■ Restaurant review
Sweet Basil restaurant dishes out
the elegant side of Thai cuisine
As part of a trendy trio on
Pearl Street, this spot is
perfect for special outings
BY NATASHA CHILINGERIAN
SENIOR PULSE REPORTER
Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine is part of
a trio of new restaurants on Pearl
Streetthat emulate the Portland
Pearl District, according to the new
Mezza Luna's Sandy Little. Granted,
the Eugene version of Portland’s
upscale, trendy area is only one
block long and is not surrounded
by big city buildings, but the new
establishments do a fine job of
evoking elegance.
Inside Sweet Basil, the dress
and mannerisms of staff and diners
scream "special occasion" and/or
"date." To the left of the door is a
beautiful painted mural of the
floating market in Bangkok, Thai
land, where shoppers paddle by
and choose from fresh produce
situated atop small boats. Lighting
is dimmed among black tables,
some of which are perched high
from the ground with tall stools to
sit on. To the right sits a full bar,
making Sweet Basil a possible can
didate for a hip, new spot to meet
for drinks. One flaw in the atmos
phere is the claustrophobia. Tables
sit so close to one another that it's
easy to hear the conversation of
your neighbors.
My friend and I started with the
appetizer sampler plate, which was
filling and copious. It came with light
rice paper rolls filled with bean
sprouts, tofu and transparent noo
dles; fried rice paper rolls stuffed
with vegetables and glass noodles;
and thin, crispy fried won tons
served with plum and peanut sauce.
Next, we shared the house special
curry, which came with broccoli,
carrots, green pepper and a choice
of meat, tofu ortempeh.The sauce,
IVHuckabees
Friday Night
Flick
180 PLC—FREE
Waiter Ryan
McLean
brings out
one of
Sweet
Basil’s
popular Thai
dishes
Friday night.
___
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
which had a strong peanut flavor,
was tear-inducingly spicy even
though we asked forthe mildest
kind. The rice was visually pleasing
— it had layers of white and brown
grains and was molded into moon
and star shapes.
The presentation of food and
drinks was impressive. Aside
from the celestial cakes of rice, I
noticed arrays of color, carrots
carved into flowers and frilly
cocktails while glancing atthe
tables around us. Just from looking
atthe restaurant's guests — well
dressed and middle-aged couples,
families and college students
gussied up for dates — I got the
feeling that this place was best
suited for special nights. Prices
unsurprisingly matched the up
scale feel, with appetizers ranging
from $3.50 to $9 and entrees
running from $8.25 to $19.
Service was as impeccable as
the dishes served. When we in
formed our waitress that our curry
was too spicy for our liking, she
brought over a cup of coconut milk
to cool it off. When we asked for a
box for our leftovers, she brought
out some additional rice for us to
take home.
Underthe restaurant's name on
the menu is written, "The elegant
side of Thai food," and I agree with
this claim. Although slightly Ameri
canized through big portions and
cramped seating, Sweet Basil is a
delicious and glamorous spot, per
fect for your next exciting night on
the town.
natchilingerian@dailyemerald.com
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T^ffnore
Impact! Arts and New Zone Art Collective collaborate
on an event to raise money and to celebrate the arts
BY AMY LICHTY
PULSE REPORTER
Eugene is home to many artor
ganizations that work hard to create
a community of artforthe surround
ing areas. On Friday, two of these or
ganizations will collaborate to cele
brate the love of the arts while
working to raise money for each of
their own causes through an event
called Arts Amore.
Arts Amore promises to be a night
full of food, art and entertainment.
The event was put together by Im
pact! Arts, an education and com
munity outreach association com
mitted to offering arts programs —
such as theater arts training for pre
school children all the way to adults
— together with the New Zone Art
Collective, a non-profit group estab
lished in 1983 to foster experimental
visual arts.
It is a benefit party, but it is kind
of a Valentine’s Day party as well,"
Randy Lord of Impact! Arts said.
"There will be lots of good music,
food, beer and wine. There will be
some silentfilms as well."
"We will have art provided by
New Zone Art Collective, films pro
vided by Impact! Arts, music by
Botox and Mood Area 52, and DJ
Molly B will be spinning discs after
the live music," Steve LaRiccia of
New Zone said. "Imagine-a-Nation
Puppet Theatre will also be there.
It's going to be a family event and all
ages are able to come."
Doors open for the event, hosted
by Mayor Kitty Piercy, at 6 p.m. at
Eugene Wine Cellars at 255 Madi
son. The music begins at 7 p.m. with
the jazzy sounds of Botox. Around
8:30 p.m., children and adults can
enjoy the original performances of
Imagine-a-Nation Puppet Theatre
and at 9:30 p.m., when the kids
have gone off to bed, the tango
quartet Mood Area 52 will perform.
After Mood Area 52, DJ Molly B will
take over the stage to keep the fun
going until midnight, and throughout
the night Impact! Arts will be pro
jecting a variety of silent movies
both old and new.
Although both New Zone and
Impact! Arts agree that having fun
is the most important aspect of
the evening, Arts Amore has
different goals forthe different art
organizations involved.
A couple of students of ours died
a couple of months ago in a car
crash in Veneta. They were really
bright, young, talented guys on their
wayto becoming really fine actors,
and they were taken away from us
too soon," Lord said. "So we estab
lished a memorial scholarship fund
in their name called the Kyle and
Bryan Memorial Scholarship Fund.
The money that we raise will be go
ing directly into that fund. This will
help any promising young students
who wish to take our classes but
can'tdo so because of finances."
New Zone also has its own goal for
the fundraiser, which includes raising
money through a silent auction.
"Our goal is to show off our work
and for people to have a good time,"
LaRiccia said. "We used to have a
space in downtown Eugene, but
we lost that when the building was
sold, so we would like to raise
some money to try to get a gallery
space. That is our goal, but we'll
see what happens."
Tickets are $10 in advance and are
available at Eugene Wine Cellars,
the Museum of Unfine Art and
Record Store and Tsunami Books.
Tickets can also be purchased for
$12 atthe door. Free food and re
freshments will be provided.
amylichty@dailyemerald.com
2005 Chinese Spring Festival
Celebration:
Many thanks to ASUO and
the sponsor,
Golden China Buffet,
King’s Asian Market
What: Dinner and Performance
Where: Emerald Baptist Church
(631 E. 19th Ave., Eugene)
When: February 12 @ 5 p.m.
Performance will begin at 7 p.m.
Who: Chinese Scholars and Students
Association (CSSA) invites everyone!
_