This Sunday July 12, the excellent local event known as City Stimulus starts back up. The first go around was back in December, and the crew behind City Stimulus has bigger and better things in store for this summer’s local business party. I’m excited about it and from the roster of local businesses participating, I hope you will be too.

Seattle City Stimulus descended upon us as a means to support the local businesses around town that are vital to their neighborhoods. These shops, restaurants, cafes, and general Seattle tastemakers are some of the coolest and most vibrant spots in town. That’s why an event like City Stimulus is so great. It makes an event out of shopping, eating, and drinking that is even greater than those activities; it’s a part of the community.

Here is how to participate; go to their website and fill out the form to get your membership card. This is the golden ticket that gets you the deals around town. And there is quite a bounty. More than 70 shops are participating with plenty of discounts and promotions to take in; such a cool event. Plus, some of my favorite shops are participating, here is a quick roll call:

• Anchovies & Olives
• Goods
• Homegrown
• How to Cook a Wolf
• Kuhlman
• Licorous
• Volunteer Park Cafe
• ‘zaw
• and many more

Go support these places! And then I’ll see you at the closing party at Havana on Saturday night. City Stimulus rolls from this Sunday July 12 through Saturday July 18. This summer’s version is a few days longer than the winter one, so get out, grab a drink from your neighborhood bar, and feel the karma flow by supporting the little guy.

In the world of food, there is much that is up for debate. Coke or Pepsi. Thin-crust or deep-dish. Cake or Pie. But if there is one thing that everyone can agree on; the humble hamburger is one of the most awesome works of food ever.

In fact, there isn’t really much I can say that can push the needle for people liking burgers more. Folks already love them. Fancy restaurants are adding them to menus. Fast food chains survive on them. Backyard cookouts depend on them. The love for burgers is universal and I think it’s cool that there is one food that everyone adores. In fact, hamburgers are so dependable and beloved it’s one of foods that we know we can always turn to.

But not on to rest on my laurels, I thought it would be fun to share some of the really cool things about burgers that I’ve read and discovered in the past few weeks. Below are three cool storylines pertaining to the world of burgers:

Ben & Jerry’s is blowing my mind right now. Did my check up on the latest cool food news that Serious Eats drops on us, and they shared this bit of info about the latest from the good ice cream folks in Vermont. Basically, Ben & Jerry’s is starting to make some in carton sundaes as their latest product. But it’s not just the product that’s cool; their entire marketing campaign is freaking awesome. This new treat is called Flipped Out and I’m on board.

In learning more about Flipped Out, I was pointed to Ben & Jerry’s Facebook page. They had a little page dedicated to Flipped Out. On it, they talked about the new flavors that are a part of this launch; Vanilla Fudge Brownie, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. What’s funky about Flipped Out is that it’s a contained sundae. When you open the lid you’ll see a layer of brownies, then the ice cream, and then fudge! Will this contribute to America’s weight problem? Absolutely. Will that stop me? No! You can either start your ice cream attack, or follow the Flipped Out lead and push out the ice cream like suggested.

While digging even deeper, I learned of the marketing that Ben & Jerry is executing for Flipped Out. And it’s quite the plan. In fact, it’s pretty awesome. First off, they’re Facebook page has this quirky little application that flips the text upside down! In fact, check out their twitter to see some examples. It’s crazy.

Also (and this is where it gets cool), the Flipped Out truck is on a nationwide tour doing its thing and giving out ice cream! To quote them, ‘it will be unflipping believable!’ Here is the line-up of where they’ll be. In fact, RSVP via their Facebook to get in on the action.

• 6/27-28 – Brooklyn, NY – McCarren Park (27th), Prospect Park (28th)
• 7/2-5 – Rothbury, MI – Rothbury Music Festival
• 7/11-13 – Seattle, WA – Victor Steinbrueck Park (11th), Seward Park (12th), Westlake Park (13th)
• 7/15 – Portland, OR – Pioneer Courthouse Square
• 7/18-22 – San Francisco, CA – Union Square (18th), Golden Gate Park (19th), Justin Herman Plaza (21-22)

There you have it. The perpetual greatness of Ben & Jerry’s continues this summer. I’ll be sure to be at the Seattle stops. Next up is to go to the store and load up on this stuff.

Roast chicken is one of those foods that resonates with me. I love that it’s simple enough for home chefs, elevated by restaurants, perfect with most types of wines; it’s one of my most favorite foods. That’s why I really loved this article that the Seattle Weekly’s Jon Kauffman wrote about roasted chicken in the spring. He visited a few places, but the one that really caught his eye was this place in Lynnwood. I’m from Lynnwood and love it when the spotlight shines on us! The place is called San Fernando and he thought their chicken was the most delicious. This I had to see for myself.

The first thing that I think is great about San Fernando is that it’s in Lynnwood! As someone who grew up there, I really enjoy the fact that the culinary rep of Lynnwood is slowly growing. Although major chains dominate the local landscape, places like San Fernando’s help the diners of Snohomish County. I’ve already written about the good Chinese food at Szechuan 99, and it is places like that and San Fernando’s that make a trek up north for food worth it.

F0r Seattle to continue growing as a top-notch food town, it only helps when the greater region elevates the food reputation. There are all sorts of cool and unique food stops all points north, south, east and west. That’s why it’s great that this little Peruvian restaurant is around. Basically, look past the shroud of urban sprawl and find little neighborhood gems to visit.

Here are the three cool things about San Fernando:

While in Alaska last weekend, I wandered into the local’s bookstore of choice; Title Wave Books. I love stepping into bookstores and taking in the visual merchandising, the potential, and the dance of shopping. The clever ways that stores try to sell their stuff is something that I find entertaining (although a background in visual merchandising may have something to do with that). And like any good food nerd, I popped over to their food and wine section and was taken with one book in particular. Matt Skinner’s Heard it Through the Grapevine called out to me.

I knew of Matt because he is Jamie Oliver’s wine guy. Jamie’s cookbooks are often great, always fun, and I liked the little touches that Matt would have for wine pairings. When I saw this book at Title Wave, I was intrigued enough to pick it up. A make-or-break deal with any food reference cookbook is to have a proper balance of visuals and content. We’re no longer in a culture where a cookbook can skate by on copy; it’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. I’ve picked up and put down plenty of books that don’t have the initial grab and Matt’s Heard it Through the Grapevine definitely kept my interest.

This is a pretty fun wine information book. Matt’s style of writing is very easy to digest and take in. This makes for a decent read where the information is balanced with the brevity. It’s broken down to five main sections; Shopping, Drinking, Eating, Sleeping, Well-being. I will say this though; this book is more of an intro to the world of wine. I knew most of what Matt mentioned, and it doesn’t exactly break any new ground. But the nature in how the information comes forth feels fresh. That is why I think this book is cool.

One of the search terms that I get on this blog is ‘how to drink wine’. Kind of a funny term, but it makes sense. With the growth of wine drinking, the vast choices available to consumers, and the truckloads of information out there; a book like Matt’s will be helpful to wade through it all. Heard it Through the Grapevine just came out this spring and would make for a fun book to give as a gift to a friend that wants to step into the world of wine.

You gotta give it up for Pepsi-Cola. They are distinctly the number two beverage maker behind Coca-Cola, but they aren’t afraid to shake things up to wrestle away valuable market share points.

This past spring, they tried two new salvos to whet the whistles of beverages drinkers around the country. One, was Pepsi Throwback. A limited-run drink that uses natural sugar (instead of the dastardly High Fructose Corn Syrup). I haven’t had Pepsi Throwback, but I do have to give it up to their commercial. Beautifully kitschy and retro, I think it’s great. They also tried another new product that will be around awhile. Pepsi Natural.

I am unabashedly a Coke person. Love it. And Mexican Coke has a special place in my heart. But I’m always down to try new stuff. I’m experimental like that. On a recent visit to Costco, they had a 12 pack of Pepsi Natural. Of course I’ll try it!

Pepsi Natural is different in that it uses ‘natural’ sugar, sparkling water, and kola nut extract. And it’s in a glass bottle! Fancy. Picked it up on a curious lark, but what does it taste like? Well, it’s not bad. The first thing I noticed was that it had a bit of spice, with notes of ginger and cinnamon. The sparkling water provided subdued carbonation. It took a bit of getting used to, but it was pretty good. I didn’t know what my expectations were, but I thought it was a decent product. I still like Mexican Coke more though.

One of the cool things about Pepsi Natural for Seattle-ites is that we are one of the early markets for the beverage. So we’ve got that going for us. But Pepsi Natural is pretty good; it has the hallmarks of Pepsi, softer notes, mellow sweetness, but it’s very different from their mainline product. I still love my Mexican Coke, but won’t turn a Pepsi Natural down.

Last summer, Seif Chirchi and Rachel Yang opened Joule on Sundays to host this really cool series of dinners called the Urban BBQ. Each Sunday throughout the summer Joule had all sorts of different themes that were distinctive and fun, and allowed the team to try new culinary adventures. I’m excited to announce that the 2nd iteration of the Urban BBQ has started.

Joule has climbed the charts on my list of favorite restaurants around Seattle. I feel this way for a bunch of reasons; their creative and delicious dishes, the friendly and welcoming vibe from Seif, Rachel and the team, and the total feel of the restaurant. Taking all of these things into account it’s easy for me to say that Joule is quite awesome.

That’s why I’m pumped up to visit some of their Sunday BBQ dinners. All look interesting with a chance to get some good food. All dishes will be around $10 and the days events roll from 12-8pm. An added bonus is that live music will go from 2-4pm. This past Sunday May 31st, was the first for this summer, and the last will be on August 30th. They’ll also have stuff for kids to do too. It’s pretty cool and fun for the whole family. I would love to hit up all of them, but I’ve got my eyes set on 6/21, 7/5, 7/12, 7/26, 8/16, and 8/23. Hope to see you at some of these dinners.

Here are the food themes for the Sunday Urban BBQ dinners:

• 5/31 – Seoul Melange: Korean Streetfood
• 6/7 – Game’s on: Got Goat?
• 6/14 – Night of the Iguana: Mexican Riviera
• 6/21 – New England Clam Boil
• 6/28 – Night in Tunisia: Seif!
• 7/5 – Southern Affair
• 7/12 – Bangkok Express
• 7/19 – Salmon Run
• 7/26 – Spanish Fever
• 8/2 – Food on a Stick
• 8/9 – Mambo Italiano
• 8/16 – JFC: Joule Fried Chicken
• 8/23 – Cochon Joule: Pig Out
• 8/30 – Joule Country Fair

Photo from Wallyhood.org

If there is one thing that the Seattle food scene is lacking, it’s a variety of good streetfood sources. Take Skillet out of the equation and we’re left with gut trucks and hot dog stands. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it’s not enough. Look at Portland – they have an abundance of choices, and I’ve enjoyed what I had on a recent visit. That’s why this article by The Stranger’s Jonah Spangenthal-Lee is pretty cool. It’s great that folks are being proactive about the streetfood scene in Seattle. What’s even cooler is that a new streetfood spot has already opened up and is flying completely under the radar. Say hello to Tako Truk.

Early in May, my friend Bryan sent me a message to talk about a new food tip. A friend wanting to talk about food? Of course I’ll call him back! I’ve known Bryan for about 20 years now and it’s great to have a friend that you can really talk about food with. That’s why I was very curious to see what was in store.

He mentioned that he was opening a new taco stand with his friend Cormac in the spirit of a streetfood stand. The name? Tako Truk. But they wanted to do something different; interesting, creative, and delicious food. Stuff that the Seattle food scene isn’t really doing. Bryan and Cormac had a mutual love of streetfood; it could be in Mexico, Vietnam, New York, wherev – they just loved the vibe and feel of being in a city and indulging in some good food. So armed with this, they were ready to do their spin on things. Oh yeah, his friend Cormac Mahoney? He’s the same dude that also happened to be the former chef at Sitka & Spruce. Streetfood, good chef pedigree, and tacos? I’m down.

When I was in high school my diet pretty much consisted of milk, cookies, and donuts. How I was able to clock in at 165 for those years is still a scientific miracle. If you were to look back at foods that you could identify with at points of your life, my teenage years would include donuts, college = teriyaki, post-college = unbelievable amounts of beer. And pizza. The last few years? Still to be determined. Donuts brought me to where I am today and they are part of my food DNA. Which is why I’m excited to find out that next Friday is National Doughnut Day.

It took the good folks at Seattlest to bring to my attention that Tangletown’s own Mighty-O will be celebrating National Doughnut Day by giving out free mini donuts. (Doughnuts and donuts are the same thing; the shorter version is pretty much colloquial; both are fine. Stop being uptight, no one likes a grammar nerd.) Of course, this is cool and free food is the best kind.

I love donuts and it’s awesome that Seattle has two of the finest purveyor’s of donuts around; Mighty-O and Top Pot. What’s great is that each is very different.

Mighty-O exclusively plays in the cake donut world. Dense, yet still light, and satisying. They also are very proud at being organic and using natural ingredients. Noble indeed. If I had a favorite Mighty-O flavor it would be the Vanilla Cake Cinnamon Sugar. Simple, delicate, and awesome.

Top Pot is different because they play in the entire world of donut goodness. Cake, fried, they do all the good stuff. With several locations around town, you won’t have to search very far for your donut fix. I like a lot of their stuff. When I feel overly ambitious I’ll go for the Boston Cream Pie; a calorie laden treat consisting of a chocolate-topped, custard-filled yeast donut. Delicious. But my de facto favorite is their Apple Fritter. I first had it at a Starbucks (back when I still went to SBUX, I think my last visit was in ‘04), and they offered to heat it up. A warm donut? Of course! Back to the high school connection, I would always microwave my maple bars. About 13 seconds to heat up and soften the maple and you have a warm doughy delight. But back to the Apple Fritter – heated up a touch, it’s gooey, pliable, and delicious. Plus, it has apple so it’s healthy.

Enjoy National Doughnut Day! It always falls on the first Friday of June, so be sure to swing by your local doughnut/donut shop. In fact, get a dozen to bring them into the office. You’ll be the hero for the day and make the workday that much more enjoyable.

Another thing that I love about summer besides grilling, is the abundance of local neighborhood farmers markets that sprout throughout the city. Search here to find the market closest to you. In the past few weeks Capitol Hill and Wallingford have ushered theirs in, while Queen Anne and a few other start up in June. I love farmers markets for what they are; a chance to get great stuff from our local neighbors, support the community, and best of all, be outside!

What’s great about all the farmer’s markets around town is that each of Seattle’s distinct neighborhoods have their own. Live in Columbia City? You’re good. Phinney Ridge? Of course. Magnolia? Another reason to never leave your enclave. They roll throughout the summer and you’ll pretty much be able to go to a farmer’s market every day of the week at almost every hour of the day. Don’t believe you could get fresh local produce from a farmer at 11am on a Tuesday? Go to Pike Place Market.

I also love farmers markets because they truly enrich our area. Of course they are local businesses, but they also help support our local restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores. Farmers markets are pretty much the farm’s retail face. A great chance for them to showcase their goods to us, but they also supplement a large part of their income by providing produce, cheese, meats, etc to our local restaurants and food shops. The food scene around town is very insular and circular; everyone pretty much helps out everyone else, and I love it! That’s why I like going to these markets; I always feel that I’m part of something bigger, all for the quest of good food.

The funny thing about my favorite farmers markets is that my favorites are the three that are year round. The market’s in Ballard, West Seattle, and the University District are those that I most often frequent, and a big part is that they are the homebase or the places I can always turn to. I do look forward to visiting some of the seasonal markets, but I’ll always stand by the Big Three. Here are the reasons why I like them so: