Jeremy Iggers The first thing we see when we set foot inside Giorgo’s on Hennepin – for the first time in years – is a blackboard offering a free bottle of wine to any table that spends at least $30. It’s billed as a celebration of the restaurant’s 17 years in business, and with it is a … Read more
A couple of books have arrived in the mail recently -and set me to thinking about the role of critics – Zagat’s America’s Top Restaurants 2008, and Food & Philosophy: Eat, Think and Be Merry, edited by Fritz Alhoff and Dave Monroe (Blackwell Publishing). I opened the Zagat guide and turned to the Minneapolis-St. Paul … Read more
I got Sunny Kwan’s secret fortune cookie recipe – and I am going to share it. Sunday night, the missus and me stopped off to take on a little ballast at the Keefer Court Bakery and Café at Cedar and Riverside before our pilgrimage to the annual Brave Combo Christmas concert at the Cedar Theater … Read more
The Jewish fondness for Chinese food is the stuff of legend – and jokes. (Question: If this is year 4705 in the Chinese calendar, and 5768 in the Jewish calendar, what did the Jews eat for the first 1000 years?) But this is no joke: when Congregation Mayim Rabim holds its annual Hannukah party next … Read more
I’ll admit it’s not a big sacrifice on my part — my consumption of Junior Whoppers and Spicy Chicken Patties works out to about one sandwich a year. But after reading Eric Schlosser’s op-ed piece in The New York Times about the giant fast food company’s refusal to pay an extra penny a pound for … Read more
Let us consider this waiter in the cafe. His movement is quick and forward, a little too precise, a little too rapid. He bends forward a little too eagerly; his voice, his eyes express an interest a little too solicitous for the order of the customer. He is playing, he is amusing himself. But … Read more
The press release says the Red Stag Supper Club will open to the public next Monday, November 26, but Kim Bartmann’s newest restaurant actually has been open for business since last Monday. It’s what’s called a soft opening – a chance to work out some of the kinks before the crowds, and the restaurant … Read more
It wouldn’t be quite accurate to call First Course, at 56th and Chicago in south Minneapolis one of the most under-rated restaurants in the Twin Cities – it’s more like, one of the most ignored. I haven’t seen a review – or even a passing mention in a restaurant column – in years. That’s a … Read more
Trying to walk in at Barbette at 8 p.m. on a Friday night probably wasn’t a great idea, but we were lucky – only about a five minute wait for a place at the bar. Before the first course was served, we were offered a table, but the bar felt so comfortable that we stayed … Read more
It’s Thursday night at Pancho Villa on Eat Street, and thejoint is jumping. The Mexican restaurant on Eat Street has karaoke four nightsa week, but Thursday night is contest night, and more than a dozen singers arelined up to compete. The prizes in tonight’s semi-final round are small stuff –a bottle of wine, a gift … Read more