Stephanie March It’s all about the Potato Salad. This is sort of an anti-pasto potato salad. This one is herby and light. This one, made with french fries, won a Food Network contest. Martha’s All American version. Ach du lieber, wir essen Kartoffelsalat. Sehr gut, ja?
Well, Tiffani lost. Harold has been named Top Chef. He’s going back to New York to open his own restaurant and I’m sure he will have investors and press knocking down his door. He’ll probably be successful, as long as he has a smart someone running his front-of-house. But did he deserve the win? In … Read more
Scenes from the melee that was the Trader Joe’s opening in St. Louis Park. Seriously, it was packed. Anyone with a cart was nearly lynched. Everything is sold under the Trader Joe’s label. The cheese selection was good but not phenomenal. And I want phenomenal cheese forever more. Yay, gazpacho! A nice deal on frozen … Read more
Joey Chestnut, they muttered beneath their breath, Joey Chestnut could be the one. It may be too soon to talk about it, we may be jinxing the best chance we’ve had in a long time, but the world of competitive eating is a-buzz with Joey Chestnut. Last Thursday, in the Las Vegas qualifier for the … Read more
Art-A-Whirl makes me hungry. Maybe it’s walking around all the inspiring art that makes me think I, too, am a starving artist. Maybe it’s all the pondering and provoking of thought that starts my tummy a-grumbling. Or maybe it’s the wonderous lack of cheese curd trucks combined with the knowledge that I’m surrounded by some … Read more
Does anyone remember the House of Breakfast? It was this little counter-service joint run by two Eastern European women out of a house-front in South Minneapolis. The omelets were decent, the pancakes were fine, but that’s not why you went. It was the walls. Near the counter you could read the menu, which was scrawled … Read more
Last winter, over the holidays, a restaurant manager I know clocked what she wryly calls the “Best Five Minutes Ever” of her career. Just seconds after punching in, she was called to the bar to break up a couple of brawlers. While showing one-half of the drunken duo to the door, she came across a … Read more
Tiffani is getting railroaded. I finally saw the “reunion” episode of Top Chef the other night, and I seriously couldn’t sleep afterward. Tiffani is being cast in the role of the villain. Don’t think for a minute that just because it’s Reality Television that there aren’t people behind the scenes working the events into “story … Read more
Nothing quite says “Thanks Mom” like a giant fruit peacock. Screw brunch. Seriously, don’t you think you’re pulling a fast one on your Mom by taking her out for brunch? First of all, there’s little or no effort put by YOU personally into the meal. Secondly, by making it the morning meal, it’s like you’re … Read more
This coming weekend might be a good time to join the lurkers in the woods. The mycologists are a-foot, stooping to look under fallen trees, brushing aside damp rotting leaves, all in search of their prize: mushrooms. Foraging for mushrooms, and other wild edibles such as ramps, can be a consuming hobby. Disregarding wet weather, … Read more