C4
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
HUGE, TROPICAL
JACKFRUIT
CATCHES ON
AS A MEAT
SUBSTITUTE
Jackfruit,
a large trop-
ical fruit often
used as a meat substi-
tute, is often available as
a whole fruit or sometimes
sliced into more manageable,
usable pieces.
AP Photo
By KATIE WORKMAN
Associated Press
NEW YORK — If you’ve never
heard of jackfruit, keep your eyes open:
You’ll start noticing it everywhere.
Jackfruit is a very large tropical
fruit often used as a meat substitute. It
packs some nutritional wallop, and the
fact that you can cook, chunk or shred
it like chicken or pork makes it a go-to
main ingredient in many vegetarian and
vegan dishes.
Its flavor is neutral, and it takes to all
kinds of seasonings.
Jackfruit is native to India, and also
grows in Southeast Asia, Mexico, the
Caribbean and South America. It ranges
from 15 pounds to a whopping 70 pounds.
For cooking, freshly picked, non-
ripe jackfruit generally is used. Once
ripe, jackfruit can be used in sweeter
dessert preparations.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
If you’ve never heard of jackfruit, keep your
eyes open; you’ll start noticing it everywhere
It’s available whole or sliced into
more manageable pieces. Unripe, it’s
green and unyielding; as it ripens, it
softens, turns yellow, gets some brown
spots and starts to smell fruity.
It’s also sold canned, sometimes in
brine or syrup, and you can find vari-
ous types in specialty and Asian food
stores and, increasingly, traditional
supermarkets.
Now, with many people looking for
plant-based alternatives to meat, jack-
fruit’s trajectory is up, up, up.
Robert Schueller, head of marketing
at Melissa’s Produce, a specialty pro-
duce company, has noted that upward
trend for several years.
“It was about five years ago that the
fruit started to really take off,’’ he says.
“Vegetarians and vegans found out how
this fruit could be used as a ‘meat sub-
stitute’ for pulled pork sandwiches and
as a taco meat.”
As word spread in the U.S. about
jackfruit’s versatility, Schueller says,
Melissa’s went from selling a few
cases a week to thousands of cases
a week. Melissa’s also offers plastic
containers of jackfruit pods contain-
ing just one or two servings.
Jackfruit also is popping up on
menus across the country, at vegan
and vegetarian restaurants, yes, but
also in dishes at more mainstream
establishments. Tomatillo, a Mexican
restaurant in Dobbs Ferry, New York,
has a quesadilla and taco made with
jackfruit nestled in alongside other
meaty and vegetarian offerings. In
Chicago, Alulu Brewpub serves up
Vegan Sicilian Jackfruit Flatbread on
a menu alongside in-house cured pork
belly.
Angela Means, owner of the vegan
Jackfruit Café in Los Angeles, says
people are turning to a vegan diet for
many reasons, including environmen-
tal, health and animal-rights concerns.
“We eat meat because of the tex-
ture and the spices. Jackfruit is a great
substitute,’’ Means says. “It’s one of
the best choices for us because we can
mimic meat, jackfruit grows in abun-
dance, and it has potassium, fiber, mag-
nesium, lots of nutrients. We put it in
tacos, and we make sandwiches, like a
barbecue pulled ‘pork.’”
Jackfruit Café also serves a “fish
patty’’ made of jackfruit combined with
seaweed.
“You wouldn’t miss anything —
we could give you our taco and you
wouldn’t even know it’s vegan,” Means
says.
Jackfruit Café tries to educate peo-
ple in its community about jackfruit and
alternatives to a meat-eating diet, she
says, predicting, “in seven to 10 years,
jackfruit will be as popular as beef.”
HOTEL DESIGN TRENDS
Lobbies and rooms with a point of view
By KIM COOK
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Design-
ers of hotel spaces have
traditionally tended to
favor either theatrical flair
(baroque finishes and opu-
lent flourishes) or the oppo-
site: a low-key insouciance
consisting of neutral, con-
temporary furniture and
acres of beige-ness.
That’s changing. Now,
many designers are look-
ing to the cities and neigh-
borhoods where hotels are
located for decorating inspi-
ration. The vibe inside is
skewed more “living room”
than “lobby.” And in the
rooms, gallery walls are
supplanting generic land-
scape prints, and there
might be the kinds of objets
d’art, reading materials and
soft furnishings one would
have at home.
Let’s all go
to the lobby
“We’ve heard from our
showrooms and exhibitors
that they’re seeing an uptick
in ‘softer’-style solutions for
spaces like hotel lobbies,”
says Byron Morton, vice
president of leasing for Neo-
Con, the commercial design
industry exhibition held
annually in Chicago. “The
lobby is increasingly a com-
munal meeting and amen-
ity space rather than just a
pass-through.”
Tom Parker, co-founder
of the design group Fet-
tle, which has offices in
London and Los Angeles,
says changes in how busi-
ness travelers work have
impacted both the public
and private spaces in a hotel.
“New technology has
paved the way for the ‘gig
economy’ and freelanc-
ing. People are now work-
ing flexible hours from loca-
tions that suit them. In any
given city, the lobby is now
the heartbeat of the pub-
lic areas, filled with people
working on their laptops,’’
Parker says.
Fettle blends elements
from midcentury, art deco,
industrial
and
British
design.
“People want break-out
lounge furniture and meet-
AP Photo/RCH Studios, Hunter Kerhart
This undated photo provided by 1 Hotel in West Hollywood, Calif., shows an extension of the hotel’s interior space that they
are calling the “outddor lobby.” The Hollywood Hills hiking trails next to the hotel were the inspiration; guests can explore a
granite pathway that meanders through a “canyon” of native greenery. Log seating and timber planters were created from
salvaged Los Angeles-area fallen trees.
ing tables, but when evening
rolls around and the laptops
are tucked away, the lobby
transforms,’’ Parker says.
The company’s design
for the lobby of the Hoxton
Hotel in Portland, for exam-
ple, has a communal work
table and a comfortable
lounge seating around a fire-
place. The public areas were
situated in an old, converted
movie theater. Tailored but
comfy mohair and leather
seating and warm wood side
tables blend with distressed
rugs and displays of ceram-
ics, plants and books. Refur-
bished timber and concrete
beams frame the spaces.
And there’s a story about
the reception area’s wood
paneling.
“We used a lot of local
suppliers and material for
this project,” Parker says.
“The area around Portland
is a big producer of Mar-
aschino cherries; the vis-
ible face of the wall is
made from the outside of
reclaimed cherry vats. If
you look closely you can
even see the imprints where
the metal belts that hold
the huge vats together were
pressed against the wood.”
In many hotels, Parker
notes, “It’s not just hotel
guests who are using them,
but the locals who come to
work in these spaces.”
This photo shows the lobby in The Hoxton Hotel in Portland. London/L.A.-based Fettle de-
signed Portland’s Hoxton.
Paul Makovsky, editor in
chief for Contract, a maga-
zine focused on commercial
interior design and architec-
ture, says this mix of work-
space and hospitality is
being called “corporatality.”
Hotel chain CitizenM
on Manhattan’s Lower East
Side uses the tagline, “You
may not be a New York
native, but you can feel like
one here.” Colorful lounge
chairs face a soaring shelf
wall filled with eclectic
curios, art and books.
In Scotland, Glasgow’s
Motel One is next to the
main railway station, which
takes passengers into the
Scottish Highlands. The
hotel commissioned over-
size images from photogra-
phers Louise Scullion and
Matthew Dalziel, who rode
the route shooting atmo-
spheric, romantic pictures
of scenery, shaggy cows and
travelers.
The chain’s interior
designer Katharina Schmidt
used the photos in both pri-
vate and public spaces, add-
ing wooly sheep stools, tar-
tan-covered modern chairs,
displays of vintage hatboxes
and trains, and pendant
lights evoking crystal-cut
whiskey glasses.
At Motel One’s prop-
erty in Zurich, Switzer-
land, brown and tan leather
furniture and padded wall-
coverings suggest luscious
Swiss chocolates, while the
lake outdoors is evoked with
brass boat propellers, port-
hole mirrors and wallpaper
printed with puffy white
clouds.
In Manchester, England,
the area’s history as a yarn and
textile marketplace informed
Motel One’s design; Schmidt
commissioned artist Andy
Singleton to create sculptures
inspired by spools of yarn
and fabric. Ceiling lights by
Arturo Alvarez resemble cot-
ton bolls.
At the 1 Hotel in West
Hollywood,
California,
RCH Studios extended the
interior space to an “outdoor
lobby.” Hiking trails next
to the hotel were the inspi-
ration; guests can explore a
granite pathway that mean-
ders through native green-
ery. Log seating and timber
planters were made from
salvaged, fallen trees.
Rooms at the inn
High-speed internet has
become more important
than a work desk in today’s
hotel rooms, says Parker.
With lighter, thinner tech,
we can work in different
positions. So, there’s more
lounge furniture and fewer
desks, along with charging
capabilities in table and sofa
bases.
Some hotels are also
responding to the self-
care trend, says Makovsky.
Equinox’s hotel rooms in
New York, L.A. and Chi-
cago feature dark, moody
atmospheres with soothing
acoustics, proprietary mat-
tresses, and relaxation and
sleep programs.
Marriott’s Stay Well
rooms have enhanced air
and water filtration, natu-
ral-materials mattresses and
vitamin C-infused showers.
As in many lobbies,
there’s homey decor touches
in rooms, too. At the State
Hotel in Seattle, artist Kate
Blairstone’s wallpaper pays
homage to the city’s pro-
duce, flowers and seafood,
while in the rooms her cus-
tom portraits of local resi-
dents adorn the walls.
In their Bowery prop-
erty in New York City, Cit-
izenM commissioned graf-
fiti artists to provide custom
works for the stairwells, cre-
ating the Museum of Street
Art for guests and neighbors
to enjoy.