Jeremy Iggers The New York Times had a fascinating story last week, Food 2.0: Chefs as Chemists. Cutting edge chefs like Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 in Manhattan, and Grant Achatz of Alinea in Chicago are experimenting with ingredients like hydrocolloid gums to create combinations of flavor and texture not found in nature, like a fried mayonnaise, or … Read more
Update: An earlier version of this post said that the Suburban World Theater would be serving brunch today (Sunday, November 11). That’s what I was told when I stopped in yesterday, but there was an unannounced change of plans: brunch service is tentatively scheduled to start next weekend, with a limited a la carte menu, … Read more
What would happen if somebody smart decided to reinvent the neighborhood tavern? If they were really smart, they might come up with something like Buster’s on 28th Ave, at 4204 28th Ave. S., in south Minneapolis. Outside of northeast Minneapolis and Saint Paul’s West Side, the old neighborhood bars have largely disappeared, replaced by coffee … Read more
El Meson, at 35th and Lyndale Ave. S., and its sister restaurant, Cafe Ena at 46th and Grand, have both started offering happy hours. The details are a little different: El Meson is Sunday to Thursday 4-6, while Cafe Ena’s is Sunday to Friday 3-5. but the basic deal is the same: glasses of wine … Read more
Got a call from J.D. Fratzke, talented chef at Muffuletta in Saint Paul’s Saint Anthony Park. He gave notice last Saturday, and after 10 years working for Parasole, is about to embark on a new adventure – he’ll be a chef and partner at the Strip Club, the new neighborhood steakhouse that Tim Niver and … Read more
One of the great things about having a blog is that I get to post as much as I want about my own peculiar gastronomic obsessions. Of course, I don’t think there is anything peculiar about my love of little Chinese hole-in-the-wall noodle joints, or the fact that this is my third post on the … Read more
I just can’t figure it out. Doug Anderson’s new restaurant, Nick and Eddie, manages to radiate hipness — even uber-hipness, but I can’t put my finger on just what does it. It isn’t actually Doug’s restaurant — officially, he’s the head waiter. Seems that there were some financial issues that Doug isn’t at liberty to … Read more
It’s really good to see that Wolfgang Puck has jumped on the sustainable, humanely-raised, locally-grown bandwagon, but when he came to town last week to promote his new food policies, I couldn’t resist asking him one tough question. The Austrian-born chef’s sprawling network of fine-dining restaurants, fast-casual outlets and catering operations around the country served … Read more
I got this sinking feeling the other day when I drove past one of my favorite Chinese restaurants, the former Yummy at 25th and Nicollet, and discovered a new sign above the door. The sign said Relax, which made me worry that the place had been turned into a sauna/ massage parlor, until I read … Read more
The real test of a chef’s talent isn’t what they can do with foie gras or fresh black truffles. Those ingredients can make any chef look good, and the less you do with them, the better. The real test is what you can do with more mundane ingredients like beets, brussel sprouts and beef short … Read more