Culture: Page 216

The Rhone Rangers

Drink

Spring? This was no stinkin’ Oregon spring. We were dry, warm; no endless days of sog and rain. Even the worst climate-change-deniers had to notice, even if no idiot thought to bring a snowball (or a bucket of water) into the Legislature. Last year, around this time, we sat in a UO lecture hall, listening to paleobotanists tell us that, due to climate change (i.e., warming), Oregon grape growers should re-plant their acres in warm-country grapes, like those of the southern Rhone Valley of France. Continue reading →

The Tao of Tomatoes

Gardening

Carol Deppe knows we want tomatoes. “And you want them earlier,” she says, “and you want the most delicious varieties, and you want different kinds and colors.” Deppe, who lives in Corvallis, is a plant breeder, farmer and author. Her book The Resilient Gardener, published in 2010, catapulted her to prominence as an events speaker. Her talks at the Good Earth Home Show in Eugene are always among the best attended. Continue reading →

Divergent Ducks

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

Sports
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

Culture

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

Outdoors

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

Chow

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

Chow

“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

Chow

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 →