The Rake Magazine

I've been hanging out lately at a great little place called Fireroast Mountain Cafe, which besides having wonderful soups, sandwiches, and pastries, serves a perfectly brewed cup of Puerh, which is a rare and wonderful thing.

A fermented tea that contains microbes — like yogurt of kefir —Puerh has an earthy, amber, slightly caramel flavor. Perfect with a touch of honey. And according to experts going back to the Eastern Han Dynasty, it offers a myriad of health benefits, too. Puerh is said to cleanse the blood and aid in digestion, lowering LDL cholesterol, canceling out the effects of alcohol, and boosting the metabolism. Some people even claim it helps them feel better immediately after a heavy, greasy meal, acting as both fat blocker and antacid.

I have no idea if any of this is true. What I do know is that Puerh makes me feel good, and it's rich enough to be a decent substitute for that cup of espresso I crave around 2 o'clock every afternoon.

The key to making this and other varieties of tea, however, is to get the water temperature and ratio of leaves just right. Black tea, for instance, should be made with water that's just off the boil and steeped for five minutes; green with water that's about 10 degrees cooler — e.g. the stuff that comes out of those red-spigoted hot water taps — and steeped for no more than three.

Puerh, on the other hand, cannot be overcooked. You make it with water that's at a roiling boil and let it steep forever. . . .10 minutes or so. The key is to use only a teaspoon of leaves, or it can become overpoweringly thick.

I've looked for this tea on the shelves of every grocery store I've visited for the past month, but it's simply not available. Lunds carries everything from infused green to Indian chai to maté, but there is, apparently, only a very small retail market for Puerh. The only place in town I've found to buy it in bulk is Tea Source.

I'm generally unimpressed by the studies touting the health benefits of various foods. But evidence that goes back 2,200 years will tend to sway me. And just to test the veracity of the claims, I recently consumed a large and meaty meal, then drank a cup of carefully prepared Puerh. And while I doubt it completely eliminated the roasted pork, brie, dark chocolate, and heavy cream from my system, I must say, I went to bed feeling amazingly good.

Those ancient Chinese emperors? I think they were onto something.

In case you haven't already noticed - we have started a new group blog here at the Rake called Chef's Table. It isn't just for chefs, though - it's for restaurateurs, servers, gourmets, gourmands, wine sellers, cheese mongers, etc. - anybody who is an active participant in the Twin Cities' lively food scene.

It's a chance for chefs and other foodies to tell diners how to get the most our of their restaurant, or invite them to sign up a special dinner, share photos and stories from their latest gastronomic field trip, weigh in on the latest trends, or sound off on obnoxious customers or pet peeves.

Anybody can post comments on Chef's Table, but so far, membership is by invitation only. If you would like to participate, drop me a line at iggers@rakemag.com, and tell me a bit about yourself.

The most recent post is by Henry Chan, owner of Giapponese Sushi in Woodbury - the second installment in a series that gives you the down-and-dirty about cheap sushi: "To cut costs, frozen tuna is often used, lower in quality with almost no flavor, still safe to eat, at almost half the price of good fresh tuna...Tuna, salmon, whitefish, just about every fish is now available frozen, trimmed and pre-cut. Hell, I've even been approached by American fish companies asking if I would be interested in buying pre-made frozen ready to eat California and spicy tuna rolls!!" To read more, go to the blog...

Niki Stavrou, owner of Victor's 1959 Café, 3756 Grand Ave. S., Minneapolis, also put up a post recently, to clear up a common misconception about Cuban cuisine: "Cuban culture is certainly spicy; the people, the music, the politics, you name it. But when it comes to cooking we leave the hot peppers for other cultures...

Niki also sent out an email recently to customers on the café's email list, suggesting a dinner-and-a-movie combination for tonight: "Thought you would like to know that the Walker Art Center is showing a Cuban film this Friday night, February 29th at 7:30pm. It's called "The Sugar Curtain" and from everything I've read on it, sounds like it will be a very interesting film.

"And remember, we open at 4:30pm for dinner so why not make it Cuban dinner and a Cuban movie? Make your reservations now and mention that you will be attending the film - if you arrive by 6:00pm we promise to have you well-fed with plenty of time to get to the movie. (I'm even going to try to sneak out so I can see it too!)."

Call the cafe at 612-827-8948 for reservations. To be added to Niki's email list, send her an email at Cafe1959@aol.com.

About the last thing I expected to see when I walked into Pi Bar & Restaurant on a Monday night was a table and a half of middle-aged guys playing 500. That’s the old-timey card game we play with Carol’s folks down on the farm in Iowa.

Pi , which opened last year in the Seward neighborhood, bills itself as “an awesome social club for queer women and their friends.” Their website promises “hot women, dancing, karaoke, trivia, lots of live entertainment, free pool during Happy Hour from 4-8 PM daily, awesome drink specials, and tasty food.,” but not a word about the 500 game. Maybe they are afraid of attracting too many Iowans.

It turns out that it’s a regular game that started around 10 years ago at the Gay 90s, but now is held every Monday night at Pi. Some evenings they get up to five tables, but at this time of year, a lot of the regulars take off for warmer climes. Over the years, they have raised thousands of dollars for Open Arms Minnesota.

Monday night happens to be movie night and half-price bottle of wine night, and every evening from 4 to 8 p.m. it’s also happy hour, which means half-price appetizers, cheap beer, and free pool.

The menu is mostly comfort food, ranging from chicken wings and burgers (mini or large) to chilled soba noodles with a sesame vinaigrette and a G.L.B.T. But a new menu will be coming out soon that will add a bigger selection of salads, sandwiches, and entrees.

Being a cheapskate at heart, I ordered a huge basket of Pi (tater) tots for $3, and three very small burgers for the same price (both are regularly $6.) The burgers were a little dry, as mini-burgers tend to be, but the toppings of fresh sliced tomato, crisp romaine lettuce, catsup and aioli made up for that, especially considering the price. And the tater tots, were crisp, crunchy and irresistible.

Our other entrée was the Gaysian wraps, a do-it-yourself kit of romaine lettuce leaves, carrots, cilantro, red onion and mock duck (or tofu or chicken) with a lively, spicy peanut sauce ($8). We washed all this down with a bottle of 2006 Gnarly Head Zinfandel, which is a good value at $21, and a steal at the Monday night price of $10.50.

The featured movie last Monday was Gendernauts (1999) Monika Treut’s documentary about San Francisco’s transsexual community, featuring Annie Sprinkle, among others. On Monday, February 25, the movie will be Tipping the Velvet, a Victorian drama about a lesbian love affair. Other highlights of the Pi calendar include Trivia night every Tuesday, screening of the TV show L-Word every Wednesday, and on Queer Speed Dating on this coming Thursday. On Thursday, Feb. 28, they’ll feature Dildo Bingo, a benefit for the Trans Youth Support Network.

P.S. - Just a reminder - if you want to join us for dinner and jazz at T's Place this Wednesday, please drop me a line at iggers@rakemag.com, or just show up.

In an article about Charles Billington, a University of Minnesota endocrinologist who also happens to be one of the nation's leading obesity researchers, I mention that when Billington himself dines out, he goes mostly to Heartland, the little storefront bistro on St. Clair Avenue in St. Paul.

Why? Because Heartland's gourmet Midwestern fare embodies just about every healthful practice he can name: the portions are appropriate; the food is wholesome, minimally processed, and varied; the slow-cooking methods tend to seal in nutrients (or leave them alone); and low-density foods such as vegetables often are the "star" of the meal.

After talking to the doctor, I went to visit Lenny Russo, owner and head chef at Heartland, to tell him what Billington had told me. There was a pause. Then an evil grin.

"Well, no shit," Russo says.

For five years, including an 11-month stint at Cue, Russo's been beating the drum for locally raised and grown food, refusing to serve anything (with the exceptions of coffee, chocolate, and some spices) from outside a 250-mile radius of the Twin Cities. You'll get elk, rabbit, bullfrog legs, root vegetables, trout, berries, mushrooms, and wild rice at Heartland. You will never eat salmon, lobster, pineapple, or macadamia nuts there. This way, Russo provides patrons with food that's fresher and closer to the source while supporting the region's growers and small family farms.

What's more, everything he uses is produced according to organic or equivalent standards. In other words, Russo's not so concerned about state certification; but he does care how the farmers treat their food. For instance, he won't buy barn-fed beef.

"They take a cow and pull it out of the pasture where it’s been grazing on grass so its flesh has a perfect balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids," Russo explains. "Then they put it into a barn and feed it nothing but #2 corn and all the omega-3’s go away and what’s left is just a shitload of omega-6. Eating that kind of crap is what makes people unhealthy and fat."

Russo admits, however, that only a small segment of the population can afford to eat at his restaurant, where dinner tabs run about $60 per. That's why he's involved in several initiatives devoted to making the food supply better, purer, and healthier for everyone.

For the past year, Russo has been trying to establish a local food clearinghouse, where producers could bring their wares for sale to restaurants, grocery stores, and even private citizens. He supports family farmers and speaks and writes on the topic, preaching to people about the necessity of crop rotation and food-based growing. He was a vocal opponent of ethanol and commodity crops (particularly corn) long before the position was in vogue. And Russo is especially outspoken when it comes to policies that promote packaged, preservative-laden junk over whole foods.

"People on the lower end of the economic ladder who don’t have transportation have certain limitations as to what they can buy," he says. "They're going to the convenience store on the corner and filling up their shopping carts with piles of cheap calories produced with high-fructose corn syrup and a bunch of ingredients you'd have to be a food chemist to understand."

It is, Russo believes, the fault of the government, and the Farm Bill in particular, that the economics of food has become so twisted and people are starving for nourishment inside bodies bloated with Twinkies, Doritos, and Coke.

"If the federal government cared about people or the land, they wouldn’t force us into all this commercialized agriculture so our food gets all fucked up." Russo — the grandson of a New Jersey boxer who speaks like Winston Churchill with a little Chris Rock thrown in — leans his beefy forearms on the table and glares.

"The farm bill is about who’s going to get a hand-out and that's wrong. Supply side economics should not be about giving more money to the rich motherfuckers who already have enough. It should be about giving money to people on the lower end of the economic sector because they’re not going to invest it overseas, they’re going to spend it on clothes and food and pump it right back into the economy where it belongs."

Please join us for dinner and jazz on Wednesday, February 27 at T's Place, 2713 E. Lake St. Minneapolis.

We stopped in the other night at T's Place, the Ethiopian-Malaysian fusion restaurant a couple of doors down from the Town Talk Diner, to check out Yohannes Tona and his band. I'd read a piece in the Twin Cities Daily Planet by Dwight Hobbes that described Ethiopian-born Tona as "the baddest bass guitar player in the Twin Cities."

As luck would have it, Tona was off gigging in Las Vegas, but we weren't disappointed: his replacement was an amazing Cameroonian guitar player named Kenn Wanaku, who led Tona's regulars in a couple of high energy sets that ranged from reggae and merengue to Congolese soukous and West African hilife, with a little Paul Simon and Bob Marley thrown in as well.

The only sour note was that the place was nearly empty. So Carol and I decided, we have to get a bunch of friends - and Breaking Bread Readers - together and come back and make an evening of it: Tona and his band play (almost) every Wednesday night. So we are scheduling our little get-together for a week from today - Wednesday, February 27.

Carol and I will plan to arrive by 8 p.m., and the music starts at 9:00.

T's Place offers a unique menu - a combination of traditional Ethiopian dishes, served on a tray covered with injera (a pancake-like flat bread), and some Malaysian-Ethiopian dishes that chef T Belachew invented when he was a chef-partner with Kin Lee at Singapore!. For menu details, check the website. Prices for food and drinks - they have a full bar - are very reasonable, and there is no cover charge for the music.

We're asking everybody to order - and pay - for themselves, though you are very welcome to follow the Ethiopian custom of eating from a shared tray.(With your fingers, if you really want to be authentic.)

Please email me at iggers@rakemag.com, if you plan to attend. Or just show up.