Tag Archives: coffee

Tacoma Food Co-op

30 Jan

In a slight tangent from usual GCF content, Derrick and Adam find themselves browsing the shelves at 6th Ave’s newest co-op grocery store.

El Guadalajara feeling a little bit of sign envy

It’s funny, we spend countless hours enjoying, discussing, and arguing about food served to us in restaraunts, but we’ve never once discussed the grocery store food we all rely on for actual sustenance. We’ve never gotten in fisticuffs over where the best beer selection is, where your average box of cereal can be found cheapest, or the benefits of organic foods vs. everything else. It honestly never even crossed our minds. This is what happens when you’re mired in first world problems – like this: my Bugatti Veyron Super Sport reeks of Clive Christian Imperial Majesty Perfume! This is one of those problems.

To help rid ourselves of this problem, we are having our first ever grocery post. It’s a short nod to an establishment literally keeping us alive. Hooray for living! In this instance we are celebrating life at the Tacoma Food Co-op, a precocious young and burgeoning member-owned store on the corner of 6th and Junett.

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Marcia’s Silver Spoon

22 Jan

The GCF boys get greasy at Marcia’s Silver Spoon.

On Roads, Magical

South Tacoma Way is a yellow brick road of sorts. Along this long and winding path through the Nalley Valley you’ll encounter giant teapots, dusty flea markets and more used car dealerships than you can shake a broomstick at. There was even a monkey at one point at the B&I. Although it didn’t fly. And it wasn’t a monkey, it was a gorilla. The only significant difference really is that there’s no wizard at the end of this yellow brick road, just Lakewood. Which is worse. So much worse.

[Ah, it's so nice to be able to be the giver of the regional jokes for once, rather than the recipient. Suck it Lakewood.]

One of the locations you’ll find on South Tacoma Way is Marcia’s Silver Spoon. It’s a bit divey, but what on South Tacoma Way isn’t? As Adam and I pulled up outside Marcia’s we were greeted by an empty can of Steel Reserve, a likely welcome for any place within stone’s throw of the Java Jive. I’d never given the exterior much thought before, and after some long glances I felt equally void of thought. Totally nondescript. The signage hadn’t been changed in a couple weeks and it’s hard to tell where Marcia’s ends and the Lucky Silver Cafe begins. What’s the story there anyway? They must be related right? This area wasn’t exactly renowned for its abundance in silver.

Perhaps I would have asked that question had I not been busy consuming an omelette the size of Toto.

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T Town Taster – Metronome Coffee

22 Oct GCF_metronomeTTT-1

We put a bird on it at Metronome coffee, the hippest cafe in town.

Metronome Coffee is a coffee nerd’s wet dream. If you also happen to enjoy wearing skinny jeans and reading Huffington Post on a Macbook Air while drinking said coffee, then this place has transcended nocturnal emissions to total Nirvana. The decor is hip Portlandia-influenced, the menu includes beer and wine, and the food is tasty. The coffee list is impressive and you can order your cup of joe brewed in a variety of methods: Chemex, Syphon, Trifecta, pour over, cold brewed, or French pressed (read about these different methods here). The apothecary-esque approach to coffee making should make for an interesting visit later, but today we just swung through for a quick espresso and a basil pastry.

The drink list is typical coffee house; I got a macchiato and Adam had a cappuccino, I know…we played it safe today. The espressos here are widely known to be some of the best in town, but our drinks were a bit on the acidic side – I’ve never been a barista, did she pull the shot late? Metronome does allow you to choose your shot, but we didn’t even realize this until after.

I am mired in a chest cold so I also ordered a “My Throat Hurts” tea to go. The tea is provided by Mad Hat Tea Company, and in this case hand made by a local herbalist. My tea had ginger, licorice root, and cayenne. Crazy. The tea was tasty, but the cayenne on a sore throat was a bit like salt in a wound. I think the name refers to the experience, not the symptom.

The one real pleasant surprise was the basil pastry. It was fresh, light, flakey, and filled with cheesy basil goodness. Perfect study fuel.

Metronome Coffee, where your cup of Joe is more of a Josef.

3518 6th Ave #101
Tacoma, WA 98406
(253) 301-2375
Metronome Coffee on Urbanspoon

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Dirty Oscars Annex: Breakfast

18 Oct

We finally wake up early enough to hit a breakfast spot. We don’t want to start off such an endeavor at any old pancake house, so we opt for Dirty Oscars Annex – purveyor of unique breakfasts and a damn fine bloody mary.

Breakfast is changing Tacoma! There is a foodie-focused change happening in Tacoma’s breakfast scene, as many Gritty City restaurants have begun vamping on the most important meal of the day. No exception to this is Dirty Oscar’s Annex which offers up some crazy dishes like elk hash and Cap’n Crunch french toast.

I drove by Dirty Oscar’s Annex countless times before ever entertaining the idea of actually going there. The sign out front barely covers the ghosted “SAX” sign from the building’s previous incarnation, there are only a few dark windows facing the street – giving one the impression something seedy or exclusive is taking place inside, and the beer signs in said windows are more akin to a sports bar than hip cocktails and eats. None of these things scream “come in, we’re friendly, spacious, and have one of the best breakfast menus in town…not to mention some badass bloody marys.” Maybe that should be their sign. Perhaps it’s a bit long.

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Valhalla Coffee

26 Sep GCF_metronomeTTT-11

In this latest video cast: Derrick has a moment with a cup of coffee, we explore one of the premiere roasters in Tacoma, and we present the first ever GCF interview!

I can’t quite remember exactly when coffee transitioned from mid-day luxury to morning necessity, but sometime in college I began relying on my morning cup of coffee like a paratrooper relies on air resistance. It keeps me up…and prevents me from plummeting a great many leagues to certain doom. Coffee is an essential part of my morning, but is far from a mindless item on my to-do list, it is something I love so very dearly.

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PHO 701

22 Aug

#26 - Vermicelli Rice Noodles...lightly glazed with crack sauce

In the not so distant past, it seemed like pho places were popping up like weeds.  They each took on punny names like “Pho You” or “What the Pho?”  This of course is due to the fact that “pho” rhymes with a favorite curse word – unbeknownst to many city commerce officials – making it rife with immature possibility.  Each of these places followed roughly the same business model: strip mall, tile floors, formica tables, hermetically sealed chopsticks, and monstrous bowls of salty broth filled with meat and noodles.  Pho 701 may not get top honors in the name department, but this place far surpasses your typical noodle house.  You better pho king believe it!

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