Stardar Report: Coffee With Kyle MacLachlan at Lovejoy Bakers (Now with Full Interview)
DAMN GOOD COFFEE: This morning I had a chat with Kyle MacLachlan at the Pearl District's super-hot Lovejoy Bakers (btw, he loved the cappuccino).
The star of such classic films as Blue Velvet and Dune, and one of the stars of tv juggernauts Sex and the City, Twin Peaks and Desperate Housewives Kyle is currently in town shooting a film project with Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen (well, that explains why he's in town) and Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein.
That terrific twosome created several video skits as part of a comedy duo called "ThunderAnt."
Now, with MacLachlan's help, they are morphing ThunderAnt into a full-scale pilot, tentatively called "Portlandia," for The Independent Film Channel. Kyle says it's sort of like "Flight of The Conchords."
UPDATE, Friday, June 18: I've post my full interview with Kyle on Eater PDX or you can click "read more" below to read it here.
KYLE MACLACHLAN TALKS WINE AT LOVEJOY BAKERS
Kyle MacLachlan loves a good cup of joe. After all this is the same actor who, as “Agent Dale Cooper,” declared his undying love for the bean on the seminal television show, Twin Peaks, with a hearty “damn good coffee.”
So it was sort of surreal to hear him remark how much he loved the espresso drink he was sipping on at Lovejoy Bakers. “This is a really good cappuccino,” said MacLachlan as he nibbled on one of Lovejoy’s sticky buns.
But MacLachlan wasn’t at the hot Pearl District bakery to talk about Portland’s frothy bean scene. Kyle is also a wine guy. In fact he loves the vine so much he’s become a winemaker.
The star of such classic films as Blue Velvet, Dune, and Showgirls and one of the stars of television juggernauts Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, and the aforementioned Twin Peaks. Kyle is currently in Portland shooting a pilot with Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein tentatively called "Portlandia" for The Independent Film Channel. Kyle says it's sort of like "Flight of The Conchords."
It’s not his first time to Portland. A native of Yakima, Wash. MacLachlan, 51, made several childhood trips to the region to visit his grandparents in Vancouver, Wash. (his grandfather was among many occupations a crafty denture-maker).
“I was a small town kid,” he said. “I remember coming to Portland and thinking it was such a big city.” Although he currently lives in a much bigger city New York, with his wife, Desiree, and his son Callum—he’ll take the red-eye on Saturday night to be home in time for Father’s Day—MacLachlan is still very connected to the region. In fact so much so, that after a trip in the Napa region, he and his wife decided they wanted to take a stab at creating their own wine. That interest led MacLachlan to the wine region of Walla Walla, Washington, and more specifically Eric Dunham, the vintner behind the world-renowned Dunham Cellars Winery. Due to the fact that the French oak barrels he wanted to use to make his wine cost about $1,000 a pop, MacLachlan pulled the number “12” out of the air to decide just how much wine— a blend of Cabernet from [Washington's] Lewis Vineyard, with some Syrah, a touch of Merlot—he would make for his first vintage back in 2005.
“I was new to all this,” said Kyle. “I didn’t want to go crazy.”
For his ’07 vintage Kyle has upped his barrel count to 18; that will translate into 400 cases. Not a lot, but enough for MaLachlan.
And, oh yeah, the name of the wine is “Pursued by Bear.” According to MacLachlan it comes from a stage direction in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. According to his Wikipedia page the suggestion came from actor Fred Savage, but according to Kyle the name popped at a dinner party at comedian Steve Martin’s house.
“Steve makes his own wine too” says Kyle. “It’s called ‘Steve’s Wine’ and he gives out during the holidays. I think I have a bottle of it somewhere in my cellar, but I have yet to open it up.”
Currently you can sing up to receive information about MacLachlan’s “Pursued By Bear.” It’s also available at Wally’s Wine and Spirits in Los Angeles and about ten restaurants in the Los Angeles area. Ironically, it’s not available in New York City. In between his six-day Portland shoot MacLachlan has been meeting with some local restaurants to see if they would like to serve his wine.
He can be seen on screen this summer alongside his former Twin Peaks co-star Joan Chen in "Mao’s Last Dancer" and he plans to continue developing his wine expertise.
“I really enjoy the level of control you have in winemaking; it’s very participatory,” says MacLachlan. “ Wine making is like directing, but first and foremost I am an actor. I have no desire to become a director, but I really enjoy making wine."
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Love Kyle MacLachlan. Somewhere I have an entire audio tape of his "Diane..." entries on Twin Peaks. Would it be trite of me to ask if he had a piece of pie?
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Last Updated (Friday, 18 June 2010 11:40)
