We made our 2nd annual trek to Lovitt Restaurant in Colville, Washington. We first heard of Lovitt from a Sunset magazine article from a few years ago. We were shocked to see anything from the Inland Northwest in Sunset (have you ever tried to search for Spokane on the Sunset mag website?) and were surprised that it was all the way up in Colville. We figured it must be something special and sure enough, it is.

I ordered the smoked salmon lasagna with a local microbrew. They use a pit smoker with apple wood and the flavors they coax out of the salmon are amazing. Nancy had the bratwurst and the Mary Hill Pinot Grigio. Very nice. The purple cabbage was like guilt free julienned gourmet french fries. We topped it off with apricot upside down cake with a dolop of homemade ice cream. Queue the Homer Simpson drooling sounds.

After the meal we talked to Norman Six, who does most of the heavy lifting in the kitchen, and he explained that they source 90-95% of the their food from local sources.From the farmhouse on a ridge setting, to the seasonal savory eats, to the gourmet meal for less than $50, you've got to love Lovitt. I know we'll be making at least an annual trip.

Also:

How did Colville come to have the best food community in the Inland Northwest? It's home to Quillisascut Farm (the book "Chefs on the Farm" which we bought at Lovitt, is informative and beautiful), Lovitt Restaurant and huge Wednesday and Saturday farmers' markets.

Blog link love to www.spokanefoodblog.com and their locavore challenge. They've got some local bloggers taking the 100 mile diet challenge for the first week in September.

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