Tap Root's meals, mead more satisfying than anything at state fair
Down the Hatch
Published: August 22, 2007
Last Modified: August 23, 2007 at 02:39 PM
I'm supposed to write about the Alaska State Fair, but I don't have much to say about it.
Like most of you, I go to the fair almost every year and enjoy its flashy, trashy spirit. I tend to let the day unfold as it must, as weather, hunger, desire, despair and exhilaration determine my fate.
My advice? Jump on a Ferris wheel, drink a beer, elude the bees in the flower garden, stare at the untouchable bottles of home brew and spend a little time watching people in line at the human catapult.
As far as I can tell, watching the emotional spikes of people in line is far more entertaining than being in line. In fact, I'm pretty sure the folks in line focus on nothing but the structural integrity of the enormous rubber bands that will soon fling them into space.
Prior observation suggests that people at the back of the line tend to look giddy after handing over their cash, while those in front appear disturbingly quiet, perhaps even horrified.
You can spend hours watching group dynamics in the human catapult line, but you should really move on after 30 minutes. Go pet some pigs or something, or get another beer, listen to some tunes and while away some time before the fireworks. Yes, the cops might ferret out drivers with burned-out headlights at night's end, but it still pays to see the sky light up. Always has, always will.
So now that I've taken care of my fair duties, let me talk about Tap Root Cafe (1330 Huffman Road, 345-0282), a cozy little joint where you can get good coffee, fresh greens and a surprisingly tasty mushroom burger, not to mention a righteous "Girdwood" sandwich loaded with hummus and greens. Not thick, just perfectly balanced.
Turns out that the owner of Tap Root keeps a pretty awesome selection of Belgian beers, wines and meads, along with a few local beers on tap. Best of all, the place makes you feel like you've just made it to Homer without suffering the congestion in Soldotna.
I went to Homer a few weeks ago, where I tried the most amazing cherry reserve mead. The co-owner of Ring of Fire Meadery (178 E. Bunnell Ave., 1-907-235-2656, www.ringoffiremeadery.com), Laurence Livingston, used Homer-grown organic cherries in the fermented honey beverage, then laid it in whiskey barrels.
According to notes written on a business card by Livingston, the cherry reserve releases flavors of "red licorice, coconut cream and vanilla," but let me put it in simpler terms: The stuff tastes outrageous, audacious, divine.
It looks like white zinfandel, smells like old whiskey and swirls like cooking oil but goes down like heaven poured from the fountain of youth.
Or how about this for all you fairgoers: Get 'r now.
Yes, the stuff costs a pretty penny -- $35 for a sleek, blue bottle filled with a mere 375 milliliters of bliss -- but it earns every cent.
If you delay snatching up a bottle, it just might vanish before your eyes. Unfortunately, you can't find it in Anchorage -- only in Homer on the way to Bishop's Beach.
Which brings us back to the Tap Root Cafe, where you won't find cherry reserve but will find Ring of Fire's birch syrup mead, yet another lush, eccentric fermented beverage.
Look at it this way: You can spend the last bills in your pocket on funnel cakes and pop now or squirrel them away for a burger and glass of mead later.
I'm sure you'll make the right choice, but if you need moral support, I'll be over by the human catapult, holding a bag of nuts and safeguarding my last twenty for the elixir of the Middle Ages.
?• Find Daily News reporter Dawnell Smith at adn.com/contactdsmith or call 257-4587.
