Jeremy Iggers Soooo, let me add my two cents worth to my esteemed colleague Ann Bauer’s posting on the Table for One topic (see below): I’d recommend any of the places that have counter service. My top pics these days would include the Chef’s Teller Counter at BANK, in the new Westin Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, the … Read more
If Alex Roberts opened Rotisserie Brasa to prove a point, he has definitely succeeded. Everybody likes the idea of eating locally and sustainably, but the rap against organic-sustainable local restaurants like Roberts’ Restaurant Alma is, we are not going to save the planet by eating that way if most people can’t afford $25 entrees. At … Read more
Somebody famous once said, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. The city inspectors took one look at the kitchen of this cozy little wine bar and cafe in the warehouse district and said, if you can’t vent out the heat, don’t put in a fryer, or grill. So chef-owner Scott … Read more
Business wasn’t great at the little budget steak house in the St. Paul Midway, so the Hang family, Hmong refugees from Laos, decided to try something different. They brought in cousin Christian Hang, a recent culinary-school graduate, as chef; remodeled the dining room with a tasteful black and orange décor; and added Asian fusion to … Read more
Banks are about delayed gratification: today’s pleasure denied for a better tomorrow. And hotel restaurants often aren’t about gratification at all: You are a stranger in a strange town, you’re tired, you’re hungry and you’re on an expense account, so why not just eat here? But Bank, the upscale dining room in the new Westin … Read more
It’s hard to find a decent Shiraz in Shiraz these days, but that doesn’t mean that the Iranians have stopped drinking. (A popular joke: “Under the Shah, we drank in public and prayed in private; now it’s the other way around.”) But you can find some very drinkable Shirazes and first-rate Persian cuisine in stylish … Read more
Yes, Brazilians really do eat this way. Fogo de Chão, the new Brazilian steak house at City Center in Minneapolis, is much more elegant—and more expensive—than the truck stop in northeast Brazil where I first experienced churrascaria (Brazilian spit-roasted barbecue), but the basic principle is the same: Waiters in black pleated gaucho pantaloons (at Fogo … Read more
La Belle Vie is hosting its first Bring Your Own Bottle dinner next Monday night, June 25, and it’s almost completely sold out: just one table for two is still available. Chef Tim McKee is creating a special $95 five-course menu for the event, and the restaurant will waive its usual $30 corkage fee. To … Read more
I don’t usually criticize restaurants on the basis of a single visit, but in the case of my recent outing to Glockenspiel, I am willing to make an exception. From past visits, I remembered the Bavarian restaurant in St. Paul’s historic CSPS Hall as serving possibly the best German food in the Twin Cities. This … Read more
Edina gets its first outdoor bar on Friday, July 27 when Via opens at 67th and France. The former Pizzeria Uno has been given a $3 million makeover by Hemisphere Restaurant Partners, who also own the Atlas Grill and Mission American Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis. Executive chef James Foley is moving over from Mission, where … Read more