The Ritchies, Allison, Janet, Meredith and Mike dig in to Argentine-influenced cuisine at Asado.(Peter Haley/The News Tribune/2006)

This just in from TNT editorial writer Cheryl Tucker:

 

Here’s a great addition to lunchtime options on Sixth Avenue: Asasdo.

 

Starting Monday, Asado will serve lunch. According to bartender Will, it’s the first time the restaurant has offered lunch service.

 

I found this out totally by serendipity Friday.  With the day off and temps forecast for the high 70s, I thought I’d see who was serving open-air

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Chef Andy Kenser of HG Bistro in Puyallup offers the Halibut Bijoux– broiled halibut filet topped with a cherry compote and lemon parsley oil over arugua, served with mashed potatoes. (Peter Haley / The News Tribune)

By Craig Hill
The News Tribune

The locals call it The Goose, but it seems more like the ugly duckling.

Not because the HG Bistro is ugly, thanks to its Tuscan style décor it’s anything but.

However, sitting in front of a concrete factory and next to a bowling alley, the restaurant with a gourmet menu couldn’t be any more out of place.

“We do surprise people when they come in here,” owner Tim Hall said. “But that’s what we want to do. We want them to forget where they are and enjoy the experience.”

The restaurant is steeped in more than 40 years of Hall’s family history.

It started in 1968 when his grandfather purchased the concrete factory. In the early ’70s, his grandmother, Marion Pattee, turned the building that’s now the HG Bistro into a fireplace shop.

In the ’80s, Carolyn Hall, Tim’s mom, turned the fireplace shop into the Hungry Goose Eatery, named for the geese that use to flock to the field across the street. The gift and sandwich shop quickly became a local hangout.

Hall took over as manager in 1998 and when his mom passed the company to him in 2005, he decided to convert the popular shop into a restaurant.

The change has paid off. Seafood, steak, creative presentation and live music on weekends has once again made the Goose the place to be in Puyallup.

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Over at the GO Arts blog I have post up about The Green Spot, a new tea house on Bridgeport Way. It’s having its grand opening Saturday.

Check it out here.

Farmers markets in Puyallup and Key Peninsula open this weekend.

The Sunrise Village Farmers Market on Puyallup’s South Hill opens its first season Saturday May 30. Market Manager Janie Morris told me last month that the market would start small, probably with fewer than 20 vendors, but would increase as the season progresses. Morris said a number of South Sound farmers have committed. They include the Sunrise Flower Farm, River Road Farmers Terry Carkner and Doug and Keith Chadd. Also, farmers Maria Alverez and Ramon Ayala will bring produce from Yakima to the market. Stone Ground Bakery from Yelm will sell bread at the market. Click here for hours and the location of Sunrise, as well as other South Sound markets.

Also opening this weekend is the Key Peninsula Farmers Market, which opens Sunday May 31. Chanetta Ludwig, who many will recognize as “The Bee Lady” will return to the market this year to sell her honey and flavored honey sticks, as well as produce from her Lakebay farm. Click “read more” to find out how Ludwig farms her honey and to find a list of other South Sound farmers markets where she sells her honey.

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A few dining events in the near future:

May 30: Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church will host a Greek Taverna meal with appetizers, entrees, desserts, beer and wine. They advertise that nothing will cost more than $5. The event will be 11 a.m.-8 p.m. May 30 at the church, 1523 S. Yakima Ave. The event is free, except for the cost of food purchases. www.stnicholastacoma.org

May 30: Wilcox Farms in Roy, in conjunction with Tacoma Reads Together, will host a free omelet feed from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 30. Guided tours will be given, too. The

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I usually know when a Philly cheesesteak sandwich is going to be good even before it gets to my table.

I want to hear the clink-clank of metal spatulas banging the grill as the cook chops the meat – preferably thinly sliced ribeye or some equally tender beef – into a delicious pile of bite-sized pieces with just the right amount of crispness from the grill.

Next, I want to hear the sizzle of veggies hitting a hot grill, and more clink-clank as the grill cook mixes and dices the trifecta of my cheesesteak perfection: meat, onions and peppers.

My other hallmarks of a great cheesesteak: just the right ratio of meat to peppers and onions (three parts meat, one part peppers and onions is my kind of sandwich). The grill cook should let the cheese – make mine provolone – melt on the meat pile on the grill, rather than placing it in the sandwich cold (yuck). Sturdy, chewy rolls provide the best base for my perfect cheesesteak.

Pictured here: Joe McCollum, owner of Philly Joe’s with the imperial cheesesteak sandwich. Photo by Dean J. Koepfler/The News Tribune

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Pictured here: Ewe Moon blue cheese

The Tacoma Broadway Farmers Market opens tomorrow (Thursday). Market hours will be 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Broadway, between 9th and 11th.

Willapa Hills Farmstead Cheese will sell cow’s milk blue cheese, sheep’s cheese, fresh ricotta, fresh yogurt cheeses tomorrow. Here’s a look at their farm:

Who are the farmers? Stephen J. Hueffed and Amy Turnbull of Willapa Hills Farmstead Cheese, a 146-acre farm in Doty, west of Chehalis. The couple bought the farm in 2005 and live there with their three children, Willem, Lucas and Lillian. Hueffed’s mother, Marilyn, assists with cheese production and other grandma duties. They make cheese from sheep’s and cow’s milk. They tend a herd of 140 Lacaune-East Friesian cross ewes.

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Coming in June to 604 Fawcett Avenue: Minoela.

Pronounced min-oh-la, the restaurant will be a rustic wine bistro with a kick-back vibe. Located next to the Grand Cinema, in the location that formerly housed the One Heart Cafe (and before that, Kickstand Cafe), Minoela will serve lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturdays. Owners Danielle and Mike Kartes plan a June 23 grand opening.

"I’m a makeup artist turned foodie," is how Danielle Kartes describes herself. Husband Mike works for Oroweat Bakery and intends to keep his day job while she works the restaurant.

Why now? A restaurant? In this economy?

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