The Rake Magazine

Turns out it's paved with delays. Hell's Kitchen 2, the Duluth location, was originally slated to open in June. Then construction and equipment problems pushed the date to July 16. But new partner and GM Mark "Pappy" Anderson says everything has been surprisingly pacific since. "We opened for business nearly two weeks ago and it's all been good," Anderson says. "We were up to an hour wait by the third day. But we've got a great staff and everything seems to be running smoothly." Of course, Anderson's last gig was teaching 8th grade social studies for three years on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, so managing a staff of pajama-clad servers and a couple thousand unruly tourists probably seems like a cakewalk. Unlike the Minneapolis HK, this Canal Park restaurant serves three meals a day and sports a full liquor license. . . .also an iron-gated private dining room called Purgatory that seats 8-10, and the finest collection of black chandeliers in the entire Midwest.

Gene "Big Daddy" Sampson, is back at the pit - at least one day a week. Sampson, a legend on the local barbecue scene, got his start selling ribs and chicken next to Tiger Jack's shack on Dale Street, near the I-94 entrance ramp, with his buddies Ron Whyte and Bob Edmond. Sampson gradually worked his way up to owning his own barbecue restaurant in Saint Paul's Union Depot in the '90s. When that venture failed, Big Daddy disappeared from view for a while, but we were delighted to find him back in business, and reunited with Whyte and Edmond in the parking lot outside the Abundant Catering storefront, at 609 University Ave., Saint Paul.

The take-out-only menu includes a full rack of pork ribs for $17, or a half rack for $10, rib tips for $7 a pound, and barbecued chickens for $11 a whole bird, or $7 a half. Sides of cole slaw and potato salad are $1 each. Sampson's other specialty is his "Flintstone beef ribs": a half rack of beef short ribs for $16.

Big Daddy's new venture operates Saturdays only, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. But he also offers catering for groups of all sizes; for more information, call him at 651-276-3101.

Uh, yes. Better tables, better service, better food. This is the ugly truth of our business.

Now that that's out of the way, here's why I bring it up: a reader responded to a recent post on my wine blog in which I praised a local restaurant. He'd visited the same place during the same time period, and while he agreed with me about the superior quality of the food and wine, he said his meal was all but ruined by bad service. He pointed out that I had a great experience in large part because I'm known at that restaurant -- AND (actually, the reader had the tact not to mention this, but I will) because I have the power to give a restaurant smashing and absolutely free publicity.

He was right.

If you think there are other food critics out there who are avoiding the trap, my experience says you're wrong. This is too small a place, and the community of restaurateurs too intimate, for real anonymity to exist for more than, say, a year. I'm willing to bet someone coming in from one of the coasts -- someone who's never been to Minnesota -- could successfully hide his or her identity for about that long. And the better ones do expend a lot of effort: disguises, false names, hidden note taking devices, etc. But after a few years in the business, I'm sorry. . . . It's simply a ruse, designed to make the public feel fairly represented.

There are exceptions, of course. It's certainly easier to visit a brand-new restaurant anonymously (assuming its chef and front-of-the-house man both are new to the industry or the area as well) than it is to slip in unnoticed to La Belle Vie. And reviews of small neighborhood joints, mom-and-pop shops, and ethnic restaurants usually are the real deal. But when it comes to the big, showy places or trendy urban spots, a food critic tends to get found out by visit number two or three.

My colleague, Jeremy Iggers, and I have discussed this at length. One of the things we've pledged to do at The Rake is disclose when we are known to the restaurant (as I did in my wine blog), so there's no wink-wink arrangement whereby we pretend to be anonymous while management rolls out the red carpet. Even if we only suspect we've been "made," we'll own up. Then we'll do our best to assess the food, service, and ambiance of a place fairly. But it's helpful for us to know what happens to other people when they walk through the door.

And that's where you come in.

We want this blog to be a real dialogue. We'll put forth opinions based on our years of journalism experience and culinary education. But so far as adding a genuinely egalitarian element to the site -- and to the resource guide we're compiling for local diners and wine drinkers -- we're relying on input from the community.

The reader who commented on Sweet Spot did exactly what we hope people will do, adding his experience to the mix. So, if you see a post you agree with, we'd love to have you write in. But if you see a review you disagree with, or if you've had an experience that was significantly different from ours, please post away. . . .

Enterprising chef Lenny Russo, back at his Heartland Midwestern Restaurant after a stint at Cue, is working with the Saint Paul Growers Association to create a new retail store and distribution center next door to the Lowertown Farmers Market. The retail store will feature locally grown foods -- fresh, canned, or frozen -- year-round, while the wholesale distribution center will help small farmers cut out the middleman in selling to restaurants and co-ops, whose purchasing volume is greater than individual farmers can handle. The goal, says Russo, is to have farmers keep more of the profits and also spend less time and fuel making deliveries to the metro area. Russo hopes to break ground this summer and open for the 2008 growing season.

Oh boy! A sushi tsunami in downtown Minneapolis! We've already got Origami, Nami, and Koyi Sushi in the warehouse district, sushi at Martini Blu at the Grand Hotel, Ichiban on the Nicollet Mall, Wasabi on Washington Avenue near the Metrodome, Tensuke Sushi in the skyways... and now, joining them in mid-August, in the former Olive Garden space on the corner of 6th and Hennepin, will be Musashi Japanese Restaurant. According to manager Mickey Liu, owner Tyu Di Chen, a native of China, worked at Japanese restaurants in Japan for ten years before coming to the States. Just how Musashi will differentiate itself from its competitors isn't clear, but Liu says his restaurant's cuisine will be better.