Aug/091
Country Gentleman, Great Place for Dinner Plans!
Glass of Terra Blanca Syrah
by Craig Sutton
Wednesday was a special day in my life and I wanted a special location to have dinner with my wife. As you know, we have a large selection of restaurants, but not enough that are privately owned with a unique menu. Lots of chains. This is not want I wanted for this day.
Then I remembered! I posted a commercial for the Tri-City Regional Chamber a short time ago for there new Go Local Campaign, which featured Country Gentleman. While they had been open for breakfast and lunch, just a short time ago they created a dinner menu and I had heard some great things about it! I’m a fairly regular visitor on other shifts, as my office is not far away.
Steak Sauce - They went LOCAL!
Reservations weren’t required, which was good, this was a last minute decision with plans to visit the movie theater about an hour later. We arrived about 6:30, wasn’t a very big crowd at this point. I was also relieved that there was not a strong dress code enforced, in fact the gentleman who greeted us was wearing a rather colorful t-shirt under his jacket. Very friendly fellow.
We were taken to a table, candlelight and linen were available, no paper napkins here. Immediately rolls were served and a drink order was taken. I was delighted to find a favorite wine of mine, Terra Blanca Syrah, available here! Many of the local chains serve only inexpensive table wines. This was a treat indeed! My wife had a Mango Sunrise, a sweet concoction she enjoyed thoroughly.
Tenderloin
As we perused the menu, out came Steve Simmons, one of the establishments owners. He is a nice fellow and always takes some personal time to greet guests to answer questions or generate feedback. These are signs of a solid owner with his hands on the pulse of the business.
I asked Steve what he would recommend, mentioning the special day, and he suggested their Tenderloin (these pictures of food were our dinners). It sounded fantastic, so I took the bait. I had a side of scalloped potatoes and vegetables. My wife ordered the St. Louis Baby Ribs.
St. Louis Ribs
The meal was fantastic, the Tenderloin was juicy and practically fell off the bone (which Steve explained earlier had been left in to enhance the flavor) and the potatoes, as my wife put it, “obviously had the love of the chef” as they were in thin layers of Parmesan cheese and were the perfect match for this meal.
After dinner, we had a Cheesecake covered in Raspberry sauce, with a special note from the owners.
This was a great experience and they certainly will see me again! I hope they see you as well, we need to make sure these kind of places stay busy in this town. Oh yeah, almost forgot, they had us out with just enough time to get to the movie, what a treat indeed!
Jul/091
Mean Bean Espresso – Coffee with Attitiude in Kennewick
by Craig Sutton
Name- Mean Bean Espresso
Address- 5718 W Clearwater Ave, Kennewick, WA
Phone- 509-735-6803
Where did the name Mean Bean Espresso come from? Is your coffee angry?
No, it Means it’s ‘coffee with attitude‘! Like the descriptive, cool, sweet or bad. Mindy, our daughter, drew the logo and it is hard to draw an attitude. So Mean is portrayed as a little rascal, with a sling shot, straight shooting our “Coffee with Attitude” right at you.
With the wealth of espresso stands including your major chain competitors like Starbucks and McDonalds, what sets your company and its product apart? Why choose you?
First off McDonalds serves hamburgers, not espresso! There is an art to making espresso, the beans are roasted for certain tastes, then are finely ground and brewed by forcing hot water under pressure through the ground coffee. This makes a thicker consistency than drip or brewed coffee and crema, a reddish-brown foam that floats on the surface. Then we make espresso drinks with the shots. We use Longbottom organic coffee and teas! Our cups are recycled paper or PLA (corn starch based) plastic cups and straws. We strive to use the most organic and additive free ingredients we can find. Jason went to Barista School and he hopes to attend the Coffee fest in September. We try to be green conscience and responsible. It’s our God given duty. That in itself sets us apart from the competition… Social responsibility
How many locations do you own, and what made you choose this one?
We only own one now. We choose Kennewick because Jason lives there, great people, good location and lots of events going on in the area. Thoughts are in our heads of opening one in Eureka Montana, Kauai HI and Indiana.
What type of experience do you require for your employees?
Our employees have to pass the Jason test. That means they have to make the espresso just the way they are told every time, they need to be consistent. They have to treat our customers with a friendly attentive, coffee attitude. They have to drink and love coffee. Be clean freaks to satisfy the owners, me. And a willingness to go to school to learn more about the profession of Baristi.
Do you offer any unique products our readers should be aware of?
Our Longbottom Fair Trade organic coffee, our teas are also organic, Monin syrups organic, sugar free and regular. We use products that are as additive free and natural as we can find. We do serve completely organic espresso drinks for a small price upgrade. We have great smoothies; we serve Italian sodas and iced coffees. I know all espresso stands serve these drinks but I believe our prices are better.
Jul/090
How to Drive in a Roundabout
Cari McGee thinks you should know more about how to drive in a Roundabout with all the new ones added here recently.
Jul/090
Palatebomb.com, Wine is for Everybody
Palatebomb.com is out to prove a point. Wine is for people of every (legal) age. And we want to let people in their 20s and 30s showcase that they too have knowledge and opinions about wines in the Northwest and beyond. Featuring writers Stephen Hartley (who has partial ownership in the new venture), An Bui and Wendy Cantu, we offer advice ranging from seasonal drinking tips, to pairings with food and even have education on how to understand wine terminology. This is a FUN site most of all!
We won’t give you all the details here. But we inviting the wine-loving public to attend the launch of the new Palatebomb.com website on Monday July 20th, 6:00pm – 9:00pm at Bookwalter winery in Richland. Just RSVP to Craig by email, craig@brightwebmarketing.com, or by calling 509-783-9558.
We hope you can join us! And the first glass of wine is on Palatebomb!
Jul/090
Local News from Our Readers!
Local Cupcake Vendor gets high rating for the product by a visitor!
Below is an excerpt from from An Bui’s blog post titled Cupcake Comparison: Sprinkles, Kara’s, Boulder Baked and Cupcakes
While in I was in TriCities for business, Craig Sutton of networkTask and BrightWeb Marketing picked up cupcakes from Cupcakes Bakery and Deli. OMG. Yes, I just ‘OMG’ed. Why? Because these cupcakes were AMAZING – they weren’t too rich or too sweet. The texture wasn’t too crumbly either. They became even more amazing when Craig let on they were only $2.00/pop, or $20/dozen. While the presentation left much to be desired (the plastic boxes reminded me of meh cupcakes from any grocery store), the cupcake itself is a secret too good not to share.
Cupcake Comparison: Price
Sprinkles: 3.25 each or $36/dozen
Kara’s: 3.25 each or $36/dozen
Boulder Baked: 2.50 each or $27.50/dozen
Cupcakes: 2.00 each or $20/dozen
Cupcake Comparison: Location
Sprinkles: Beverly Hills, Dallas, Newport Beach, Phoenix – Scottsdale, SF – Palo Alto, Houston
Kara’s: San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, Napa
Boulder Baked: Boulder
Cupcakes: Kennewick, WA
Cupcake Comparison: Packaging/Experience
Sprinkles: Line out the door but well worth the wait. Wooden knives and forks for those who share or are concerned with manners.
Kara’s: Upscale and posh, with pretty cardboard boxes.
Boulder Baked: Highly utilitarian for-here plates.
Cupcakes: Plastic Boxes – Plain and not the most environmentally friendly packaging that detracts from the cupcake experience.