Residents of the Inland Northwest are fortunate to live in a place where food and beverage excellence abounds. On a near-weekly basis, the Inlander receives a press release (or two, or three) sharing the news that yet another local producer has been recognized as among the best of their kind in the nation. So for this week's To-Go Box, we decided to share the recently bestowed accolades we've heard about.
Sandpoint-based EVANS BROTHERS COFFEE has been honored for the third time by the Good Food Awards, this time for its Costa Rica Finca Calle Lajas Natural coffee.
The Good Food Awards recognize social and environmental responsibility in food production as well as excellent taste and quality. More than 2,000 entries each year across all categories — coffee, cheese, beer, chocolate and more — are judged in a blind taste test.
Evans Brothers' winning coffee comes from a third-generation coffee "micro" mill in Costa Rica, which the roastery has been working with for the past seven years.
"The Good Food Awards is the most important and prestigious award we have received. It has become increasingly competitive," says co-owner Rick Evans. "To be honored as a GFA Winner for the third time is truly remarkable. We are inspired to continue pursuing our passion of connecting our customers, both wholesale and retail, to the producers and partners that put so much of their heart and soul into producing exceptional coffee that benefits all those involved."
Another repeat, regional Good Food Award winner is Spokane's LIBERTY CIDERWORKS, which was honored for its 55 Chain, an English-style cider, and Heirloom Series McIntosh. (Both of these ciders also received the award in 2021.) Liberty sources all of its apples from three small, family-run orchards in the region that specialize in growing cider-making apples, a process similar to producing wine grapes.
In other award-centric news, Pullman's THE BLACK CYPRESS has been named a finalist for the 2023 James Beard Awards in the Outstanding Hospitality category, becoming one of the region's first restaurants to move on from the semifinalist to finalist stage of the prestigious awards.
Opened in 2009 by chef Nick Pitsilionis, the Black Cypress serves Greek and Mediterranean fare in a fine-dining format. Pitsilionis grew up in the restaurant business, even working for about a year at the esteemed French Laundry in Napa Valley.
Winners of the 2023 James Beard Awards are to be announced on June 5 at a ceremony in New York City. Among this year's local semifinalists was chef Tony Brown, owner of Ruins and Hunt in downtown Spokane, for the Best Chef (Northwest) category.
In the beer-making realm, it's a pretty big deal that Spokane's BRICK WEST BREWING CO. took home a gold medal at the World Beer Cup, an event dubbed "the Olympics of beer." Brick West's Festbier, a German-style Oktoberfest beer, took home a gold medal in the category.
Billing itself as the most prestigious beer competition in the world, the World Beer Cup recognizes brews across 111 different categories. For the 2023 event, more than 2,300 breweries from 26 countries entered a total of 10,213 beers.
Adding yet another entry to its growing list of honors is NO-LI BREWHOUSE, which cracked the top 25 list of independent, family-owned breweries in the U.S., according to numbers tracked by the big consumer goods market analytics firm IRI.
No-Li also recently took home two gold medals at the National Craft Beer Marketing Awards for its new Asian export campaign, No-Li Worldwide Japan, and for the branding of 25 Days of Christmas, its annual event to raise money for local nonprofits.
In wine news, Spokane Valley's WINESCAPE WINERY has been named 2023's Washington Winery to Watch by Great Northwest Wine, a magazine covering the wine across the Pacific Northwest. Winescape is owned by Phillip and Patricia Butterfield, who both left faculty positions at Washington State University's Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine to launch their dream winery in 2017. Winescape mostly produces red wines from grapes sourced from among the top vineyards in the Columbia Valley.
THE COEUR D'ALENE CASINO has been recognized as a "Top Culinary Experience" by Club + Resort Chef magazine, joining a list of dozens of high-end clubs and resorts around the U.S., as judged by a panel of chefs. In Worley, Idaho, the resort has several eateries under its umbrella, including the Chinook Restaurant Crafted by Chef Adam Hegsted, which recently debuted its spring seasonal menu with dishes like wild sockeye salmon and a Northwest seafood alfredo. ♦
CORRECTION: Evans Brothers Coffee has been recognized with a Good Food Award in three, nonconsecutive years.
