I’m in love with Champagne mangoes. I have a box of them sitting on my desk right now, but I’m tempted to go buy another case. They are just that spectacular. And the season only has three or four weeks left.

Never heard of Champagne mangoes? That’s not surprising. They haven’t quite reached widespread appeal, but they’re getting there. You can find them at several local markets (listed at the end of this post). And, if you’re lucky, you’ll find them on local restaurant menus. Galanga Thai Cuisine serves the mangoes on the dessert menu – sticky rice in a coconut milk sauce, with slices of mango.

In the markets, they might also be called Honey mangoes, which I’ve heard many locals call them. Or some places call them the much less descriptive Ataulfo, which is the variety name. They also may show up at market labeled as Baby, Yellow or Young. Read more »

I received a note today from Alyssa Lewis of the Seattle Pie Company. She reported that the Old Town Pie Company is not going to open, which doesn’t come as a surprise. After all, the shop has been three months delayed. I first wrote about the company opening a Tacoma outpost here. I’ll write more on the subject later this week, but for now, I do know that the pie shop may still be coming to Tacoma, just not Old Town. Lewis said she and her husband Patrick have hired a real estate agent to scout other Tacoma locations (Metropolitan Market in Proctor also continues to sell their pies). She’s also open to suggestions if readers have ideas for neighborhoods that would be well suited for a pie shop and cafe (psst … now is the time to pitch that empty storefront in your neighborhood). And now for some news on where you can find pies: a Puyallup pie restaurant that masquerades as a burger joint. Read more »

I’m in coffee mourning. Or I was.

Origin 23, one of my go-to coffee houses on Sixth Avenue closed June 21. The café served coffee and gelato, which we wrote about in May, and a pastry case full of delightful things I really should have avoided.

I liked that you could sit down, plug into wi-fi, sip a well-crafted cup of coffee, and usually meet a character. I remember sitting by the big front window one afternoon and I struck up a conversation with someone. I used the phrase, “Oh yeah, there are a ton of those” to describe something and he looked at me, laughed, and then launched a hilarious diatribe against the South Sound colloquial use of “tons” to describe anything prolific (He’s right. We do that here.). That spawned a conversation about the colloquialisms he picked up living in the south.

I’ll miss random conversations about tons of things like that. (Sorry. I’ll stop using that word now. I promise).

Now here’s a piece of coffee news that may dull the raw edge of Origin 23’s passing: Another coffee house has opened on Sixth Avenue and it’s really worthy of your coffee dollars (coffee caveat: Amocat Café also has opened in St. Helens, but more on that in a moment).

Caffe Dei opened for business Tuesday at 2607 Sixth Ave. Here’s something of note: the coffee house caters to vegans, vegetarians, gluten-free diners and offers an exceptional array of coffee with a bend toward the aromatic. Think orange zest, Mexican chocolate and chile powder flavorings. Read more »