Six bright (and tasty) spots in Downtown Anchorage

Notes on: two new coffee shops, best-ever strawberry-rhubarb pie, unreal empanadas, Hot Tang gear, and how black cod is a lobbyist

I was planning to write a newsletter prescribing a Love Anchorage mission this week that I enjoy every June. On a sunny lunch hour, I like to make a pilgrimage to the stretch of Fourth Avenue between G and F streets and order from my friend Danny’s cart, Anchor Town Dogs. Then I sit in sunglasses on the old Federal Building steps and watch tourists stroll by.

But then I went for a walk downtown with Leo, my oldest. We ran into Grandma Liz, who lives a block from us, pushing her walker down E Street with a couple sacks of snacks in her front pocket that she planned to set on the park benches where some of our houseless neighbors sleep. And I realized I couldn’t talk about going downtown without acknowledging how rough the city’s historic center is right now. I know some of you reading this never go there.

I live downtown, and especially since the pandemic, there are more For Rent signs than ever, far more people in distress on the streets, and on my favorite stretch of Fourth Avenue, there’s lately a giant, hideous hole where the old historic movie theater used to be. Also, maybe the characteristic summertime flowers aren’t really happening? Even so, you should go.

Hear me out. An older friend once told me that when things are very dark, he looks for little things — “the embers of the good,” he calls them — and he blows on those to encourage more. This week’s Love Anchorage challenge isn’t easy, as it’s about embracing the parts of this town that are hard to love. But when the weather’s right, go, witness, find something good downtown? The sun shines as warm as ever on the old Federal Building steps, my friends. Tell Danny hi for me.

A hotdog at Anchor Town Dogs. (Spencer Shroyer photo)

Here are a few very specific edible embers to blow on (besides an Anchor Town Dogs dog with Coke onions): Whisky & Ramen’s inspired flaming baked Alaska with miso-caramel ice cream (you always need a reservation, but with luck, you can slip in at the bar before or after the dinner rush); a Bavarian pretzel and beer cheese at 49th State (chase it with Wild Scoops in the parking lot!); a salamanoff sandwich at Urban Greens; a pair of perfect oysters for $10 at Crush; a burger in the Crow’s Nest lounge, preferably late enough that the light turns pink behind Sleeping Lady.

What I’m testing: I got so academic on rhubarb this week. Of course after I worked on a collection of not-pie recipes for ADN, I started thinking about whether I had ever actually nailed a regular rhubarb pie. The answer was no. So, after a consult with a bunch of old cookbooks, the internet and Uncle Tommy, His Pieness of Girdwood, I wrote a new recipe that included a bunch of rhubarb pie hacks. And I made the best rhubarb-strawberry pie, ever.

Best ever rhubarb-strawberry pie. (Erica Rudy photo)

Little treats: New coffee shop news is coming in hot! Friend Valerie, Spenard Envoy, made a trip to Refuge Coffee, a very sweet cafe with a charitable mission and a host of hip, purposeful merch, which just opened in Spenard. She reports the bright, disco-ball themed interior makes you feel “fully transported to another reality for a moment.” Plus, and I can vouch for this, the coffee is great. Meanwhile, in Palmer, friend Amy, Valley Caffeine Correspondent, tried out Lekker Coffee and Baking Co, which also just opened, and says the coffee is “very, very good” and that she loves the retro feel of the building. Baked goods come from Turkey Red for now but they are constructing a bakery.

A cup of coffee sits in front of the new Ted Kim mural at Lekker Coffee in Palmer. (Correspondent Fernanda Conrad, who also loved Lekker, took this photo.)

Speaking of cute merch, my friends at Edible Alaska just launched a line of gear, including mugs, T-shirts and beanies, named for my Hot Tang recipe column. (Alaska kids: if you know about hot Tang, you know.) In my continuing hop water journey, I’ve become partial to Anchorage Brewing Company’s Tiger Tears, which is complex, fruity and great. Oh, breaking food truck news from Spencer, this newsletter’s official wingman, who has been trying hard to eat at Reserva Venezolana, a very buzzy and hard-to-find Venezuelan food truck. He finally got to the truck, parked off DeBarr near the Bering Straits Building on Bliss Street, and tried its coveted empanadas. How were they? “Unreal,” he texted.

Empanadas from Reserva Venezolana. (Spencer Shroyer photo)

And, last, let us pay homage to the persuasive power of black cod. Our Senator Lisa Murkowski was featured in the New York Times this week for being a brave and lonely voice, speaking out about the myriad ways steep government cuts are worse for Alaska than any other state. One of her moves was to text Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick about how layoffs at NOAA mess with managing cod fisheries. He ignored her until she explained that black cod was the delicious white fish you get marinated in miso at fancy spots like Nobu. “He responded instantly after I said that,” she said. Here’s hoping some miso cod Murkowski magic might get them to let our fishermen and scientists do what they do best. 🙏 ✨ Meanwhile: make miso cod this week in her honor?

If you are enjoying this newsletter but you aren’t yet a paid subscriber, consider showing your support for bittersweet hot dog missions, cod conjuring and rhubarb by becoming one? Subscriptions start as low as $1.50 a week, or you can give this big-hearted project a big boost and become a founding subscriber for $240. Upgrade a free subscription here.

Write to me with restaurant discoveries, pie hacks, perfect oysters, baked Alaska recipes and anything, really.

Thank you, always, for reading.

Julia

P.S.: For my newest recipes and access to many stories I link to, subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News and Edible Alaska. Search all my recipes and writing at juliaomalley.com.

P.P.S: Here’s a video where you can hear the cool sound of hot peanut oil wilting scallions over grilled salmon. I’ll share this family recipe when the Copper River dip net fishery starts to really hit.

*Eagle-eyed editor-for-hire Egan Millard reads this newsletter. Hire him. 🦅*