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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Europa Dinner/Auction Benefit Will Feature Celebrity Servers

Europa Pizzeria is throwing an elaborate benefit brewer’s dinner on Dec. 4. The event will feature a multicourse feast with specially selected suds from Hale’s Ales.

Proceeds from the event will help pay the medical bills for Gina Brent, the 28-year-old former manager of the restaurant who is battling leukemia.

The meal will start with a California cioppino, an Italian seafood stew with fresh mussels, manila clams and snow crab. It will be accompanied by Hale’s O’Brien’s Harvest Ale. The salad course will be a tropical papaya concoction with bay shrimp and a vinaigrette made with Hale’s Bitter.

The main course is a king salmon stuffed with scallops, shrimp and Parmesan cheese and then wrapped in delicate phyllo pastry. Moss Bay Stout will be served with this dish.

Finally, dessert should be a belt-buster - Gina’s Chocolate Stout Cake.

These gourmet goodies will be delivered to tables by celebrity servers that include KHQ’s Randy Shaw and Debra Wilde, along with Charlie Schmidt, Bob and Joan Welch from Interplayers and The Spokeman-Review’s cantankerous columnist Doug Clark.

Before and during the meal, diners can browse among enticing items up for bid in a silent auction.

Tickets for the dinner are $40 each and can be purchased in advance at the restaurant; or call 455-4051 for reservations.

Ankeny’s redux

The Ridpath recently got a huge makeover. Along with its spiffy new look, the restaurants have revamped their menus.

Ankeny’s is now only open for dinner and is serving an intriguing-sounding lineup.

Appetizers include Napa cabbage rolls filled with salmon and wild rice, grilled Japanese eggplant with chunky tomato sauce and warm goat cheese, imported Parma ham from Italy served with tropical fruit and gulf prawn and veggie won tons.

Main courses range from duck with wild mushrooms and turnips braised in sparkling cider and a pasta dish with crawfish tails, clams and andouille sausage to old favorites such as prime rib and New York steak.

Blooming again

The Thai Orchid, has reopened just one block south of its old location at 7454-A N. Division.

The restaurant was forced to move a few months ago after a landlord jacked up the rent. The same menu including phad Thai and different types of curry is being offered at the new location, which is near the North Division Theaters.

Call 483-4500 for reservations or takeout orders.

Downtown deli

Coast to Coast Gourmet, a deli that didn’t make it in its location on Hamilton, has relocated to downtown Spokane at 10 N. Howard, between Big Mamu Burrito Co. and David’s Pizza.

The menu features an inventive lineup of sandwiches, including the Miami Cuban, the house specialty. It comes with roast pork, ham, salami and provolone cheese and a secret sauce that tastes an awful lot like a mix of mustard and mayo.

Other sandwich choices include a New York pastrami, a crab croissant, a classic rueben with corned beef, sauerkraut and melted Swiss. Sandwich prices are under $5 for a regular and that includes a pickle and chips or cole slaw.

Other East Coast specialties include a New York egg cream and matzo ball soup.

A selection of platters with ethnic twists is also available. Examples include chicken curry, stir-fried veggies and arroz con pollo. Platter prices range from $5.95 to $6.95.

Coast to Coast Gourmet, which offers free delivery with a minimum $5 order, is open from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Call 838-7571 to place an order.

Milk Bottle rave

A reader left a passionate message on my voice mail urging me to try what he feels is Spokane’s best hamburger, at The Milk Bottle on Garland.

Mike Poffenroth said he was worried the restaurant might go out of business because not enough people know about the great handmade burgers served on freshbaked buns with fresh, hand-cut fries at what is usually considered a purveyor of rich, frozen treats.

Owner Theo Theodore, a native of Greece, is back in the kitchen at The Milk Bottle after a 10-day stint under new management.

In addition to burgers, the menu offers gyros, a Greek salad and a mean grilled cheese sandwich.

But be sure to call first to make sure the restaurant is open. Hours can be spotty. The number is 325-1772.

New take on surf and turf

Now, you don’t have to leave your home to visit famous restaurants such as Le Cirque, Bouley’s and Washington, D.C.,’s Jean Louis.

A new electronic guidebook on the Worldwide Web lets food enthusiasts browse through menus and photos of the dining rooms of some of the country’s best-known restaurants.

Kerry’s Restaurant World features menus with descriptions and prices, photographs of the restaurants and other trivia.

It can be located at http:/ /www.kerrymenu.com.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT OFF THE GRILL On the fast-food fast track, fat sells. Taco Bell’s “light” menu has been scaled back to make way for a selection of items with bacon. A bacon taco? Only in America.

This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT OFF THE GRILL On the fast-food fast track, fat sells. Taco Bell’s “light” menu has been scaled back to make way for a selection of items with bacon. A bacon taco? Only in America.