Fried bologna to espresso martinis. TNT staff's best eats and drinks of late
Chasing down the news leaves us with a powerful thirst and a gnawing hunger. Here's what we at The News Tribune have eaten and imbibed the past few weeks to take the edge off.
Reminder that this best eats column will run monthly. If you haven't already, please sign up for the TNT Diner newsletter by staff writer Kristine Sherred. She's got the weekly skinny on the Pierce County dining and food scene.
Cheers!
The best bite I've had recently was from a fluffy cinnamon roll at Meridian Cafe in downtown Puyallup, an old favorite. Warning: These rolls fill up the entire plate. Share one with a friend or four. The diner's historic Puyallup decor makes it a fun place to take visitors for a casual brunch.
Honorable mention goes to the scoops of honey lavender and grasshopper pie (think mint chip on steroids) that I had in downtown Puyallup at Lick Homemade Ice Cream.
I see they have Girl Scout cookie ice cream this week. Yum.
Alexis Krell, communities editor
The black pepper strawberry and fennel Danish from Three Hearts wasn't the afternoon carb-kick I expected, but it's the one I'm glad I found. The flaky dough cradles a vanilla pastry cream specked with black pepper – I initially thought it was flecks of vanilla bean – vibrant strawberries and licoricey fennel. Everything works great together. The tang of the fennel/strawberries combo bounces off the richness of the cream, and the black pepper gives a little warmth to the back end.
Brian Hayes, visual journalist
Growing up fried bologna was a delicacy: two slices of thin, pan-seared mystery meat with melted American cheese – you know exactly the kind I'm talking about – on untoasted white bread with a smear of Miracle Whip.
On the first Friday of the month, The Red Hot does a fried-bologna sandwich special. If you grew up eating them like I did, get it. Their take on the southern specialty is zhuzhed up to the max. Two thick pieces of well-seared bologna on top of pimento cheese, with grilled onions, Carolina Gold BBQ sauce, pickles and coleslaw all on a structurally sound brioche bun that can support this hefty sandwich.
Brian Hayes, visual journalist
My favorite drink in the Harbor recently has been this super creamy espresso martini at Greenhouse in Uptown Gig Harbor.
If you haven't been, Greenhouse has a great bar that's the main focus of the restaurant. There are no TVs if that's your vibe. Their seasonal cocktail list is full of fun names like 'Fig Around and Find Out' and 'Millions of Peaches, Peaches For Me.'
I'm one of those weird creatures who can drink caffeine at any hour, so I always gravitate towards their espresso martini with the housemade whip.
Stephanie Pedersen, editor
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
House that Leo built: Pope delivers message of hope at White Sox park
House that Leo built: Pope delivers message of hope at White Sox park Thousands went to the first American pope's old haunt on the South Side to hear a message from the man they once knew as Robert Francis Prevost. Show Caption Hide Caption 'One of our own': Chicago celebrates election of Pope Leo XIV Chicago residents and leaders with the Archdiocese of Chicago are celebrating the election of a native to the papacy. CHICAGO – The city's favorite son delivered a fastball straight from the Vatican. Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago in 1955, spoke in a video message to tens of thousands of spectators at Rate Field, the Chicago White Sox ballpark that was a staple of his youth growing up. Leo's message was part of a celebration of the first American pope at the stadium of his beloved ball team. The South Side native's message was aimed particularly at young people. 'That restlessness you feel in your hearts, we shouldn't look for ways to put out the fire, to numb ourselves to the difficulties we feel, we should get in touch with our hearts and realize that God can work through it,' said Leo, speaking in a pre-recorded message to people gathered at the sunny ballpark. 'That light on the horizon is not easy to see and yet as we come together we discover that light is growing brighter and brighter.' The special message from Leo was part of a program at the home of the pope's beloved ball team that included words from people who knew him as Robert Francis Prevost, fourth graders who participated in a viral mock conclave and performances by a Chicago Catholic high school choir that was recently on America's Got Talent. 'I'd like to take this opportunity to invite each one of you to look into your hearts,' Leo said. 'God is present and in many ways He's calling you to look into your heart, to discover how important it is for each one of us to pay attention to God in our hearts, to that longing for love we may feel.' Chicago-area Cardinal Blase Cupich celebrated Mass and Chicago Bulls announcer Chuck Swirsky emceed the event. Among attendees were nuns from Chicago-area convents who had never been to the stadium and Saturday found themselves seated in the infield, Sox fans returning to their regular stomping grounds and Chicago Cubs fans who were convinced to cross enemy lines at last. Leo is a noted Sox fan. He was recently spotted wearing the team's ball cap and was seen in archival footage at Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. The ball club honored the moment with a mural at Section 140 where Leo was seen standing to rally the team in the team's pinstripes. Alderwoman Nicole Lee of the city's 11th Ward, which includes the stadium, attended in a retro Sox shirt. 'What a great way to bring people together in a time when we need people to come together,' said Lee, noting the No Kings protests happening just a few miles north of Sox park and around the country. 'It's not that normal that we're here like this and I love that that's what we're doing right now. We could all use a dose of energy and a word of encouragement about what it'll take for the world to get on a better path.' Da Pope-mania Many showed up at the event on Saturday wearing the 'Da Pope' paraphernalia that's popped up in stores and streetside stands around the city in the wake of Leo's election at the conclave on May 8. Silvia Campos and Miguel Angel Vazquez, South Side residents and regular Sox game goers, wore White Sox-styled pope shirts they picked up at a recent game. The jerseys include the number 14 on the back. 'It's a way to get closer to him,' said Vazquez. 'We wouldn't be able to get to Rome so for us this is the closest possible for now.' The White Sox could not be immediately reached about whether they will retire the number 14. Paul Konerko, who wore the number 14 and whom Leo rooted for at the 2005 World Series, already has his name up at the stadium. Among the other paraphernalia were jerseys outfitted with the keys of the Vatican and Leo's name set against Chicago's iconic skyline. Grace and Janice Carpenter wore a pair of visors they had outfitted to look like a bishop's mitre hat. Fernando Flores, a shirt vendor outside the stadium, said his outfit had sold 10,000 shirts in the weeks since Leo's election. 'I would compare it to a championship overnight,' said Flores, 45. 'It's a phenomenon where everyone wants a piece of it.' Shirts sell for $25. Pope Leo baseball cards from Topps were for sale outside the stadium for $20. Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIII cards were also for sale. Prayers for peace The event celebrating Leo convinced even die hard Cubs fans to head to the South Side park. 'I'm in enemy territory here, where do I go,' Raul Gomez asked staff outside the stadium. The 36-year-old North Side resident said it was his first time back at the stadium in 10 years. 'A whole stadium filled with Catholics, Pope Leo the first American pope, from Chicago, I needed to be a part of that,' he said. 'That lineage from Peter somehow goes through Chicago, how amazing is that.' Gomez was satisfied with how the first-place Cubs are doing but said Leo lends a hand to other Chicago teams. 'I'm hoping Leo does some kind of prayer for the Bears because they're deep in the hole,' he said. Friendly divisions between the North and the South sides were just part of what many hoped Leo will bridge. 'As a Latina, it's very meaningful to see somebody as pope who understands the reality of Latin America, of the poor,' said Teresa Montes-Lara, a Dominican nun originally from Mexico. 'I hope he challenges us in our faith and I want o hear something about migrants, about the radical obligation the church has.' Cupich raised the issue in his homily at the Mass. 'It is wrong to scapegoat people without documents, for indeed they are here due to a broken immigration system,' he said. 'They are here not by invasion but by invitation.' Others hoped for more personal intercession. Dr. Joy Henningsen said she flew in from Nashville for the event. The radiologist said she lived in the Chicago area until 2020. Her family was devoted to Pope John Paul II and attributes a miracle to the pope that led a doctor to discover a piece of glass near his heart when he was having heart trouble. 'I believe in the power of healing via the Holy Father so I'm here asking for healing and peace in the world,' said Henningsen. 'I would not miss this for the world.' Mound is waiting Among official speakers were those who knew Leo back in Chicago. Father John Merkelis, who belongs to the same Augustinian order as Leo and was his high school classmate, said he was emailing Leo in the days leading up to the conclave. 'He said he's sleeping well because an American is not going to be pope,' said Merkelis. Days later, the priests said he was at an Augustinian house shouting 'that's Prevost, that's Prevost' when Leo was announced. The Augustinian said Leo's a guy who can change a car's oil and is an excellent Wordle player. But he remembers him best as the man who waited past midnight to share his condolences when Merkeles got home after his dad died. 'He was there waiting on the stairs,' he said. 'He's a sensitive, sensitive man.' Dianne Bergant, a former teacher, said she remembered him as an excellent student but she also took the moment to celebrate the Chicago community that raised him. 'It says something about the education he got,' she said. Many at the stadium hoped the event was a pre-season for Leo in person. Brooks Boyer, a White Sox executive, said that the 'mounting is waiting' for Leo. 'Your holiness, you've always been one of us, you wear the Sox cap like it was made for you, on behalf of White Sox fans, we'd be happy to welcome you back for a first pitch,' Boyer said. 'We'll send a ball to the Vatican so your arm is prepared.'
San Francisco Chronicle
7 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
New documentary reveals the triumphs and heartbreak of Sally Ride's legacy
The inspiring story of Sally Ride, the first American woman in outer space, is given its full, deserved due in a new National Geographic documentary. And it broke my heart. Not because of how 'Sally' depicts the incredibly capable, Stanford-educated physicist's efforts to break the highest of glass ceilings and be recognized for her abilities rather than her sex. Utilizing plentiful archival footage, contemporary commentary, recent interview observations from people who were there and some dramatized recreation, director Cristina Costantini gets some sly laughs, edged with appropriate anger, out of the sexist mindsets Ride deftly steered her career through in the 1970s and '80s. What makes 'Sally' so sad was the astronaut's decision to keep her sexuality secret — as her public image soared to heights few women had ever known — until her death from pancreatic cancer in 2012. This aspect of her life grows especially poignant in the film due to the participation of Tam O'Shaughnessy. A tennis buddy Ride met when they were tweens (both Southern California girls were mentored by Billie Jean King), O'Shaughnessy later became her life partner of 27 years. An erudite biology professor, O'Shaughnessy provides much of the film's insight into Ride's personal life during extensive interview stretches and, presumably, via additional input behind the scenes (she has an executive producer credit). Subjective as some of this may be, it's powerful emotional stuff that often reveals more about O'Shaughnessy's own feelings than about Ride herself, who remained enigmatic — even to the love of her life. Fellow astronaut Steven Hawley, who was married to Ride for five years, still seems baffled by what was really going on with her. But like her subject, Costantini maintains a certain rigor in the sentiment department. She doesn't come close to suggesting that Ride was riddled with personal anxieties or fears of being outed. On the other hand, the NASA legend is neither presented as emotionless, calculating nor furtive, but rather as a focused professional who could separate the joy in her achievements from the cacophony of everything else. One brief clip of her mother Carol reinforces the telling intel that Ride was not raised in a demonstrative home. 'If I knew how I felt about feelings, I would probably not tell you,' an immovable Carol says to the camera. Yet Ride's determination, boldness and courage come across palpable. This is brought home when, following her own groundbreaking missions, Ride became the only Space Shuttle astronaut on the committee investigating the Challenger disaster. As the movie frames it, she essentially sacrificed her own future at NASA to expose the cause of the post-launch explosion, and the systemic incompetence that led to it. Costantini ('Science Fair,' 'Mucho Mucho Amor') said she has been a Sally Ride fan since third grade, when she painted a mural of her hero on a school wall. With 'Sally,' she presents a portrait of a pure scientist cognizant of the example she was setting for girls and women of all generations to come. The film is indelibly triumphant in that way; its sadness is generated partly by Ride's apparent inability to fully master the science of love, and certainly by the restrictions a homophobic culture placed on her at the time. There's a clip near the end of Barack Obama presenting Ride's posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to O'Shaughnessy. It's a beautiful moment of acknowledgement too-long delayed — one that would never happen today. Perhaps the most heart-rending lesson 'Sally' imparts is that that final frontier keeps getting moved out of reach.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bonnaroo 2025 cancelled after just one night due to severe storms days after co-founder's death
The remainder of music festival Bonnaroo has been cancelled due to weather just days after the death of one of its co-founders. Set to run through Sunday at Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, Tennessee, the music festival was cancelled Friday evening after hours of delays and even an evacuation notice. 'Today, the National Weather Service provided us with an updated forecast with significant and steady precipitation that will produce deteriorating camping and egress conditions in the coming days,' Bonnaroo shared via Instagram. 'We are beyond gutted, but we must make the safest decision and cancel the remainder of Bonnaroo.' The festival promised at least partial refunds for all ticket holders, many of whom paid hundreds of dollars to attend. Luke Combs was the only of the four headliners to deliver a performance. He took the stage Thursday night and performed alongside fellow country star Miranda Lambert onstage, as well as Marcus King and Jon Bellion. The other headliners, Tyler, the Creator, Olivia Rodrigo and Hozier, have all had their sets cancelled. Additional performers slated to take the stage included Vampire Weekend, GloRilla, Tyla, Avril Lavigne, Queens of the Stone Age, John Summit, Dom Dolla, and Glass Animals. 'We have put our hearts and souls into making this weekend the most special one of the year, and cannot express how crushed we are to have made this decision,' Bonnaroo's statement concluded. 'Thank you in advance for your patience, your positivity and your unfailing Bonnaroovian spirit.' Many fans were disappointed by the cancellation, with some noting it wasn't the first time in recent years attendees found themselves in this situation. 'Wondering what this means for the future of bonnaroo honestly. 3 cancellations in 5 years isn't looking good for us,' one fan wrote on Instagram. 'First and last bonnaroo. Absolute s*** show, not to mention not a speck of rain was seen after they cancelled,' another shared, while someone else agreed: 'Literally spent THOUSANDS of dollars flying from Hawaii……. first roo and most likely my last.' The fan-favorite festival's last minute cancellation came days after the death of one of its co-founders. Jonathan Mayers, who helped create a number of major American festivals, died earlier this week at 51. No cause of death has yet been announced. In a statement to Billboard, Red Light Management founder Coran Capshaw said: 'This is incredibly tough news for so many of us. Jon was the creative force behind so much of what people experience at Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and many other events over the years. We're all really going to miss him.' Mayers co-founded promotions company Superfly with partners Rick Farman, Richard Goodstone and Kerry Black in 1996. They hosted their first concert during Mardi Gras. The four worked together to launch Bonnaroo in 2002 after securing the festival site on farmland in Manchester, an hour outside of Nashville. They worked closely with Capshaw's Red Light Management and other industry figures to book headliners, including the Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. In 2008, Mayers partnered with Another Planet Entertainment to create the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Mayers left Superfly acrimoniously in 2021, and the following year sued his former partners Farman, Goodstone and Black, accusing them of civil misrepresentation, breach of contract and fraud. Mayers alleged that they had misrepresented the value of his shares in the promotions company. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2023. Superfly said in a statement to Billboard: 'We are heartbroken with the passing of Jonathan. He was a cherished part of Superfly's story, woven into it's history and legacy. In addition to the role he's played in bringing joy to millions, we will miss his razor sharp wit, infectious smile and contagious laugh. No one could light up a room like Jon.'
