GRAB BAG book shelf • glimpse • wildlife • pop culture • words • q&a
A G LIMPSE I NSIDE
An occasional feature by MATT LOVE
Custard King
I wanted custard for the
first time. It was a swelter-
ing Saturday in late sum-
mer, and I was walking to-
ward cold custard and the
dreamy creamy prospect
of its mysterious texture
and taste. I even had a $1
off coupon that a rock ‘n’
roll-looking guy handed
me on the street!
Astoria’s rehabilitated
Custard King produces
custard with a recently
acquired $10,000 new
Photo by Matt Love
custard machine. Experts
fanatically trained in the The rehabilitated Custard King in Astoria
machine’s use make cus- now serves custard on its menu.
tard with exquisite care in
the old ways of the former custard masters.
Zounds, I love the how the word “custard” sounds! Custard!
Custard! Custard!
My next dog is going to be named Custard. I want to write
a poem about a custard sky. Would someone crank up Led
Zeppelin’s “Custard Pie”? I want to meet a woman with custard
eyes. I want to live in a country with a flag the color of custard.
Wait, I don’t even know what color custard is!
I spotted Custard King in the distance — for the love of cus-
tard! — it had a line 20 custard hounds deep. I couldn’t wait.
There was no time. Custard waits for no one.
Four hours later, Custard King was closing, and there wasn’t
a single person out front. I ordered custard, vanilla, in a cup. The
gleaming metal machine whipped it out in front of my eyes. I
brought it to my mouth and tasted. Two seconds later, I did a
little jig because I was so overcome with delight.
Custard’s First Stand. It definitely won’t be the last.
Matt Love lives in Astoria and is the author/editor of 14 books about Oregon. They are
available at coastal bookstores and at www.nestuccaspitpress.com
BARK
COLUMBIA BAR
(U-HAUL)
BBQ Peach
Iced Tea
1133 COMMERCIAL ST. ASTORIA
503.468.0308
2 0
per yard
WARRENTON FIBER
8am-5pm
861-3305 Mon-Fri,
389 NW 13th St.,
Warrenton
By RYAN HUME
I suppose it was bound to happen:
having written about the bar scene on the
North Coast for over a year now, eventually
I would walk into a random bar and find a
familiar face standing behind a different
slab of wood, ready to pour.
Jennifer Wayne, formerly of the
Twisted Fish and Finn’s in Seaside,
is now holding court at Rich Ewing’s
newly opened Inferno Lounge at Pier 11
in downtown Astoria.
With a crow’s nest DJ booth over-
looking the open floor and a slow river
view to die for, the Inferno promises to
cater to different moods depending on
the time of the day.
The lounge’s signature drinks begin
with an idiosyncratic list of infused spirits,
all done in house — peanut vodka,
cucumber gin, red hot whiskey, to name a
few. Everything is made fresh and to order.
For Wayne, this meant less shots
poured and more muddling and mixing.
Having only been open for two months,
the mood behind the bar is still largely
experimental: the recipe provided is
a variation of a BBQ Iced Tea, which is
itself a variation on one of the bar’s more
popular confections, the Inferno Iced Tea.
Ingredients:
3/4 ounce charred oak-in-
fused vodka*
2 ounces sweet tea-in-
fused vodka**
1/4 ounce 360 Georgia
Peach vodka
Lemonade
Ice
Directions:
To layer, top a pint glass
with ice and then fill 1/3
full with fresh-squeezed
lemonade. Mix liquors
together in a separate, small
glass and carefully pour atop
lemonade. Garnish with a
lemon wedge and stir before
consuming.
*The Inferno uses Svedka vodka as
the base for all of its vodka infusions.
The charred oak variety sounds mighty
complicated and involves oak, fire, at
least eight weeks of shelf life and a
strainer, I presume. If one were feeling
a bit like a mad scientist, I suppose you
could substitute a nip of bourbon or a
peaty scotch in its place, though I don’t
think any bartender would recommend
mixing your browns with your clears. At
home, it may just be best to keep the
barbecue component on the grill.
**This infusion shouldn’t take as
long to master and doesn’t require a
blowtorch: tea bags plus sugar to taste.
Store in dark place until you like the
color.
—Recipe courtesy of Jennifer
Wayne, bartender at the Inferno Lounge
in Astoria
SHANGHAIED
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N ow pre-order on lin e! (cu rren t pa tien ts): thefa rm a cy420.co m
2911 M a rin e D rive • Asto ria 503.325.3276
5:00 pm
Downtown Astoria
Every month, year ‘round!
Sept
C RO W N IN G O F
M IS S V IVIAN
& V IRGIN IA
S EPTEM BER 18 & 19 • 7PM
Tickets: $9-$16
A fundraiser for new bathrooms at the ASOC Playhouse
129 W. BOND ST
UNIONTOWN
ASTORIA
(Behind the Chamber
of Commerce)
CALL 503-325-6104
AstorStreetOpryCompany.com
N O M ED ICAL
CAR D N EED ED
Dry flow ers only
1/4oz. lim it • M ust be 21
W e ca rry m a n y b ra n d s
w ith the 12th a nnua l
2 N IG H TS ON LY ! F RID AY & SATU RD AY
STARTIN G
OCTOB ER 1ST, 2015
12th
Visit Downtown Astoria on the
2nd Saturday of every month for
art, music, and general merriment!
Presented by the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association
astoriadowntown.com
facebook/astoriadowntown.com
September 10, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 23