Wild Sage
An epic fantasy sourced by local restaurants
Say you’re in the mood for a romantic, seven-course meal, but with the pandemic still raging, you feel a bit wary about spending all the time inside a local restaurant. No problem. Light a few candles if your landlords will let you, take the nice tablecloth out of the Christmas storage box, search for the classiest free Spotify station on your laptop, and put on your own seven-course dinner.
But that doesn’t mean you need to stress out about cooking a seven-course dinner. Instead, do it takeout style, selecting one course from some of the best restaurants in the Spokane area and merging them together into a luxurious banquet feast. Here are a few ideas.
THE HORS D’OEUVRE COURSE
Deviled eggs make for classic crowd-pleasing hors d’oeuvres, and rarely are they done better than the deviled eggs at WANDERING TABLE, Adam Hegsted’s Kendall Yards small-plates restaurant. With a maple bacon filling and a candied bacon garnish on top, the trick to enjoying these eggs is making whoever’s delivering it promise to not gobble them up before they get there.
THE SOUP COURSE
Soulful Soups
Honestly, you could get any soup, as long as it has the right quantity of soul. Downtown Spokane staple SOULFUL SOUPS offers a constantly rotating menu of soups — like broccoli cheddar, tomato basil and harvest lentil. Alone, the soup is tasty enough. But dip in Soulful Soup’s iconic beer bread and then you’ve truly found satisfaction.
THE APPETIZER
If you don’t already live out there, it’s quite a drive to get to MAW PHIN, the tiny but beloved Thai restaurant near the turnoff to Mount Spokane. The distance is worth it for their signature Crab Rangoons, the addictively snackable deep-fried wheat wrappers, filled with imitation crab, cream cheese and green onion. Dip them in the sweet and sour sauce.
THE MAIN COURSE
WILD SAGE is a favorite of Spokane foodies for a reason. For your entree dish with your seven-course meal, go for something warm and hearty: Pick the cider veal sauce glazed pork shank osso buco on top of a rosemary polenta and paired with sauteed Granny Smith apples. Yum.
THE SALAD COURSE
A vegan restaurant that will satisfy even the most rugged of carnivores, RÜT BAR & KITCHEN can whip up an impossibly great Impossible Burger. But, naturally, they also specialize in delicious salads. Try the strawberry salad complete with strawberries, cashew chevre cheese and red onions, all tossed with sweet and spicy pistachios.
THE CHEESE COURSE
You could get your full multicourse takeout meal from GANDER & RYEGRASS. Multicourse dinners are what they do best. But for this course, go with “Wanderlust selections,” supporting two local businesses at once. The local cheesemonger at WANDERLUST DELICATO selects three of her best cheeses and Gander & Ryegrass pairs it with their red currant jam, a pickle, and local honeycomb.
THE DESSERT
The James Beard-nominated ITALIA TRATTORIA excels at everything, but if it’s dessert you’re after, go for the “Italia tiramisu,” made with espresso, mascarpone, ladyfingers and coffee liqueur as the sendoff for your seventh and final course.
