In general, the "safest" type of brandy you can buy is a Cognac. Go with a VSOP or (even better) an XO and you will be fine. Sure, there are "generic" brandies that are equally good or even better than Cognacs, but to be the Cognac variety you need to go through strict controls and, of course, be from the Cognac region of France. With a Cognac you know what you get. With a "generic" brandy you don't.

There are, however, other varieties of brandy that are bound to regions and go through the same strict controls as the Cognac. In that sense they're equally "safe" to go with, if you like the varieties and if you can find them. Spokane isn't a brandy type of town, so at times the latter can be difficult.

A good Armagnac can easily be as good as a Cognac, and it also comes cheaper. This, I assume, is because it doesn't have the name recognition of the Cognac, even though Armagnac apparently was the first brandy producing region of France. Some will even claim that the Armagnac is better than the Cognac, but more about that in a bit.

Production of Armagnac and Cognac are similar, though the Armagnac is only distilled once as opposed to twice for the Cognac. While you would think this would make the Armagnac harsher, the aging process, which is similar to that used for the Cognac, mellows it and simply makes the flavors a bit different and, to some, more complexthan its more famous cousin.

Grading is nigh identical to Cognac:

• VS: Mix of Armagnacs that are at least two years old.
• VSOP: Aged for at least five years.
• XO: Aged for at least six years.
• Hors d'Age: Aged for at least ten years.

So why do some prefer the Armagnac to the Cognac? There are those who will claim the popularity of Cognac has sent it into a mass-production spiral which makes it dull and predictable. It is true that it is mass-produced, and production is probably modernized to a level an Armagnac producers can't (afford to) get to, but I am unsure if its quality has gone down. Possibly for a VS, but plenty of producers—including big names like Martell, Hennessy and Courvoisier, as well as boutique shops like Hardy and Larsen—make some amazing brandies if you go up to the VSOP and XO.

With that said, from a personal perspective, I can see why some prefer an Armagnac. The single distillation in oak barrels really does work to its benefit in terms of having somewhat more depth to the flavors. And note that a VSOP Cognac is aged for a minimum of four years; a VSOP Armagnac for five. That's a good bang for your bucks.

To add to that, the Armagnac is said to have great heart benefits. A study has shown the aging process of the product is the reason behind this, and the Armagnac region has the lowest amount of heart issues per capita anywhere in the world. True fact.

As for serving Armagnac, there is the age old argument with it as there is with Cognac: What's better, the snifter, the tulip glass or the Champagne flute? The answer is: The argument will keep going for an eternity, go with your personal preference. (I prefer a small snifter.)

Drink the Armagnac like you would a Cognac or any type of brandy. Small sips over a long time. Swirl the Armagnac around your mouth; it's quite pleasant.

Some like a small splash of water or an ice cube in the drink. Personally I prefer it neat, but hey, whatever floats your boat. In the warmth of summer I don't see the issue putting an ice cube in the drink.

There aren't many types to choose from in our caringly controlled Washington liquor stores, but the Leriche VSOP is a good and affordable starting point at around $30 per bottle. It's smooth and has a nice flavor.

Fun fact: When the Armagnac is bottled, it's bottled. Keeping it in the bottle for 15 years isn't going to improve its flavor; opening it isn't going to affect its taste anytime soon. Just drink the damn thing.

You wouldn't think Palouse—and I'm talking here not about the region, but about the town with 1,011 inhabitants—would be a culinary mecca, and it's not. But the Green Frog Cafe needs to be visited, because it is downright awesome.

Here you can get a good selection of local wine and beer, and they serve Thomas Hammer coffee. The vibe is that of an urban American cafe, more-so than many places in Spokane (which is sad, but more about that another day) and the food is excellent.

We tried the nacho pita which came on a really nice tasting pita, filled with guacamole, sour cream, tomato, olives, cilantro and melted cheddar. It was not too huge and tasted extremely fresh. The same went for the turkey pita; I'm not sure where they got their meat from, but it tasted fresher than what I'm used to from most cafes.

Actually, I'm not sure if anything here is organic or not, but I do know everything is made from scratch and it shows. Just really nice cafe style food. Nothing fancy, but delicious.

If you're heading to the Palouse you should stop at Palouse, the town, and check Green Frog out. Excellent spot, and better than any restaurant in Pullman as far as I'm concerned.

Our previous mini-rant on how "Greek yoghurt" is really not Greek at all got the ol' cogs turning around discussions Team SpoCOOL has had on many occasions. Here in the USA people tend to strongly define anything by political borders. I'm sure we've all met people claiming to be "23% German, 12.5% Swedish, 1.734% Chinese, etc." There's an underlying problem with that, seeing that people lose quite a bit of their actual American identity, but that's a discussion for another time.

The jargon carries over to food, as we all know. Swedish pancakes. Belgian waffles. Canadian bacon. So on and so forth.

The thing, of course, is that these dishes really didn't have their origins in the countries their American namesakes suggest. For the most part it'd be impossible to trace the history of the dishes properly, largely because political borders have shifted significantly over time. And, of course, that the dishes have been around in some form or other for a long time.

Using Swedish pancakes as an example: These type of pancakes can be found in most of Europe, heck, even the world. Here in the US many differentiate between the Swedish pancake and the French crepe. They shouldn't, as they're virtually identical. The French crepe, the Greek krepa, the Norwegian pannekake, the Russian bliny… You'll find subtle differences, but for the most part they're the same thing.

It gets more complicated.

Indian food is something we all enjoy, but do we enjoy North Indian cuisine or South Indian fare? The two are very different, more so than a crepe from France and a pancake from Sweden. Yet they're inside the political borders of India.

Of course, it all comes down to giving things, anything, names. That's fine. We need names, and we're not saying there's anything inherently wrong using names like Belgian waffles, though it probably would be better if the names were either a bit less geographical. Or, when talking about a country's cuisine, possibly even more specific. 

Regardless, we do think people would benefit from doing some basic research on various dishes. Not just to figure out the foods, but to learn more about political and geographical history. Broaden your horizon and all that jazz.

The Escoffier is the English title for Auguste Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire, a book you probably should have in your bookshelf for many reason. One is that it looks very impressive, all leather bound and big and French looking. Escoffier. Say it out loud. Es-kaw-fyey. Come on. That sounds impressive. You can convince your friends you're not just a purveyor of gastronomy, but also a scholar of important books.

More importantly, many consider Le Guide Culinaire to be the authority on haute French cuisine. Originally published in 1903, it contains thousands of recipes in a nice streamlined format.

The latter might be a curse for some, as you are expected to either know quite a bit of food lingo or possess the know-how to find definitions yourself. This was probably more of an issue in 1903 than it is now, seeing we have the web on our hands. Plus a large portion of expressions and techniques are described somewhere in the book.

There are two versions of The Escoffier floating around (possibly more): a translation of the original 3,000 recipes book and one of the newer 5,000 edition. Currently the former is easier to obtain and, from what I can understand, it's more than enough for most of us, perhaps even a bit overwhelming.

Even if you have no interest in cooking yourself, The Escoffier makes a fine reference book. Flip through it now and again, and you're bound to find some cool information. You're a Better Taster, and you owe that to yourself.

It goes by many names—different signs and flyers carry various names—but in terms of Middle Eastern and halal food, no store in Spokane does it better than the International Food Store.

The selection here is pretty outstanding, and if you have any interest in authentic hummos tahini, Ziyad's canned stuff is probably better even than anything you can make yourself. There's a good choice of different types of pitas too, again all of high quality.

More important, to me at least, is the choice of "Greek" yoghurt. I use quotations around "Greek" as that's actually a common misnomer. Strained yoghurt—which is what we call "Greek" here in the US—has its origins in the Middle East. Traditional Greek yoghurt is not strained. Therefore "strained" yoghurt would be a better name for it.

Anyway!

International Food Store carries multiple brands of the extremely flavorful and fatty yoghurt and, as you only need to use a dollop  of it while cooking, a container goes a long way. (And you will never ever again use what Yoplait calls Greek yoghurt.)

They also carry hookahs ranging from $20 into the hundreds.

We like international markets quite a bit here at Team SpoCOOL, and International Food Store is one of the more interesting ones in town. A must if you are interested in Middle Eastern food.

It is, apparently, Garland Week here at ye olde SpoCOOL, and why not? The neighborhood is going through a boom period, and is alongside the downtown core and South Perry one of the more interesting and vibrant areas in town.

Bon Bon is a classic and classy lounge. Think 40s/50s movie bars where Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart would suave it up with Grace Kelly, and you have the general idea. Dan Spalding was responsible for lot of the interiors, and the space catches the classic movie theater lounge perfectly. (Wear your linen suit here, for full effect.)

The cocktails follow suit; classic drinks, often with modern twists, all nicely mixed. My Negroni was very refreshing and came served in a cool coupe to boot. There are a handful of "specials" also, and Top That's Cane Flower was very tasty. Perfectly balanced in sweetness and citrusy flavors.

To top it off, Bon Bon also offers cheese and charcuterie plates from Sante. Nobody can complain about that. 

The only real issue with Bon Bon is that the drinks don't come cheap. A good cocktail rarely does, one might argue, and that's valid, but with assorted drinks crossing the $10 mark, well, it's not cheap fun, particularly in a neighborhood bar.

But hey, it's fun none the less.

I think my thing is that I don't "get" cupcakes. You might say there is little to "get," and that might very well be correct. Maybe I just don't "get" Celebrations? I just wasn't that bowled over by their cupcakes.

That's not to say they were bad. They weren't. The cake part was fine; nothing crazily exciting, and I couldn't really distinguish the flavors between the various cupcakes too distinctly, but that's not to say it was offensively awful or anything. Just OK.

I can't say I was sold on the frosting, however. They were, from what I can understand, made using either buttercream or cream cheese, and were rich. Very rich. A bit too rich, in fact. Again I had problems truly distinguishing the flavors, largely because it almost felt like taking a bite of butter. There were some flavors there, sure, but the richness kind of hid them.

The cupcakes weren't bad, nor were they amazing, and the chocolate chip cookie was actually the best thing we picked up at Celebrations. I certainly do hope the proprietors see great success, as the place is worth visiting.

Follow them on Facebook to learn about their "happy hours" and special offers.

Odds are you know the 101 on Mizuna: It started as a vegetarian spot, then moved over to a full continental-style menu and was considered by many to be the best restaurant in Spokane. Then the beast known as inconsistency reared its ugly head, and a visit could involve anything from excellent soups to less than stellar gnocchi. 

I'm not sure if the consistency issues truly are fixed once and for all, but things are looking up if our last visit is anything to go by.

The sturgeon, for example, was an excellent showcase on how to properly prepare a fish. Its natural flavors were not overpowered by a bunch of marinades or rubs, but lightly seasoned, paired with a nice pancetta hash and a crimini mushroom sauce. A good combination, not too overwhelming, just fresh and summer-y tasting.

The vegetarian special consisted of a orzo stuffed pasilla pepper. It wasn't bad either, though I felt flavors weren't distributed as well as they were with the sturgeon. Some bites were spicy, some were rather bland.

One could probably go back and forth discussing if Mizuna is as good today as it was during its hey-day, but two facts can not be argued:

As far as a vegetarian/vegan menu goes, Mizuna has a larger selection than most. It is a creative menu, and not simply an afterthought consisting of your standard portabello burger.

And the bar serves some of the best martinis in town.

After a few eh visits to Mizuna I feel that the old king might be getting ready to be back in the running for "best spot in town" again. That's a good thing for all of us.

UPDATE: Fans of Guy Fieri has semi-confirmed what we already semi-knew, and added Chaps into the mix. The Sante crew also believe Hill's is on the list.

Spokane is abuzz about Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives hitting town. We have never watched the show—we rather enjoy the man's non-food related gameshow however—but we did talk to the production company (they were very nice) about some places we (and you too—remember the poll?) thought they should hit, as well as places they probably would want to hit. The two are, of course, very different.

Long story short, these are the spots we can confirm or semi-confirm they've visited:

• The Elk: Bart was there, quite possibly because he's stalking Fieri across town.
• Waddell's: According to Nick they've already been there.
• Picabu: From an anonymous source.
• Capone's: BITE Facebook group claims this one, with Nosworthy's Hall of Fame apparently coming up.

Well… Assuming all of these are true, I will repeat @andrewzahler's words of wisdom: "Neither of which strike me as diner, drive-in OR dive." Can't help but wonder why Dick's and Chicken & More aren't on the list (so far).

Got any other locations they've been to/are going to? Feel free to e-mail us and we'll spread the word…

Well, this was no good…

I ordered half an Italian and was promptly informed that they were out of French bread. The Italians love their French bread, you see. When I asked for sourdough, I was told I could either have rye or whole wheat.

You know it's a bad sign when a sandwich shop doesn't have any bread left at 1pm on a Tuesday. I suppose you could read that as a business so successful that they can't keep up with its crazy demand, but really… To me it just seems like lack of planning.

Anyway.

While my sandwich was being assembled, I stepped up to pay. The cashier asked what I was having, and I told him it was half a sandwich. Just as my card was being processed, the—dare I use this title?—artist came up and said "here's your whole Italian sandwich." The cashier looked at me suspiciously, clutching my debit card, giving me a "hey, are you trying to pull a fast one on me?!"-look while asking what I actually had ordered. Thus the sandwich went back, was cut in half, and returned to me, most of the ingredient having fallen off during the process.

This would all be forgivable if the sandwich was good. It wasn't. I wouldn't be surprised if the bread had been picked up from Rite Aid across the way, and I was going to compare the salami to Hormel, but that would be an insult to the fine cold cut company. It also came with a slice of green pepper and mayo.

Actually, I'm a bit at a loss what actually made it Italian. The salami, I assume? Or maybe the French bread would have pulled it all together and I missed the finer points of the sandwhich arteest's work?

Bottom line: It didn't taste very good. Sandwich Gardens should be avoided.

PS: There are two tip lines on the receipt. One regular and one dedicated to the maitre d'. This is apparently a very exclusive place.