Divergent Ducks

The 2015 season proves again that the Oregon Ducks Softball team is top in the nation

Outfielder Janie Takeda. Photo courtesy Eric Evans.

The Oregon Ducks softball team has earned the right to call its squad the best in the nation, even if that title ebbs and flows ever so slightly. While UO secured the top spot in the joint ESPN.com/USA Softball poll as well as the USA Today/NFCA coaches’ poll on March 31, they slipped to number two when the weekly polls were released again on April 7.  Continue reading 

New pub and nightclub opening downtown

A new pub and nightclub is set to open downtown this summer in the former space of the Lord Leebrick Theatre Company's administrative office on Broadway.  The space will have two separate entrances and feature a pub and a nightclub, each with its own bar. The owner and operators say they want it to be a community-oriented space with a cozy feel and that it had to be downtown. "My mind kept going to a pub in southwest London," the owner says of the new venue's inspiration. Continue reading 

Paddle Oregon video released

New video from Willamette Riverkeeper promotes Paddle Oregon 2015 which will be Aug. 17 to 21. Many kayakers and canoeists from Eugene and Springfield participate and even serve as leaders in this annual 100-mile adventure. The trip is similar to Cycle Oregon is that meals, camping sites and entertainment are provided, along with gear shuttles. Continue reading 

Bring on the ’Buch

When Curtis Shimmen (pictured) founded Kore Kombucha three years ago, he was already dreaming about opening a kombucha taphouse. “Taphouses are a great way to introduce people to a wide variety of kombucha,” Shimmen says, pointing out that most stores carry only a few flavors of the bubbly, fermented drink, leaving out some more enigmatic concoctions, such as coffee kombucha with raspberry or vanilla chai kombucha.  Continue reading 

Small Cart, Big Taste

“The term ‘fusion food’ gets used so much nowadays,” says Tony Ngo, co-owner of Da Nang Vietnamese Eatery, which won third place for food carts in EW’s Best of Eugene. “Vietnamese food is one of those organic fusion foods.”  Tony Ngo and co-owner James Ngo (no relation) are long-time friends with families here in Eugene. They opened the Da Nang food cart last May and named it after the city where both of their families are from. Earlier this year both men traveled to Vietnam for six weeks to see family and research food. Continue reading 

Know Your Noodle

The ancient Chinese invention of the noodle still enjoys popularity in Asian cuisine to this day. The types of noodles available differ almost as vastly as the common dishes in which they appear. Here is a short guide to a select few of the most common noodle soups, as well as the various noodles found immersed in their broth.   Continue reading 

In the Market

You don’t have to live in a big city to enjoy the benefits of an Asian market: Eugene and Springfield have a smattering of markets full of the best and most unusual ingredients Asian cuisine has to offer. Some have been here since the ’90s and some are only a few years old, but if you have a recipe (Asian or not) that you’re dying to try out, make sure to stop by these locally owned grocery stores first.    Sunrise Asian Food Market 70 W. 29th Ave.; 343-3295 Continue reading 

Cambodian Cuisine

If you’re not sure what Cambodian food is like, Horn Nov, the owner of Angkor Cambodian Cafe, offers some tantalizing clues. “Next door to Thailand, next door to Vietnam,” he says about Cambodia’s closest neighbors. “A lot of fresh ingredients, lemon grass, turmeric, ginger.”  The curry, for example, is served with noodles, Cambodian-style. Nov tries to describe it and then decides to bring out a bowl of the colorful dish instead.  Continue reading