Mon Avis-A Food and Travel Blog: The Staples of Anchorage

When you think Alaska food you most likely think...Alaskan King Crab, Salmon or Halibut. Pretty much a seafood heaven...as does the world think. While this is true(ish) the staples are NOT these. Truth be told, there really is not a restaurant that has the claim on best seafood in town. Sure we have Simon and Seafort's tasty crab and macadamia nut stuffed halibut dish...but the best seafood in Alaska is the fresh out of the water kind that you catch and take home to make at your pleasure. Or buy at a good market like New Sagaya's Market (Anchorage). If you come to Anchorage you will quickly find that what runneth plenty and legit are...Beer, Pizza and COFFEE. These are the true Anchorage staples. You can throw a stone and hit one or all three.

Coffee:

Coffee shops and kiosk are present on most main roads and in every shopping center. While I am Sbux barista forever in my heart and do like their coffee, the local beans are quite good. I have been on a "tough" journey to find the best cappuccino in town. I randomly choose this as my new drink of desire since moving here (I console in coffee to help through the dark winter). No real clue why cappuccino...but I just walked into a coffee shop started ordering classic with a sugar in the raw. I have not crowned my queen of caps yet, but I have had a few memorable ones. Red Chair (downtown Anchorage), Snow City (downtown Anchorage), Café Del Mundo (near midtown), and my current favorite from the Iron Horse Express (a kiosk in Eagle River). My full CAP report to come in a later post. There are several talented local coffee places. While the "king" in many’s opinion is Kaladi Brothers Coffee, I humbly, a mon avis, disagree. I find their coffee too earthy for my buds. I like a sweeter more rounded flavor. LOVE the Grind in Girdwood. They roast amazing coffee. I'll have a full post on that down to earth, whole in the “mountain” ski town to come as well. BUT regardless of preference and taste...the warmth of joe is everywhere in this cold tundra. So you are never far from sipping your body into comfort during the long winter nights or some extra zap for fishing under the midnight sun. Seriously, I have never drank so much coffee in my life…even while working at sbux for over 3 years.

Pizza:

One of the best, most visited and know restaurants in the state is Moose's Tooth, which is a pub and pizzeria. Two birds with one stone. As for their pizza, they have a great variety of tasteful, unique, Alaska influenced, and dynamic pizzas to go along with their own brewed beers. All worth the wait that you may find at high times and season. Seriously....so good. My personal favorite is the Meatball Parm sans green peppers with a pint of the Hard Apple Ale. I am not a beer drinker by trade, but this ale is pretty darn good. Moose's Tooth's cousin Bear Tooth Theater is awesome. You can order pizza, a beer, and watch a movie ($4) in the theater! Along with both of these great places to grab a slice or pie, the other honorable mentionable are family-friendly Pizza Man in Eagle River and for the uptown thin crust want-to-be-a-little-more-trendy you can check out a relatively new restaurant in downtown Anchorage called Fat Ptarmigan (trivia fact: A Willow Ptarmigan is the state bird). Both have worthy pizzas to stop by and try.

Beer:

Like Beer? Move here! With 21 (irony??) or so brewery in the state and most in Anchorage, you can find all the hops, ales, stouts, brews you want. With a range from local craft to commercially sold, there is beer for all beer connoisseurs. Each has a significant flare to their name and quality. Award winning Alaskan Brewing Company (Juneau) is perhaps the most well known and one of the few Alaskan craft brews that is distributed outside of Alaska. Anchorage Brewing Company (Anchorage), pictures included are from their new location’s smash hit opening weekend, focuses on “barrel fermentation with brettanomyces and souring cultures”. They have distinctive profiles, such as using hibiscus. Tasting room open Wednesday through Sunday 2-8pm. And if you are like a little paint with beer then head to Palmer’s Arkose where you can paint and drink together. You can make a road trip visiting the breweries and you will see a lot of the beauty and best of the state along the drive. So not a bad way to enjoy Alaska! Sights and sips ;)

SOOOO…This is a just the surface to the staples, but to really get to know them you have to come and explore, get out and check out, live and eat! Alaska may not be a “foodie” destination for the high end or really for diversity, BUT what is done is done well and it’s growing. They still have a sense of being in the 90s/early 2000s and not completely up to speed with the trends of today and tomorrow, but for it being the last frontier, we are not going hungry…not even close. Slainte to the staples of Alaska! Bon Appetit!