GRAND OPENING RECAP >>>

Owner Morgan Alexander put his hustle into hyper-drive preparing for his Amocat Café's grand opening party last night. Visitors filed in before the 5 p.m. start time eager to witness the ribbon cutting ceremony with Tacoma City Mayor Marilyn Strickland and Tacoma City Councilman David Boe. Inside said cafe on St. Helens Avenue, filmmaker Adam "The Alien" Manley and Mark Monlux of Tacoma's cartoonist club C.L.A.W. rehashed the day's chalk-off at Frost Park with Councilman Boe while Jim Higgins, owner of Puget Sound Pizza, sipped a cold Iron Horse Irish Death beer (Amocat now serves beer!)while chatting with Mayor Strickland about paid parking. Former mayor Bill Barsma, Councilman Marty Campbell, artist/creator Andrea Lowen, attorney Erik Bjornson and Tacoma blogger Kevin Freitas mingled and discussed all things Tacoma. Attendees noshed on delicious Italian fare provided by Proctor District Café Europa. Wines from local Lake Tapp's Kalamar Winery, Olympia's Andrake Cellars, and Wilridge Winery (Seattle) were enjoyed while listening to the smooth sounds of University Place jazz guitarist Andrew Sherbrooke. Tacoma's own Valhalla Coffee and Mad Hat Tea custom Amocat Blend were also available.

Alexander proves local loyalty runs deep in almost all aspects of his café. The yellow and red walls are graced with endearing artwork by Tacoma resident Alexis St. John.

Just before 6 p.m. Mayor Strickland and Councilman Boe took their places in front of stretched taut yellow caution tape humorously used as the ribbon. With garden pruning shears in hand, the two jokingly clashed shears in a mock-fencing fashion and smiled while Alexander, with his wife by his side, expressed his thanks to the crowd for attending an indoor event on such a beautiful, warm evening. Mayor Strickland remarked on the importance of businesses opening, no matter how small and with that she and Councilman Boe did the honors - snip snip - the ribbon was cut and a new Tacoma business was officially open.

Amocat Café is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Amocat Café

625 St. Helens, Tacoma
253.722.5373

WORKED SPACEWORKS >>>

As the recession takes its toll on retailing, empty storefront windows throughout the downtown Tacoma area are turning into "artscapes," the result of an opportune alignment of interests among artists, landlords, city of Tacoma, Seattle-based arts non-profit Shunpike and the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of Commerce. Spaceworks Tacoma is an art project whose goal is to fill empty downtown storefronts with art from local artists. Not only will the program provide local artists with an accessible venue for their works, but it will also benefit property owners by drawing attention to available buildings and spaces and adding a much more vibrant appeal to these otherwise unoccupied facades.

The programmed kicked off Thursday evening with a block party at Ninth and Broadway featuring a beer garden, spoken word, film, live music and walking tours of the 17 storefronts, which also include the Woolworth Windows that has been donated by Tacoma Contemporary for the Spaceworks project. Tacoma Arts Commission Wizard Amy McBride led the tours, filling our heads with Tacoma history, Spaceworks background, and artist bios while sterring us clear of the black T-shirt wearing smokers outside Hell's Kitchen. I enjoyed the tour, and even more impressed with the quality of artwork in the storefronts.

The 19 artist participating in Spaceworks include: filmmaker Isaac Olsen (Quiet Shoes) and photographer Joshua Everson holed up in a massive two-story space (1114 Pacific Ave.) incorporating bank vaults, a spiral staircase and groovy ‘70s-ish lighting into their projects; Tiffanie Peters' store Chiffon (915 Pacific Ave.)  featuring vintage handbags and clothes plus jewelry that works also as artwork on the crazy painted walls; Shakespeare in the Parking Lot and director Kristie Worthey parked at the 913 Pacific Ave. space to prepare for Titus Andronicus; artist Jennifer Adams (Tacoma is For Lovers) loving the 904 Broadway space for her indie craft boutique Fly; Eric Holdener, Scott McGee and Bill Fleming rode their kinetic inventions (part of Zeit-Bike 2010 at the Tacoma Art Museum) into the Woolworth Windows spot at 11^th and Commerce.

Here are a few snapshots I took on my crappy camera while on the first tour Thursday night.

For more information on Spaceworks, the participating artists and storefront locations, click here.

LINK: More photos in our Photo Hot Spot

FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

The Weekly Volcano popped its head into The Office this morning to check on the progress of downtown Tacoma's new bar and grill - located in the former spot occupied by the Italian restaurant Merende at Eighth and Pacific Avenue. The word is this fancy sports bar-ish hangout will open some time next week.

Expect gourmet burgers and pizza that won't drain your bank account.

NEW AND IMPROVED >>>

I'll just come out and say it: Sweet Things Cupcakes & Couture in the Proctor District grabbed second place in our 2010 Best of Tacoma Readers' Poll. The cupcake shop scored a baker's dozen of votes - over and over. I'm sure there's something involving the word "frosting" that I could add to this opening that would cleverly describe their second place finish and earn me the Pulitzer Cupcake, but I got nothing - other to say "way to go Sweet Things."

Now, kiss Sweet Things goodbye. Yup, they're gone - frosting and all (got it in - sweet!).

Jubilee Cupcakes & Vintage Candy announced it will open Friday, July 23 in the Proctor District spot formerly occupied by Sweet Things Cupcakes & Couture. According to a press release, Jubilee will incorporate a back-to-basics approach to cupcakes, which means, "that all cupcakes, buttercreams, chocolate and caramel sauces, various ganaches, meringues, lemon curd and marshmallows used in Jubilee cupcakes (and espresso drinks) are homemade from their own recipes and perfected over decades."

However, as the cupcake crumbles, Jubilee is actually Sweet Thing's owner Patti Frank's rebirth of the cupcake. She has reinvented her Sweet Things cupcakes, and her business model, reopening Friday with a new name, a new look and, as she told me over the phone, "the best cupcakes in the state."

Frank wasn't happy with her recipe, the clothing retail portion of her store, or the seating inside and out. Friday, the clothes are gone, replaced with vintage candy from Hammond's Candies, including old-fashioned lollipops, ribbon candy, and hand-pulled taffy.

"It's the kind of candy popular in the 1940s through 60s," she explained.

The store will also carry cupcake accessories, party supplies, and greeting cards.

Seating wise - there's a lot more, both inside and out on the deck.

And the cupcakes?

"I took them in a different direction – a 180 degree change," Frank frankly said. "They are now extremely moist."

Frank entered the cupcake lab and didn't leave until she knew she had the state's best cupcake. Frank incorporated fresh ingredients into her new recipes, including hormone-free dairy and eggs from area farms, and fruit from community farmers markets.

According to the press release, along with more traditional flavors, Jubilee's menu includes "rotating flavors such as the S'more cupcake (Valrhona dark chocolate baked with organic graham crackers and bittersweet chocolate topped with traditional toasted Swiss meringue and a drizzle of homemade bittersweet chocolate sauce), the Pink Champagne cupcake (champagne infused cake brushed with champagne, topped with strawberry buttercream and sugar pearls), and the Chocolate Maple Bacon cupcake (Valrhona dark chocolate cake baked with maple bacon and topped with a maple buttercream and piece of homemade maple bacon)."

Yes, indeed, there's a Chocolate Maple Bacon cupcake on the menu.

For Friday's grand opening, the featured cupcake flavor will be a Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake that features Valrhona dark chocolate cake filled with a chocolate raspberry ganache, topped with raspberry buttercream and a market-fresh berry. Valhalla coffees and Mad Hat Tea blends join the new venture, too.

All that from a cupcake shop that many people, at least according to our readers' poll, already loved.

Jubilee Cupcakes & Vintage Candy

2510 N. Proctor St., Tacoma

LINK: Jubilee's menu

CREATIVE USE OF TACOMA'S VACANT SPACES >>>

The City of Tacoma will look a little sweeter. Stop. Check that. Tacoma is already looking a little sweeter. As you travel around downtown Tacoma, you'll be treated to stunning pieces of artwork, illustrating the city's deep connection with arts and culture and the city's desire to showcase its local talent. The decision to use vacant storefronts and spaces as the canvas for community-based public art is a powerfully unique idea.

Spaceworks Tacoma is a joint initiative of the City of Tacoma, Shunpike and the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce. The project is designed to activate empty storefronts in downtown Tacoma with art and creative enterprise. Property owners will donate their vacant spaces and program participants transform them into dynamic points of interest with creative energy and artistic enterprise.

The first wave of art has hit downtown Tacoma - literally. Alexander Keyes' outdoor sculpture Wave is flowing on Tollefson Plaza. Spaceworks Tacoma's website has the details.

Kudos to the creative minds behind this project.

P.S. A wave of cigarette butts has hit the sidewalks around Tollefson Plaza, too.

HE ACTUALLY WROTE "FREEDOMPALOOZA" >>>

Bill Kaufman, CEO of Kaufman Kreative E-Commerce & Marketing, and board member of the Tacoma Events Commission - the organization that produces Tacoma's annual Fourth of July bonanza Freedom Fair - wrote an editorial in today's News Tribune listing 10 ways to save Freedom Fair. Last week, Doug Miller, executive director of Tacoma Events Commission, said Tacoma Freedom Fair is a million dollar event that is run on about a $250,000 cash budget.

Of the 10 ideas listed, one of Kaufman's ideas is to charge admission:

Ten times more admission revenue next year. I watched the admission gates for a couple hours and was amazed by how many people walked around them to avoid being asked to donate. There was barely one donation for every 100 people.

We could increase admission revenue 10 times by simply requiring an entry fee for everyone, and reducing admission to just $1. Everyone can afford that, and if they want to donate more, great. (For those who didn't donate, you can still do it online at www.FreedomFair.com.)

Another one of his ideas is a FreedomPalooza:

Ten really good music groups of all different types, all donating their performances.

A floating music stage with on-shore bleachers and a $10 admission fee could easily sell out and help generate much-needed revenue. Maybe call it the "FreedomPalooza"?

Of all his ideas, the admission charge seems the most likely to save the huge Fourth of July celebration. What do you think?

NEW BEER STORE TO RIVAL TACOMA BOYS AND 99 BOTTLES >>>

Rumors around the South Sound that a new destination retailer of beer are true. The brains behind Jònz Catering are set to open Beertopolis Beertropolis along Tacoma's bar strip of Sixth Avenue later this summer. The location decision is down to two spots.

"We are moving right along. We were a little optimistic with our timing," Jonz Catering owner Linda Dagley says, noting that news on lease negotiations and beer selection will be coming in the next few weeks for the shop that is set to open in August.

Plans call for a retail-only beer spot that offers some 1,000 labels from largely small brewers from around the world with a special nod to beers of the Northwest. The shop will also offer tastings, pairings and club memberships that will bring discounts and invites to special events once the shop opens its doors.

"We want to educate Tacoma about how to drink beer," Dagley said. "No Bud Lite or Coors Lite. I think there is a need for it in Tacoma. We will offer a lot of things that a grocery store can't."

The projected stock of micro beer labels will make Beertropolis the largest destination of beer in the South Sound, topping Tacoma Boys' 500 labels and rivaling the shelves of Federal Way's 99 Bottles.

All of this is good news for beer chuggers, Tacoma Boys beer manager Donna Herren says.

"I welcome the competition," she says. "It will definitely mean everyone will have to step up and play their A game."

While Tacoma Boys and other beer sellers will also offer tastings thanks to a recent change in liquor laws, an addition of another mega-beer retailer will mean more events, tighter competition for hard-to-get labels and better promotions, Herren says, noting that she doesn't fear the new shop will cut into her customer base and might even add to it.

"There is plenty of beer business out there," Herren says. "There are a lot of people in Tacoma drinking a fuckload of beer."

The addition of another venue to learn about beer will mean a wider stock of people who will move from grocery store shelves of mega beer labels to more specialty bottles, she said. A new shop, however, won't likely mean price wars between stores since the state's new beer tax and generally high prices from breweries will keep prices competitive and focus customer fights in stocks of specialty labels.

NEW DANCE CLUB TO OPEN ON SIXTH AVENUE >>>

The Weekly Volcano drools when we see paper-covered windows in vacant buildings and storefronts; it means something new for Tacoma. Case in point: the Sixth Avenue space that formerly housed Hell's Kitchen. Behind those papered windows the Gruv Lounge & Nightclub owner Jason Rim and crew are building Tacoma's new dance spot.

Long time DJ promoter and co-owner of Ocean Grooves Entertainment Calvin Murphy will be the general manager for the Gruv Lounge & Nightclub. Last week, he confirmed the nightclub would primarily be a DJ oriented electronica music venue with the occasional jazz and other live acts. Murphy was a bit hush-hush on specific acts, but did share electro-mash up, reggae, dubstep, break beats, house, salsa and more would be heard seven nights a week.

"Saturdays are always going to have house music," Murphy promised adamantly.

The building's previous lay-out has been gutted and tailored to the new Gruv featuring elevated DJ booth, raised main stage, hardwood dance floor, private rentable karaoke rooms and VIP suites with bottle service, coat check, and artwork by Jeremy Gregory and other local artists.

Read more...

WHAT WE FOUND TODAY >>>

Think before you cross Tacoma's streets.

Kevin Freitas brought his camera to the 100th Monkey party.

BP is performing more risky drilling.

American Apparel on the brink.

Masseuse accuses Al Gore of sexual assault.

SIXTH AVENUE BEAT >>>

The time has almost arrived for Sumner to pass along the café torch, and for Tacoma's Sixth Avenue to finally acquire another fantastic independent business. Remember? When I announced THIS awesome news!

Well, Beyond the Bridge Café (BBC) is not only changing locations, but also changing a few customer favorites.  What was once known as "Live at the BBC" (a monthly musical performance by various, upcoming local artists) will be warped into a newly fashioned show renamed as "The Phoenix."  Characters referred to as "Bots" will perform a monthly theme set to music from local bands and musicians.

Prepare to be thoroughly entertained, as the BBC's opening "Phoenix" will include the infamous Kate Monthy performing as her alter ego "Nadia Dawn," and be set to live music by Vicci Martinez.  Mark your calendars for the Sept. 24and 25 performances.  Tickets go one sale July 1 through brownpapertickets.com and will be priced somewhere around $15 each.  As the case in Sumner, the new Tacoma BBC will be an all-ages venue.

A soft opening is projected to occur in unity with this year's Art on the Ave event July 11.

Inside the new BBC venue expect to see large couches, a staging area, friendly vibes, beer on tap, and walls showcasing art by students of Tacoma School of the Arts. 

The menu will consist of homemade soups, quiches, and the BBC's infamous and ever-popular bagel sandwiches.

During my visit yesterday, owners Ben and Trish Rubke introduced me to their very own resident coffee enthusiast, Melissa Harris, who plans to implement a barista competition, and a BYOV event.  After I slipped them a $5 bill to buy my way onto the judges' table, I asked what in the hell a "BYOV" event was.  "Bring your own vessel," Harris explains.  Apparently original, one-of-a-kind created vessel that can hold coffee will be displayed and sold for donations. 

I immediately began to wonder how I could transform my bra into an operating dual coffee vessel.  Hmmmmm.