The Rake Magazine

Author: Jeremy Iggers

  • Dracula, Paella and Drinking Organically

    Where would Count Dracula dine if he visited the Twin Cities? We don’t have any Romanian restaurants, but if he misses the cooking of his native Transylvania (now a part of Romania), he’ll have a once-a-year opportunity on Saturday, July 26, when Saint Stephen Romanian Orthodox Church, Saint Paul, sponsors its annual Twin Cities Romanian Festival. The menu will feature Romanian sausage, grilled chicken, salad, Romanian pastries, beer and more. A Romanian music ensemble will perform in traditional costumes, and tours of the church will be offered.

    On second thought, this probably isn’t a good bet for the Count: the festival will be held only during daylight hours (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.), and the tour of the church is sure to include an abundance of crosses.

    July Special At Saffron: I’ve never really understood why the 112 eatery always seems to be jam-packed, and the terrific Saffron, right across the street at 123 N. 3rd Street is often half-empty. Don’t get me wrong – Isaac Becker is a great chef, and I love the food at 112 Eatery, but the decibel level can be awfully high, and the last couple of times I have tried to dine there, the wait for a table was longer than I could handle.

    I have never had to wait for a table at Saffron, which, for my money, ranks as one of the best restaurants in the Twin Cities — and offers a much quieter and more relaxing setting. Some of the entrées are a bit pricy, but there are also a couple of options for under $20, and sometimes we just share a few of the mezze (Middle Eastern tapas, $4-$6) or small plates (mostly $8-$10).

    The owners call the cuisine "Mediterranean and Middle Eastern," but that doesn’t really convey the sophistication of chef-owner Sameh Wadi’s cooking. They’re offering a three-course tasting menu again this month, but this time it’s a dinner for two, for $55 — or $50 for a vegetarian version. The July menu starts with a selection of mezze, followed by paella for two — made with chicken, seafood and saffron-flavored rice, with assorted ice creams and sorbet for dessert. Call 612-746-5533 for reservations.

    Drinking Organically at Agri: The cuisine at Cafe Agri, 4300 Bryant Ave. S., Minneapolis, may be a little too healthy for my tastes, but I would gladly go back, grab a sidewalk table and try some of their extensive list of organic and sustainably produced wines and beers, especially at these prices: lots of choices wines from Argentina, Chile and Italy, priced at $4.50 a glass or $18 a bottle, plus an interesting selection of organic and gluten-free beers, both domestic ($4) and imported ($7).

  • Sad News from the Broder Family

    A press release from the Broder Family:

    Tom Broder, owner and founder of Broders’ Cucina Italiana and Broders’ Pasta Bar, quietly succumbed to a life-long heart condition at his home on Saturday, July 5, 2008. He was fifty-nine. Tom is survived by his wife Molly, sons Thomas (wife Annie), Charlie and Danny.

    Tom, along with his wife and business partner Molly, opened Broders’ Cucina Italiana in 1982 at 50th and Penn Avenue South in Minneapolis. Twelve years later, in 1994, they opened Broders’ Pasta Bar at the same intersection. Tom Broder was instrumental in bringing authentic Italian ingredients to Minneapolis, as well as some of his own childhood favorites: New York style pizza and the South Jersey Hoagie, both of which have become trademarks of Broders’ Cucina Italiana.

    Fresh pasta was also a passion of Tom’s and he brought the first equipment from Italy to Minnesota so fresh pasta could be produced on-site at the deli. When Broders’ Pasta Bar opened in 1994, Tom realized his dream of a full service restaurant producing authentic, house made pasta equal to any pasta served in Italy.

    In 1996, working with local and state leaders, Tom Broder spearheaded a change in state law allowing neighborhood restaurants to serve wine and beer which helped give rise to the proliferation of small, neighborhood eateries that so enrich the Minneapolis dining experience.

    Molly will remain active in the business as CEO, along with their son Thomas who recently joined the business as executive chef of Broders’ Cucina Italiana. Michael Rostance, who has been with Broders’ Pasta Bar since its inception, will continue as chef.

    Tom will be greatly missed by the nearly 100 Broders’ employees and countless loyal customers.

    Born in New Rochelle, NY in 1948, Tom received a BA and MA from St Louis University. Tom’s passion for cooking, especially Italian food, began in his early years in New York and took him to Italy for travel and education.

    Ten years ago, Tom became a recipient of a donor heart and felt truly cared for by the physicians, nurses and staff of Abbott Northwestern Hospital and in particular Station 45.

    Friends may visit at the family home on Tuesday, July 8, 4:00 – 8:00 PM & Wednesday, July 9, 4:00 – 8:00 PM at 4841 Russell Avenue South, Minneapolis.

    The family is grateful to all the health professionals who cared for Tom over the past 14 years. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be sent to the Abbott Northwestern Heart Institute Foundation.

  • La Poblanita: authentic Mexican

    meat parillada – photo by Denis Jeong

    I’d driven past La Poblanita, 1617-23 E. Lake St., for years,
    but I dined there for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been back
    twice since. The two addresses are actually two businesses – a restaurant at
    the corner, and a tortilleria next door, which houses a small tortilla factory,
    meat market, and grocery store.

    They make their own tortillas from scratch, first cooking
    the corn, then grinding it into masa, which may explain why the restaurant menu
    offers so many different kinds of street food based on masa. Some of these are
    familiar – like the tacos and tostadas, but others are more unusual – like the
    tlacoyos, gorditas, and huaraches (“sandals”). These are mostly variations on a
    theme – fat cakes of masa, stuffed or topped with beans or cheese or meat.
    They’re cheap, filling, and very tasty.

    The clientele seems to be almost entirely Latino, which is usually a good sign, and the big screen TV seems to be permanently tuned to Univision, the Spanish language network.

    I’ve sampled about half a dozen menu items so far, including
    the chiles rellenos (poblano peppers stuffed with cheese, battered and
    deep-fried) and the camarones al ajillo (shrimp sautéed with mild dried peppers
    and staggering amounts of garlic) – much milder than it looks, but very tasty.
    The pozole rojo, a hearty pork and hominy soup in a red chile pepper broth was
    spicy but not overpowering, and was served with two tostadas on the side, which
    made it an ample meal.

    I’d like to go back with a bigger group and try some of
    their charolas (platters) that serve three to five people ($36-$38), topped with
    various combinations of chicken, pork chops, quesadillas, rice and beans, or
    else one of the parilladas (table-top grills)
    — either the meat version, with chicken, pork and beef ($24, serves
    three) or the seafood version ($36), piled high with shrimp, tilapia, crab legs,
    and more.

    Best time for a visit might be on a Friday evening, when La Poblanita hosts a karaoke contest, with cash prizes.

    Tortilleria, Taqueria & Carneceria La Poblanita, 1617 – 1623 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, 612-728-0383.

  • Dancing Ganesha: Not Exactly Divine

    I had high hopes for Dancing Ganesha, the new upscale Indian restaurant that replaced Willie’s Wine Bar on Harmon. When I spoke to one of the owners before the restaurant opened, he told me of ambitious plans to make it a "four-star" Indian restaurant with elements of French haute cuisine. I suggested a couple of local food consultants who specialize in south Asian cuisine, but it doesn’t look like anything came of my suggestion.

    The idea of creating an upscale Indian restaurant, with a more stylish ambience, better service and a more sophisticated menu than the usual curry joint really sounds like a great idea – it’s high time that more of our local ethnic eateries break out of the low-end dining ghetto. It may take a while for local diners to get used to the idea that Indian, Chinese or Vietnamese restaurants should be the same prices as Lucia’s or Heidi’s Cafe or Spoonriver, if they provide cuisine, ambience and amenities of comparable quality. But there is no reason why the Twin Cities can’t support the kinds of Indian fine dining restaurants that you can find in New York or San Francisco.

    Unfortunately, while Dancing Ganesha’s prices are considerably higher than any other Indian restaurant in the Twin Cities, they don’t offer the level of ambience, service or gastronomic sophistication that would justify those prices. There are a few unusual dishes on the menu, such as an appetizer of sev batata puri – a puffy chaat-style appetizer of puri topped with potatoes, chickpeas, fresh coriander and tamarind chutney ($8.99), and a Maine lobster Thermidor ($29.99), but for the most part, the menu is made up of the standard currry house fare: tandoori chicken, saag paneer, mostly priced $2-$3 higher than comparable dishes at the nearby Bombay Bistro.

    The ambience seemed to have changed little since the Willie’s era,
    except for the addition of a statue of a dancing Ganesha, the Hindu god
    of success.

    As for the food, my dining experience last night was pretty disappointing. I couldn’t detect anything in Carol’s entree, a mushroom curry, that would justify a price of $18 for a dish that would cost $10-$12 elsewhere. My non-veg thali ($19), was equally ordinary – a lamb curry of dry chunks of meat; an unidentified generic chicken curry, dal (lentils), and a dish of seasoned green beans, plus raita and a very ordinary rice pudding. I am not sure what was in the saffron naan ($3.99), but it didn’t look or taste like saffron.

    But the biggest problem was the service. According to one of the servers, the restaurant has been open for over a month, but service seemed chaotic, and our original server was basically inattentive, clueless, unable to answer basic questions about the menu. A second waiter, who appeared to be from India, was more helpful, but also unable to provide much detail. Neither seemed to have much training in the finer points of service.

    If Dancing Ganesha wants to succeed, they are going to have to either (1) scale back their prices, or (2) make a serious effort to upgrade their service and the sophistication of their menu. Maybe the best approach would be to start with (1) and work on (2).The same company that owns Dancing Ganesha also owns the all-vegetarian Nala Pak in Columbia Heights, which offers a good selection of North and South Indian dishes at more reasonable prices.

    My dining experience was pretty disappointing, but I am going to go back and give Dancing Ganesha another try sometime soon. There were several parties of Indian customers at the restaurant last night, who seemed to have enjoyed their visit – perhaps they ordered more wisely than we did.

     

  • The Citizens Speak – Reviewing the Citizen Cafe

    CitizenCafeThanks to everybody who responded to my call for citizen
    reviews of the Citizen Café. The results are in, and the results are, well,
    mixed. Some things you liked, some you didn’t.

    I’ll save my own comments for last, but that also sums up my
    own experience – I had a mediocre lunch, and a very satisfying dinner.

    Keep in mind – as many of the critics did – that the Citizen
    Café has only been open for three weeks – and is still going through its
    shakedown cruise.

    Is it fair to publish critical comments so early? Maybe not
    in the Star Tribune, where the impact could be devastating, but in this little
    ol’ blog, I think it can be helpful – sort of a wake-up call, before Rick or
    Kathie shows up.

    What you liked:

    "For my entree, I was pleased with a unique twist: a
    Caesar salad with scallops," wrote Carrie Obry. "A bit of a Caesar addict, I
    tend to rely on its distinctive taste as an indication of a restaurant’s
    ability to express itself. The scallops spoke to me like a perfectly fluffed
    bed of pillows. I dove in and enjoyed the soft taste of lemon complemented by
    the perfectly browned tops."

    The rest of the salad didn’t say Caesar to me much at all.
    The less-than-memorable dressing settled into a pool at the bottom of the plate
    and I had to work hard to reincorporate it. My friend also ordered a scallop
    salad, but with roasted tomatoes, bacon, and homemade creamy dill dressing. We
    both raved about the scallops and suspected that the restaurant was trying to
    woo us with their generosity. We each had five or six of the big guys."

    Jason Fritzel also liked his salad entree – roasted
    vegetables on spinach with walnuts. The vegetables included were of the
    root variety, a generous helping of carrots, parsnips, and rutabagas.
    The veggies were nicely roasted … al dente, but a bit under seasoned, could
    have used a bit more salt. This was quickly rectified with a quick dash
    from the salt shaker. The spinach was very fresh, bright green, and
    perfectly washed and dried. The walnuts were candied slightly and left a
    taste of cayenne lingering on the palate."

    Jason chose the warm bacon dressing on the side, which was a
    "nice balance of sweet and picante with a few large chunks of bacon
    included. It was indeed warm, was slightly on the thick side for my
    taste, but did add nice flavor and balance to the salad, playing off the walnuts
    very well. The portion was very generous for a dinner salad and sated a
    moderate appetite."

    He also had praise for his wife’s BLT sandwich, "made with
    brioche, thick house-made mayo, and one of the thickest portions of bacon I
    have ever witnessed. The toasted brioche was divine, fresh, thick and
    melt-in-your-mouth good. The thick mayo was portioned just right and the
    bacon took some time to chew because of its thickness. The tomatoes were
    fresh and romaine lettuce crisp and green. The only way to improve this
    sandwich would be to add bibb lettuce instead of romaine."

    Mary (no last name) gave a mixed but mostly positive
    verdict: The gravlax was "delicious," she said, and served in "very generous portion,
    but (with) only a few tiny toast points – I could easily have had twice as
    many, but I can’t complain, as the fish was wonderful."

    A reader named Ann Bauer, (who says she is not "the Ann Bauer"), also praised the look of the place: "great-looking
    interior and exterior makeover of what was the decor horror that was Sweet
    Lorraines (although their food and service were great)."

     

    What you didn’t like:

    The dinner rolls (reportedly homemade), and the pasta salad –
    Carrie called the bread "absolutely lifeless," and Jason described it as "a bit
    on the stale side." Jason described his wife’s side of pasta salad: "penne that
    was undercooked, under seasoned and overdressed with olive oil and hardly a
    hint of vinegar," while Mary described it as "undercooked" and "Cub
    Food-esque."

    Ann found the food "odd." "Maybe I’ve
    watched too much Top Chef, but it was almost like you wanted to ask the Chef if
    he’s tasted the things leaving the kitchen. For the first time ever, I
    picked up a salt shaker in a restaurant. And this was to season French Onion
    Soup! The rest of my party was underwhelmed with their offerings – soup,
    salad, sandwich, burger, especially after the menu sounded exciting and
    innovative, yet comforting. It’s puzzling."

    Fred Morris went for breakfast with his family, and was not
    impressed with the food or service. "When the food came, it was not above
    average. My scramble was rather pedestrian. The eggs were not
    hot … they were barely warm. The hash browns also were cool. My
    oldest son had the roasted veggies topped with an egg. The veggies were
    drowned in olive oil. There was a pool of olive oil in the bottom of the
    bowl. His egg was cool. The pork hash was not at all a hash.
    It consisted of large cubes of pork mixed in with the other
    ingredients … not a very good take off of beef hash. I’ve eaten breakfast
    at Victors, the Grand Cafe, Hot Plate, Maude’s, Hell’s Kitchen, Sunnyside Up,
    The Egg and I, Moose and Sadies, Birchwood, etc. and all were better."

    Service also got mixed reviews.

    "We sat for approximately 45 minutes before our food was
    served," wrote Fred. "We had to ask
    what had happened to our order before any explanation was given. The
    owner’s wife explained that it takes longer to prepare the food because it is
    done ‘from scratch.’ She didn’t apologize until I mentioned that it might
    be a good idea to give customers a sense of the status of their order after
    they have been sitting for a while."

    Carrie Obry was critical, too: "The service, while pleasant,
    was a little lacking. We didn’t have water, bread, or a knife for our
    bone-hugging appetizer until well after these items should have arrived."

    Ann had a much better experience: "The waitstaff was "present" in that you never felt ignored or
    dismissed, even though you could tell they were literally and figuratively
    sweating. Everyone was patient and personable." And Jason found the service "friendly and attentive. The food took a little while to come up, but we
    were not in a hurry and totally understand that this was day 2 for the young Citizen."

    As for my experience – on a lunchtime visit, service was extremely slow, and the food was uneven – the rolls were dry and flavorless, and the sandwich billed as corned beef didn’t look or taste like corned beef – it was just dry, brown meat. I appreciated the effort that went into making homemade sausage, but the pork sausage was much too lean and dry.

    On a dinner visit, we had a much better experience – service was prompt and attentive, and the food was very good to excellent, mostly. The house-made gravlax ($4) was delicious, and served in very generous portion, considering the price. The pickled veggies weren’t as tart as I would have liked, but still quite tasty.

    The entrees were a big hit – Carol’s entree of shrimp and scallops was delightful – the scallops were sweet and succulent, and Carol marveled that the Cafe could serve three jumbo scallops and four large, tasty shrimp for such a reasonable price – $17. My portion of beef short-ribs ($17) was equally generous and satisfying – done to just the point where the meat is juicy and flavorful and tender, but not yet stringy. And the mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetables were the perfect accompaniments.

    I think the place has a lot of potential – this is very
    solid American cooking, unpretentious and reasonably priced. Service
    needs a little work, and better bread should be a priority. I will be
    eager to go back in August, after they have gotten their wine and beer
    license.

  • Snacking and Grazing the Mill City Farmers Market

    Yesterday was my first visit of the season to the Mill City Farmers Market, and I was pleasantly surprised by how many new stands there were selling locally produced prepared foods – apparently Brenda Langton, who was one of the founders of the market, and who owns the Spoonriver Restaurant next door, doesn’t mind the competition.

    Black Cat Natural Foods

    The Black Cat Natural Foods is back this year – yesterday’s weekly specials included a goat cheese and asparagus omelet, and a pulled pork sandwich ($6; a bit dry, but not bad), made with slow roasted pork from their market neighbors, the Donner family, who operate the MN Valley Organics stand nearby. The Donners were selling their own sandwich, billed as a McDonner: egg, sausage and cheese on an English muffin ($5.25). *Insert joke about Donner Party here.*

    Dim Sum Street

    Among the new stands this year: Dim Sum Street, which offered a combo of steamed chicken bun and three small egg rolls for $5, and Mo:Mo, selling steamed Nepali/Thai dumplings, stuffed with chicken (from the market) or vegetables, topped with a tomato ginger chutney. The veggie dumplings (stuffed with onions, tomato, cabbage, chives, ginger and garlic) kind of fell apart when we ate them, but they were quite tasty.

    If I had more room, I would have also sampled the wares at the Chef Shack food truck, where the menu included Thousand Hills beef hot dogs, beef tongue tacos and bison burgers.

    Chef Shack

    Under the market shed, there were several more options, including the Queen of Tarts, selling sweet and savory tarts, Edna’s Caramels, and Shepherd’s Way, offering nibbles of their farmstead cheeses.

    The Mill City Farmers Market, at 2nd St. and Chicago Ave. on the downtown Minneapolis riverfront, (between the Mill City Museum and the new Guthrie Theater), is open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October 18.

  • United Noodle Deli to Expand

    One of my favorite little lunch spots is the Chinese deli
    hidden away inside United Noodles, the oriental market hidden away inside the
    Seward neighborhood in south Minneapolis.

    There are only five tables, and no table service – you order
    at the counter, and bus your own dishes when you’re done. The menu is very
    limited – actually, there is no menu, just a few signs taped here and there,
    with some photos, plus the steam tables, where the foods aren’t labeled, but
    easy enough to figure out.

    United Noodles Combo

    This is a different
    kind of Chinese food than you’ll find on most Chinese restaurant menus – even
    the more authentic places, like Mandarin Kitchen, or Grand Shanghai – it’s
    really more like Chinese home cooking, or Chinese street food. The last time I
    visited the choices included big chunks of stewed beef and radish, chopped pork
    with long bean, chicken with broccoli, and glistening red slabs of barbecued
    pork and glazed roast duck.

    I usually go for the combo special – any three of the
    entrees, plus rice and tea for $6.99, but I have also enjoyed the Taiwan style
    beef noodle soup – stewed beef and fat noodles garnished with chopped green
    onions and cilantro.

    The deli is going to close for remodeling sometime around
    July 15, and reopen a couple of weeks later with an expanded kitchen, including
    a grill for cooking American food. ("American food?" – "Like steak." ) And
    eventually, they are also going to start serving shabu-shabu, a Japanese hot
    pot dish that’s a little like sukiyaki. But not in the summer – nobody eats
    shabu-shabu in the summer.

    United Noodles, 2015 E. 24th St., in the
    Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. 612-721-6677.

    Store hours
    Monday to Saturday: 9am – 7pm
    Sunday: 9am – 6pm

    Deli Hours
    Monday: CLOSED
    Tuesday to Saturday: 11am – 6pm
    Sunday: 11am – 5pm

    Just a reminder – if you have dined recently at the Citizen Cafe, and want to join in on the crowdsourced review (see the link above), you have until this Sunday, June 29 to post your comments, or send them to me at iggers@rakemag.com.

  • The 98 Pound Restaurant: Cheap Sushi and More!

     Header photo by Denis Jeong 

    I’ve been told that the whole Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet phenomenom has run its course, and that the next big trend for Chinese restaurateurs is sushi — the profit margins are better. A lot of Chinese buffets already offer a few varieties of sushi, but the new 98 Pounds Restaurant at 98th and 35W in Bloomington actually combines the concepts.

    The steam tables offer a big selection of the usual Chinese buffet
    staples – General Tso’s chicken, shrimp in coconut sauce, stir-fried beef with
    mushrooms, teriyaki chicken, fried rice, egg rolls, potstickers, hot and sour
    soup, tempura shrimp, etc. etc. etc. There’s plenty of fried food, and the
    fried shrimp and tempura shrimp are heavy on breading light on shrimp, but
    overall, I’d rate the hot buffet items as better-than-average.

    But the real novelty here is the cold buffet of
    all-you-can-eat sushi.

    sushi plate

    There were about 15 different varieties of sushi on offer,
    nearly all of the maki (roll) variety: spicy tuna roll, crab roll, cream cheese
    roll, California roll. Real sushi lovers will not be impressed – there’s very
    little raw fish, or any other costly ingredients, in the sushi, but plenty of
    imitation crab. Still, the sushi actually was tasty, and you can’t beat the
    price – $7.99 for lunch, $11.49 for dinner. I’m told that the dinner buffet
    offers a bigger selection of seafood items, including crab legs and mussels.

    98 Pounds Restaurant, 824 W. 98th St., Bloomington, 952-881-1088.

  • Krishna Comes to the Kingfield Market

    Okay, I really intended to get this post up days ago, or at least sometime before Sunday (today), because today is the day of the weekly Kingfield Farmers Market, which runs from 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. at 43rd and Nicollet Ave. S., but life got hectic, and I had to go to Chicago for a conference, and so here it is, 9:20 a.m. on a Sunday morning. So I’m going to do a quick post and then jump on my bike and ride over to the market for breakfast.

    The Kingfield Market is pretty small, in terms of the number of vendors and shoppers, but the gastronomic batting average is pretty high: both Rustica, the terrific artisan bakery at 46th and Bryant, and the Grand Cafe, at 38th and Grand (one of my favorite restaurants), have stalls at the market, selling bread, cookies and pastries (UPDATE: the Grand Cafe will be there twice a month); and Clancy’s Meats (43rd & Upton, sells bratwursts – they were missing last Sunday, but are supposed to be there every week (UPDATE: starting in July). And the Ikawa Coffee Company sells Rwandan coffee – hot, cold and by the bag – to raise money for its projects to help Rwandan coffee farmers.

    The gastronomic highlight of last week’s visit, though, was discovering the Akshay-Paatram stall, run by Anasuya Mahabeshwari and Tina Ray. They offer a small selection of Indian vegetarian dishes, as well as a vegan sloppy Jane and little fruit turnovers, all very reasonably priced.

    Akshay-Paatram does not have a restaurant, but does operate a catering service; for a menu or more information, contact them at 612-964-1954, or e-mail them at akshaypaatram@yahoo.com.

    When I asked Anasuya about the name of the stall, she told me a charming story from the Mahabarata. I will make a complete hash of the story if I try to retell it, so instead I am pasting the Wikipedia version below.

    "Akshayapatra: अक्षयपात्र) meaning inexhaustible vessel, in Hindu mythology, was a wonderful vessel given to Yudhishthira by the Sun god, Surya, which held a never-failing supply of food to the Pandavas every day. 

    "When the Pandavas began their exile in the forest, Yudhishtra was despondent at his inability to feed the holy sages and others who accompanied him. At this, Dhaumya, the priest of the Pandavas, counselled him to pray to Lord Surya.
    Pleased with Yudhishtira’s prayers, Lord Surya blessed him with the
    Akshaya Patra, a vessel that would give unlimited food every day till Draupadi finished eating.

    "Lord Krishna also once partakes food from the Akshaya Patra, when sage Durvasa
    arrived at the Pandavas’ place with his disciples. When Durvasa
    arrived, there was no food left to serve him, since Draupadi had
    already finished eating. The Pandavas became anxious as to what they
    would feed such a venerable sage. While Durvasa and his disciples were
    away at the banks of the river bathing, Draupadi prayed to Lord Krishna
    for help. As always, they were once again saved by him, who partook of
    a single grain of rice from the Akshaya Patra and announced that he was
    satisfied by the meal. This satiated the hunger of
    Durvasa and all his disciples too, as the satisfaction of Lord Krishna
    meant the satiation of the hunger of the whole Universe.

    Akshayapatra, in current usage, refers to any store that is inexhaustible."

  • Flame: Not the Usual Mall Restaurant

    photo by Denis Jeong

    I stopped by for lunch at Flame at the Rosedale Mall. I
    might be biased, because the owners – the same people who own Mission American
    Kitchen     , Atlas Grill, and Via – are friends of mine, but I liked it. It isn’t
    the place I would go if I were planning an intimate bistro dinner by
    candlelight, but then again, if I were in Roseville and looking for an intimate
    bistro dinner, I would be plain out of luck. There is a whole row of
    restaurants on the back end of Rosedale, and what stands out about Flame is
    that it is the only one that isn’t a chain restaurant — California Pizza
    Kitchen, Big Bowl, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Granite City, Chipotle, Potbelly.

    (Note to readers: I just previewed the published version of this blog post, and it looks like the odds are pretty good that you will be looking at this positive write-up of Flame side-by-side with an ad for Flame, which might lead you to conclude that there was some kind of connection between the two. There isn’t.)

    Flame does follow the mall restaurant formula, right down to
    the logos and uniforms, but it actually has more personality than its
    cookie-cutter neighbors. The theme is "cooking with fire," so I expected to see
    meat on spits, but instead the fire-roasting theme is
    symbolically represented by a row of roaring gas torches, mounted above the
    open kitchen. The fire-roasted meats are a legacy of the Atlas, where chef Abbas
    Shahbazi serves delicious Persian-inspired beef and lamb kabobs, as well as fish and
    chicken, fire-roasted over a 1200 degree grill.

    The menu is basically updated meat-and-potatoes, with a
    smattering of other flavors. The starters include a ceviche made with grilled
    shrimp and smoked scallops ($8.95), and a barbecued shrimp skillet in a creamy
    barbecue sauce with grilled baguette ($8.95). There are a couple of pasta
    entrees as well: pappardelle with smoked chicken and crimini mushrooms
    ($12.95), and penne marinara with bacon and fresh tomatoes ($10.95)

    Prices are very reasonable: On the dinner menu, except for
    the $21.95 filet mignon, everything is under $20, and there are a lot of
    choices for under $15, including the half rotisserie chicken ($12.95), broiled
    Alaskan cod ($13.95), and eight-hour pot roast ($14.95). The rotisserie
    chicken, roast beef and baby-back ribs are all offered as platters for four,
    six or eight ($49.95 / $77.95/ $99.95 for dinner; less for lunch) with 2-4 side
    dishes, which works out to less than $13 per person (or less than $11 per
    person for lunch). The lunch menu is similar, with lower prices, fewer steaks
    and an expanded list of burgers and sandwiches, most under $10.

    I enjoyed my
    lunchtime plate of rotisserie beef ($11.95 lunch / $13.95 dinner) – juicy
    slices of slow-roasted beef, served with a choice of two sides; I opted for
    the green beans and cheddar hashbrowns
    and took home enough for an ample lunch the next day.

    Flame is one of the few non-chain restaurants that will
    participate in the Rotary Club of Roseville’s first annual Taste of Rosefest on
    Thursday, June 26, in the Muriel Sahlin
    Arboretum. Other participants include Ol’ Mexico, Old Chicago, Axel’s
    Charhouse, Baker’s Square, Schroeder’s Bar & Grill, the Outback Steakhouse,
    and a bunch more. For a complete list and other details, visit www.taste-of-rosefest.com, or call
    651-204-9209.