New Coeur D’Alene Restaurant Features Hawaiian Name, Exotic Fare

If unique, great-tasting food, reasonable prices and friendly people in a clean, inviting decor are a restaurant’s recipe for success, Lilikoi’s should be a hit in Coeur d’Alene.

Opening this week, the establishment’s full name is Lilikoi (the Hawaiian word for passion fruit) Out-of-the-Ordinary Edibles & Fresh Juice Bar. It’s at 842 N. Fourth, formerly the home of Fourth Street Deli and before that Sweet Temptations Bakery.

Lilikoi’s offers specialty breakfast and lunch eat-in and take-out items, primarily of Japanese and organic origin. A variety of 22 organic juices, juice blends and fruit smoothies (with add-ons and infusions) and several iced or hot espressos are available.

Breakfast specials include manapuas (baked, filled buns), featuring The Aegean (with feta cheese, spinach, scrambled eggs, sun-dried tomatoes and herbs) and The Mexicana (scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, cream cheese, green chilies, jalapenos and spices). Fresh from the Jonel’s Bakery are scones, muffins, cinnamon rolls, coffee cake and pumpkin bread.

Lunches features bentos (Japanese box lunches), salads, soups and manapuas.

The box lunches offer a choice of marinated chicken or beef or tofu over sticky rice and a side dish of namasu (sweetened pickled cucumbers), o-koko (pickled cabbage) or kim chee (pickled cabbage in peppered garlic brine).

Lunch manapuas are turkey-veggie or all-veggie filling with ginger, garlic and scallions and a sauce of soy-mushroom, oyster, rice wine, five-spice and hoisin. A dessert specialty is lilikoi (passion fruit) bars.

Owners are long-time Coeur d’Alene residents Chris Lovejoy, coming here in 1980 after learning many of the recipes from her mother in Hawaii, and Pam Schilling, who moved here 22 years ago, after visiting Expo ‘74, Spokane’s World Fair the year before.

Hours at Lilikoi are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Phone 664-0355.

Up the street, at 1103 N. Fourth St., Julie Knoblock and Lori Putnam have turned a turn-of-the-century house into Miracles of Fourth Street. The sub-title is The Amazing Gift & Candle Shop.

Fifteen artisans combine their expertise in painting, floral design, pottery, picture frames, cloth baskets, cookbooks, collectibles and garden and personal items. Special rooms are designated for men’s and children’s items.

Knoblock is a native of Hauser Lake, and Putnam came here from Southeast Oregon. Their goal for the eclectic store is to be a gift shop with a local price base. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 10 to 6 Saturdays and 11-4 Sundays. Phone 665-9866.

Nearly quadrupling in size, North Idaho Urology is building an 8,500-square-foot building at 2177 Ironwood Center Drive (north of Coeur d’Alene Hand Center). Drs. Charles Gates, William H. Hall and Randil Clark plan to move themselves and 10 employees in September from their 2,200-square-foot spaces at 2221 Ironwood Center Drive, where they’ve been since 1983.

The new facility will include a waiting room, exam rooms and minor procedure rooms. Part of the lower level will be unfinished.

A block west, at 2201 Ironwood Place (across from Dr. Raymond Greene’s Ironwood Vision Clinic), Washington Mutual Bank has established a home loan center on the 2,462-square-foot main floor of a former medical office building.

Planning to open Thursday, the residential mortgage lending center will employ four people managed by Gail Brown, assistant vice-president, who transferred from Tri-Cities. The 108-year-old financial company is headquartered in Seattle.

A business called Pinkerton Retirement Specialists will occupy the 2,450-square-foot lower level in July or August. Moving from Anchorage, the company specializes in retirement planning.

The newly remodeled building was recently purchased by Giles Wardian through Chad Dwyer of Coldwell Banker-Schneidmiller Realty.

Koerner Furniture in Coeur d’Alene has added a 5,400-square-foot La-Z-Boy gallery to its main store at 5505 Pioneer Way (southwest of the Dalton Avenue-Highway 95 intersection).

The addition includes La-Z-Boy products and a design center screening catalog system that allows customers to preview the furniture in any desired fabric before buying. Owners are Rich and Barbara Koerner.

Meanwhile, the neighboring Carpet Center plans remodeling projects for its Coeur d’Alene and Spokane (Sprague Avenue) stores.

Owner Doug Chadderton will open an 11,000-square-foot commercial division distribution center and outlet store in Freeway Center at I-90’s Pines exit. It will be the 29-year-old company’s seventh store. Carpet Center has 80 employees and 90 subcontract installers.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Nils Rosdahl The Spokesman-Review