FOOD & DRINK & MUSIC
A really good cup of coffee Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters celebrates a third Good Food Award
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
For the third time in the past decade, Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters took home a coveted Good Food Award on April 21. Known as the James Beard awards of the artisan food world, the Good Food Awards recognize winners from 18 categories, such as cheese, chocolate, beer, wine and coffee, among others. Evans Brothers also took home wins in 2013 and 2017. What sets this award apart from all others is not just the taste and quality of the final product — it’s a recognition of sustainable food products that go above and beyond their competitors. “It’s entirely about quality,” Randy Evans told the Reader. “It’s not just how it tastes, but how it’s produced.” Randy co-owns the coffee roasting business in Sandpoint with his brother Rick. While Randy oversees the coffee production, with longtime employee Daniel Gunter, Rick mainly oversees the running of the business and the marketing/sales. As the brothers can attest, even submitting to the Good Food Awards means passing a high bar.
“The vetting process for even qualifying to submit requires you showing full traceability of your product; the economic and social environment,” Rick said. That’s not a problem for Evans Brothers, as they have cultivated a close relationship over the years with Costa Rican farmers Oscar and Francesca Chacon, who own Las Lajas farm, where Evans Brothers’ famous beans originate. With coffee producers facing hitherto unseen challenges, including climate change and socioeconomic factors, Rick and Randy have continued to support the Chacons producing quality coffee beans that blow commodity coffees out of the water. In fact, Evans Brothers recently sent their marketing manager, Alani Strang, to Costa Rica to meet with the Chacons and learn more about importing specialty coffee. “The Chacons are the true heroes of the specialty coffee world,” Randy said. “They were really excited to find out their coffee is receiving a Good Food Award.” The blend that took home the award was named Finca Calle Lajas Natural. Chosen by a panel of judges in a blind taste test, the Finca Calle roast is described as “raspberry, cherry, orange, banana and roasted cacao,”
according to Randy’s tasting notes. Pre-order now to taste the winning roast yourself by visiting evansbrotherscoffee. com. This coffee is very limited and will be roasted May 15. Taking home just one Good Food Award is a feat in itself, but racking up three wins is something else entirely, especially when taking into account they submitted to the Inland Northwest Division, which includes Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas, Oregon, Alaska and most notably Washington — where Seattle is a veritable mecca of good coffee. “It’s a nice recognition of a lot of the hard work we do,” said Randy. “It feels really good to win this one. We do put a lot of emphasis on direct relationships and direct trade sourcing of our coffee and quality matters a lot to us, as well as sustainability.” “I really feel proud of Randy and Daniel, because those two lead our whole coffee quality effort,” Rick said. When asked why Evans Brothers makes such an effort to source their coffee beans, Randy said it’s just part of their DNA. “It’s an inherent belief in the philosophy we’ve had in our business since the very beginning,” he said. “Everything we try
ago, Lome said he spent three months building out the space to create the perfect environment to teach art and music lessons from his twin studios. “I’ve been a guitar player and musician since I was 14 years old, and I’ve been painting since my early 20s, so when I saw this space I asked myself, ‘Should I open an art studio or music studio?’ I decided to do both.” Lome’s upstairs units at the Cedar Street Bridge are side by side — Nos. 202A and 202B — featuring a clean aesthetic and bright, cheerful space that serves as an invitation to the muse. “I wanted to create a space that puts you in an artful and musical frame of mind,” he said. Lome said he prefers to teach fundamentals of music, including scales and chord structures and generally shying away from tricky musical theory to make sure his young students have fun first and learn second. “I love beginners and intermediates, but usually don’t teach advanced students,” Lome said. “I love working with kids and I’m really fond of the teenage population. Teenagers can often get swept aside and sometimes they don’t want to draw, paint or
learn an instrument from scratch, but when they sit down and do the work, they do really extraordinary things.” He takes the same philosophy with art instruction, focusing more on building confidence than getting bogged down with technique. “I focus on being more competent at self-expression,” he said. “We have hungry minds when we’re kids and we gobble down information. Kids are also glued to technology with their faces pressed into phones ad nauseam, so when they sit down behind an easel and try to paint, it brings out a side that we forget. There’s genuine humility there and engagement to manipulate things in the real world, not just cyberspace.” Lome said those interested in signing up their kids or themselves for music or art lessons are welcome to drop by his studio inside Cedar Street Bridge, or email cedarstreetstudios@icloud.com. Lome’s musical skills be on display this week, as well, when he hosts an ’80s music night at Barrel 33 at 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 6. Come dressed in ’80s attire for food
The Evans Brothers (Randy, left; Rick, right) celebrate a third Good Food Award outside their Sandpoint location. Photo by Ben Olson. to do is high quality … we want the best equipment possible and we have rigorous standards when it comes to roasting or preparing coffee. It really matters to us.” Evans Brothers employs 30 people and has coffee shops in both Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene. Visit evansbrotherscoffee.com or follow their social media for updates on how they conquer the coffee world, bean by bean.
WhereMusician artandand music meet artist Matt Lome hopes to share creativity with the community
By Ben Olson Reader Staff The relationship between art and music has always been a powerful one. Consider artist Sir Peter Blake’s co-creation of The Beatles’ album cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — the music would still sound the same without that iconic album cover, but would it have experienced the same universal appeal if not “branded” by Blake’s art? In Sandpoint, Matt Lome is hoping to share his love of music and art with the community at large. Lome’s studios are open and available for instruction for all ages, with a specific emphasis on teaching children, teenagers and beginners. Born and raised in Chicago and later attending college in Ann Arbor, Mich., Lome eventually moved out to Seattle. “Then I wanted to find a smaller town and began looking around and found Sandpoint,” he told the Reader. Lome soon opened a creative space inside the Cedar Street Bridge to chase after his artistic passions. Moving in six months
Matt Lome in the music studio inside Cedar St. Bridge. Photo by Foster Cline. and drink specials. He’ll also be hosting an open mic from 5-8 p.m. every Thursday at Barrel 33, located at 100 N. First Ave. in downtown Sandpoint.
May 4, 2023 / R / 17