This is a good pizza spot, one we'd rank up with South Perry. Consider that high praises. Is Fire worth the trip to Coeur d'Alene alone? Yes. A forty minute drive to get a good pizza in a really nice locale? Why wouldn't you want to do that?

Here you have a wood fired oven which makes a bubbly crust crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. In terms of the almighty bite, Fire gets it right. The flavor might not be quite up there with, say, Veraci's, but it's still perfectly serviceable, just a wee bit on the light side.

That aside, we have no complaints about the toppings. Our "Parma" came with some nice slices of prosciutto, and we really liked the gorgonzola and mozzarella cheese mixture. It all balanced out to a a creamy texture with a mellow taste, flanking the meat perfectly alongside the truffle oil.

The "Crimini" was a bit more subtle on the flavors. It was fresh tasting, for sure, and I'm guessing the garlic olive oil was supposed to give it a kick, though a bit more garlic would have been appreciated. Still, that's nitpicking, and we enjoyed this pie too.

Fire's pizzas remind us a lot of what we see around the Valencia region of Spain, which is somewhat of a rarity in these parts. Again, consider that high praises.

Finally, a special mention of the interior. This is a wonderfully designed restaurant, one that mixes a bit of the Northwest with a potpourri of European styles. The space is comfortable, and when mixed with excellent service and quality pies, we will add Fire to our pizza rotation. A great spot.

We're all for supporting a local business and such, but the local business should also support us. One important aspect of that is to have opening hours that actually benefit the customer. I understand the reasoning behind these hours here and all, but, anyway...

When the store actually is open, it is one that is pretty awesome. They do, of course, carry Chuao chocolates which, at $6 a bar, aren't a cheap pleasure, but a great pleasure all the same. There's a good selection of other bars too, many with some "creative" flavors. Add to that a selection of chocolates aimed at cooking and baking, and you got yourself a good variety here. The only other place we can think of that is comparable is Latah Bistro. (In case you didn't know, you can buy bars there too.)

Grabbing a hot chocolate -- Chuao used for many of them -- is also well worth while.  We're not talking anything quite as intense as Jacques Torres's Wicked hot chocolate (worth checking out if you hit NYC) but this is the real stuff at any rate.

We like the Chocolate Apothecary. We wish the hours were a bit more... open... but what can you do? Go there when it's open, and grab some chocolates. You owe yourself that much.

Speaking of twitter, remember when we asked about BeerCo? Well, it opened, was supposed to start carrying homebrew supplies, and then closed after a few weeks. Bummer.

Sante's full re-opening is set for February 8th, in case you didn't catch it. (We tweeted it... This is all turning into a post about tweets... Just follow us on Twitter!)

Frankly, the only ones who would claim Pliny the Elder to be "overrated" would be contrarians. This is an expertly brewed beer, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Team SpoCOOL does prefer other styles of beer over the Double IPA, but it's impossible not to have mad respect for what Russian River has produced here.

It pours a clear copper color, almost shimmering, with a thick foamy head. Looks great, smells even better, with hops front and center, flanked by citric and fruity tones. A kind of unexpected hit of malts shows up toward the end.

And this is where Pliny the Elder shines. Double IPAs tend to be hop bombs, where some of the better ones generously add a bit of fruitiness toward the back. There's more to Pliny the Elder. This is probably the most balanced IPA I can remember trying, where the malts compliment the hops perfectly. It's not often I'd classify an IPA as being "malty", but Pliny the Elder is just that. Hoppy and malty.

It's a strange sensation: The hops hit hard, but within seconds the malts show up, dancing a Charleston over the tongue. As they swirl around, they toss off orange, pineapple, grapefruit... All the flavors work together in a sweet harmony, with a creamy mouthfeel.

Now, if you're not a hop fan you probably won't love this. But you will at least like it and respect it. It is impossible not to.

Sadly I've rarely seen this beer in our area -- it has been about two years since I saw it in a Spokane store (I believe it was JB's) -- and found this bottle in Seattle. Pick one up if you can, it is more than well worth it.

Of course, we can shout and complain about it as much as we like, but the superstores are coming according to a Spokesman article. Total Wine is first in line, looking at opening two stores in north Spokane and the Valley. I'll leave the snarky stereotyping up to you.

Meanwhile, a look at the Liquor License Stalker will reveal that every grocery store ever (of a certain size) is intending to sell spirits.

Our take on the whole thing: With liquor superstores you'll probably see somewhat of a price reduction on ordinary brands of liquor. However, if these types of stores in other states are anything to go by, the selection of the actual good stuff tends to be minimal, and shelf space is reserved for a multitude of replaceable middle-of-the-road style brands. BevMo! is doing good business following that model.

That would be all well and good, of course, if we had the opportunity to shop at, you know, specialized stores, It's still a big unknown if a place like Huckleberry's will have the want or the knowledge to step up and truly embrace this as an opportunity.

The future for liquor sales, then, seems to be a bit up in the air. We have our doubts 1183 will do much as far as an improvement on quality selection goes. But hey, $5 off Absolut...

Have any input on the whole 1183 thing? We're (as always) genuinely curious about thoughts and opinions, so tweet us @SpoCOOL if you'd like.

More importantly, we have a time and a place for our highly not-so-serious AeroPress contest! SpoAP will take place at Madeleine's, downtown Spokane, Sunday, February 26th, sometime after the cafe's closing time. Probably around 4 PM. Want to sign up to compete? Amateurs and baristi should do so right now! We have a limited number of spaces available, so reserve your spot!

Afraid you just aren't much of an AeroPresser? Don't be! This contest is aimed at people of every skill level, and our goal is to spread some good-coffee awareness more than anything. Plus, you have a month to find your favorite beans and get in some practice. Despite what we have speculated on earlier: Kenyan beans are not required, but they are recommended, as they're used in the official World AeroPress Championship for a reason.

That's pretty much it. Expect more to be revealed soon, including a couple of surprises. For now, though, sign up!

For thirty days you may eat: Whole, unmodified meats, fish, eggs, vegetables, some fruit, and good fats.

For thirty days you may not eat: Sugar or sugar substitutes, processed foods, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, white potatoes, or anything you probably would find fun. Yeah.

More details are available on the Whole30 website.

As a challenge goes, this one is obviously harder for those who don't usually eat a lot of meat. If you can get past that, the results after a month are pretty impressive. Those who participated all shed pounds faster than what you'd expect from any regular diet. (Around 60 lbs between four people, twenty-four days in.)  Energy levels, meanwhile, increased.

That's not to say this wasn't a challenge. It was, and you soon learn to look at the ingredients list while shopping, even when you wouldn't expect there to be any ingredients listed. Take turkey bacon, for example. Should you go into your regular grocery store, you'd think you could just pick up a package easily, but uh-uh. Compare two seemingly identical packages, and you'll find one to simply contains meat, while another is drenched in sugars and fake smoke flavorings. 

In that sense we got a good reminder not just to start checking out ingredients, but to buy meat from a butcher. Common sense? Probably, but it's easy to be lazy.

You're not supposed to "paleo-fy" less than healthy recipes -- "paleo pizza" is out, for example -- but when having a craving for cheese, we did find there were some dips that actually filled the hole without trying to be a substitute like "vegan cheese" or whatever. Have it with a coconut bread, and things all of a sudden looked kinda good. One could argue that to be "paleo-fying", I suppose, but hey, whatever gets one through the day.

Coffee is also a savior. Drink it black or add some coconut milk, and you'll be good.

Like the Whole30 site mentions, while thirty day of ultra-strict paleo might sound hard, it's not exactly like quitting heroin. It's a challenge, but in the end it made a positive change, and there were surprisingly few cravings. We plan on keeping on a paleo track, albeit one not as strict as the Whole30. We're not going to give up Veraci or anything else as foolish as that. There are rumblings about a mac & cheese at Latah Bistro after all.

Thus we recommend anyone looking to do a bit of a reboot to check out Whole30. A few links to help you:

• Whole9
• Robb Wolf
• Everyday Paleo

We'll be adding Twitter accounts soon too. Woo!

Have a blog or Twitter account that's related to Spokane and food? Give us a shout -- team@spocool.com -- and we'll add them.

It pours a nice dark brown color with a lightly tanned head, about a finger's worth of it. Decent lacing and definitely an inviting looking beer.

Give it a quick whiff and you will find a light mixture of spices and hopiness. This carries over to the flavor; the spices hit first, but are mellowed out by subtle sweet flavors of caramel and just a hint of citrus. The hops hit toward the end, giving your tongue a gentle massage while making it clear that this is, indeed, a Washington beer.

It's a drinkable winter warmer, one that might be just a bit thin as far as the mouthfeel goes, but also one anybody can agree on. Heck, I'd drink it again.

Hopefully Redhook can get back into a more consistent rhythm and produce more beer with this kind of quality. We might add the brewery back into the rotation if that's the case.

After drinking a lot of Kenyan and Ethiopian coffee lately, AeroPressed, it's almost a bit strange going back to a French Pressed Colombian, but that's where Sea of Love took us, and it almost felt like a homecoming of sorts. There is just something familiar with the flavor, and we mean that in the best way.

We found the beans to have a mellow, sweet scent with a nice hint of chocolate toward the back. A sip instantly reveals this to be be Valentine-y. Here we have something close to chocolate covered cherries, with just a bit of caramel mixed in. Imagine if Hershey's actually used quality ingredients in a subtle way, and you might kind of get the idea. Kind of. 

The body here is smooth, almost velvet like, and the aforementioned caramel lingers after each sip.

Sea of Love might not be a flavor bomb, and that is perfectly fine. Instead it's a very pleasant, relaxing cup of coffee, smooth and subtle, not unlike a post-Doobies Michael McDonald. I dare you not to hum "I Keep Forgettin'" while enjoying a cup.

Bonus: Read artist Tiffany Patterson's blog post about the printing the Sea of Love bags.