1. In order to arrive efficiently at the apartment I rented for tonight, I knew I'd be taking the Hamilton exit off of I-90. I was a little hungry and figured a beer might taste good, so I pulled into the parking lot of Jack and Dan's.
Jack and Dan's.
Dad's favorite spot in Spokane many years ago and, once I turned 21, my favorite place to go with him and have a cold one or two or three or . . . As I bellied up to the bar today, I remembered when Dad and I waltzed into Jack and Dan's on March 17, 1984 and as we were downing a schooner of green beer, a television crew came in. They filmed footage of us and others to show on the evening news and, sure enough, that evening we got to see ourselves on television while an intrepid reporter intoned, "It was a festive day on St. Patrick's day at Jack and Dan's today . . ."
Coincidentally, later in 1984, in Eugene, I was sitting in the stands. It was dollar beer night. I guy from one of Eugene's tv stations came up to me and asked if his crew could film me drinking a beer. I agreed and later that night, on the eleven o'clock news, there I was, gulping cheap beer out of a plastic Eugene Em's cup, and an intrepid reporter intoning, "Well, it was dollar beer tonight at Civic Stadium..."
No tv cameras today.
I enjoyed a Hazy IPA, a side of fries, and listening to 70s music on the sound system. Even more, I enjoyed remembering not only that St. Patrick's Day with Dad, but other times he and I went to Jack and Dan's -- and I thought about Christy, Carol, and I going to Jack and Dan's on our first sibling outing and remembered meeting Stu at Jack and Dan's back in March of 2020 before we went to the Gonzaga campus and I bought a Zag hoodie, made even more fun by the fact that Stu's retirement party was at Jack and Dan's.
2. It didn't take long for me to get settled in the apartment I rented and soon I hired an Uber driver to take me downtown. I knew I was going to drink a beer and later some tequila and I didn't want to also have to drive the Camry.
I requested a ride to Wooden City, a handsome restaurant on West Riverside featuring a wood fire oven. I sat at a table and I faced the kitchen and watched the cook prepare pizzas, tavern burgers, and other happy hour dishes as the wood burned away in the oven. I had decided before I came in that I wanted to try a Hazy IPA brewed in Spokane Valley by YaYa Brewing. The beer is called Fluffy Puffy Sunshine. I was hoping it would be pretty good. I visited YaYa's tasting room a couple of years ago and enjoyed the beer I sampled that day.
I snapped a picture of the can the beer came in and its goldenness poured in a glass and texted it to Debbie. I enjoyed the beer and Debbie and I agreed that I should look for cans to buy in Spokane and bring some home.
3. Having enjoyed the beer and the ambience at Wooden City, I strolled to Howard St., headed south, and walked into Zona Blanca, a ceviche bar.
I knew exactly what I wanted to order before I walked in. Zona Blanca serves oysters on the half shell and I knew I would start with half a dozen of those. I love to drink a shot of liquor when I eat raw oysters. In the past, I've always drunk a shot of bourbon. But Zona Blanca has an extensive tequila list. I love tequila. I decided to try a tequila I'd never drunk before, anticipating that it would taste splendid with the oysters.
I was right.
Before I knew it, the woman serving my table brought me a pour of Fortaleza Blanco. I indulged in a small taste of this tequila before my oysters arrived and that one little sip sent me into a state of mild ecstasy. It was all I could do to leave the tequila alone while waiting for my oysters to arrive, but I did it.
On the ice-packed platter along with the oysters was a small lime cut in quarters, a container of a lime sauce, and a bottle of hot sauce with an eye dropper. I eye dropped a tiny bit of the hot sauce on my wrist and sampled it and my tongue was on fire. I was worried that my taste buds were wrecked, but they recovered and I decided I would not use this sauce until I ate my sixth oyster.
I ate the other five oysters with lime juice and the lime sauce and sipped on my shot of tequila.
I blissed out.
The oyster flesh and the brine helped temper the heat of the sauce on my last oyster. The heat didn't wreck me. I enjoyed it!
Tonight was definitely raw fish night for me. I had decided on Thursday that after I finished the oysters that I would try ceviche, a raw fish dish that originated in Peru, for the first time in my life.
I ordered ceviche mixto, a fascinating blend of (raw) yellowfin tuna, (raw) octopus, (raw) lime cured shrimp, aguachile, salsa de cacahuates, chiles, and mayo with corn tostados on the side.
What a symphony of flavors and sensations! Heat, citrus, sweetness, tastes of the sea, and a variety of textures. The tequila paired beautifully with the ceviche and I loved diving into this, for me, unique dish.
The server asked me, as she took my ceviche bowl and tequila glass away, if I'd like Tres Leches, a sweet milk soaked cake with whipped cream, cinnamon, and lime zest, for dessert.
I asked it would have a cooling effect.
She answered and smiled generously, "Yes! That's what it's for!"
I couldn't resist and the cake was perfect: light, moist, not overly sweet, and refreshingly cool, a pleasing contrast to the superb and spicy ceviche.
My plan coming to Spokane for this overnight visit was to try places to eat and drink where I'd never been before.
I agree, I immediately broke this pact by going to Jack and Dan's.
So what? I had to go to Jack and Dan's!
I loved how I kept my agreement by going to Wooden City and Zona Blanca and I have another cafe in mind for Saturday breakfast. It will be a place I've never been before.
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