Culture: Page 231

Beer Breakdown

Craft beer for beginners

Drink
Mike Codlin. Photo by Trask Bedortha.

While tap lists at local bars and breweries seem to range from elusive to overwhelming with not much in between, choosing a beer can be a daunting task. With new craft creations, a multitude of IPAs vying for attention and beer pairing taking a seat at the table, it’s an intimidating, brave new world. So if you’re new to the brewery scene and playing catch up on the craft beer revolution, EW is bringing you the basics with Mike Coplin of 16 Tons Taphouse as our cicerone (aka a beer sommelier).  Continue reading →

Hops at Home

Gardening

I like farms and I like beer. What could be better, on a sunny evening in mid-May, than a visit to Agrarian Ales? Brothers Ben and Nate Tilley set up a brew house in an old dairy barn on the family’s organic farm, just west of the Coburg Hills. Ben senior and his wife Debbie grow chilis and sell them at the Corvallis and Lane County farmers markets. You’ll recognize the Crossroads Farm stand — it’s the one where, later in summer, peppers will be fragrantly roasting in a rotating drum.  Continue reading →

U.S. Catches World Cup Fever

Sports
Doherty with new Brazilian friends after the exciting match between U.S.A. and Portugal

While soccer has been exploited by some with malicious intentions (recently evidenced by the horrific suicide bombing that took 14 lives of World Cup-viewers in Nigeria), soccer has tremendous potential for promoting and facilitating peaceful intercultural exchanges and fraternal international relations.  Continue reading →

Neighborhoods Go Wild

Sports

My travel experience has convinced me that the best plan is to make no plans — or at least to keep plans as flexible as possible — and my experience of watching Brazil’s first match in this hubristically hopeful host nation has confirmed my conclusion that spontaneity and flexibility bear the sweetest of fruits.  Continue reading →

Meet Me On The Mountaintop At Maru

Chow

The top of the mountain — the summit — as well as a circle representing wealth and success are a couple of the cultural connotations restaurant owner Alex Han drew upon when naming his new Asian fusion restaurant. The word “Maru” means mountaintop in Japanese, but it’s also known colloquially to represent money because the Chinese character of the word is circular.  Maru opened its doors about six months ago with clean white platters of sushi and steaming bowls of Korean and Japanese cuisine.  Continue reading →

Tour de France

Chow

Sitting in a booth at Marché, my fiancé and I admire the etchings above our table. Each one features a different food-smith, a sort of lineup of French food superheros: There’s the Beurière, or buttermaid, outfitted with a dress made of pails, measuring slabs of butter on a scale; the Poissonnière (a fishmaid) wearing a crab headpiece and a gown covered in fish; and of course the Vinaigrié (a vinegar maker) carrying barrels of vinegar while sporting mustard-box pantaloons. Continue reading →

Cuba and Beyond

Chow

The founders of Membrillo Latin Café want people to know that their style of Latin food goes far beyond the shores of Cuba — that its flavors transcend borders and continents. “A lot of people are comparing us to classic or traditional Cuban restaurants from Miami or Tampa,” says Corey Wisun, who, with his business and life partner Sarah Foottit, runs the café located on the corner of Park Street and 8th Avenue. “I wanted to keep it a little more broad and open.” Continue reading →