But I have a medical condition!” She brusquely says. So, the nice Krispy Kreme girls told you to go through the drive through. Your response... flipping them off with both your hands, arms raised. Well there you go woman! You made your point, and they did too. They can deny you service you rude, inconsiderate ignoramus! And they did so politely, and took your crap. Well, be glad I’m not working there... I would have let you have it!

THANK YOU MR. CONNELLY Cheers to Mr. Connelly at North Central High School. You are one of the most empathetic and caring teachers I’ve ever met. We are thankful that you are our daughter’s advisory teacher, especially this year which will be challenging on many levels. We appreciate your optimism and positive energy. We wish you the best.

HOMEMADE TEEPEE MADE FROM PIZZA To

Danieal, the waitress at Tomato Street that made my girlfriend and I smile even though our teepee vacation was canceled. Thank you for lifting our spirits.

HELPFUL DUD It was dark out and I got a flat tire on my way to pick up my husband from work, so I pulled over in a driveway. A nice guy named Jay came out of his house

“

LOSERS AND SUCKERS Facts: My dad was shot down during a bomb run over

at risk every day to bring you food and necessities. Drivers keep a mental note of which customers tip and which ones don’t... when we see your name and order pop up we turn our back. Soon you will have a hard time getting any of us to deliver you your crap... the way you treat us is WRONG!!

Makes me want to throw your bags in your yard, spit in your milk, and crush your

... the way you treat us is WRONG!! Makes me want to throw your bags in your yard, spit in your milk, and crush your Doritos!!!

and offered his help to change it. He was so friendly and willing to help me out — and I’m a total stranger! He said he worked at a local tire shop and he said if I needed to get the tire patched or needed a new tire or anything else to stop by and he would make sure to take care of it. I appreciated his help that evening — thank you Jay!

JEERS SILVER CHEVY EQUINOX Is your coffee more important than causing an accident in the parking lot of the coffee stand?

CONDOM-WEARER To the guy who resented his tax dollars going to feed hungry kids, you have my deepest gratitude for choosing to have zero kids — no child deserves to be raised by someone who lacks empathy.

When a parent decides to have a child, it’s a long-term financial commitment — not like buying a house or car that the bank can repossess. I don’t know many people who can guarantee they’ll have a stable income for the next 18 years... and the people I know who can are too old to have kids! And for all that the pro-lifers say about how important it is to give birth to that baby, not many are there to help when you can’t get child care so you can get a night job, or to demand that single moms get paid as much as men doing the same job. The average Joe Prophylactic actually reaps more benefits from big government than he pays for in taxes. Any investment in youth (public

SOUND OFF

1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm Monday. 2. Pick a category (I Saw You, You Saw Me, Cheers or Jeers). 3.

Provide basic info: your name and email (so we know you’re real). 4. To connect via I Saw You, provide a non-identifying email to be included with your submission — like “petals327@yahoo.com,” not “j.smith@comcast.net.”

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32 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

schools, subsidized daycare, playgrounds, and nutrition programs) will someday return to you in safe roads and bridges, senior housing assistance, Medicare, and Social Security. It’s called social responsibility, look into it.

Germany during WWII. My dad was captured and spent 28 months in a German concentration camp (Stalag #3). His entire left side was riddled with flak and he was refused any medical care by the German doctors. My dad was liberated by Gen. George Patton. My dad received 15 medals including the Air Medal, the Flying Cross and the Purple Heart. My dad retired in 1962 after 26 years serving his country. My dad was an officer and a gentleman and one of the most courageous men I have ever had the privilege of knowing. My dad was NOT a sucker and my dad was not a loser.

ONLINE GROCERY ORDERS!!!!! This goes out to those who order their groceries online..... Do you people think that those who delivery your crap do it for FUN????

We are in a PANDEMIC if you have not noticed!! Most of us who deliver your crap are trying to pay rent and feed kids.. We are doing what we can to get thru this, and you people expect the delivery drivers to put gas in their cars out of their own pockets to bring you your crap!!! How fricken’ insulting and selfish of you not to tip your driver!!!!!

We climb three flights of stairs for you, often have to drive your crap 16 miles away or some god for saken place... We handle your crap with care, we keep the colds cold and the warm warm, we don’t know any of you from a hole in the ground, but we do what we do to feed our hungry kids and pay bills.. Some of us do not get the dream of sitting on unemployment and rakin’ in more money than those who put their lives

”

Doritos!!! If it wasn’t for your delivery driver you would not have toilet paper... think about that the next time you want to stiff your driver!!! Maybe my 12 kids and I will come camp in your yard when we cant pay the rent because of selfish self absorbed jerks like you!!!!!!!!!!

COUPLE WHO STOLE DOWNTOWN Hey! Friday Sept. 4 at around 4:30 pm I saw you on Main Ave. downtown stealing the sunglasses off of a man who was being beaten up by a clearly mentally unwell person.

When I asked you to give them back, you laughed and said they were yours. To the man of that couple, you’re a bad person and I hope karma kicks you in the butt. To the woman, what happened in your life that your standards are so low you would be attracted to someone like that? You two are garbage humans and you make Spokane look next level trashy. Please stay away from civilization until you can learn how to behave decently. Embarassing. n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS R A S P A N T E S M Y L I P S I O P R E T T Y R E S E E S E A T A P R O M A S S H P E P T O Y D S D R E S O D A T H E M A S O M O I L P O T C L

I R A N I

S O R E N

A K I R A

S S E

M P K E E G A S

L E T I L S E M A S T M A S K A M C Y E T E R V I R T N A E C A T M O P E D S I N A N A S G

J O K E

A X E D

R O D S

C O C I N A

A R E N A S

R E S E E K

G E R I V E L E N

NOTE: I Saw You/Cheers & Jeers is for adults 18 or older. The Inlander reserves the right to edit or reject any posting at any time at its sole discretion and assumes no responsibility for the content.

ANNUAL REPORT ARTS RECREATION FOOD & DRINK EDUCATION SHOPPING GREEN ZONE

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Snack on This Edibles offer a healthier, if pricier, alternative to flower.

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BY WILL MAUPIN

N

ow is as good a time as ever to give your lungs a break without breaking the bank.

Smoke season has descended on the Inland Northwest and it’s as bad as it’s ever been. Looking out my window on Sunday afternoon as I write, the sky looks like the inside of a bong primed and ready to send its user into a multi-minute coughing fit. Simply living under this cloud of smoke is tough enough. The last thing I want to do is add any more to it.

So, put down the lighter and pass on taking a puff.

Grab an edible instead.

Interest in edibles has spiked to an all-time high in 2020 due in large part to a respiratory disease strangling all of human society. “Customers have been buying increasing amounts of edibles since March,” Brandon St

Apex Cannabis offers a weekly special on edibles every Monday.

Germain, district leader at Cannabis & Glass, previously told the Inlander. “Consumer behavior moving towards more health-conscious choices is something we’d anticipated seeing happen in the cannabis market.”

Now that Spokanites are trying to dodge the coronavirus as well as smoke particles, making a health-conscious choice is more important than before. The problem with edibles is there’s a trade-off. While your body will thank you, your wallet might not. Edibles tend to be a bit pricier than traditional flower. First of all, they’re rarely sold by the serving. If you’ve never tried a specific strain or brand before, you’ve got plenty of options to sample from that will only set you back a few bucks. With edibles, you’re more often forced to buy servings 10 at a time.

Thankfully, almost every dispensary in Spokane offers

a weekly special on edibles, giving discounts from 15-25 percent. You just need to know when and where, and we’re here to help. The Inlander reached out to all 33 dispensaries in Spokane County to compile the complete list of weekly deals on edibles around town. There are deals to be found almost every day of the week.

SUNDAY: Greenhand, Smokane, the Green Nugget, Royals MONDAY: Apex Cannabis, Cinder, Kush21, Satori, Primo Cannabis, Spokane Green Leaf, the Top Shelf, the Vault, Toker Friendly, Treehouse Club TUESDAY: Sativa Sisters WEDNESDAY: Treehouse Club THURSDAY: Toker Friendly (drinkables only) FRIDAY: Lucky Leaf n

NOTE TO READERS Be aware of the differences in the law between Idaho and Washington. It is illegal to possess, sell or transport cannabis in the State of Idaho. Possessing up to an ounce is a misdemeanor and can get you a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine; more than three ounces is a felony that can carry a fiveyear sentence and fine of up to $10,000. Transporting marijuana across state lines, like from Washington into Idaho, is a felony under federal law.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 33

GREEN ZONE

BE AWARE: Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older under Washington State law (e.g., RCW 69.50, RCW 69.51A, HB0001 Initiative 502 and Senate Bill 5052). State law does not preempt federal law; possessing, using, distributing and selling marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In Washington state, consuming marijuana in public, driving while under the influence of marijuana and transporting marijuana across state lines are all illegal. Marijuana has intoxicating effects; there may be health risks associated with its consumption, and it may be habit-forming. It can also impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, consult the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board at www.liq.wa.gov.

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RELATIONSHIPS

Advice Goddess JOAN OF ARCTIC

I’m a 54-year-old woman, married for 21 years to a pretty decent guy. When our now-18-year-old son was little, my husband completely ignored Mother’s Day for maybe six years. Once, I asked him why, and he simply said, “You aren’t my mother.” It hurt me SO MUCH because I busted my butt to be a good mom. I told him why I was so upset, and one year, I laid on our bed and cried, but nothing changed. Six years ago, he began giving me a card and flowers on Mother’s Day. This year, AMY ALKON he and our son got me hanging flower baskets, which was wonderful. The problem is I can’t get over his doing nothing in the past, and it’s affecting my feelings for him and how I treat him. —Still Hurting If your relationship has a spirit animal, it’s best if it isn’t a dog frozen in time after the volcanic eruption at Pompeii.

The problem between you started with an error in mind-reading. “Mindreading” sounds like a Vegas magic act, but it’s a mental ability we all have (though it’s actually mind-predicting rather than -reading). Psychologists call this “theory of mind,” referring to our ability to do reasonably well at guessing (“theorizing” about!) the “mental states” of others, meaning the emotions they’re experiencing, their beliefs, their desires, and their intentions.

I give an example of theory of mind in action in “Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck”: “When you see a man looking deep into a woman’s eyes, smiling tenderly and then getting down on one knee, your understanding and experience of what this usually means helps you guess that he’s about to ask ‘Will you marry me?’ and not ‘Would you mind lending me a pen?’”

Unfortunately, we often do pretty poorly at the everyday swami thing because we tend “to imagine that other minds are much like our own,” observes anthropologist Donald Symons. Making matters worse, we tend to assume others’ minds should work like our own. So, if something isn’t important to us, we assume it isn’t (and shouldn’t be) important to someone else.

Your husband’s view of Mother’s Day — unimportant and only applicable to one’s own mother — led him to conclude it should be unimportant to you and to sneer, “You aren’t my mother!” This sort of assumption leads to strife and maybe even divorce through the resentment that builds when one partner consistently doesn’t get their needs met (and gets them mocked, to boot).

Happier, lasting relationships are fostered through a different approach: loving acceptance of the crazy. Even when you think your partner’s desire is irrational or unbecoming of someone with an IQ surpassing that of a root vegetable, if you won’t lose a limb, part company with your ethics, or otherwise seriously put yourself out, why not give them what they want? Again, you don’t have to find it reasonable; you do it because it would make them happy.

Though your husband’s now coming around on Mother’s Day, I would bet my last bra strap he doesn’t care in the slightest about Father’s Day and still might not get why Mother’s Day means so much to you. But you cried and cried, and he eventually got that it was hugely important to you (perhaps through your son’s influence), and he’s come around — this year with the hanging flowers of Babylon.

That’s awesome.

However, you have yet to update your idea of him as mean and selfish, perhaps because, like many people, you see forgiveness as a feeling and wait for it to strike you, lightning on the golf course -style. In fact, forgiveness is a set of actions you choose to take. Evolutionary social psychologist Michael McCullough explains that forgiveness involves deciding to set aside a grievance against a person, expressed in your “thoughts, emotions, and/or behaviors,” in order to have a continuing relationship with them.

Consider that your husband, though “pretty decent,” might have some continuing limitations in understanding and accepting what you need (even when you tell him). A mediator with a relationships focus would be helpful in facilitating understanding and empathy between you, maybe in a single session. (Find one at Mediate.com.)

If mediation isn’t an option, there’s still a DIY approach: Explain the science on theory of mind and the notion of doing things simply to make your partner happy (even if you find their desires a bit crackers). This might help your husband be more motivated to come around in ways you need, showing you he’s making an effort, best he can. This, in turn, could help you break with the past and the resentful feelings that went with -- releasing them into the wild like Sea World’s orcas into the ocean: “Bye, Shamu! Bye, Bruce! Bye, Carla!” n ©2020, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

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1. Scratchy voice 5. Archipelago part 10. Cookie container 13. Pays (up) 15. Agitates 16. Palindromic brand in the kitchen 17. Comment from someone with their mouth covered?

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22. Like J.Crew clothing 23. Brought up 24. Prevents, by law 25. Jazz or Blues

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28. 1970s-’80s sketch show on which John Candy and Eugene Levy got their starts

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41. Unit in a shopping cart 41 47. Snoozes 48. Got room service, say 44 49. Hoover ____ 50. Some digital videos, 47 48 briefly 51. Musical endings 50 51 52. “Enough!”

53. Answer to the old 55 riddle “What’s round on the ends and high in the 59 60 61 62 63 middle?”

54. Neighbor of a pec 66 57. Bronx-born congresswoman, 69 familiarly 58. T-shirt choices, briefly “MASKED” 59. Mauna ____ (Hawaii’s tallest mountain) 31. Cancún kitchen 60. Unlikely race favorite 32. Skybox locales 33. Pursue again, as an elected position 61. Dodgers legend Hodges 62. Expectant time 35. Director Kurosawa 63. Kylo ____, “Star Wars” antagonist 36. Opposite of NNW

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SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 37

COEUR D ’ ALENE

cda4.fun for more events, things to do & places to stay.

OPEN WEEKENDS IN SEPTEMBER

A Life Well-Lived BACKWARDS

Come to Coeur d’Alene for a few hours, a day or a whole weekend with these fall events

I

t’s the best of all worlds: Coeur d’Alene Resort’s LIVE WELL RETREATS offer a selfpaced experience designed to help you disconnect from the things you don’t want in your life and reconnect to the things you do want. And it’s all enjoyed in a luxury setting that will refresh you just as much as the retreat itself.

Starting at $175 per person, all of the resort’s Live Well Retreats include an overnight stay in the Resort Lake Tower, check-in with complimentary kombucha beverage, and a 50-minute spa service of your choice, like a relaxing pedicure or rejuvenating facial. Oh, and sleep in a bit the day of your departure; you don’t have to check out until noon.

Just North of Coeur d’Alene in Beautiful North Idaho

R E S E R V E YO U R T I C K E T S O N L I N E

C O E U R

D ’A L E N E

Upcoming Events

COEUR D’ALENE

Community Appreciation Weekends SEPTEMBER 19-OCTOBER 25

Save money and help our local food banks when you visit Silverwood! For each general admission ticket sold, $4 will be donated to help local food banks and for each youth/senior ticket sold, $1 will be donated. Admission is only $40 (ages 8-64) and $23 (ages 3-7 and 65+) at the front gate. Save more when you purchase your tickets at silverwoodthemepark.com.

38 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

The resort’s retreats follow different seasonal themes. FLOW INTO FALL, on Oct. 11-12, for example, includes all of the above amenities, plus a Sunday yoga class you’ll find frighteningly good. You’ll be swapping downward dogs and tree poses for instructor extraordinaire Emily Hudson’s hauntingly fun zombie, vampire and Halloween-ish poses. And in the morning, it’s mimosas and a yummy breakfast before

you head off — refreshed and revitalized.

In November, when it’s time to wind down from fall and gear up for winter, consider the REFLECT AND REFUEL retreat Nov. 15-16.

One of the resort’s other yoga instructor’s, Amy Gates, will teach a journaling workshop during the November retreat to help guests “reflect on the past year and set intentions for the year to come,” says the resort’s Courtney Rainer. “The following morning, attendees will enjoy a nutritious brunch class featuring one of our in-house chefs,” she adds.

In addition to the scheduled Live Well classes, guests staying at the Resort can also take advantage of an assortment of complimentary guided experiences being offered in collaboration with the Coeur d’Alene Visitors Bureau to promote health, wellness and relaxation. A different activity is offered each day, from guided lakeside hikes and floating green fundamentals to beachside yoga and bike rides. These weekday adventures are built for all fitness levels, so you can choose your own pace.

Oktoberfest

Coeur d’Fondo

Oktoberfest is back this fall in Coeur d’Alene — with safety protocols in place to keep everyone safe. Travel through Downtown Coeur d’Alene and sample crisp, seasonal beers and hard cider. There are more than 20 different options to try, and all the würstl, schweinebraten and brezen to go with it. Details at cda4.fun.

Coeur d’Alene Lake Fondo will showcase beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene and the forest, roads and scenery along Idaho’s Scenic Byway; Highway 97, passing through many lakeside communities; before ending back in Coeur d’Alene at the fall Oktoberfest in downtown Coeur d’Alene. $95; 7 am-4 pm.

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SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 INLANDER 39

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