Finding a Favorite Summer Meal Right Downstairs

Today was a nice day, a rare day off from work of both the paying and unpaying variety. I am in a rare interlude between deadlines and I wasn't scheduled at either of my part time jobs so I felt a day of relaxation was in order. Well, okay, more like a day of cleaning up the apartment in preparation for the days ahead when I won't have time, but relaxing none the less. I managed to make it to an afternoon yoga class, always good to stretch out and find some balance, ran an errand or two and straightened up my office in anticipation of the work ahead. I also cleaned out the refrigerator, but couldn't bring myself to make a grocery run. On of the hardest parts of living in downtown Spokane is the lack of a local grocery store, even an over-priced under-stocked bodega. Ahhh, how I miss New York.

Anyway, without a stocked fridge dinner could have presented a certain problem, but I had a plan up my sleeve. One of my all-time favorite meals at anytime, but particularly in the summer months, is a bowl of steamers and an ice-cold beer. I usually throw in a salad just to be on the responsible side. Lucky for me I live above an Italian restaurant that very conveniently serves quite a nice app of steamers and very frosty beer. So I headed downstairs at the appropriate time with a book, my camera, and a healthy appetite. I was not disappointed. It turns out they even serve schooners of beer so I was able to indulge in a beer and a half, something I miss terribly from Ireland. When two is too many and one not quite enough, a half pint will always do you.

I didn't get a picture of the schooner, but doesn't that icy beer look refreshing?

Next time I will remember to get a picture of the bar at Luigi's. It is quite the cozy little haven and its website does it no justice at all.